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When GiD is to be used for a particular type of analysis, it is necessary to predefine all the information required from the user and to define the way the final information is given to the solver module. To do so, some files are used to describe conditions, materials, general data, units systems, symbols and the format of the input file for the solver. We call Problem Type to this this collection of files used to configure GiD for a particular type of analysis.

Note: You can also learn how to configure GiD for a particular type of analysis, following the Problem Type Tutorial; this tutorial is included with the GiD package you've bought. You can also download it from the GiD web page. (http://gid.cimne.upc.es/support)

Due to the vocation of GiD as general purpose pre and post processor, the configuration for the different analysis must be performed according to the particular specifications of every solver. This implies the necessity of creating specific data input files for every solver. However, GiD allows to perform this configuration process inside itself without any change in the solver and without having to program any independent utility.

To configure these files means to define the data that must be input by the user, as well as the materials to be implemented and other geometrical and time-dependent conditions. It is also possible to add some symbols or drawings to represent the defined conditions. GiD gives the oportunity of working whith units when defining the properties of the mentioned data, but there must be a configuration file where it could be found the definition of the units systems.It must be also defined the way that all this data must be written inside a file that will be the input file to be read by the corresponding solver.

The creation of a Problem Type implies the creation of a directory with the Problem's Type name and the extension .gid. This directory can be located in the current working directory or in the main GiD executable directory. The first case, the creation inside the current working directory, can be useful during the development of the project. Once it is finished, it can be advisable to move the directory to the one where GiD is stored; like this, your Problem Type will be added to those included in the system and it will appear in the GiD menu (see section Problem type). In both cases, the series of files must be inside the problem type directory. The name for most of them will be composed by the same problem type's name and an extension referring to their function. Considering problem_type_name to be the name of the Problem Type and project_name the name of the project, the diagram of the file configuration is the following:

• directory name: problem_type_name.gid

• directory location: c:\a\b\c\GiD_directory\problemtypes
  NOTE: In versions previous to 6.0 the problemtypes directory does not exist, so your problem type must reside in the GiD_directory. In versions later to 6.0 it's recommended to put your problem type inside the problemtypes directory.

• Configuration files
  • problem_type_name.cnd Conditions definitions
  • problem_type_name.mat Materials properties
  • problem_type_name.prb Problem and intervals data
  • problem_type_name.uni Units Systems
  • problem_type_name.sim Conditions symbols
  • ***.geo Symbols geometrical definitions
  • ***.geo Symbols geometrical definitions ...

• Template files
  • problem_type_name.bas Information for the data input file
  • ***.bas Information for additional files
  • ***.bas Information for additional files ...

• TCL extension files
  • problem_type_name.tcl Extensions to GiD written in the TCL-TK programming language

• Command execution files
  • problem_type_name.bat Operating system shell that executes the analysis process

Files problem_type_name.sim, ***.geo and ***.bas are not mandatory and can be added to facilitate the visualization (files problem_type_name.sim and ***.geo) or to prepare the data input for the restart in additional files (files ***.bas).

These files generate the conditions and material properties, as well as the proper general problem and intervals data to be transferred to the mesh, giving at the same time the chance to define geometrical drawings or symbols to represent some conditions on the screen.

The file with extension's name .cnd contains all the information about the conditions that can be applied to different entities. The condition can adopt different field values for every entity. This type of information includes, for instance, all the displacement constraints and applied loads in a structural problem or all the prescribed and initial temperatures in a thermical analysis.

An important characteristic of the conditions is that they must define over what kind of entity are going to be applied, i.e., over points, lines, surfaces, volumes or layers and over what kind of entity will be transferred, i.e., over nodes, over face elements or over body elements.

• over nodes means that the condition will be transferred to the nodes contained in the geometrical entity where condition is assigned.
• over face elements If this condition is applied to a line that is the boundary of a surface or to a surface that is the boundary of a volume, this condition is transferred to the higher elements, marking the affected face.
• over body elements If this condition is applied to lines, it will be transferred to line elements. If it is assigned to surfaces, it will be transferred to surface elements. If in volumes, to volume elements.

Note: For backwards compatibility, it is accepted the possibility over elements, that will transfer either to elements or to faces of higher level elements.

Another important feature is that all the conditions can be applied to different entities with different values for all the defined intervals of the problem.

Therefore, a condition can be considered as a group of fields containing the name of the referred condition, the geometric entity over which it is applied, the mesh entity over which it will be transferred, its corresponding properties and their values.

The format of the file is as follows:

NUMBER: condition_number CONDITION: condition_name
CONDTYPE: 'over' ('points', 'lines', 'surfaces', 'volumes', 'layer')
CONDMESHTYPE: 'over' ('nodes', 'face elems', 'body elements')
QUESTION: field_name['#CB#'(...,optional_value_i,...)]
VALUE: default_field_value
  ...
QUESTION: field_name['#CB#'(...,optional_value_i,...)]
VALUE: default_field_value
END CONDITION
NUMBER: condition_number CONDITION: condition_name
  ...
END CONDITION

Note: #CB# means Combo Box.

Note that this file format does not permit to put blank lines between the last line of a condition definition, END CONDITION, and the first one of the next condition definition.

Local Axes

QUESTION: field_name['#LA#'('global', 'automatic', 'automatic alternative')]
VALUE: default_field_value

This type of field makes reference to the local axes system to be used. The position of the values indicates the kind of local axes.

If it only has a single default value, this will be the name of the global axes. If two values are given, the second one will reference a system that will be automatically computed for every node and that will depend on the geometric constraints, like tangencies, orthogonalities, etc. If a third value is given, it will be the name of the automatic alternative axes, which are the automatic axes rotated 90 degrees.

All the different user defined systems will be added automatically to these default possibilities.

To enter only a specific kind of local axes it's possible to use the modifiers #G#,#A#,#L#.

• #G#: global axes
• #A#: automatic axes
• #L#: automatic alternative axes

When using these modifiers the position of the values doesn't indicate the kind of local axes.

Example

QUESTION: Local_Axes#LA#(Option automatic#A#,Option automatic_alt#L#)
VALUE: -Automatic-

NOTE: All the fields must be fulfilled with words, considering as a word a character string without any blank space amongst them. The strings signaled between quotes are literal and the ones inside brackets are optional. The interface is case-sensitive, so the uppercase letters must be maintained. Default_field_value and different optional_value_i can be alphanumeric, integers or reals. GiD treats them as alphanumeric until the moment that are written to the solver input files.

NOTE: The numbers of the conditions must be consecutive, beginning with number 1. There is no need to point out the overall number of conditions or the respective number of fields for each one. This last one can be variable for each condition.

One optional flag to add to a condition is:

CANREPEAT: yes

It is written after CONDMESHTYPE and means that user can assign one condition several times to the same entity.

Another type of field that can be included inside a condition is:

QUESTION: Surface_number#FUNC#(NumEntity)
VALUE: 0

Where the key #FUNC#, means that the value of this field will be calculated just when the mesh is generated. It can be considered a function that evaluates when meshing. In the example above, NumEntity is one of the possible variables of the function. It will be substituted by the label of the geometry entity from where the node or element is generated.

QUESTION: X_preass#FUNC#(Cond(3,REAL)*(x-Cond(1,REAL))/(Cond(2,REAL)-Cond(1,REAL)))
VALUE: 0

In this second example, x variable is used, which means the x-coordinate of the node or of the center of the element. Others fields of the condition can also be used in the function. Variables y and z give the y ans z-coordinate of this point.

NOTE: There are other available options to expand the capabilities of the conditions window. (see section Special fields)

Next is an example of a condition file creation, explained step by step:

1. First, you have to create the folder or directory where all the problem type files are located, problem_type_name.gid/ on this case.

2. Then create and edit the file (problem_type_name.cnd on this example) inside the recently created directory (where all your problem type files are located). As you can see, except for the extension, the name of the file and the directory are the same.

3. Create the first condition, which starts with the line

   NUMBER: 1 CONDITION: Point-Constraints 
   

   where the first number is used to index the condition. Each condition will be refered with one unique number (two conditions can not share the same number). The second parameter is the name of the condition. Again, a unique condition name into this condition file is required.

4. This first line is followed by the next pair:

   CONDTYPE: over points
   CONDMESHTYPE: over nodes
   

   which declare over what entity is going to be applied the condition. The first line, CONDTYPE:... refers to the geometry, and may take as parameters the sentences "over points", "over lines", "over surfaces" or "over volumes".

   The second line refers to the type of condition applied to the mesh, once generated. GiD does not force to provide this second parameter, but if it is present, the treatment and evaluation of the problem will be more acurate. The available parameters for this statement are "over nodes" and "over elements".

5. Then, you'll have to declare a set of questions and values applied to this condition.

   QUESTION: Local-Axes#LA#(-GLOBAL-)
   VALUE: -GLOBAL-
   QUESTION: X-Force
   VALUE: 0.0
   QUESTION: X-Constraint:#CB#(1,0)
   VALUE: 1
   QUESTION: X_axis:#CB#(DEFORMATION_XX,DEFORMATION_XY,DEFORMATION_XZ)
   VALUE: DEFORMATION_XX
   
   END CONDITION
   

   After the QUESTION: word you have the choice of put:
   • An alphanumeric field name followed by the #LA# statement, and then the single or double parameter.
   • An alphanumeric field name.
   • An alphanumeric field name followed by the #CB# statement, and then the optional values between parenthesis.

   The VALUE: word must be followed by one of the optional values, if you have declared them in the previous QUESTION: line. If you don't follow this statement, the program may not work correctly.

   In the previous example, the X-Force QUESTION takes the value 0.0. Also in the example, the X-Constraint QUESTION includes a combo box statement (#CB#), followed by the declaration of the choices 1 and 0. In the next line, the value takes the parameter 1. The X_axis QUESTION declares three items for the combo box DEFORMATION_XX,DEFORMATION_XY,DEFORMATION_XZ, with the value DEFORMATION_XX choosen.

