1 An overview of the Abaqus Scripting User's Guide

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1. An overview of the Abaqus Scripting User's Guide

The Abaqus Scripting User's Guide takes you through the process of understanding the Python
programming language and the Abaqus Scripting Interface so that you can write your own programs. It also
describes how you use the Abaqus Scripting Interface and the C++ application programming interface
(API) to access an Abaqus output database. The guide consists of the following sections:
An introduction to the Abaqus Scripting Interface
This section provides an overview of the Abaqus Scripting Interface and describes how
Abaqus/CAE executes scripts.
Simple examples
Two simple examples are provided to introduce you to programming with the Abaqus Scripting
Interface.
Creating a part.
Reading from an output database.
An introduction to Python
This section is intended as a basic introduction to the Python programming language and is not an
exhaustive description of the language. There are several books on the market that describe
Python, and these books are listed as references. Additional resources, such as Python-related
sites, are also listed.
Using Python and the Abaqus Scripting Interface
This section describes the Abaqus Scripting Interface in more detail. The documentation style
used in the command reference is explained, and important Abaqus Scripting Interface concepts
such as data types and error handling are introduced.
Using the Abaqus Scripting Interface with Abaqus/CAE
This section describes how you use the Abaqus Scripting Interface to control Abaqus/CAE models
and analysis jobs. The Abaqus object model is introduced, along with techniques for specifying a
region and reading messages from an analysis product (Abaqus/Standard, Abaqus/Explicit, or
Abaqus/CFD). You can skip this section of the guide if you are not working with Abaqus/CAE.
Example scripts
This section provides a set of example scripts that lead you through the cantilever beam tutorial
found in Appendix B, Creating and Analyzing a Simple Model in Abaqus/CAE, of Getting
Started with Abaqus: Interactive Edition. Additional examples are provided that read from an
output database, display a contour plot, and print a contour plot from each step of the analysis.
The final example illustrates how you can read from a model database created by Abaqus/CAE,
parameterize the model, submit a set of analysis jobs, and generate results from the resulting
output databases.
Using the Abaqus Scripting Interface to access an output database

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When you execute an analysis job, Abaqus/Standard, Abaqus/Explicit, and Abaqus/CFD store the
results of the analysis in an output database (.odb file) that can be viewed in the Visualization
module of Abaqus/CAE or in Abaqus/Viewer. This section describes how you use the Abaqus
Scripting Interface to access the data stored in an output database.
You can do the following with the Abaqus Scripting Interface:
Read model data describing the geometry of the parts and the assembly; for example, nodal
coordinates, element connectivity, and element type and shape.
Read model data describing the sections and materials and where they are used in an
assembly.
Read field output data from selected steps, frames, and regions.
Read history output data.
Operate on field output and history output data.
Write model data, field output data, and history data to an existing output database or to a
new output database.
Using C++ to access an output database
This section describes how you use the C++ language to access an application programming
interface (API) to the data stored in an output database. The functionality of the C++ API is
identical to the Abaqus Scripting Interface API; however, the interactive nature of the Abaqus
Scripting Interface and its integration with Abaqus/CAE makes it easier to use and program. The
C++ interface is aimed at experienced C++ programmers who want to bypass the Abaqus
Scripting Interface for performance considerations. The C++ API offers faster access to the output
database, although this is a consideration only if you need to access large amounts of data.

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