PreferencesModel and PreferencesDialog

PreferencesModel is the configuration object you pass to Sim to declare which Preferences features a simulation supports — projector mode, sound, voicing, gesture input, locale switching, and simulation-specific custom controls. PreferencesDialog is the tabbed dialog that renders whatever PreferencesModel describes; you never construct it yourself — Sim wires a NavigationBarPreferencesButton to build one lazily (new PreferencesDialog( preferencesModel, ... )) the first time the user opens it. This pairing is covered end-to-end, with a full example, in Preferences and Feature Flags — this page is the API-reference companion, focused on what each class actually exposes.

Both are exported from scenerystack/sim, not scenerystack/joist

Same gotcha as Sim and Screen: despite living in the joist repository, both PreferencesModel and PreferencesDialog are exported from scenerystack/sim.

import { Sim, onReadyToLaunch, PreferencesModel } from 'scenerystack/sim';
import { Property } from 'scenerystack/axon';

const preferencesModel = new PreferencesModel( {
  visualOptions: { supportsProjectorMode: true },
  audioOptions: { supportsSound: true, supportsExtraSound: true }
} );

onReadyToLaunch( () => {
  const sim = new Sim( new Property( 'My Simulation' ), [ /* screens */ ], { preferencesModel } );
  sim.start(); // Sim wires up the Preferences button; PreferencesDialog is built lazily on first click
} );

Sound needs a matching init() flag

audioOptions.supportsSound initializes tambo and shows the Audio tab. It does not unmute playback. Also pass supportsSound: true to init() in src/init.ts; that is the default of ?supportsSound, which seeds soundManager.enabledProperty and keeps the navigation-bar speaker enabled. Set both to the same value. See Working with Sound.

PreferencesModel

Constructor

new PreferencesModel( providedOptions?: PreferencesModelOptions )

Options

Option	Surfaces	Notable sub-options
simulationOptions	The "Simulation" tab	customPreferences — your own controls; this tab only appears if you supply at least one
visualOptions	The "Visual" tab	supportsProjectorMode, supportsInteractiveHighlights, plus customPreferences
audioOptions	The "Audio" tab	supportsSound, supportsExtraSound, supportsVoicing, supportsCoreVoicing, plus customPreferences (which can specify a column: 'left' | 'right')
inputOptions	The "Input" tab	supportsGestureControl, plus customPreferences
localizationOptions	The "Localization" tab	supportsDynamicLocale, includeLocalePanel, plus customPreferences

Every one of these is optional — an untouched new PreferencesModel() supports nothing extra, and Sim's Preferences button only appears at all if shouldShowDialog() (below) is true.

Public API

Member	Description
simulationModel, visualModel, audioModel, inputModel, localizationModel	The resolved model for each tab (options merged with defaults, plus derived Properties like visualModel.interactiveHighlightsEnabledProperty)
supportsSimulationPreferences() / supportsVisualPreferences() / supportsAudioPreferences() / supportsInputPreferences() / supportsLocalizationPreferences()	Whether each tab has anything to show — PreferencesDialog uses these to decide which tabs to build
shouldShowDialog()	true if any tab would have content — Sim uses this to decide whether to show a Preferences button at all

PreferencesDialog

Constructor

new PreferencesDialog( preferencesModel: PreferencesModel, providedOptions?: PreferencesDialogOptions )

You won't call this yourself in ordinary sim code — it's what Sim's NavigationBarPreferencesButton constructs internally, once, the first time a user opens Preferences. PreferencesDialog is a Dialog subclass (see scenerystack/sim's Dialog/Popupable re-exports), and is never disposed once created (isDisposable: false) — subsequent opens reuse the same instance.

Behavior worth knowing

Aspect	Detail
Tab selection	Built from whichever supports*Preferences() calls on preferencesModel return true; the "Overview" tab is always present
focusSelectedTab()	Public method to move keyboard focus to the currently selected tab — used when the dialog opens
Keyboard navigation	Arrow-down from the tab row moves focus into the selected panel; arrow-up from the panel moves focus back to the tab row

Configure preferences through PreferencesModel; you'll rarely touch PreferencesDialog

Everything a sim author controls — which tabs appear, which toggles are in them, custom per-sim controls — is a PreferencesModel option. PreferencesDialog exists mostly so its shape is documented; the only thing you'd construct one for directly is testing/exploratory code, not ordinary sim wiring.

Related

• Preferences and Feature Flags — the narrative walkthrough this reference page complements, including query-parameter interactions.
• Sim — takes preferencesModel as a SimOptions field and owns the Preferences button that lazily builds the dialog.