   Beware of leaving blank spaces between parameters. If in the first question, you put the optional values (-GLOBAL, -AUTO-), (note the blank space after the comma), there will be an error when reading the file. Take this precaution specially in the Combo Box question parameters, to avoid inpredictable parameters.

6. The management of the conditions defined in the .cnd file, is done in the Conditions window (found in the Data menu), in the preprocess of GiD.

Conditions edition window on Preprocess, showing an unfolded combo box

This file NAME.mat include originally the definition of different materials through their properties. These are base materials as they can be used as templates during the pre-processing step for the creation of newer ones.

The user can define as many materials as desired and with a variable number of fields. All the unused materials will not be taken in consideration when writing the data input files for the solver. Alternatively, they can be useful to generate a materials library.

Conversely to the case of conditions, the same material can be assigned to different geometrical entities levels (lines, surfaces or volumes) and even can be assigned directly to the mesh elements.

In a similar way as a condition was defined, a material can be considered as a group of fields containing its name, its corresponding properties and their values.

The format of the file is as follows:

NUMBER: material_number MATERIAL: material_name
QUESTION: field_name['#CB#'(...,optional_value_i,...)]
VALUE: default_field_value
  ...
QUESTION: field_name['#CB#'(...,optional_value_i,...)]
VALUE: default_field_value
END MATERIAL
NUMBER: material_number MATERIAL: material_name
  ...
END MATERIAL

If a property of a material change depending on something (one example would be one property depending on the temperature and defined with several values for several temperatures), a table of changing values may be declared for this property. When the solver evaluates the problem, it reads the values and apply the suitable property value.

The declaration of the table requires a pair of lines:

First, a QUESTION line with a list of alphanumeric values between parenthesis.

QUESTION: field_name:(...,optional_value_i,...)

This values are the name of each of the columns in the table, and the number of values declared are the number of columns.

This first line is followed by the actual data declaration: a line started with the words VALUE: #N# is followed by a number that indicates the quantity of elements in the matrix and, finally, the list of values.

VALUE: #N# number_of_values ... value_number_i ...

The number of values declared for the matrix, obviously, has to be the multiplication of the number of columns by the number of rows to be declared.

The usual case of aplication of this declaration is on the thermo-mechanical simulations, where the problem is exposed to a temperature variation, and the properties of the materials change for each temperature value.

All the fields must be filled with words, considering a word as a character string without any blank space amongst them. The strings signaled between quotes are literal and the ones within brackets are optional. The interface is case-sensitive, so the uppercase letters must be maintained. Default_field_value and different optional_value_i can be alphanumeric, integers or reals, depending on the type.

The numbers of the materials have to be consecutive, beginning with number 1. There is no need to point out the overall number of materials or the respective number of fields for each one. This last one can be variable for each material.

Note that in this file it's not permitted the inclusion of blank lines between material definitions neither between questions and values.

NOTE: There are other available options to expand the capabilities of the materials window. (see section Special fields)

Next is an example of a materials file creation, explained step by step:

1. Create and edit the file (problem_type_name.mat on this example) inside the problem_type_name directory (where all your problem type files are located). As you can see, except for the extension, the name of the file and the directory are the same.

2. Create the first material, which starts with these lines:

   NUMBER: 1 
   MATERIAL: Air 
   

   The first number is used to index the material. Each material will be refered with one unique number (two materials can not share the same number). The second parameter is the name of the material. Again, a unique material name into this material file is required (do not use blank spaces in the name of the material.)

3. The next two lines define a property of the material and its default value:

   QUESTION: Density
   VALUE: 1.0
   

   You can add as many properties as you want. To end the material definition, add the following line:

   END MATERIAL
   

4. In this example we have introduced some materials; the .mat file would be as follows:

   NUMBER: 1 MATERIAL: Air
   QUESTION: Density
   VALUE: 1.01
   END MATERIAL
   NUMBER: 2 MATERIAL: Steel
   QUESTION: Density
   VALUE: 7850
   END MATERIAL
   NUMBER: 3 MATERIAL: Aluminium
   QUESTION: Density
   VALUE: 2650
   END MATERIAL
   NUMBER: 4 MATERIAL: Concrete
   QUESTION: Density
   VALUE: 2350
   END MATERIAL
   NUMBER: 5 MATERIAL: Water
   QUESTION: Density
   VALUE: 997
   END MATERIAL
   NUMBER: 6 MATERIAL: Sand
   QUESTION: Density
   VALUE: 1370
   END MATERIAL
   

5. The management of the materials defined in the .mat file, is done in the Materials window (found in the Data menu), in the preprocess of GiD.

Materials edition window on the GiD Preprocess

The file NAME.prb contains all the information about the general problem and intervals data. The general problem data is all the information required for performing the analysis and it does not concern any particular geometrical entity. This differs from the previous definitions of conditions and materials properties, which are assigned to different entities. Example of general problem data can be the type of solution algorithm used by the solver, the value of the various time steps, convergence conditions and so on.

Within this data, the user may consider the definition of specific problem data (for the whole process) and intervals data (variable values along the different solution intervals). An interval would be the subdivision of a general problem that contains its own particular data. Typically, one can define a different load case for every interval or, in dynamic problems, not only variable loads, but also changing the various time steps, convergence conditions and so on.

The format of the file is as follows:

PROBLEM DATA
QUESTION: field_name['#CB#'(...,optional_value_i,...)]
VALUE: default_field_value
  ...
QUESTION: field_name['#CB#'(...,optional_value_i,...)]
VALUE: default_field_value
END PROBLEM DATA

INTERVAL DATA
QUESTION: field_name['#CB#'(...,optional_value_i,...)]
VALUE: default_field_value
  ...
QUESTION: field_name['#CB#'(...,optional_value_i,...)]
VALUE: default_field_value
END INTERVAL DATA

All the fields must be filled with words, considering a word as a character string without any blank space amongst them. The strings signaled between quotes are literal and the ones inside brackets are optional. The interface is case-sensitive, so the uppercase letters must be maintained. Default_field_value and different optional_value_i can be alphanumeric, integers or reals, depending on the type.

NOTE: There are other available options to expand the capabilities of the Problem Data window. (see section Special fields)

Next is an example of a problem data file creation, explained step by step:

1. Create and edit the file (problem_type_name.prb on this example) inside the problem_type_name directory (where all your problem type files are located). Except for the extension, the name of the file and the directory must be the same.

2. Start the file with this line:

   PROBLEM DATA 
   

3. Then, add the following lines:

   QUESTION: Unit_System#CB#(SI,CGS,User)
   VALUE: SI
   
   QUESTION: Title
   VALUE: Default_title
   

   The first question defines a combo style menu called Unit_System, which has the SI option selected by default. The second question defines a text field called Title, and its default value is Default_title.

4. To finish the file, add the following line:

   END PROBLEM DATA
   

5. The whole file is as follows:

   PROBLEM DATA
   QUESTION: Unit_System#CB#(SI,CGS,User)
   VALUE: SI
   QUESTION: Title
   VALUE: Default_title
   END GENERAL DATA
   

6. The management of the options defined in the .prb file, is done in the Problem Data window (found in the Data menu), in the preprocess of GiD.

Problem Data window on the GiD Preprocess

This file NAME.sim comprises different symbols to represent some conditions during the pre-processing stage. The user may define these symbols by creating, ad hoc, geometrical drawings and the appropriate symbol will appear over the entity with the applied condition every time the user asks for it.

One or more symbols can be defined for every condition and the selection will depend on the specified values in the file, which may be obtained through mathematical conditions.

Also the spatial orientation can be defined in this file, depending on the values taken by the required data. For global definitions, the user must input the three components of a vector to express its spatial direction. GiD takes these values from the corresponding conditions window. The orientation of the vector can be understood as the rotation from vector (1,0,0) towards the new vector defined in the file.

For line and surface conditions, the symbols may be considered as local. In this case, GiD does not consider the defined spatial orientation vector and it takes its values from the line or surface orientation. The orientation assumes vector (1,0,0) to be the corresponding entity's normal.

These components, making reference to the values obtained from the adequate conditions, may include C-language expressions. They express the different field values of the mentioned condition as cond(type,i), where type (real or int) makes reference to the type of variable (independent of the letters case) and i is the number of the field for that particular condition.

Next is an example of a symbol file creation. Create and edit the file (problem_type_name.sim on this example) inside the problem_type_name directory (where all your problem type files are located). Except for the extension, the name of the file and the directory must be the same.

The contents of the problem_type_name.sim example should be the following:

cond Point-Constraints
3
global
cond(int,5)
1
0
0
Support3D.geo
global
cond(int,1) && cond(int,3)
1
0
0
Support.geo
global
cond(int,1) || cond(int,3)
cond(int,3)
cond(int,1)*(-1)
0
Support-2D.geo
cond Face-Load
1
local
fabs(cond(real,2))+fabs(cond(real,4))+fabs(cond(real,6))>0.
cond(real,2)
cond(real,4)
cond(real,6)
Normal.geo

This is a particular example of the file .sim where the user has defined four different symbols. Each one is read from a file ***.geo. There is no indication of how many overall symbols are implemented. GiD simply reads all the file long through the end.

The files ***.geo are obtained through GiD. The user may design a particular drawing to symbolize a condition and this drawing will be stored as PROBLEMNAME.geo when saving this project as PROBLEMNAME.gid. The user needs not to be concerned about the symbol size but has to keep in mind that the origin corresponds to the point (0,0,0) and the reference vector is (1,0,0). Subsequently, when these files ***.geo are invoked from problem_type_name.sim, the symbol drawing, appears scaled on the display, at the entities location.

