Program Control

When the program is executed the user is prompted as follows:

    
 ========================================================
 ABAQUS to FEMVIEW Version 7                   Release 85
 FEMGV Version 5.0                             Release 01
 Copyright :  Femsys Limited
 Installed for : Femsys Development
 Installation Date :                          02 JAN 1998
 Expiry Date :                                31 DEC 1998
 Run Time/Date :                     10:50:36 25 MAR 1998
 ========================================================
 
 ENTER ABAQUS .FIL FILE NAME >

The user should enter the full path name of the abaqus '.fil' file with or without the '.fil' extension. Where the abaqus ascfil utility has been used to create an ASCII '.fin' file the user should supply the '.fin' extension.

    
 ENTER ABAQUS .FIL FILE TYPE (ASCII/BINARY) (BINARY) >

The user should indicate the format of the file or use the $<$return$\gt$ key to accept the binary default. Where the interface has been installed on a different computer to ABAQUS the interface is capable only of reading ASCII files and the above prompt is omitted. Where the user incorrectly identifies the file type the program will terminate immediately.

    
 DATA MAY BE ENTERED DIRECTLY INTO AN EXISTING
 DATABASE OR OUTPUT TO A TEXT FILE.
 MAKE YOUR CHOICE : 1  ENTRY TO DATABASE
                  : 2  OUTPUT TO CHARACTER FILE
                  : 3  BOTH 1 AND 2

 ENTER 1,2,OR 3 (11,12,13 FOR VERBOSE) (1)>

This option controls the destination for the translated data. Options 11, 12, and 13 map to options 1,2, and 3 and are used to switch the program into verbose mode. The default is entry into the database in terse mode. Where options 1 or 3 have been chosen a FEMVIEW database will be opened.

    
 CREATE NEW MODEL OR APPEND RESULTS TO OLD MODEL? (C/A) (C) >

The interface can translate all model data and create a new FEMVIEW model or translate only the results data and append this information to an existing FEMVIEW model. It is not possible to create a model that already exists or to append data to a model that does not already exist in the FEMVIEW database. The default is to create.

    
 ENTER MODEL NAME (MAX 6 CHARACTERS) (hertz ) >

The user should enter the name of an old or new FEMVIEW model or accept the default ABAQUS job name. This name is used when running the main program to access the data from a particular analysis.

    
 ENTER MODEL DESCRIPTION (AB7.085             ) >

A model description may be associated with each new model. The user should enter a 20 character or less description or use the $<$return$\gt$key to accept the default.

    
 ENTER LOADCASE PREFIX (L) >

The results for each ABAQUS step are grouped together under a FEMVIEW loadcase name. The default is to create a name L1 for the first step and to increment this for subsequent steps. The default loadcase prefix 'L' may be changed at this point.

    
 ENTER ABAQUS INCREMENT NUMBER OFFSET (0) >

For each ABAQUS step there may be a number of increments. It is possible to offset these increments by an integer or accept the default. Offsetting increment numbers is most commonly used when appending data to an existing model.

After this question the interface will begin processing the '.fil' file and produce the following question once the ABAQUS file version has been identified.

    
 BEGINNING CONVERSION ...

 PROCESSING ABAQUS VERSION 5.7-1    FILE ...

 ABAQUS EXPLICIT OR IMPLICIT (E/I) (I) >

This question is necessary in order to correctly process element-wise results for explicit analyses. The user should use the $<$return$\gt$ key in most cases for ABAQUS/Standard or type 'e' for ABAQUS/Explicit.

The program will then proceed to process the model and terminate with the following message:

    
 *** CONVERSION FINISHED ***

When running the program in 'terse' mode (the default) it is advisable to briefly inspect the IOMESS file for any errors or warnings which may have occurred during translation.