[huisky]

Hello everyone,

I'm facing a headache problem right now. Say I'm having 10,000 bodies imported from .stp file, each of them has different name, end with plate thickness at the last two characters, like 'body1_PL12', 'body2_PL14'.

The question is how can I use script to parse the body name and assign it to the body thickness properties?

Many thanks if anyone can shed light here.

Regards
Huisky

[Kapi]

never done something like that but I guess ...use excel for that.
call body by given name and assign thickness for that body name!

[huisky]

Ok, as a rookie, i don't know how to make DM interact with excel.
any hints?

Originally Posted by Kapi

never done something like that but I guess ...use excel for that.
call body by given name and assign thickness for that body name!

[Kapi]

First place I will look is "help section" in Ansys!
they have explained it with small example, try that and see if it will help you in some way

Also look into scripting guide in help section as to how you can bring excel and Ansys together.
If you dont understand anything please ask!

[huisky]

Ok, I will do that. But I still wonder will that make the operation quicker?

To start with, i found a .js script located under ansys installation path.

Will it be straightforward to modify this script a little bit and achive my goal?


/************************************************** *****************
Function to set Material, 2D behavior, and thickness for Bodies from Excel
The Excel file contains data as 4 columns:
NS_Name Mat_Name Behavior Thickness
Line-1 is header
Line-2 to "n" contains valid data
Behavior options are: Axisymmetric, Plane Stress and Plane Strain
Thickness input is valid only for Plain Stress
Assumptions:
1. Model is 2D
2. The materials are already defined in Engineering Data
3. There are no empty cells between two rows of data in Excel
4. The Excel file contains valid NamedSelections of the surface bodies
The script is developed/tested for Mechanical in WB 13.0
************************************************** ********************/
// Ask the user to choose the excel file
var dlg = DS.Script.AnsObjectFactory.CreateDispatchObject(DS .Script.GenWBProgId("WBControls.WBFileDialog"));
dlg.DefaultFile = "InputData.xlsx";
dlg.DefaultDirectory = "./";
dlg.Filter = "Excel files (*.xls; *.xlsx)|*.xls;*.xlsx";
dlg.FilterIndex = 0;
dlg.ForOpen = true;
dlg.Popup(0); // Popup the file browser
var ExcelFilename = dlg.SelectedFile;
var oScript = DS.Script;
var BodyGName = new Array();
var BodyMat = new Array();
var BodyType = new Array();
var BodyThick = new Array(); // Valid if BodyType == Plane Stress
// Read the Excel file and store all data in Arrays
if (ExcelFilename != "") {
var Excel = new ActiveXObject("Excel.Application");
Excel.Workbooks.Open(ExcelFilename);
var sheet = Excel.ActiveWorkbook.ActiveSheet;
var i=2; // We will start on line 2 in the excel spreadsheet
// Read all the required data from Excel
while (String(sheet.Cells(i,1))!= "undefined") {// Scan first column until empty cell
BodyGName[i-2] = String(sheet.Cells(i,1));
BodyMat[i-2] = String(sheet.Cells(i,2));
BodyType[i-2] = String(sheet.Cells(i,3));
if (BodyType[i-2] == "Plane Stress")
BodyThick[i-2] = Number(sheet.Cells(i,4));

i++;
}
Excel.Application.Quit(); // Kill Excel Application
Excel= null;
}
// If Excel contained any valid data Proceed....
if (BodyGName.length > 0) {
var branch = DS.Tree.FirstActiveBranch;
var matList = branch.Project.MaterialNames; // Access all available materials
var GeomGrp = branch.Model.PrototypeGroup; // Access all bodies
var componentGroup = oScript.GetNode(branch.ComponentGroup.ID); // Access the NamedSelections
var cCount = branch.ComponentGroup.Components.Count;
var component;
var body = null;
oScript.changeActiveObject(GeomGrp.ID);
// Set 2D Behavior
ListView.ActivateItem("2D Behavior");
ListView.ItemValue = "By Body";
// Now loop over the NS read from Excel and apply properties
for (var i=0; i< BodyGName.length; i++) {
var bodyG = BodyGName[i];
// Loop over the defined NS and check the name
for( var j = 1; j <= cCount; j++ ) {
var compI = branch.ComponentGroup.Components.Item(j);
SM.Clear();
if (compI.Name.toLowerCase() == bodyG.toLowerCase()) {
// Select the Specific NS in the Tree
oScript.changeActiveObject(compI.ID);
// Add the component to Selection Set
oScript.doTreeActivateSelection();
// Apply properties to each body in the selection set
assignProps_onSelectedBodies(i);
}
}
}
WBScript.Out("All inputs are now set...", true,"Message");
}
else
WBScript.Out("Unable to use the inputs from Excel file..." + "\n" + "Please check the Excel file", true,"Error");

function assignProps_onSelectedBodies(index)
{
var iNumSelected = SM.SelectedCount;
var aPartIds = new Array();
var aTopoIds = new Array();