Nevertheless, the number of symbols and consequently, the number of files ***.geo, can vary from a condition to another. In the previous example, for instance, the condition called Point-Constraints, which is so declared by the use of cond, comprises three different symbols. GiD knows that from the number 3 written below the condition's name. Next, GiD reads if the orientation is relative to the spatial axes (global) or moves together with its entity (local). In the example, the three symbols concerning point constraints are globally oriented.

Let's imagine that this condition has six fields. First, third and fifth field values express if there exist constraints along X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis, respectively. These values are integers and in case they were null, the concerned degree of freedom would be assumed to be unconstrained.

For the first symbol, got from the file Support3D.geo, GiD reads cond(int,5), or Z-constraint. If it is false, what means that the field's value is zero, the C-condition will not be accomplished and GiD will not draw it. Otherwise, the C-condition will be accomplished and the symbol will be invoked. When this occurs, GiD skips the rest of symbols related to this condition. Its orientation will be the same of the original drawing because the spatial vector is (1,0,0).

All the considerations are valid for the second symbol, got from the file Support.geo, but now GiD has to check that both constraints (&&), X-constraint and Y-constraint are fixed (values different from zero).

For the third symbol, got from the file Support-2D.geo, only one of them has to be fixed (||) and the orientation of the symbol will depend on which one is free and which one is fixed, showing on the screen the corresponding direction for both degrees of freedom.

Finally, for the fourth symbol, got from the file Normal.geo, it can be observed that the drawing of the symbol, related to the local orientation will appear scaled according to the real-type values of the second, fourth and sixth fields values. Different ways of C-language expressions are available in GiD. Thus, the last expression would be equivalent to put '(fabs(cond(real,2))>0. || fabs(cond(real,4))!=0. || fabs(cond(real,6))>1e-10)'.

Note: As previously mentioned, GiD internally creates a PROJECTNAME.geo when saving a project, where it keeps all the information about the geometry in binary format. In fact, this is the reason why the extension of these files is .geo. However, the file PROJECTNAME.geo is stored in the PROJECTNAME.gid directory, whereas these user-created files ***.geo are stored in the problem_type_name.gid directory, being problem_type_name the problem's name.

When GiD is installed, the file units.gid is copied within the GiD directory. In this file it's defined a table of magnitudes. For each magnitude there is a set of units and a convertion factor between the unit and the reference unit. Also are defined the units systems. An unit system is a set of mangnitudes and the corresponding unit.

BEGIN TABLE
 LENGTH : m {reference}, 100 cm, 1e+3 mm
 ...
 STRENGTH : kg*m/s^2 {reference}, N, 1.0e-1 kp
END

BEGIN SYSTEM(INTERNATIONAL)
 LENGTH : m
 MASS : kg
 STRENGTH : N
 ...
 TEMPERATURE : C
END

The syntax of the unit file (problem_type_name.uni) within the problem type is similar. Besides, it could include the line:

USER DEFINED: ENABLED (DISABLED)

meaning that the user is able (or not) to define it's own system unit within the project. If the line does not appear in the file then, it's assumed as having the value ENABLED

If the problem type uses a property which has a unit, then GiD creates the file project_name.uni in the project directory. This file includes the information related to the unit used in the geometric model and the unit system used. The structure of this file is:

MODEL: km

PROBLEM: USER DEFINED

BEGIN SYSTEM
 LENGTH: m
 PRESSURE: Pa
 MASS: kg
 STRENGTH: N
END

In this file, MODEL refers to the unit of the geometric model, PROBLEM is the name of the units system used by GiD to convert all the data properties in the output to the solver. If this name is USER DEFINED, then the system is the one defined within the file. The block

BEGIN SYSTEM 
 ...
END

corresponds to the user defined system.

Data unit window

These fields are useful in order to organize the information within the data files. They make the information showed on the data windows nicest and more readable. In this way the user can concentrate just on the data properties concerning the current context.

• Book: With the field Book it is possible to split the data windows in other windows. For example, we can have two windows for the materials, one for the steels and another for the concretes:

  BOOK: Steels
  ...
  All steels come here
  ...
  BOOK: Concretes
  ...
  All concretes come here
  ...
  

  
  
  

  Options corresponding to books.

  The same applies to conditions. For general and interval data, the field book groups a set of properties.
  
  

• Title: The Title field groups a set of properties on diferent tabs of one book. All properties appearing after this field will be included on this tab.

  TITLE: Basic
  ...
  Basics properties
  ....
  TITLE: Advanced
  ...
  Advanced properties
  ...
  

  
  
  

  Book with title.

• Help: With the Help field it's posible to assign a description to the data property preceding it. In this way the user can inspect the meaning of the property throught the help context function: staying for a while with the mouse on the property or clicking the right button.

  QUESTION: X_flag#CB#(1,0)
  VALUE: 1
  HELP: If this flag is set, movement is ...
  

  
  
  

  Data property with help.

• Image: The Image field is useful to insert descriptive pictures on the data window. The value of this field is the file name of the picture relative to the problem type location.

  IMAGE: omega3.gif
  

  
  
  

  Data window with an image.

• Unit field: With this feature it's posible to define and work with properties having units. GiD is responsible for the convertion between units of the same magnitud.

  ...
  QUESTION: Elastic modulus XX axis:#UNITS#
  VALUE: 2.1E+11Pa
  ...
  

  
  
  

  Data property with unit.

• Dependencies: Depending on the value, we can define some behavior asociated to the property. For each value we can have a list of actions. The syntax is as follows:
  
  DEPENDENCIES:(<V1>,[TITLESTATE,<Title>,<State>],<A1>,<P1>,<NV1>,...,<An>,<Pn>,<NVn>)...(<Vm>,<Am>,<Pm>,<NVm>,...)
  where:
  1. <Vi> is the value that triggers the actions. A special value is #DEFAULT#, which refers to all the values not listed.
  2. [TITLESTATE,<Title>,<State>] this argument is optional. Titlestate should be used to show or hide book labels. Many Titlestate can be given. <Title> is the title defined for a book (TITLE: Title). State is the visualization mode: normal or hidden.
  3. <Ai> is the action and can have one of these values: SET, HIDE, RESTORE. All these actions change the value of the property with the following diferences: SET disables the property, HIDE hides the property and RESTORE brings the property to the enabled state.
  4. <Pi> is the name of the property to modify.
  5. <NVi> is the new value of <Pi>. A special value is #CURRENT#, which refers to the current value of <Pi>.
  Here is an example,

  ...
  TITLE: General
  QUESTION: Type_of_Analysis:#CB#(FILLING,SOLIDIFICATION)
  VALUE:  SOLIDIFICATION
  DEPENDENCIES: (FILLING,TITLESTATE,Filling-Strategy,normal,RESTORE,
  Filling_Analysis,GRAVITY,HIDE,Solidification_Analysis,#CURRENT#)
  DEPENDENCIES: (SOLIDIFICATION,TITLESTATE,Filling-Strategy,hidden,HIDE,
  Filling_Analysis,#CURRENT#,RESTORE,Solidification_Analysis,#CURRENT#)
  TITLE: Filling-Strategy
  QUESTION: Filling_Analysis:#CB#(GRAVITY,LOW-PRESSURE,FLOW-RATE)
  VALUE:  GRAVITY 
  QUESTION: Solidification_Analysis:#CB#(THERMAL,THERMO-MECHANICAL)
  VALUE:  THERMAL
  ...
  

  
  
  
• State: Defines the state of a field. The state of a field can be disabled, enabled or hidden.
  
  Here is an example,

  ...
  QUESTION: Elastic modulus XX axis
  VALUE: 2.1E+11
  STATE: HIDDEN
  

Once the user has generated the mesh, assigned the conditions and the materials properties, as well as the general problem and intervals data for the solver, it is necessary to produce the data input files to be processed by that program.

To manage this reading, GiD has the capability of interpret a file called problem_type_name.bas (where problem_type_name is the name of the working directory of the Problem Type without the .bas extension).

This file (template file) describes the format and structure of the required data input file for the solver that is used in a particular case. This file must remain in the problem_type_name.gid directory, as well as the other files already described, problem_type_name.cnd, problem_type_name.mat, problem_type_name.prb and also problem_type_name.sim and ***.geo, if desired.

In case more than one data input file is needed, GiD allows the creation of more files by means of additional files ***.bas (note that while problem_type_name.bas creates an data input file named project_name.dat, successive files ***.bas, -where *** can be any name-, create successive files project_name-1.dat, project_name-2.dat and so on), the new files follow the same rules than the ones explained next for problem_type_name.bas.

These files work as interface from the GiD's standard results to the specific data input for any individual solver module. This allows to complete the process of running the analysis (see section CALCULATE) as one step more within the system.

In case of an error in the preparation of the data input files, the programmer has only to fix the corresponding file problem_type_name.bas or ***.bas and rerun the example, without having to leave GiD, recompile or, even more, reassign any data or remesh.

This facility is due to the structure of the template files. They are a group of macros (like an ordinary programming language) that can be read, without need of any compiler, every time the corresponding analysis file is to be written. This ensures a fast way to debug mistakes.

All the rules that apply to the file NAME.bas are also valid for the rest of files with extension .bas. Thus, everything in this section will refer explicitly to the file NAME.bas. Any information written into this file, apart from the so-called commands, is reproduced exactly in the output file (the data input file for the numerical solver). The commands are words that begin with the character *. If the programmer wants to write an asterisk into the file he should write **. The commands are inserted among the text to be literally translated. Everyone of these commands returns one (see section Single value return commands) or multiple (see section Multiple values return commands) values obtained from the pre-processing. Other commands mimic the traditional structures to do loops or conditionals (see section Specific commands). It is also possible to create variables to manage some data. Comparing it to a classic programming language, the main differences will be the following:

• The text is reproduced literally, without printing instructions, as it is writing-oriented.

