Joints that can be 'locked', e.g. revolutes, should have a toggle-able icon in the browser. At the moment the only way to tell if a joint is locked is to either look for a tiny padlock icon in the drawing, or to right click each joint in the browser one by one until you find the one that says 'Unlock'. I wish there was a button right next to the joint item that I could just toggle with a click of the mouse.
And yet joint items in the browser enjoy a whole "Edit joint limits" button, which I believe is not as frequently used as the lock/unlock command. Lock/unlock is a very common action when you need to prevent a complex assembly from going bananas, so if we must have one button there I'd much rather it be the lock/unlock button, however that still wouldn't be ideal. Here is a more sensible suggestion:
- Double click joint item in browser opens Edit Joint dialog.
- Lock icon permanently available next to joint items in the browser. If the joint is currently locked, the padlock icon is always visible (both on mouse hover and not on mouse hover), thus drawing the user's attention to lock items; if the joint is not locked, the padlock icon is only visible on mouse hover, thus giving users the chance to toggle lock/unlock with a single click whilst reducing visual clutter.
- Edit joint limits button always visible (both on hover and not on hover) for joints when limits have been established. Joints without limits don't have an edit joint limits button, which must initially be accessed via the joint item's context menu.
I hope that makes sense! Below is a crappy mock-up I just did. Joint 'First cog rotation' has both limits and is locked:
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