Module 11

Macro Basics

11. Macro Basics

Training Manual

One of the most powerful features of APDL (ANSYS

Parametric Design Language) is the ability to create macros.

A macro is a sequence of ANSYS commands stored in a file

and executed just like a regular command.

Some useful macro capabilities:

It can have arguments as in a standard ANSYS command.
Branching and looping to control the sequence of commands.
Interactive features such as graphical picking, prompting, and
dialog boxes.
Nested macros one macro calling a second one
one, which in turn
calls a third one, etc. up to 20 levels deep.

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...Macro Basics

In this chapter, we will present the basics of macro writing:

A. Creating a Macro
B. Macro with Arguments
C. Branching
D. Looping
E. General Guidelines
F. Workshop
p

For more details, please refer to your APDL Programmers

Guide or the Programming in ANSYS seminar notes.

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Macro Basics

A. Creating
g a Macro
To create a macro, simply start a text editor, insert the
desired sequence of commands, and save them to a file
called name.mac.
name can be up to 32 characters, starting with a letter.
Spaces
p
are not allowed in the name.
Also avoid special characters.

Make sure that name is not a valid ANSYS command by

typing
typ
g in name
a e at Begin
eg level
e e a
and
d in a
all p
processors
ocesso s ((PREP7,,
POST1, etc.). If you get the message not a recognized
command or macro then the name is safe.
Extension .mac allows y
you to execute the macro as if it were a
command by simply typing in name.

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Macro Basics

...Creating
g a Macro
Example:
A macro totvolume.mac to calculate the total volume of all
elements:
esel,all
etable,volume,volu
ssum
*get,totvol,ssum,,item,volume
*stat,totvol

! Select all elements

! Store volume in element table
! Sum element table items
! totvol = sum of volume
! List totvol value

Issue totvolume in POST1 (after a solve) to calculate the total

volume.

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Macro Basics

...Creating
g a Macro
Search Path:
ANSYS will execute the first name.mac file it finds in the
following search sequence:
1. The /ansys_inc/v90/ansys/apdl directory.

2. The directory (or directories) designated by the

ANSYS_MACROLIB environment variable (if defined) or the
login (home) directory.
3. The directory designated by the $HOME environment
variable.
4. The working directory.
If the search finds both upper-case
pp
and lower-case files of the
same name, the upper-case file is used.

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Macro Basics

B. Macro with Arguments

g

By using special parameter names, you can create a macro

with up to 19 arguments:
NAME, arg1, arg2, arg3, , ar10, ar11, ar12, , ar19

The arguments behave just like the fields on a standard

ANSYS command and can accept:
numbers
alphanumeric characters (enclosed in single quotes)
parameters (scalar or array)
parametric expressions

The meaning off the arguments depends on how you want to

design the macro.

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Macro Basics

...Macro with Arguments

g

For example, we could design totvolume.mac to calculate the

total volume for all elements of a specified type:
TOTVOLUME, TYPE

The macro would then look like this:

esel,s,type,,arg1
! Select elements of specified type
etable,volume,volu
! Store volume in element table
ssum
! Sum element table items
*get totvol ssum item volume
*get,totvol,ssum,,item,volume
! totvol = sum of volume
volume
*vwrite,arg1,totvol
! Write out arg1 and totvol
(Total volume for type , F4.0, elements = , F8.2)

Issuing totvolume,1 in POST1 after a solution will then result in:

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Macro Basics

...Macro with Arguments

g
Notes:

The special parameter names ARG1-ARG9 and AR10-AR99 are

local parameters valid only within a macro.
They hold no meaning once the macro has finished execution
and control is returned to main ANSYS.
Avoid
A oid using
sing these names else
elsewhere
here in the model
model.
Whenever you use arguments, be sure to describe their meaning
by including comments in the macro.
For example,
example the following comments at the beginning of
totvolume.mac would be helpful.
! Macro TOTVOLUME.MAC to calculate total volume of elements
! Usage: TOTVOLUME, TYPE - valid only in POST1 after a solve
! TYPE = valid element type number
esel,s,type,,arg1
! Select elements of specified type

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Macro Basics

C. Branching
g

Training Manual

By using an IF-THEN-ELSE construct, you can execute a command

or block of commands only if certain conditions are met.