• There are no indices in the loops. When the program begins a loop, it already knows the number of iterations to perform. Furthermore, the inner variables of the loop change their values automatically. All the commands can be divided into three types:
  • Commands that return one single value. This value can be an integer, a real or a string. The value depends on certain values that are available to the command and on the position of the command, within the loop or after setting some other parameters. These commands can be inserted within the text and write their value where it corresponds in it. They can also appear inside an expression, what would be the example of the conditionals. For this example, the user may specify the type of the variable, integer or real, except when using strcmp or strcasecmp. If these commands are within an expression, no * should precede the command.

  • Commands that return more than one value. Their use is similar to that of the previously indicated commands, except for the fact that they cannot be used in other expressions. They can return different values, one after the other, depending on some values of the project.

  • Commands that perform loops or conditionals, create new variables, or define some specifications. The latter include condition or type of element chosen and also serve to prevent line-feeding. These commands must start at the beginning of the line and nothing will be written into the calculations file. After the command, in the same line, there can be other commands or words to complement the definitions, so, in an end of a loop or conditional, after the command the user may write what loop or conditional was finished.

The arguments that appear in a command are written immediately behind it and inside parenthesis. If there are more than one, they will be separated by commas. The parenthesis might be put without any argument inside. This is useful to write something just behind the command without any separation in the middle. The arguments can be real numbers or integers, meaning the word REAL or the word INT (both in upper or lowercase) that the value to which it points has to be considered as real or integer, respectively. Other types of arguments are sometimes allowed, like the type of element, described by its name, in the command *set elem, or a chain of characters inserted between double quotes " for the C-instructions strcmp and strcasecmp. It is also possible, sometimes, to write the field's name instead of its ordering number.

EXAMPLE:

Next it's showed a piece of what it could be a .bas file. There are two commands (*nelem and *npoin) which return the total number of elements and nodes of a project.

%%%% Problem Size %%%%
Number of Elements & Nodes:
*nelem *npoin

This .bas file will be converted into a project_name.dat file by GiD. The contents of the project_name.dat file could be something like this:

%%%% Problem Size %%%%
Number of Elements & Nodes:
5379 4678

(being 5379 the number of elements of the project, and 4678 the number of nodes)

Jump to: a - b - c - e - f - g - i - l - m - n - o - r - s - t - v

When writing a command, it is generally (if not explicitly mentioned) independent of the letters case, even a mixture of uppercase or lowercase would not affect the results.

• *npoin, *ndime, *nnode, *nelem, *nmats. They return, respectively, the number of points, the dimension of the project being considered, the number of nodes of the element with the highest number, the number of elements and the number of materials. All of them are considered as integers and do not carry arguments (see *format, *intformat), except *nelem, which can bring different types of elements. These elements are Linear, Triangle, Quadrilateral, Tetrahedra, Hexahedra, depending on the number of edges of the element and All, that comprises all the possible types. The command *nmats returns the number of materials effectively assigned to an entity, not all the defined ones.

• *GenData. It must carry an argument of integer type that specifies the number of the field to be printed. This number is the order of the field inside the general data list. This must be one of the values that are fixed for all the problem, independently of the interval (see section Problem and intervals data file (.prb)). The field's name can also be the argument, instead, or even an abbreviation of it.

  The arguments REAL or INT to express the type of number for the field are also available (see *format, *intformat, *realformat, *if). If they are not specified, the program will print a character string. It is mandatory to write one of them within an expression, except for strcmp and strcasecmp. The numeration must start with number 1.

• *IntvData. The only difference with the previous one is that the field must be one of those fields varying with the interval (see section Problem and intervals data file (.prb)). This command must be within a loop over intervals (see *loop) and the program will automatically update the suitable value for each iteration.

• *MatProp. The only difference with the previous ones is that it must be within a loop over the materials (see *loop). It returns the property whose field's number or name is defined by its argument. It's recommended the use of names instead of field numbers.
  NOTE: If argument is 0, it returns the material's name.

  Caution: If there are materials with different number of fields, the user must ensure not to print non-existent fields, using conditionals.

• *Cond. The same previous remarks apply here, although now the user must notify with the command *set (see *set) which is the condition being processed. It can be within a loop (see *loop) over the different intervals in case that the conditions vary for each interval.

• *ElemsNum: returns the element's number.
  *NodesNum: returns the node's number.
  *MatNum: returns the material's number.
  *ElemsMat: returns the number of the material assigned to the element.
  All of this commands must be within a proper loop (see *loop) and change automatically for each iteration. They are considered as integers and cannot carry any argument. The number of materials will be reordered numerically, to begin from number 1 and will increase up to the number of materials assigned to any entity.
  
  

• *LayerNum: returns the layer's number.
  *LayerName: returns the layer's name.
  *LayerColorRGB: returns the layer's color in RGB (three integer numbers between 0 and 256). If parameter (1), (2) or (3) is specified, the command returns the only the value of one color. RED is 1, GREEN is 2 and BLUE is 3.
  
  Commands *LayerName, *LayerNum and *LayerColorRGB must be inside a loop over layers; you cannot use this commands in a loop over nodes or elements.
  
  Example:

  *loop layers
  *LayerName *LayerColorRGB
  *Operation(LayerColorRGB(1)/255.0) *Operation(LayerColorRGB(2)/255.0) *Operation(LayerColorRGB(3)/255.0)
  *end layers
  

• *NodesLayerNum: returns the layer's number. Must be used in a loop over nodes.
  *NodesLayerName: returns the layer's name. Must be used in a loop over nodes.
  *ElemsLayerNum: returns the layer's number. Must be used in a loop over elems.
  *ElemsLayerName: returns the layer's name. Must be used in a loop over elems.
  
  

• *CondNumEntities. The user must have previously selected a condition (see *set). It returns the number of entities that have a condition assigned over them.

• *LoopVar. This command must be inside a loop and returns, as an integer, what is considered to be the internal variable of the loop. This variable takes the value 1 in the first iteration and increases a unit for each new iteration.

  The parameter elems,nodes,materials,intervals, used as argument for the corresponding loop, allows the program know which one is being processed. Otherwise, if there are nested loops, the program takes the value of the inner loop.

• *Operation. It returns the result of an arithmetical expression what should be written inside parenthesis just immediately behind the command. This operation must be defined in C-format and can contain any of the commands that return one single value. The user can force the return of an integer or a real by means of the mentioned parameters INT or REAL. Otherwise, GiD returns the type according to the result.
  
  The valid C functions that can be used are:
  
  
  • +,-,*,/,(,),=,<,>,!,&,|, numbers and variables
  • sin
  • cos
  • tan
  • asin
  • acos
  • atan
  • atan2
  • exp
  • fabs
  • abs
  • pow
  • sqrt
  • strcmp
  • strcasecmp
  
  
  The following are valid examples of operations:

  *operation(4*elemsnum+1)
  *operation(8*(loopvar-1)+1)
  

  Note: There cannot be blank spaces between the commands and the parenthesis that include the parameters.

  Note: Commands inside *operation do not need to put * at the beginning.

• *LocalAxesNum. It returns the identification name of the local axes system, either when the loop is over the nodes or when it is over the elements, under a referenced condition.

• *nlocalaxes. It returns the number of the defined local axes system.

• *IsQuadratic. It returns the value 1 when the elements are quadratic or 0 when they are not.
• *time. It returns the number of seconds elapsed since midnight.

• *clock. It returns the number of clock ticks (aprox. milliseconds) of elapsed processor time.
  
  EXAMPLE:
  
  

  *set var t0=clock
  *loop nodes
    *nodescoord
  *end nodes
  *set var t1=clock
  ellapsed time=*operation((t1-t0)/1000.0) seconds
  

These commands return more than one value in a prescribed order, writing them one behind another. All of them, but LocalAxesDef, are able to return one single value when a numerical argument giving the order of the value is added to the command. In this way, these commands can appear within an expression. LocalAxesDef or the rest of the commands without the numerical argument cannot be used inside expressions. Following, it is displayed a list of the commands with the appropriate description:

• *NodesCoord. This command writes the node's coordinates. It must be inside a loop (see *loop) over the nodes or elements. The coordinates are considered as real numbers (see *realformat and *format). It will write two or three coordinates according to the problem's dimension (see *Ndime). If *NodesCoord receives an argument inside a loop of nodes, this argument indicates which coordinate x, y or z must be written:
  
  Inside a loop of nodes:
  *NodesCoord writes three or two coordinates depending on the problem's dimension.
  *NodesCoord(1) writes the x coordinate of the actual node of the loop.
  *NodesCoord(2) writes the y coordinate of the actual node of the loop.
  *NodesCoord(3) writes the z coordinate of the actual node of the loop.
  
  If the argument real is given, the coordinates will be treated as a real number.
  
  
  Example: using *NodesCoord inside a loop of nodes

  Coordinates:
    Node        X                Y
  *set elems(all)
  *loop nodes
  *format "%5i%14.5e%14.5e"
  *NodesNum *NodesCoord(1,real) *NodesCoord(2,real)
  *end nodes
  

  This command effects a rundown of all the nodes of the mesh, listing their identifiers and coordinates (x and y coordinates).
  
  The contents of the project_name.dat file could be something like this:

  Coordinates:
    Node        X                Y
      1  -1.28571e+001  -1.92931e+000
      2  -1.15611e+001  -2.13549e+000
      3  -1.26436e+001  -5.44919e-001
      4  -1.06161e+001  -1.08545e+000
      5  -1.12029e+001   9.22373e-002
      ...
  

  
  
  *NodesCoord can also be used inside a loop of elements. In this case, it needs an additional argument that gives the local number of the node inside the element. After this argument it's also possible to give which coordinate has to be written x, y or z.
  
  Inside a loop of elements:
  *NodesCoord(4) writes the coordinates of the 4th node of the actual element of the loop.
  *NodesCoord(5,1) writes the x coordinate of the 5th node of the actual element of the loop.
  *NodesCoord(5,2) writes the y coordinate of the 5th node of the actual element of the loop.
  *NodesCoord(5,3) writes the z coordinate of the 5th node of the actual element of the loop.
  

