ANSYS Graphical UUser IIntterfface Programming with Tcl/Tk Presented By CAE Associates,, Inc. © 2013 CAE Associates Presentation Topics Introduction (cid:122) What is Tcl/Tk? — AAddvantages andd DDiisaddvantages off — Tcl/Tk Tcl/Tk in ANSYS (cid:122) Basic command structure — Calling user Tcl/Tk code from ANSYS — Access to the ANSYS API — GGUUII ccoommppoonneenntt ccrreeaattiioonn — Example Application (cid:122) Parametric Desiggn Entryy Dialogg Box — Tcl/Tk Tools and Information (cid:122) Visual Development Tools — SSources off IInfformattiion — Copyright© 2002 Computer Aided Engineering CCoommppuutteerr AAiiddeedd EEnnggiinneeeerriinngg AAssssoocciiaatteess,, IInncc.. 22 Associates, Inc. Introduction What is Tcl/Tk? Tcl/Tk is pronounced “tickle-tee-kay”. (cid:122) Tcl is a universal scripptingg langguagge. — Tk is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) toolkit and widgets based in Tcl. — Developed by John Ousterhout at the University of California, Berkeley in (cid:122) 11998899.. Custom Tcl/Tk interpreters have been compiled into the ANSYS analysis (cid:122) environment since Revision 5.5. SSoommee eexxiissttiinngg AANNSSYYSS TTccll//TTkk ccoommppoonneennttss:: (cid:122)(cid:122) Material Modeler — Contact Wizard — SSoolluuttiioonn CCoonnttrroollss — Time History Variable Viewer — Entire GUI (Revision 6.1) — Copyright© 2002 Computer Aided Engineering CCoommppuutteerr AAiiddeedd EEnnggiinneeeerriinngg AAssssoocciiaatteess,, IInncc.. 33 Associates, Inc. Introduction Advantages of Tcl/Tk Price: It’s Free !!! (cid:122) LLeeaarrnniinngg CCuurrvvee:: (cid:122)(cid:122) Easy learning curve compared with traditional software languages such as — C++ and Fortran. Interppreted ((not comppiled)) so effects of modifications are immediatelyy — realizable. Flexibility: (cid:122) Wide varietyy of tools to create entryy boxes,, canvases,, scrollable forms,, labels,, — etc. Create own tools and procedures. — Comppatibilityy: (cid:122) Cross-platform compatible. — Copyright© 2002 Computer Aided Engineering CCoommppuutteerr AAiiddeedd EEnnggiinneeeerriinngg AAssssoocciiaatteess,, IInncc.. 44 Associates, Inc. Introduction Disadvantages of Tcl/Tk Sparse ANSYS Documentation: (cid:122) ANSYS documentation/trainingg is spparse comppared to UIDL and APDL. — Limited technical support since GUI programming is considered a non- — standard use of the software. Small ANSYS User Base: (cid:122) ANSYS implementation is recent so user base is limited. — Veryy few user defined scrippts and libraries exist in the ppublic domain. — Performance: (cid:122) TToo mmaaiinnttaaiinn ppllaattffoorrmm iinnddeeppeennddeennccee, TTccll//TTkk iiss nnoott ccoommppiilleedd, rraatthheerr iitt iiss aann — interpreted language and implementation is on the fly. This tends to cause some degradation of speed particularly when trying to — access ANSYS over a network connection. Copyright© 2002 Computer Aided Engineering CCoommppuutteerr AAiiddeedd EEnnggiinneeeerriinngg AAssssoocciiaatteess,, IInncc.. 55 Associates, Inc. Tcl/Tk in ANSYS Command Structure Tcl/Tk syntax is simple — similar to (cid:122) sh, C, and Lisp. Tcl Expression Result A command is formed by words (cid:122) set x 2 x=2 separated by white space. (cid:122) Dollar sign ($) substitutes the value of sseett yy $$xx yy=22 a variiabblle. Square brackets executes a nested (cid:122) command. Result from cmd2 passed set z [expr $x+$y] z=4 aass aarrgguummeenntt ttoo ccmmdd11.. Double quotes group words into a (cid:122) set t “z is $z” t=“z is 4” single argument. Curlyy braces ggroupp words into a (cid:122) single argument, however, elements set t {z is $z} t=“z is $z” within the braces are not interpreted. Copyright© 2002 Computer Aided Engineering CCoommppuutteerr AAiiddeedd EEnnggiinneeeerriinngg AAssssoocciiaatteess,, IInncc.. 66 Associates, Inc. Tcl/Tk in ANSYS Calling User Code There are various methods for calling your Tcl/Tk code from within ANSYS. (cid:122) Tcl shell used for running scripts without GUI features: — ~tcl,’source filename’ Tcl/Tk shell for using GUI features: — ~tk,,’source filename’ Enhanced UIDL for including object oriented and some ANSYS objects: — ~eui,’source filename’ From UIDL menus — :N Fnc_MyTclFunc :S 0, 0, 0 :T Command :A My Tcl Function Inp_P Cmd_) ~eui,’tcl/tk command’ :E END Copyright© 2002 Computer Aided Engineering CCoommppuutteerr AAiiddeedd EEnnggiinneeeerriinngg AAssssoocciiaatteess,, IInncc.. 77 Associates, Inc. ANSYS API Core Functionality (cid:122) Access to the core ANSYS functionality is provided via ans_* series of commands. Some frequently used commands: (cid:122) ans_sendcommand ansysCommand Passes a command to set n1 1 AANNSSYYSS ffoorr set n2 2 processing ans_sendcommand n,,$n1,$n2 ans_getvalue ansys*GetConstruct *GET an ANSYS value set ansRev [ans_getvalue ACTIVE,,REV] ans_ggetvector ansyysAPDLarrayy Returns an ANSYS array ! APDL Command ! Tcl Commands *dim,apdlArr,,2 set tclArr [ans_getvector apdlArr] apdlArr(1) = 1,2 puts $tclArr Copyright© 2002 Computer Aided Engineering CCoommppuutteerr AAiiddeedd EEnnggiinneeeerriinngg AAssssoocciiaatteess,, IInncc.. 88 Associates, Inc. Tcl/Tk in ANSYS GUI Development Tk provides numerous widgets for GUI creation. (cid:122) EExxaammppllee wwiiddggeettss:: (cid:122)(cid:122) toplevel .dlgMyDialog combobox .cmbFont bbutttton .bbttnOOKK checkbox .chbStyles llaabbeelleeddffrraammee .ffrrmmPPrriinnttRRaannggee Copyright© 2002 Computer Aided Engineering CCoommppuutteerr AAiiddeedd EEnnggiinneeeerriinngg AAssssoocciiaatteess,, IInncc.. 99 Associates, Inc. Tk in ANSYS GUI Development (cont.) Some of the most common widgets used are the: (cid:122) Label: label (cid:122) Use the –text option button Entry Box: entry box (cid:122) Use the –textvariable option to set the variable name associated with the entry Button: (cid:122) TThhee –tteexxtt ooppttiioonn ssppeecciiffiieess aa llaabbeell ffoorr the button (cid:122) The –command option specifies a series of commands to perform once the button iiss pprreesssseedd. Copyright© 2002 Computer Aided Engineering CCoommppuutteerr AAiiddeedd EEnnggiinneeeerriinngg AAssssoocciiaatteess,, IInncc.. 1100 Associates, Inc.