// Access each bodies and store their PartIds and TopoIds
for( var k = 1; k <= iNumSelected; k++ )
{
aPartIds.push(SM.SelectedPartID(k));
aTopoIds.push(SM.SelectedEntityTopoID(k));
}

// Loop over the stored list, select one body at a time and apply proprties
for ( var l = 0; l < iNumSelected; l++ )
{
SM.Clear();
SM.AddToSelection(aPartIds[l], aTopoIds[l], false );
// Go the selected Body in Tree
oScript.doGoToCorrespondingParts();
//var item = oScript.tv.FirstSelectedItem;
oScript.tv.SelectedItem.Tag.MaterialName = BodyMat[index]; // Apply Material
// Apply Behavior
ListView.ActivateItem("Behavior");
ListView.ItemValue = "" + BodyType[index];
// Apply Thickness
if (BodyType[index] == "Plane Stress") {
ListView.ActivateItem("Thickness");
ListView.ItemValue = "" + BodyThick[index];
}
}
DS.Script.fillTree();
}

Originally Posted by Kapi

First place I will look is "help section" in Ansys!
they have explained it with small example, try that and see if it will help you in some way

Also look into scripting guide in help section as to how you can bring excel and Ansys together.
If you dont understand anything please ask!

[Kapi]

But I still wonder will that make the operation quicker?

what are you comparing it against? manually feeding thickness in 10,000 bodies?
HELL YEA!

Will it be straightforward to modify this script a little bit and achive my goal?

Looks close enough to help you atleast start what you want. Go line by line and see how it works and then modify as per your need.
Use "Debugger" in this script and see what each line is doing.

u r on the right path!

Cheers
KAPI

[huisky]

Thanks for your comments. However, things are not so easy, especially when the API documents are rare for DM scripting.

Originally Posted by Kapi

what are you comparing it against? manually feeding thickness in 10,000 bodies?
HELL YEA!


Looks close enough to help you atleast start what you want. Go line by line and see how it works and then modify as per your need.
Use "Debugger" in this script and see what each line is doing.

u r on the right path!

Cheers
KAPI

[Kapi]

can you take a pic of DM on how you are doing it and what functions you are using in DM? I can have a look and give you suggestions!

I know its very frustrating cuz of hardly any documentation but thats how it is!
On the other hand thats why its makes scripting more fun (not when you are in hurry for answers)

Happy scripting!

Cheers
KAPI

[huisky]

yes, thanks in advance.
Here is the illustration of my procedure.

Originally Posted by Kapi

can you take a pic of DM on how you are doing it and what functions you are using in DM? I can have a look and give you suggestions!

I know its very frustrating cuz of hardly any documentation but thats how it is!
On the other hand thats why its makes scripting more fun (not when you are in hurry for answers)

Happy scripting!

Cheers
KAPI

[Kapi]

Alrighty, so what are things we need to do to arrive to your answer!
Steps:
1. Create geometry
2. Select Body in the list below one by one
3. Connect excel with WB
4. Transfer Names of body to excel
5. Extract thickness from name, make another column for thickness
6. Revert back to same body name
7. Rename the body or keep the same name
8. Pick thickness with body name from excel
9. Close Excel

So we gotta work on these steps one by one.
- First up, are your using scripting to import your geometry?
- Do you need to apply any other functions on this geometry?
- Which format are you importing geometry in?
- How are you naming each body?
- Any changes you need to do after import?

Hope this will give u path thru to work on!
I normally connect my mesh with excel and work thru but excel with DM is similar!

KAPI

[huisky]

Thanks very much for your reply. Here are my comments:

1. I'm importing my geometry manually by click 'import' from DM;
2. Nope. Assign thickness is the only action that i want to do within DM;
3. The geometry was imported from .stp file;
4. The body names are shown as the picture. Only the last 3-4 characters are meaningful, T, stiffener, F, flat bar, PL, plate;
5. After importing, normally I will do a 'analysis' to the geometry quality via DM, but this is not required. What I need is only for assigning thickness to each body.

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by Kapi

Alrighty, so what are things we need to do to arrive to your answer!
Steps:
1. Create geometry
2. Select Body in the list below one by one
3. Connect excel with WB
4. Transfer Names of body to excel
5. Extract thickness from name, make another column for thickness
6. Revert back to same body name
7. Rename the body or keep the same name
8. Pick thickness with body name from excel
9. Close Excel

So we gotta work on these steps one by one.
- First up, are your using scripting to import your geometry?
- Do you need to apply any other functions on this geometry?
- Which format are you importing geometry in?
- How are you naming each body?
- Any changes you need to do after import?

Hope this will give u path thru to work on!
I normally connect my mesh with excel and work thru but excel with DM is similar!

KAPI

[Kapi]

you can use the code you posted before to start.
Just change excel file name, body name and other things!
this way you know where you are having error and eradicate it and keep moving!

Sorry just dont have enough time to write code for you, pretty busy with work these day!