• *ElemsConec. This command writes the element's connectivities, i.e., the list of the nodes that belong to the element, keeping the proper sense for each case (anti-clockwise sense in 2D and depending on the standards in 3D). For shells, the user must define the sense. However, this command accepts the argument swap and this implies that the ordering of the nodes in quadratic elements will be inverted. The connectivities are considered as integer numbers (see *intformat and *format).

  Note: In the first versions of GiD, the optional parameter of the last command explained was invert instead of the present (swap). It was changed due to technical reasons. If you have an old .bas file prior to this specification, which contains this command in its previous form, when you try to export the calculation file, you will be warned about this change of use. Be aware that the output file will not be created as the user expects.

• *GlobalNodes. This command returns the nodes that belong to an element's face where a condition has been defined (on the loop over the elements). The sense is the same that the sense of the element's connectivities. The returned values are considered as integer numbers (see *intformat and *format).
  
  So, the local numeration of the faces is:
  
  

  Triangle:       12  23  31
  Quadrilateral:  12  23  34  41
  Tetrahedra:     123 243 341 421
  Hexahedra:      1234  1562  2673  3784  1485  5876
  

• *LocalNodes. The only difference with the previous one is that the returned value is the local node's numbering for the corresponding element (between 1 and nnode).

• *ElemsNnode. This command returns the number of nodes of the current element. (valid only inside a loop over elements)
  NOTE: This command is only available in GiD version 6.2.0b or newer.

  Example:

  *loop elems
    *ElemsNnode
  *end elems
  

  
  
  
• *LocalAxesDef. This command returns the nine numbers that define the transformation matrix of a vector from the local axes system to the global one.

  Example:

  *loop localaxes
  *format "%10.4lg %* %* %10.4lg %* %* %10.4lg %* %*"
  x'=*LocalAxesDef
  *format "%* %10.4lg %* %* %10.4lg %* %* %10.4lg %*"
  y'=*LocalAxesDef
  *format "%* %* %10.4lg %* %* %10.4lg %* %* %10.4lg"
  z'=*LocalAxesDef
  *end localaxes
  

  
  NOTE: when %* is used in the *format command, the argument of that position is not printed.
  
  
• *LocalAxesDef(EulerAngles). Last command with option EulerAngles, returns three numbers that are the 3 Euler angles that define a local axes system.
  
  
• *LocalAxesDefCenter. This command returns the origin of coordinates of the local axes defined by the user. The "Automatic" local axes do not have a center, so, the point (0,0,0) is returned. The index of the coordinate (from 1 to 3) can optionally be given to LocalAxesDefCenter to get the x, y or z value.
  
  Example:

  *LocalAxesDefCenter
  *LocalAxesDefCenter(1) *LocalAxesDefCenter(2) *LocalAxesDefCenter(3)
  

• *\ To avoid line-feeding, the user must write *\, so, the currently used line continues on the following line of the file NAME.bas.
• *# Written at the beginning of the line, consider this line as a comment and does not write it.
• *MessageBox. This command stops the execution of the .bas file and prints a message in a window; this command should be used only when a fatal error occurs.
  
  Example:
  *MessageBox error: Quadrilateral elements are not permitted.
  
  
  
  

  This window appears if the command MessageBox is executed.

• *WarningBox. is the same as MessageBox but without stoping the execution.
  
  Example:
  WarningBox Warning: Exist Bad elements. A STL file is a collection of triangles bounding a volume.
  
  

The following commands must be written at the beginning of a line and the rest of the line will serve for their modifiers. No additional text should be written.

• *loop, *end, *break. They are declared for the use of loops. A loop begins with a line that starts with *loop (no matter the letters case, as for the rest of commands) and contains another word to express the variable of the loop. There are some lines in the middle that will be repeated depending on the values of the variable and whose parameters will keep on changing through the iterations, if necessary. Finally, a loop will end with a line that finishes with *end. After *end the user may write any kind of comments in the same line. Command *break inside a loop, will finish the execution of the loop and will continue after the *end line.

  The variables that are available for *loop are the following:

  • elems, nodes, materials, layers, intervals, localaxes. They mean, respectively, that the loop will iterate over the elements, nodes, materials, layers, intervals or local axes systems. The loops can be nested among them. The loop over the materials will iterate only over the effectively assigned materials to an entity, in spite of the fact that more materials had been defined. The number of the materials will begin with number 1. If a command that depends on the loop is located outside it, the number also will take, by default, the value 1.

  After the command *loop, if the variable is elems or nodes, the user may include a modifier *all, *OnlyInCond or *OnlyInLayer . The first one signifies that the iteration is going to be performed over all the entities; the *OnlyInCond modifier implies that the iteration will only take place over the entities that accomplish the concerned condition. This condition must have been previously defined with *set cond. *OnlyInLayer implies that the iteration will only take place over the entities that are in the specified layer; layers must be specified with the command *set Layer. By default, it is assumed that the iteration will affect all the entities.
  
  Example 1:

  *set elems(all)
  *loop nodes
  *format "%5i%14.5e%14.5e"
  *NodesNum *NodesCoord(1,real) *NodesCoord(2,real)
  *end nodes
  

  This command effects a rundown of all the nodes of the mesh, listing their identifiers and coordinates (x and y coordinates).
  
  
  Example 2:

  *Set Cond Point-Weight *nodes
  *loop nodes *OnlyInCond
  *NodesNum     *cond(1)          
  *end
  

  This effects a rundown of all the nodes assigned the condition "Point-Weight" and provides a list of their identifiers and the first "weight" field of the condition in each case.
  
  
  Example 3:

  *Loop Elems 
  *ElemsNum *ElemsLayerNum
  *End Elems
  

  This effects a rundown of all the elements and provides a list of their identifier and the identifier of the layer to which they belong.
  
  
  Example 4:

  *Loop Layers
  *LayerNum *LayerName
  *End Layers
  

  This effects a rundown of all the layers and for each layer it lists its identifier and its name.

• *if, *else, *elseif, *endif. These commands create the conditionals. The format is a line which begins with *if followed by an expression between parenthesis. This expression will be written in C-language syntax, value return commands, will not begin with * and its variables must be defined as integers or reals (see *format, *intformat, *realformat), with the only exception of strcmp and strcasecmp. It can include relational as well as arithmetic operators inside the expressions.

  The following are valid examples of the use of the conditionals:

  *if((fabs(loopvar)/4)<1.e+2)
  *if((p3<p2)||p4)
  *if((strcasecmp(cond(1),"XLoad")==0)&&(cond(2)!=0))
  

  The first example is a numerical example where the condition is accomplished for the values of the loop under 400, while the other two are logical operators where the condition is accomplished when p3<p2 or p4 is different from 0 in the first case and when the first field of the condition is called XLoad (with this particular writing) and the second is not null in the second case.

  If the checked condition is true, GiD will write all the lines until finding the corresponding *else, *elseif or *endif (*end is equivalent to *endif after *if). *else or *elseif are optional and require the writing of all the lines until the corresponding *endif, but only when the condition given by *if is false. If *else or *elseif exist, it must be written between *if and *endif. The conditionals can be nested among them.

  The behavior of *elseif is identical to the behavior of *else with the addition of a new condition:

  *if(GenData(31,int)==1)
    ...(1)
  *elseif(GenData(31,int)==2)
    ...(2)
  *else
    ...(3)
  *endif
  

  In the previous example, the body of the first condition (written as 1) will be written into the data file if GenData(31,int) is 1, the body of the second condition (written as 2) will be written into the data file if GenData(31,int) is 2 and if none of both is true, the body of the third condition (written as 3) will be written into the data file.

  Note: A conditional can also be written in the middle of a line. To do this, the user will begin another line to write the conditional by means of the command *\.

• *for. The syntax of this command is equivalent to *for in C-language:

  *for(varname=expr.1;varname<=expr.2;varname=varname+1)
  

  The meaning of this statement is the execution of a controlled loop, since varname is equal to expr.1 until it is equal to expr.2, with an incremental value of 1 for each step. varname is any name and expr.1 and expr.2 are arithmetical expressions or numbers whose only restrictions are to express the range of the loop.

• *set. This command has the following purposes:
  • *set cond. To set a condition.
  • *set Layer "layer name" *elems|nodes. To set a layer.
  • *set elems. To indicate the elements.
  • *set var. To indicate the variables to use.
  For all of them it is not binding the use of lower case, so *Set will also be valid in all the examples.

  *set cond.: In the case of the conditions, GiD allows the combination of a group of them via the use of *add cond. When a specific condition is about to be used, it must be defined first and afterwards, this will be used until the definition of another one. If this feature is performed inside a loop over intervals, the corresponding entities will be chosen. Otherwise, the entities will be those referred to the first interval.
  
  This is done in this way because when the user indicates to the program that a condition is going to be used, GiD creates a table that allows to know the number of entities over which this condition has been applied. It is necessary to specify if the condition takes place over the nodes or over the elements to create the table.

  So, a first example to check the nodes where there displacement constraints exist can be:

  *Set Cond Volu-Cstrt *nodes
  *Add Cond Surf-Cstrt *nodes
  *Add Cond Line-Cstrt *nodes
  *Add Cond Poin-Cstrt *nodes
  

  that allows the user to apply the conditions directly over any geometric entity.

  *Set Layer "layer name" *elems|nodes
  *Add Layer "layer name"
  *Remove Layer "layer name"
  
  This command set a group of nodes. In the following loops over nodes/elements with the modifier *OnlyInLayer the iterations will only take place over the nodes/elements of that group.
  
