Ba sics of ANSYS Ma cr os

By: Da vid H a ber m a n

Oct ober 13, 2000

ANSYS Ma cr os
Ou t lin e

Cr ea t in g Ma cr os in ANSYS
Ru n n in g Ma cr os
E dit in g Ma cr os wit h a Text E dit or
P a ssin g P a r a m et er s t o Ma cr os
In t er a ct in g wit h Ma cr os (*a sk)
Set t in g u p a Ma r cos Dir ect or y (m a cr o sea r ch pa t h )
Ot h er Ma cr o t opics n ot discu ssed in t h e Sem in a r

October 13, 2000

CSI ANSYS Tip of the Week

ANSYS Ma cr os
Cr ea t in g Ma cr os in ANSYS
Th e followin g a r e t h e Ru les t o cr ea t in g a n ANSYS Ma cr o
Th e file n a m e ca nn ot exceed 32 ch a r a ct er s.
Th e file n a m e ca nn ot begin wit h a nu m er a l.
Th e file ext en sion ca n n ot con t a in m or e t h a n eight cha r a ct er s (if you a r e
execu t in g t h e m a cr o a s if it wer e a n ANSYS com m a n d it sh ou ld h a ve t h e
ext en sion .m a c.)
Th e file n a m e or ext ension ca n n ot con t a in spa ces.
Th e file n a m e or ext ension ca n n ot con t a in a n y ch a r a ct er s pr oh ibit ed by you r
file syst em a n d for por t a bilit y sh ould n ot cont a in a n d ch a r a ct er s pr oh ibit ed by
eit her UNIX or Win dows file syst em s.

October 13, 2000

CSI ANSYS Tip of the Week

ANSYS Ma cr os
Cr ea t in g Ma cr os in ANSYS
Ut ilit y Men u > P lot Ct r ls> Win dow Con t r ols> Win dow Opt ion s
The ANSYS commands which will
drive the macro need to be known. If
the commands are unknown issuing the
appropriate commands will create a log
file with the necessary commands.

October 13, 2000

CSI ANSYS Tip of the Week

ANSYS Ma cr os
Cr ea t in g Ma cr os in ANSYS
Ut ilit y Men u > Ma cr os> Cr ea t e Ma cr o
Using the .log file a macro is created. Be
sure to use the extension mac.

October 13, 2000

CSI ANSYS Tip of the Week

ANSYS Ma cr os
If on e is n ot fa m ilia r wit h t h e ANSYS com m a n ds:
Th e log file m a y be con fu sin g wit h a ll t h e r ecor ded
com m a n ds, a n d it m a y be difficu lt t o det er m in e wh a t a r e
t h e n ecessa r y com m a n ds t o per for m t h e desir ed oper a t ion
On e ca n per for m t h e followin g st eps t o m a ke t h e log file
m or e r ea da ble
Type in t h e In pu t Win dow ! Begin ch a n gin g win dow
opt ion s wh er e ! t ells ANSYS t h is is a com m en t , r ecor ded
in t h e log file
P er for m t h e desir ed a ct ion , su ch a s ch a n gin g win dow
opt ion s a s sh own in t h e pr eviou s slide
Type in t h e In pu t Win dow ! E n d ch a n gin g win dow opt ion s
E ver yt h in g in bet ween t h e com m en t s in you r log file a r e t h e
com m a n ds n ecessa r y t o cr ea t e you r m a cr o.
October 13, 2000

CSI ANSYS Tip of the Week

ANSYS Ma cr os (con t .)
E xa m ple u sa ge fr om pr eviou s slide:
These are the commands required to change window options via menu picks.

October 13, 2000

CSI ANSYS Tip of the Week

ANSYS Ma cr os
Ru n n in g Ma cr os
To r u n t h e m a cr o t ype t h e filen a m e in t h e ANSYS In pu t
win dow. Not e t h e file doplot .m a c m u st be in t h e ANSYS wor kin g
dir ect or y.
La t er you will be sh own h ow t o set -u p a dir ect or y of m a cr os,
su ch t h a t a u ser ca n be in a n y dir ect or y a n d r u n a n y on e of t h eir
m a cr os.