Additional comparison operation are available for

f the *IF
* and
*ELSEIF commands with AND, OR, or XOR options.

*IF,A,EQ,B,AND,C,GT,D,THEN

Branching
B
hi begins
b i with
i h *IF and
d ends
d with
i h *ENDIF.
*ENDIF *ELSEIF and
d
*ELSE are also allowed in between:
*if, x, eq, y, then
TTT
TTT
*elseif, x, eq, z, then
TTT
TTT
*else
TTT
TTT
*endif

*IF constructs can be nested up to twenty levels

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Macro Basics

...Branching
g

Training Manual

The condition can be:

x, EQ, y

!x=y

x NE
x,
NE, y

!xy

x, LT, y

!x<y

x, GT, y

The action can be:

THEN

to execute the
subsequent block of
commands

!x>y

*EXIT

to exit a do-loop

x LE,
x,
LE y

!xy

x, GE, y

!xy

*CYCLE to skip
p to the end of a
do-loop

x, ABLT, y

! |x| < |y|

x, ABGT, y

! |x| > |y|

x and y can be numbers,

parameters, or parametric
expressions.

The action takes place only if

the condition is true.
Otherwise, ANSYS will move
on to *ELSEIF (if present),
*ELSE (if present), and *ENDIF.

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*if, x, eq, y, then

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Macro Basics

...Branching
g

For example, you can add an if-test to totvolume.mac to test

for valid values of the input argument:
*if,arg1,lt,1,then
! If arg1 < 1
*msg,warn
! Issue a warning...
Element type number must be 1 or greater
/eof
! and exit the macro
*endif
esel,s,type,,arg1
! Select elements of specified type
etable,volume,volu
! Store volume in element table
ssum
! Sum
S
element
l
t table
t bl items
it
...

Issuing totvolume,-1 will now result in:

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Macro Basics

D. Looping
g

Training Manual

Do-loops allow you to loop through a block of commands

several times.

There is virtually no limit to what you can include in an

ANSYS do-loop. You can loop through an entire analysis
session including preprocessing,
preprocessing solution
solution, and
postprocessing if the situation warrants it.

*DO or *DOWHILE begins a loop, *ENDDO ends it.

You can control the looping using *EXIT, which exits the doloop, and *CYCLE, which skips to the end of the do-loop.
Exit and cycle can also be done as a result of an if-test.

As an example, we can extend the totvolume.mac macro to

loop through all element types in the model and store the
volume for each type in an array parameter.

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Macro Basics

...Looping
g

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! -- Macro TOTVOLUME.MAC to calculate total element volume.

! -- Usage: Issue TOTVOLUME in POST1 after a solution.
! -- Result:
! -- a) evolume(i) = total volume for element type i
! -- b) totvol = grand total volume
!
*get,numtypes,etype,,num,count ! Get number of element types
*dim,evolume,array,numtypes
! Open a numtypes x 1 array
*do,i,1,numtypes
! For i = 1 - numtypes...
esel s type i
esel,s,type,,i
! Select elements of type i
etable,volume,volu
! Store volume in element table
ssum
! Sum element table items
*get,totvol,ssum,,item,volume ! totvol = sum of volume
evolume(i)
l
(i) = ttotvol
t l
! Store
St
totvol
t t l in
i evolume(i)
l
(i)
*enddo
! End of do-loop
*vscfun,totvol,sum,evolume(i)
! totvol = grand total volume
esel,all
! Activate full set of elements

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Macro Basics

E. General Guidelines

Training Manual

Start with small, simple macros.

As you create the macro

macro, you can cut and paste the
commands into the ANSYS Input window one line at a time to
test that the command sequence is correct.

To test your macros up to a point, place a /EOF at the point

where you want the macro to stop, then type in the next
command in the Input window to see if it works.

Use comments to describe the intent or expected outcome of

commands.

Pl
Place
your personal
l macros iin your llogin
i directory.
di
t

Place company-wide macros in a directory that everyone can

access,, and include that directory
y in ANSYS_MACROLIB
_
environment variable.

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Macro Basics

F. Workshop
This workshop consists of the following problem:
W11. Verifying Pressures

Please refer to your Workshop Supplement for instructions.

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