[m_ridzon]

Sorry, novice question here...
I built a small model in v18.2 Fluent within Workbench. How do I export the CAS and DAT files from the Fluent session to share with a colleague? I see Export options under the File menu, but the UI seems clunky/broken and won't let me navigate to a new directory and if I instead just hit OK, it thinks I'm trying to overwrite the existing files in the Workbench directory.

I can't imagine such a simple task would be this hard.

Thanks in advance!
M Ridzon

[Tarantino]

Hi!
did you find any solution to this?

[m_ridzon]

Originally Posted by Tarantino

Hi!
did you find any solution to this?

Yes, but not to any credit of this forum. This forum is quite dead in terms of prompt, usable feedback folks can receive, which is quite unfortunate. I'm still a novice, but not as much as I was when the post was made. As such, I've learned a few things between then and now, to include the answer to this question. And as I suspected, the answer was trivial. I assume dozens of more experienced users here would have been able to easily answer the question, but never took the time to do so. I learned that you can merely choose File > Export > Case & Data to save out the files so they can be shared with a colleague. The GUI is a little clunky though and you need to manually key in a browser location to save the files to, since the GUI doesn't auto-update as you browse therein. It will save out "unzipped" case and data files; i.e., the file extension will be *.cas and *.dat, as opposed to the usual zipped formats, *.cas.gz and *.dat.gz. That tiny detail doesn't really matter though, in terms of what I wanted to accomplish. Alternatively, I learned that you can merely go to the Workbench directory (\\dp0\FFF\Fluent) to manually copy/paste the case and data files.

As obvious as the solution sounds, the answer was not known to me, and so that's why I thought this forum would be helpful to learn. Sadly, I was wrong though. To my delight though, I eventually figured it out on my own.

[LuckyTran]

Probably because you asked a question about Workbench in the Fluent forum where more users use Fluent exclusively outside of the workbench environment. Because how to write a .cas and .dat file is as trivial as opening the same .cas and .dat file (if you're only using Fluent). Btw the usual format is .cas and .dat (not gnuzipepd). If you know these things already. If you're at the level that you are writing gnuzipped files, it's really odd that you don't know how to write a .cas & .dat file. Looking back, I think it's better than you spent the time in Workbench/Fluent to learn it on your own.


Also this is not a support/service Forum on Ansys or any software. You should be expressing your discontent on the Ansys customer support website if these are your feelings. Here your mileage will vary as we do not have service guarantees here, only (sometimes) goodwill.

[m_ridzon]

Originally Posted by LuckyTran

Probably because you asked a question about Workbench in the Fluent forum where more users use Fluent exclusively outside of the workbench environment.

There's no reason to think my inquiry was invalid because of using Fluent within WB. Nowhere in the forum, is there a disclaimer stating such and it's preposterous to think of such. It's an ANSYS tool that has been integrated into WB, giving every reason to believe it could be used within WB. In my experience thus far, Fluent functions fine within WB. I started my Fluent journey blindly, not knowing anything but to open WB and insert a Fluent system. And so far, I've had good luck. However, I have run into countless people who scorn Fluent's alleged dysfunctionalities when operated within WB. Perhaps me coming in blindly was to my benefit, because I have an open mind about how it can be used in various ways, outside of the mainstream.

Originally Posted by LuckyTran

Btw the usual format is .cas and .dat (not gnuzipepd). If you know these things already. If you're at the level that you are writing gnuzipped files, it's really odd that you don't know how to write a .cas & .dat file.

This is not so within WB. WB zips them to *.gz format by default. So it's not as if I willingly zipped them, demonstrating advanced user understanding of the tool. And in my opinion, it's probably more sensible to zip them because it helps manage disk spacing.

Originally Posted by LuckyTran

Looking back, I think it's better than you spent the time in Workbench/Fluent to learn it on your own.

I agree completely. Experience on one's own is a great teacher. But a little outside help always greases the wheels a little better.

Originally Posted by LuckyTran

Also this is not a support/service Forum on Ansys or any software. You should be expressing your discontent on the Ansys customer support website if these are your feelings. Here your mileage will vary as we do not have service guarantees here, only (sometimes) goodwill.

I was not seeking service. I was asking a usage question and again, I saw no disclaimers on the forum stating the specificity of approved inquires that are allowed. And my discontent was toward the lack of response I received from the user base here on the forum, not at the ANSYS tool. Yes, I noted a clunky export GUI, but that was not my focus of the statements and I stated that it was easily worked around. Goodwill (sometimes)? Why not all the time? I think users here should have more goodwill. This will lead to better vibes in the community, driving usage, innovation, research, and enjoyment higher around the tool, Fluent. It's a complicated tool and much of the knowledge can be shared by the more experienced users onto the newer users, thus propagating the life of the tool into the future. Because if all of the experienced users are unwilling to share goodwill and reach out for the benefit of new folks, eventually the tool itself, that we all want to use and enjoy, will die.

[LuckyTran]

I'm simply telling you that this particular sub-forum predates Ansys and Ansys workbench. Asking a workbench question in the Ansys section would have probably gotten you a better response. And asking the question in Ansys customer support definitely would have gotten you a better response since there you are entitled to an answer. A lot of users here only use Fluent and have never used workbench and probably never will ever use workbench.

It's also really hard to answer an odd inquiry. All the time there are questions of how to read a data file that was previously saved. Just do it is not a helpful response... Answering with just do it normally gets the person trying to help flamed. Not answering, gets complaints that they're not answering (which you just aptly proved). So to summarize, don't be salty that your question went unanswered and diss the same community that you wish could have done you better.