  Example 1:

  *set Layer example_layer_1 *elems
  *loop elems *OnlyInLayer
      Nº:*ElemsNum Name of Layer:*ElemsLayerName Nº of Layer :*ElemsLayerNum 
  *end elems
  

  
  
  Example 2:

  *loop layers
  *set Layer *LayerName *elems
  *loop elems *OnlyInLayer
      Nº:*ElemsNum Name of Layer:*ElemsLayerName Nº of Layer :*ElemsLayerNum 
  *end elems
  *end layers
  

  In this example the command *LayerName is used to get the layer name.
  
  
  There are some modifiers available to point out particular specifications on the conditions.

  If command *CanRepeat is added after *nodes or *elems in *Set cond, one entity can be several times in the entities list. If command *NoCanRepeat is used, entities will be just once in the entities list. By default, *CanRepeat is off except for the case of one condition that have the *CanRepeat flag already set.

  A typical case not to use *CanRepeat would be:

  *Set Cond Line-Constraints *nodes
  

  In this case, when two lines share one endpoint, instead of two nodes in the list, only one is written.

  A typical case to use *CanRepeat would be:

  *Set Cond Line-Preassure *elems *CanRepeat
  

  in this case, if one triangle of quadrilateral has more than one face in the marked boundary, we want this element to appear several times in the elements list, one for each face.

  Other modifiers are used to inform the program that there are nodes or elements that can satisfy one condition more than once (for instance, a node that belongs to a certain number of lines with different prescribed movements) and that have to appear unrepeated in the data input file, or, in the opposite case, that have to appear only if they satisfy more than one condition. These requirements are achieved with the commands *or(i,type) and *and(i,type), respectively, after the input of the condition, where i is the number of the condition to be considered and type is the type of the variable (integer or real).

  For the previous example there can be nodes or elements in the intersection of two lines or maybe belonging to different entities where the same condition had been applied. To avoid the repetition of these nodes or elements, GiD has the modifier *or, and in the case that two or more different values were applied over a node or element, GiD only would consider one, being this value different from zero. The reason for that can be easily understood looking at the following example. Considering the previous commands transformed as:

  *Set Cond Volu-Cstrt *nodes *or(1,int) *or(2,int)
  *Add Cond Surf-Cstrt *nodes *or(1,int) *or(2,int)
  *Add Cond Line-Cstrt *nodes *or(1,int) *or(2,int)
  *Add Cond Poin-Cstrt *nodes *or(1,int) *or(2,int)
  

  where *or(1,int) means the assignment of that node to the considered ones satisfying the condition if the integer value of the first condition's field is different from zero (*or(2,int) means the same assignment if the integer value of the second condition's field is different from zero). Let us imagine that a zero in the first field implies a restricted movement in the direction of the X-axis and a zero in the second field implies a restricted movement in the direction of the Y-axis. If a point belongs at the same time to an entity whose movement in the direction of the X-axis is constrained, whereas its movement in the direction of the Y-axis is released and to an entity whose movement in the direction of the Y-axis is constrained, whereas its movement in the direction of the X-axis is released, GiD would join both conditions in that point, appearing as a fixed point in both directions and as a node satisfying the four expressed conditions would be counted only once.

  The same considerations explained for adding conditions through the use of *add cond apply to the elements with the only change of putting *add elems. Moreover, sometimes it can be of interest to remove sets of elements from the assigned ones to the specific conditions. This can be done with the command *remove elems. So, for instance, GiD allows combinations of the type:

  *Set Cond Dummy *elems
  *Set elems(All)
  *Remove elems(Linear) 
  

  to indicate that all dummy elements apart from the linear ones will be considered, as well as:

  *Set Cond Dummy *elems
  *Set elems(Hexahedra)
  *Add elems(Tetrahedra)
  *Add elems(Quadrilateral)
  *Add elems(Triangle)
  

  The format for *set var differs from the syntax for the other two *set commands. Its syntax is as follows:

  *Set var varname = expression
  

  where varname is any name and expression is any arithmetical expression, number or command, having the latter to be written without * and having to be defined as Int or Real.

  The following are valid examples for these assignments:

  *Set var ko1=cond(1,real)
  *Set var ko2=2
  *Set var S1=CondNumEntities
  *Set var p1=elemsnum()
  

• *intformat, *realformat,*format. These commands explain how the output of different mathematical expressions will be written into the analysis file. The use of this command consist in a line which begins with the corresponding version, *intformat, *realformat or *format, (independently of the use of capital letters) and continues with the desired writing format, expressed in C-language syntax argument, between double quotes (").

  The integer definition of *intformat and the real of *realformat remain unchanged until another definition via *intformat and *realformat, respectively, is provided. The argument of these two commands is composed by an unique field. This is the reason why the *intformat and *realformat commands are usually invoked at the initial stages of the .bas file, to set the format configuration of the integer or real numbers to be output during the rest of the process.

  The *format command can include several fields definitions in its argument, mixing integer and real definitions, but it will only affect the line that follows the command's instance one. Hence, the *format command is typically used when outputing a listing, to set a temporary configuration.

  In the next paragraphs, there is an explanation of the C format specification, refered to the fields specification to be included into the argument of these commands. Keep in mind that the type of argument that the *format command expects may be composed by several fields, and the *intformat and *realformat commands' arguments are composed by an unique field, declared as integer and real, respectively, all inside double quotes:

  The start of a field is signaled by the percentage symbol (%). for Each field specification is composed by the width of the integer field, and, in the case when the type is a float one, a separator point type(.) and the precision width of the field. This is followed by a letter which specifies the type of the data to be represented.

  You are allowed to add text between columns, just writting it after the field specification block, before the next % sign. Note that it is not possible to use the % character into this text, neither with the c format specification %%.

  The most usual representations are integers and floats. For the integers there are available the d and i letters, that force to read the data as signed decimal integer and u for unsigned decimal integer.

  For floating point representation, there are the e, f and g letters, being used then a decimal point to separate the magnitude of the number and the precision. The number of digits before the decimal point depends on the magnitude of the number, and the number of digits after the decimal point depends on the requested precision.

  The following are valid examples of the use of format:

  *Intformat "%5i"
  

  With this sentence, usually located on the start of the file, the output of an integer quantity is forced to be left alingned on the fifth column of the text format on the right side. This means that if the number of digits exceeds five, the representation of the number will be truncated. on its left part.

  *Realformat "%10.3e"
  

  This sentence, that also is located frequently at the first lines of the template file, sets the output format for the real numbers as ten digits for the integer part, and three for the real part of the number. On that case, the truncation will be of the rightest digits for the real part of the number and the left part for the integer part.

  *format "%10i%10.3e%10i%15.6e"
  

  This complex command will specify a multiple assignment of formats to some output columns. These columns are generated with the line command that will follow the format line. The subsequent lines will not use this format, and will follow the general settings of the template file or the general formats: *IntFormat, *RealFormat.
  
  
• *tcl This command permmits to print information using the TCL extension language. The argument of this command must be a valid TCL command or expression that must return the string that will be printed. Typically, the TCL command is defined in the TCL file (.tcl). (see see section TCL-TK EXTENSION for details).
  
  Example: in this example the *tcl command is used to call a tcl function defined in the problem's type .tcl file. That function receives an argument; we use the variable num.
  
  In the .bas file:

  *set var num=1
  *tcl(WriteSurfaceInfo *num)
  

  
  In the .tcl file:

  proc WriteSurfaceInfo { num } {
     return [.central.s info list_entities surfaces $num]
  }
  

Next is an example of template file creation, step by step:

Note that this is a concrete file for a particular solver, so it's a sure state that some or all of the commands that this solver program expects, will be non standard or incompatible with the one that another user owns.

In this example, this particular solver treats a line like a comment, inside the calculation input file, if its prefix is a $ sign. In your case, it can be another convention.

Anyway, the actual target of this example is the comprehension of the commands that GiD exposes to the user. This is the universal method to access to GiD's internal database, and then output the desired data to the solver.

Also, it's assumed that the user will create the file or files with .bas extension, inside the working directory where the problem type file is located. The name must be problem_type_name.bas for the first file and any other name for the additional .bas files. Each .bas file will be read by GiD, and translated to a .dat file.

It is very important to remark that any word in the .bas file having no meaning as a GiD compilation command or not belonging to any command instructions (parameters), will be verbatim written to the output file.

1. First, we create the header that the solver, on this particular case, needs.

   This is the name of the solver aplication and a brief description of its behavior.

   $-----------------------------------------------------
   CALSEF: PROGRAMA PARA CALCULO DE SOLIDOS Y ESTRUCTURAS
   

   Then, another particular sentence that may be incompatible in your case, although a similar one may exist for your solver. It's a commented line with the ECHO ON command. This line, when uncommented, is useful if you want to monitor the progress of the calculation.

   $-----------------------------------------------------
   $ECHO ON
   

   The next line specifies the type of calculation and the materials involved on the calculation, and it's not a GiD related command either.

   $-----------------------------------------------------
   ESTATICO-LINEAL, EN SOLIDOS
   

   As you can see, it's used a commented line with dashes to separate the different parts of the file improving the readability of the text.

2. Here comes the initialitation of some variables. This is needed by the solver to start the calculating process.

   The following assignments take the first (parameter (1)) and second (parameter (2)) fields in the general problem, as the number of problems and the title of the problem.

   The actual position of a field is determined checking its order on the problem file, so you will guess this is a method that depends on a strict position.

   Assignment of the first (1) Field of the Problem data file, with the command *GenData(1):

   $-----------------------------------------------------
   $NUMBER OF PROBLEMS:
   NPROB = *GenData(1)
   $-----------------------------------------------------
   

   Assignment of the second (2) field assignment, *GenData(2):

   $ TITLE OF THE PROBLEM:          
   TITULO= *GenData(2)
   $-----------------------------------------------------
   

   The next instruction takes the field where the starting time is saved. On this case, it is on the 10th position of the general problem data file, but we will use another feature of the *GenData command, the parameter of the command will be the name of the field.

