Chapter4:UsingTCLtoControltheHyperMeshSessionIntroductiontoHyperMesh14.0CustomizationUsingTCLtoControltheHyperMeshSession-OverviewTopicsPresented:TCLGUICommandsandTCLQueryCommandsBasicHyperMeshInputWidgetsCommonHyperMeshTCLCommandsUsingtheCommandWindowExample:UsingtheCommandWindowProcesstoCreateaTCLHyperMeshmacroExample:AutomateCreatingForceswithaUserSpecifiedMagnitudeUsingTCLtoControltheHyperMeshSession-OverviewThemacrosthathavebeencreatedthusfarareverypowerfulintheirautomationofrepetitivetasks.However,therearelimitations.TheTCLscriptinglanguagecanbeutilizedtoprovidesupportformoreadvancedtasks.Usingthepreviousexample,TCLcouldbeusedtorequestanamefortheloadcollectorfromtheuserandusethatinformationtotelltheHyperMeshsessiontocreatealoadcollectorwiththeuserprovidedname.TCLGUICommandsandTCLQueryCommandsHyperMeshTCLGUIcommandsmakechanges/updatesintheHyperMeshGUIHyperMeshTCLQueryCommandsquerytheHyperMeshdatabaseforinformation.Thesecommandshavetheprefix“hm_”.WewillgoovertwobasicHyperMeshinputwidgetsandatableofcommoncommands.BasicHyperMeshInputWidgetshm_getstringpassesastringvalueenteredbytheuser:hm_getstring?option??message?hm_getstring“Loadcollectorname”

“Enteranamefortheloadcollector”ThiscommandcanbeusedwiththesetTCLcommandtoassignthestringenteredinthepaneltoavariable:setloadname[hm_getstring“Loadcollectorname”

“Enternameforloadcollector”]BasicHyperMeshInputWidgetshm_getint

and

hm_getfloatpassesvaluesenteredbytheuser.hm_getintreturnsauserinputintegervalue.hm_getfloatreturnsauserinputfloatingpointvalue.Boththesecommandshavethesameoptionsasthehm_getstringcommand. setforce[hm_getfloat“Force”

“Enterforcevalue”]UsingtheCommandWindowAninteractiveCommandWindowisprovidedandcanbeaccessthroughtheViewmenu.ThislaunchestheTkConsole(TkCon)whichisaninteractiveconsolewhichcomeswithTk.IntheCommandWindow,userscanevaluateanycommandthatcanbeissuedinTCLorinHyperMeshthroughTCL.Suchasls,pwd,andcdcanbeusedwithintheCommandWindow.UsingtheCommandWindowGeneralTCLandHyperMeshspecificTCLcommandscanalsobeentered.Forexample,let’susetheHyperMeshspecificTCLcommandhm_infowiththefollowingoptions: hm_info–appinfoSPECIFIEDPATHTEMPLATES_DIRThisreturnsthecurrenttemplatedirectory.UsingtheCommandWindowprovidestheautomationtooldeveloperaneasymeansoftestingaconceptbeforewritingthefullprocedure.IntheCommandWindowyoucan…EvaluateanycommandthatcanbeissuedtoTclortoHyperMeshthroughTclRunscriptsusingthesourcecommand,i.e.sourcetest.tcl,or,runscriptsusingtheFile>>LoadmenuoptionSavethesession’scommandhistoryusingtheFile>>SavemenuoptionExercise4.1:UsingtheCommandWindow–pg33ThepurposeofthisexampleistobecomefamiliarwithusingtheCommandWindowfordevelopinginTCL.HyperMeshTCLandcoreTCLcommandswillbeusedintheCommandWindowtodeterminethenumberofelementsinacomponentcollectorforapre-definedHyperMeshmodel.Thefollowingcommandsareusedinthisexercise:ModifiedHyperMeshcommands: *createmarkHyperMeshTclcommandshm_infohm_getmarkCoreTclcommandslistllengthsetsourceExercise4.2:AutomateCreatingForceswithaUserSpecifiedMagnitude–pg36Inthisexample,wewillgothroughthegeneralprocessforcreatingHyperMeshTCLscripts.Thescriptwillautomatethecreatingofforceswithauserdefinedmagnitude.Thefollowingcommandsareusedinthisexample:ModifiedandaddedHyperMeshcommands:*createmark*clearmarkHyperMeshTCLcommands:hm_getfloatCoreTCLcommands:setPracticalExercises–pg40Exercise4aDescription

CreateaHyperMeshTCLscripttoautomatethefollowingtaskCreateacomponentcollectorwithauserspecifiednameSelectelementsandmovethoseelementsintothenewcomponentcollector.Translatetheelementsinthenewcomponentcollectorauserspecifieddistanceinthezdirection.HyperMeshcommandsused hm_getstring *collectorcreateonly *createmarkpanel *movemark *clearmark *createvector hm_getfloat *translatemarkTCL/TKcommandsused

set

Hints BesuretodothestepsinHyperMeshandthenextracttheappropriatecommandsfromthecommand.cmffile.Modifythecommandsasnecessaryandbesuretoclearthemarkwhenneeded.PracticalExercisesExercise4bDescription ForeachelementinaHyperMeshmodel,buildalistwherethecontentsofthelistareasfollows ELEMID{NODE1NODE2…} Theselistsshouldthenbeincludedinalistoflists: {{ELEMID1{NODE1NODE2…}{ELEMID2{NODE1NODE2…}…HyperMeshcommandsused

*createmark hm_getmark hm_nodelist

TCL/TKcommandsused

for foreach list la