October 13, 2000

CSI ANSYS Tip of the Week

ANSYS Ma cr os
E dit in g Ma cr os wit h a Text E dit or
Usin g a t ext edit or (n ot epa d or vi) a u ser ca n m odify a m a cr o, by
a ddin g, su bt r a ct in g, or com m en t t o t h e m a cr o.

October 13, 2000

CSI ANSYS Tip of the Week

ANSYS Ma cr os
P a ssin g P a r a m et er s t o Ma cr os
Modify t h e m a cr o t o h a ve a r g1-a r 19 for pa ssin g loca l pa r a m et er s
t o t h e m a cr o. On ce t h e file is m odified be su r e t o sa ve it .

To run the macros type in the filename

followed by the values you would like
passed to the macro

October 13, 2000

CSI ANSYS Tip of the Week

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ANSYS Ma cr os
In t er a ct in g wit h Ma cr os (*a sk)
*ASK, P a r , Qu er y, DVAL P r om pt s t h e u ser t o in pu t a
pa r a m et er va lu e.
P a r : An a lpha n u m er ic n a m e u sed t o ident ify t h e sca la r pa r a m et er . See *SE T
for n a m e r est r ict ion s.
Quer y: Text st r ing t o be displa yed on t h e n ext lin e a s t h e quer y (32 cha r a ct er s
m a xim u m ). Ch a r a ct er s h a ving specia l m ea n in g (su ch a s $ ! ,) sh ou ld n ot be
in clu ded.
DVAL:Defa u lt va lu e a ssign ed t o t he pa r a m et er if t h e user issu es a bla n k
r esponse. Ma y be a n u m ber or ch a r a ct er st r ing (u p t o 8 ch a r a ct er s en closed in
single quot es). If a defa u lt is n ot a ssigned, a bla n k r espon se will delet e t h e
pa r a m et er .

October 13, 2000

CSI ANSYS Tip of the Week

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ANSYS Ma cr os
In t er a ct in g wit h Ma cr os (*a sk) con t in u ed
Not es
In t en ded pr im a r ily for u se in m a cr os, t h e com m a nd pr int s t he quer y (a ft er t he
wor d E NTE R) on t h e next lin e a n d wa it s for a r espon se. Th e r espon se is r ea d
fr om t h e keyboa r d, except in ba t ch m ode [/BATCH ], wh en t he r esponse(s)
m u st be t h e n ext -r ea d in pu t line(s). Th e r espon se m a y be a n u m ber , a
ch a r a ct er st r in g (up t o 8 ch a r a ct er s en closed in sin gle qu ot es), a pa r a m et er
(nu m er ic or ch a r a ct er ) or a n expr ession t h a t eva lua t es t o a n u m ber . Th e
sca la r pa r a m et er is t h en set t o t h e r espon se va lu e. F or exa m ple,
*ASK,NN,P ARAME TE R NN will set NN t o t he va lue en t er ed on t h e next lin e
(a ft er t h e pr om pt E NTE R P ARAME TE R NN).
Th e *ASK com m a nd is n ot wr it t en t o F ile.LOG, bu t t h e r espon ses a r e wr it t en
t h er e a s follows: If *ASK is con t a ined in a m a cr o, t h e r espon se(s) (on ly) is
wr it t en t o F ile.LOG on t h e lin e(s) followin g t h e m a cr o n a m e. If n ot con t a in ed
in a m a cr o, t h e r espon se is wr it t en t o F ile.LOG a s a pa r a m et er a ssignm en t
(i.e., P a r = "user -r espon se").
If u sed wit h in a do-loop t h a t is execu t ed in t er a ct ively, *ASK sh ou ld be
con t a in ed in a m a cr o. If n ot con t a in ed in a m a cr o, *ASK will st ill qu er y t h e
u ser a s in t en ded, bu t t h e r esu lt in g log file will n ot r epr odu ce t h e effect s of t h e
or igin a l r u n .
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CSI ANSYS Tip of the Week

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ANSYS Ma cr os
In t er a ct in g wit h Ma cr os (*a sk) con t in u ed
To use the *ask the user is required to modify the
macro by adding the *ask and changing the local
parameters to scalar parameters. The modification
is done using a text editor, in this example
notepad was used.

