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Demonstration ~10 min · ~62 min remaining

Prepare and run

Folder, Working Directory, Job Name, essential interface zones, and the first /INPUT.

Prepare and run

You only need four decisions before the first result:

  1. Create a dedicated working folder.
  2. Set Working Directory and Job Name in Product Launcher.
  3. Locate the five zones of the main window.
  4. Run the template with /INPUT.

Folder and script

Create a dedicated folder, for example:

C:\APDL_Projects\M00

Download 00_session_template.mac and save it in that folder.

Product Launcher

Product Launcher with Working Directory, Job Name, and Run
Figure 1. Select the M00 folder, choose a descriptive job name, and press Run.

Five zones you will use in almost every session:

  1. Command Input: top box where you can type a command.
  2. Main Menu: side tree with preprocessing, solution, and postprocessing.
  3. Viewport: graphical area where geometry, mesh, and results will appear.
  4. Active processor: the bottom bar initially shows BEGIN.
  5. Active attributes: mat, type, real, csys, and secnum.
MAPDL session just opened with the five numbered zones
Figure 2. The five zones of the main window before running the first script.
MAPDL Output Window at session start
Figure 3. Output Window: the first place to detect an error during execution.
Optional: undock the Command Window

Do not confuse the Output Window with the Command Window. The Output Window records the full session log; the Command Window shows the interactive command dialogue and immediate responses. You can show it from the top toolbar and undock it beside the viewport to follow execution without hiding geometry or contours.

Undocked Command Window over the viewport
Figure 4. Undocked Command Window (optional): useful for following execution without hiding the viewport.
Optional: syntax highlighting for .mac scripts

Not required to complete M00, but syntax highlighting makes comments, blocks, and commands easier to read. Avoid Word or plain Notepad: the script is plain text.

Optional Notepad++ language file: ansys-apdl-notepad++.udl.xml — see the installation guide.

Run the template

/INPUT,00_session_template,mac

If the file is in the Working Directory, you do not need the full path. During execution you will see geometry, mesh, and contours in the viewport.

If you want to understand the generated files

The template runs /FILNAME,m00_cantilever,1, so main exercise files use the prefix m00_cantilever. ANSYS reserves m00_cantilever.out for the job; therefore the script log is redirected to m00_session.out with /OUTPUT,m00_session,out.

You do not need to configure Switch Output to → File manually in M00: redirection is already in the template. At the end, a bare /OUTPUT returns live output to the Output Window.

Download m00-kit.zip