   This is a preferable method, because if the list is shifted due to the adding or substracting of a field, you will not loose the actual position. This command accepts an abbreviation, if there is no conflict with other field name.

   $-----------------------------------------------------
   $ TIME OF START:          
   TIME= *GenData(Starting_time)
   $-----------------------------------------------------
   

   Here comes the init of some general variables refering to the project we are considering, as the number of points, the number of elements or the number of materials.

   The first line is a description of the section.

   $ DIMENSIONS OF THE PROBLEM:
   

   Then it is a line that introduces the next assignments

   DIMENSIONES :  
   

   Which is followed by another one with the three assignments of variables. NPNOD gets, from the *npoin function, the number of nodes of the model; NELEM gets, from *nelem, or the total number of elements of the model or the number of elements of every kind of element and nmats is initialized with the number of materials:

    NPNOD= *npoin,   NELEM= *nelem,   NMATS= *nmats,   \
   

   Then comes a line where NNODE gets the maximum number of nodes per element and NDIME gets the variable *ndime. This variable must be a number that specifies if all the nodes are on the plane whose Z values are equal to 0 (NDIME=2) or if they are not (NDIME=3):

   NNODE= *nnode,   NDIME= *ndime,                    \ 
   

   The next lines take data from the general data fields in the problem file. NCARG gets the number of charge cases; NGDLN the number of degrees of freedom; NPROP the properties number; NGAUSS the gauss number; NTIPO, is assigned dynamically:

   NCARG= *GenData(Charge_Cases), *\
   

   You could use NGDLN= *GenData(Degrees_Freedom), *\, but because the length of the argument will make exceed a line, we have abbreviated its parameter (there is no conflict with other question name in this problem file), to simplify the command.

   NGDLN= *GenData(Degrees_Fre), *\
   NPROP= *GenData(Properties_Nbr), \
   NGAUS= *GenData(Gauss_Nbr) , NTIPO= *\
   

   Note that the last assignment is ended with the specific command *\, to avoid the line feeding. This permits to include a conditional assignment of this variable, depending on the data in the General data problem.

   Inside the conditional it is used a C format like strcmp instruction. This instruction compares the two strings passed as parameter, and returns an integer number which express the relationship between the two strings. If the result of the operation is equal to 0, the two strings are identical; if it is a positive integer, the first argument is greater than the second, and otherwise, the second argument string is less.

   The script checks what problem type is declared in the general data file, and then it assigns the coded number for the this type to the NTIPO variable:

   *if(strcmp(GenData(Problem_Type),"Tens-Plana")==0)
   1 *\
   *elseif(strcmp(GenData(Problem_Type),"Def-Plana")==0)
   2 *\
   *elseif(strcmp(GenData(Problem_Type),"Sol-Revol")==0)
   3 *\
   *elseif(strcmp(GenData(Problem_Type),"Sol-Tridim")==0)
   4 *\
   *elseif(strcmp(GenData(Problem_Type),"Placas")==0)
   5 *\
   *elseif(strcmp(GenData(Problem_Type),"Laminas-Rev")==0)
   6 *\
   *endif
   

   You have to cover all the cases within the if sentences, or end the commands with an else, if you don't want unpredictable results, like the next line raised to the place where the parameter will have to be:

   $ Default Value:
   *else
   0*\
   *endif
   

   Although in our case this last rule has not been followed, it could be a very good option, when the problem file has been modified or created by another user, and the new specification may differ from the one we expect.

   The next assignment is formed by a string compare conditional, to inform the solver about a setting of the configuration.

   First is the output of the variable to be assigned.

   , IWRIT= *\
   

   Then there is a conditional where it's compared the string contained on the value of the Result_File field with the string "Yes". If the result is 0, then the two strings are the same, and we output an 1, to declare a boolean TRUE.

   *if(strcmp(GenData(Result_File),"Yes")==0)
   1 ,\
   

   Then we compare the same value string with the string "No", to check the complementary option. If we find that the strings match, then we output a 0.

   *elseif(strcmp(GenData(Result_File),"No")==0)
   0 ,\
   *endif
   

   The second last assignment is a simple output of the solver field contents into the INDSO variable:

                INDSO= *GenData(Solver) , *\
   

   The last assign is a little more complicated. It requires the creation of some internal values, with the aid of the command *set cond.

   The first action to execute is to set the conditions, so we can access its parameters. This setting may serve for several loops or instructions, as long as the parameters needed for the other blocks of instructions are the same.

   This line sets the condition Point-Constraints as an active condition. The *nodes modifier means that the condition will be listed over nodes. The *or(... modifiers are necessary when an entity shares some conditions, because it belongs to two or more elements.

   As an example, take a node which is part of two lines, and each of these lines have assigned a different condition. This node, a common point of the two lines, will have this two conditions into its list of properties. So declaring the *or modifiers, GiD will decide which condition to use, between the list of conditions of the entity.

   A first instruction will be this, where the parameters of the *or commands are an integer number ((1, and (3,, respectively on this example) and the specification int, that forces GiD to read the condition whose number position is the integer number.

   In our case, we find that the first (1) field of the condition file is X-constraint, and the third (3), is Y-constraint:

   Gid still has no support for the substitution of the position of the condition in the file by its corresponding label, as succeeds in the case of the fields of the problem data file.

   *Set Cond Surface-Constraints *nodes *or(1,int) *or(3,int)
   

   Now we want to complete the setting of the loop, with the addition of new conditions.

   *Add Cond Line-Constraints *nodes *or(1,int) *or(3,int)
   *Add Cond Point-Constraints *nodes *or(1,int) *or(3,int)
   

   Observe the order in which the conditions have been included: first the surface constraints with the *Set Cond command, since it is the initial sentence. Then the pair of *Add Cond sentences, the line constraints and as the last one, the point constraints sentence. This logical hierarchy forces the points as the most important items, due to the fact that the program takes

   Finally, we set a variable with the number of entities assigned to this particular condition.

   Note that the execution of this instruction is only possible if a condition has been set previously.

   NPRES= *CondNumEntities
   

   To end this section, we put a separator on the output file:

   $-----------------------------------------------------
   

   Thus, after the init of those variables, this part of the file ends up as:

   $ DIMENSIONS OF THE PROBLEM:
   DIMENSIONES :
    NPNOD= *npoin,  NELEM= *nelem,  NMATS= *nmats,     \
    NNODE= *nnode,  NDIME= *ndime,                     \
    NCARG= *GenData(Charge_Cases), *\
    NGDLN= *GenData(Degrees_Fre), *\
    NPROP= *GenData(Properties_Nbr), \
    NGAUS= *GenData(Gauss_Nbr) , NTIPO= *\
   *if(strcmp(GenData(Problem_Type),"Tens-Plana")==0)
   1 *\
   *elseif(strcmp(GenData(Problem_Type),"Def-Plana")==0)
   2 *\
   *elseif(strcmp(GenData(Problem_Type),"Sol-Revol")==0)
   3 *\
   *elseif(strcmp(GenData(Problem_Type),"Sol-Tridim")==0)
   4 *\
   *elseif(strcmp(GenData(Problem_Type),"Placas")==0)
   5 *\
   *elseif(strcmp(GenData(Problem_Type),"Laminas-Rev")==0)
   6 *\
   *endif
   , IWRIT= *\
   *if(strcmp(GenData(Result_File),"Yes")==0)
   1 ,\
   *elseif(strcmp(GenData(Result_File),"No")==0)
   0 ,\
   *endif
      INDSO= *GenData(Solver) , *\
   *Set Cond Surface-Constraints *nodes *or(1,int) *or(3,int)
   *Add Cond Line-Constraints *nodes *or(1,int) *or(3,int)
   *Add Cond Point-Constraints *nodes *or(1,int) *or(3,int)
   NPRES=*CondNumEntities
   $-----------------------------------------------------
   
   

   After creation or reading of our model, once generated the mesh and applied the conditions, we can export the file (file project_name.dat) and send it to the solver.

   The command to create the .dat file can be found on the File / Import/Export / Write Calculation File GiD menu. It's also possible to use the keyboard shortcut Control-x Control-c

   This would be the contents of the project_name.dat file:

   $-----------------------------------------------------
   CALSEF: PROGRAMA PARA CALCULO DE SOLIDOS Y ESTRUCTURAS
   $-----------------------------------------------------
   $ECHO ON
   $-----------------------------------------------------
   ESTATICO-LINEAL, EN SOLIDOS
   $-----------------------------------------------------
   $NUMERO DE PROBLEMAS:
   NPROB = 1
   $-----------------------------------------------------
   $ TITULO DEL PROBLEMA           
   TITULO= Title_name
   $-----------------------------------------------------
   $DIMENSIONES DEL PROBLEMA
   DIMENSIONES :
     NPNOD=    116 ,  NELEM= 176 ,   NMATS=  0 ,     \
     NNODE=      3 ,  NDIME=   2 ,                   \ 
     NCARG=      1 ,  NGDLN=   1 ,   NPROP=  5 ,     \
     NGAUS=      1 ,  NTIPO=   1 ,   IWRIT=  1 ,     \
     INDSO=     10 ,  NPRES=   0
   $-----------------------------------------------------
   

3. Here begins the calculation input, the actual starting of data transfer

   
   
   

   
   

   A) Elements, materials and connectivities listing

   Now we want to output the desired results to the output file. This first line, apparently a title or label, is the way that offers the solver, in this example, to determine the beginning and end of a loop section. This block of instructions ends with the next FIN_GEOMETRIA sentence, also for this example.

   GEOMETRIA 
   

   Here, we introduce an user informative couple of lines.

   A title of the first subsection, CONECTIVIDADES ELEMENTALES:

   $ CONECTIVIDADES ELEMENTALES
   

   And here is the header that precedes the output list, a user oriented data:

   $ ELEM. MATER.    SECUENCIA DE CONECTIVIDADES
   

   And then we travel trough the elements of the model, by the action of the *loop instruction, followed in this case by the elems argument.