October 13, 2000

CSI ANSYS Tip of the Week

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ANSYS Ma cr os
Set t in g u p a Ma cr os Dir ect or y (m a cr o sea r ch pa t h )
By defa u lt , ANSYS sea r ch es for a u ser m a cr o file (.m a c
ext en sion ) in t h e followin g loca t ion s:
1.Th e ANSYSn n /docu dir ect or y.
2.Th e dir ect or y (or dir ect or ies) design a t ed by t h e ANSYS_MACROLIB
en vir onm en t va r ia ble (if defined) or t h e login (hom e) dir ect or y. Th is
en vir onm en t va r ia ble is docu m en t ed in t h e ANSYS in st a lla t ion a n d
con figu r a t ion guide for you r pla t for m .
3.Th e dir ect or y design a t ed by /P SE ARCH com m a nd (if defin ed). Th is
dir ect or y is sea r ch ed befor e t h e login dir ect or y, bu t a ft er t he dir ect or y
design a t ed by t h e ANSYS_MACROLIB en vir on m en t va r ia ble.
4.Th e cur r en t dir ect or y.

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CSI ANSYS Tip of the Week

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ANSYS Ma cr os
Set t in g u p a Ma r cos Dir ect or y (m a cr o sea r ch pa t h )
(con t in u ed)
Not es
You ca n pla ce m a cr os for you r per sona l u se in you r h om e dir ect or y. Ma cr os
t h a t shou ld be a va ila ble a cr oss your sit e sh ou ld be pla ced in t h e
ANSYS56/docu dir ect or y or som e com m on ly a ccessible dir ect or y t h a t ever yone
ca n r efer ence t h r ou gh t h e ANSYS_MACROLIB en vir on m en t va r ia ble.
F or Win dows NT u ser s: Th e "cu r r en t dir ect or y" is t h e defa u lt dir ect or y
(usua lly a net wor k r esour ce) set by a dm inist r a t or s a n d you sh ou ld a sk you r
n et wor k a dm in ist r a t or for it s loca t ion. You ca n use en vir on m en t va r ia bles t o
cr ea t e a loca l "h om e dir ect or y." Th e loca l h om e dir ect or y is checked a ft er t h e
defa u lt dir ect or y design a t ed in you r dom a in pr ofile.
Th e ANSYS_MACROLIB envir on m en t va r ia ble ca n con t a in m u lt iple
dir ect or ies. Th is is usefu l if you h a ve com pa ny-wide m a cr os a s well a s your
own per son a l m a cr os. Anot her sit ua t ion is wh en you h a ve differ en t
dir ect or ies t o or ga n ize/differ en t ia t e t h e m a cr o fu nct ion a lit y. Use a colon : a s
a delim it er on UNIX, a n d u se a sem icolon ; on Win dows a s t h e dir ect or y
delim it er .
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ANSYS Ma cr os
Ot h er Ma cr o Topics n ot Discu ssed in t h e Sem in a r

/TE E com m a n d
Ca ll su br ou t in es (n est ed m a cr os).
*MSG com m a n d (cr ea t in g m essa ges in m a cr os)
Mu lt ipr o
/UIS
St a t u s Ba r s
P ickin g wit h in a Ma r co
Ca llin g Dia log Boxes wit h in a Ma cr o
E n cr ypt in g Ma cr os

October 13, 2000

CSI ANSYS Tip of the Week

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