   *loop elems
   

   For each element in the model, GiD will output: its element number, by the action of the *elemsnum command, the material assigned to this element, using the *elemsmat command, and the connectivities associated to the element, with the command *elemsConec:

     *elemsnum *elemsmat *elemsConec
   *end elems
   

   You can use the parameter swap if you are working with quadratic elements and the listing modes of the nodes is not standard. A non standard nodes listing would be, for example, an anti-clockwise listing of all the elements.

     *elemsnum *elemsmat *elemsConec(swap)
   *end elems
   

   Here finishes the first part of this section.

   
   
   

   
   

   B) Formatted nodes and coordinates listing

   And here starts the next section COORDENADAS DE PUNTOS NODALES:

   $ COORDENADAS DE PUNTOS NODALES
   

   Next is the header of the output list:

   $  NODO  COOR.-X   COOR.-Y   COOR.-Z
   

   Now GiD will trace all the nodes of the model:

   *loop nodes
   

   For each node in the model, it will generate the output of the number of node, *NodesNum and the coordinates for this node *NodesCoord.

   The command executed before the output, *format, will force that the resulting output follow the guidelines of formatting specified.

   On this case, the *format command gets a string parameter with a set of codes: %6i, which specify that the first word in the list is coded as a integer and is printed six points from the left, the rest of the three codes, %15.5f, are ordering the printing of a real number, represented on a floating point format, with a distance of 15 spaces between columns (the number will be shifted to have the last digit in the 15th position of the column) and the fractional part of the number will be represented with five digits.

   Note that this is the C language format command.

   *format "%6i%15.5f%15.5f%15.5f"
     *NodesNum *NodesCoord
   *end
   

   And at the end of the section, it's the finishing mark sentence, in this solver example.

   FIN_GEOMETRIA
   

   The full set of commands to make this part of the output is showed the next lines.

   GEOMETRIA 
   $ CONECTIVIDADES ELEMENTALES
   $ ELEM. MATER.    SECUENCIA DE CONECTIVIDADES
   *loop elems
     *elemsnum *elemsmat *elemsConec
   *end elems
   $ COORDENADAS DE PUNTOS NODALES
   $  NODO  COOR.-X   COOR.-Y   COOR.-Z
   *loop nodes
   *format "%6i%15.5f%15.5f%15.5f"
     *NodesNum *NodesCoord
   *end
   FIN_GEOMETRIA
   

   The result of the compilation, output to a file (project_name.dat) to be processed by the solver program.

   The first part of the section:

   $-----------------------------------------------------
   GEOMETRIA 
   $ CONECTIVIDADES ELEMENTALES
   $ ELEM. MATER.    SECUENCIA DE CONECTIVIDADES
        1      1     73    89    83
        2      1     39    57    52
        3      1     17    27    26
        4      5      1     3     5
        5      5      3    10     8
        6      2     57    73    67
        .      .      .     .     .
        .      .      .     .     .
        .      .      .     .     .
      176      5     41    38    24
   

   And the second part of the section:

   $ COORDENADAS DE PUNTOS NODALES
   $     NODO       COOR.-X        COOR.-Y   COOR.-Z
          1         5.55102        5.51020
          2         5.55102        5.51020
          3         4.60204        5.82993
          4         4.60204        5.82993
          5         4.88435        4.73016
          6         4.88435        4.73016
          .         .              .
          .         .              .
          .         .              .
        116        -5.11565        3.79592
   FIN_GEOMETRIA
   

4. If the solver module you are using needs a list of the nodes that have assigned a condition, like for example, a neighborhood condition, you have to provide it as is explained in the next example:

   
   
   

   
   

   C) Nodes listing declaration

   First, we set the necessary conditions, as it was done in the previous section.

   *Set Cond Surface-Constraints *nodes *or(1,int) *or(3,int)
   *Add Cond Line-Constraints *nodes *or(1,int) *or(3,int)
   *Add Cond Point-Constraints *nodes *or(1,int) *or(3,int)
   NPRES=*CondNumEntities
   

   After the data init and declarations, the solver requires a list of nodes, with boundary conditions and the fields that have been assigned

   In this example, all the selected nodes will be output, also printing the 3 conditions. The columns will be output with no aparent format:

   First, there is a line with the header of the section for the solver program and a commentary line for the user

   CONTORNO CONDICIONES
   $ NODOS RESTRINGIDOS Y PRESCRIPCIONES
   

   Then comes the first line of the output list, the header:

   $ NODO CODIGO         VALORES PRESCRITOS
   

   Then the loop instruction, over nodes, and with the specification argument *OnlyInCond, to iterate only over the entities that have the condition assigned. This is the condition that has been set on the previous lines.

   *loop nodes *OnlyInCond
   

   The next line is the format command, followed by the lines with the commands to fill the fields of the list.

   *format "%5i%1i%1i%f%f"
      *NodesNum *cond(1,int) *cond(3,int)  *\
   

   Also into the *format command influence there are the next couple of if sentences. If the degrees of freedom field contains an integer equal or greater than 3, the number of properties will be output.

   *if(GenData(Degrees_Freedom_Nodes,int)>=3)
   *cond(5,int) *\
   *endif
   

   And if the value of the same field is equal to 5 the output will be a pair of zeros.

   *if(GenData(Degrees_Free,int)==5)
   0 0  *\
   *endif
   

   The next line ouputs the values contained in the second and fourth fields, both real numbers.

   *cond(2,real) *cond(4,real) *\
   

   In a similar manner as done in the previous if sentences here come a group of lines to output the sixth condition field value, if the number of degrees of freedom is equal or greater than threee, and output a pair of zeros if it's equal to five.

   *if(GenData(Degrees_Free,int)>=3)
   *cond(6,real) *\
   *endif
   *if(GenData(Degrees_Free,int)==5)
   0.0 0.0  *\
   *endif
   

   Finally, to end the section, the *end command closes the previous *loop. The last line is the label of the end of the section.

   *end
   FIN_CONTORNO CONDICIONES
   $-------------------------------------------------------
   

   The full set of commands included in this section are the next:

   CONTORNO CONDICIONES
   $ NODOS RESTRINGIDOS Y PRESCRIPCIONES
   $ NODO CODIGO         VALORES PRESCRITOS
   *loop nodes *OnlyInCond
   *format "%5i%1i%1i%f%f"
      *NodesNum *cond(1,int) *cond(3,int)  *\
   *if(GenData(Degrees_Free,int)>=3)
   *cond(5,int) *\
   *endif
   *if(GenData(Degrees_Free,int)==5)
   0 0  *\
   *endif
   *cond(2,real) *cond(4,real) *\
   *if(GenData(Degrees_Free,int)>=3)
   *cond(6,real) *\
   *endif
   *if(GenData(Degrees_Free,int)==5)
   0.0 0.0  *\
   *endif
   *end
   FIN_CONTORNO CONDICIONES
   $-----------------------------------------------------
   

5. If it is needed the output of a list of the materials

   
   
   

   
   

   D) Materials listing declaration

   As a must, the first lines are the title of the section and a commentary.

   PROPIEDADES MATERIALES
   $ PROPIEDADES DE LOS MATERIALES PARA MULTILAMINADO
   

   Then there is the loop sentence, this time related to materials.

   *loop materials
   

   Then comes the line were the number of the material and its different properties are output.

      *matnum() *MatProp(1) *MatProp(2) *MatProp(3) *MatProp(4)
   

   Finally comes the ending of the section.

   *end
   FIN_PROPIEDADES MATERIALES
   $-----------------------------------------------------
   

   The full set of commands is the next:

   PROPIEDADES MATERIALES
   $ PROPIEDADES DE LOS MATERIALES PARA MULTILAMINADO
   *loop materials
      *matnum() *MatProp(1) *MatProp(2) *MatProp(3) *MatProp(4)
   *end
   FIN_PROPIEDADES MATERIALES
   $-----------------------------------------------------
   

6. If it is needed the output of a list of the elements

   
   
   

   
   

   E) Elements listing declaration

   First, we set the loop to the interval of the data.

   *loop intervals
   

   The next couple of lines indicate the starting of one section and the title of the example, taken from the first field in the interval data with an abbreviation on the label. They are followed by a comment explaining the type of data we are using.

   FUERZAS
       TITULO: *IntvData(Charge_case)
   $ TIPO DE CARGA
   

   First, we set the condition as done before. If one condition is assigned twice or more to the same element, without the include of the *CanRepeat parameter in the *Set Cond the condition will appear once, if exists the *CanRepeat parameter, then the number of conditions that will appear is the number of times is the number of times it was assigned to the condition.

   *Set Cond Face-Load *elems *CanRepeat
   

   Then, a condition checks if exist any element into the condition.

   *if(CondNumEntities(int)>0)
   

   Next is a title of the next section, followed by a comment for the user.

   DISTRIBUIDA UNIFORMEMENTE EN LADOS
   $ CARGAS UNIFORMEMENTE REPARTIDAS EN LADOS DE ELEMENTOS
   

   We assign the number of nodes to a variable.

   $ NUMERO DE NODOS EN LADO      
   NODGE =  2  
   

   Then comes the title of the next loop, followed by the start of the loop, now applied over the elements and its operation restricted to the group of elements selected into the condition.

   $ LADOS CARGADOS Y CARGAS ACTUANTES
   *loop elems *OnlyInCond
   

   The number of elements is written after ELEMENTO=. >From an user point of view, this is treated like a variable assignment. The number of nodes that belong to the face of the loop's element is written after the CONECTIV label. This means the number of adjacent nodes to the face.

         ELEMENTO=*elemsnum(), CONECTIV *globalnodes
   

   The conditions that are output are the first and second.

         *cond(1) *cond(1)  *cond(2) *cond(2) 
   

   Here ends the loop and after it there's a label line to end the