XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX''"> 3.6 Module and Preference Setup
Analysis Preferences Setup
You can customize the MSC Nastran, Marc, Dytran, ABAQUS, ANSYS or other 3rd party Preferences to automatically submit jobs from the Patran analysis forms. Edit the file site_setup in the Patran installation ($P3_HOME) to point to the correct location and machine name where the solver resides.
There is an entry in site_setup for each analysis preference, analysis module and version. The following example shows the entry for MSC Nastran:
setEnv MSCP_NASTRAN_HOST20xx LOCAL
setEnv MSCP_NASTRAN_HOST20yy LOCAL
setEnv MSCP_NASTRAN_CMD20xx /msc/bin/nast20xx
setEnv MSCP_NASTRAN_CMD20yy /msc/bin/nast20yy
setEnv MSCP_NASTRAN_SCRATCHDIR .
Each preference requires environment variables that define the location of external analysis executables, file types, etc. These environment variables are set by the
mscsetup utility during the installation procedure. To modify these variables or set new ones, see
Environment Variables, 50 for information on the
site_setup file.
Pro/ENGINEER Access Setup
There are two methods to import Pro/ENGINEER part files. The first involves conversion to a file and does not require Pro/Engineer to run in the background. The second method imports Pro/ENGINEER part files by actually running Pro/ENGINEER in the background and executing a Pro/Toolkit program. For this reason, any Patran workstation that will access Pro/ENGINEER part files must be able to execute Pro/ENGINEER (i.e. the software must be executable and have valid licenses) using this method.
1. During the Patran installation, you will be prompted for the command to run your Pro/ENGINEER software. Enter the path in the dialog box, for example:
/bin/proe
2. Next, you need to configure Patran for use with WildFire 3 and earlier, or WildFire 4. This will configure the MSCP_PROE_PREWF4 environment variable for your installation. Please see the table below for the correct setting for your version of Pro/E:
For WildFire 3 or earlier | YES |
For WildFire 4 | NO |
If you do not know the location of your Pro/E installation or version, you can change or add the environment variables in P3_TRANS.INI after your have finished the installation: The two environment variables are:
MSCP_PROE_CMD=d:\proe\bin\proe2000i.bat
and
MSCP_PROE_PREWF4=YES or NO
Typically this environment variable is set the
site_setup file. See
Environment Variables, 50 for additional information.
The following notes are applicable to the Import to Native Patran Geometry method:
The Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire release introduced the following platform changes:
• IBM AIX platform unsupported. Existing Patran translator is still available for pre-Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire release.
The following is necessary for customers to use the Patran Pro/ENGINEER translator with Pro/ENGINEER after January, 2004:
• PTC Important System Notice - Timeout http://www.ptc.com/go/timeout/
For Pro/ENGINEER 2001:
• Download NMSD.exe and follow PTC instructions.
For Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire:
• Download NMSD.exe and follow PTC instructions.
• Download wildfire datecode 2003490 and follow PTC instructions.
The Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0 release introduced the following platform changes:
• HP-UX and SUNS supports 64-bit only. Patran translator compatible with pre-Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0 and Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0 release. If running Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0, the HP-UX and/or SUNS platform must be a 64-bit capable machine to run the Patran translator
Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 3.0/4.0
• Linux is supported for Import to Parasolid
• The p3_ProE and p3_ProENGINEER executables are built using Pro/ENGINEER version 2000i and therefore will not work with earlier versions of Pro/ENGINEER.
Running Patran Pro/ENGINEER Access Remotely
You may convert a Pro/ENGINEER part file into a .geo file outside of Patran by running the p3_proengineer executable directly. This must be done on a system with Pro/ENGINEER installed and requires a FLEXlm license for Pro/ENGINEER Access.
1. Set the MSCP_PROE_CMD environment variable. You may already have this set in the
$P3_HOME/site_setup file (see
Environment Variables, 50 for additional information).
% setenv MSCP_PROE_CMD /usr/bin/pro
2. Execute the p3_proengineer script from the Patran installation.
It is possible to create an installation that contains only the Pro/ENGINEER Access (by selecting only Pro/ENGINEER Access in mscsetup). You may not, however, simply copy the following script since it requires files included in the installation.
% $P3_HOME/bin/p3_proengineer +prt<partfile> pro_wait
Windows syntax:
For additional information on Patran Pro/ENGINEER Access on Windows, see
Pro/ENGINEER Access Setup, 14UNIX syntax:
% $P3_HOME/bin/p3_proengineer +prttest.prt pro_wait
Unigraphics Access Setup
Unigraphics Access requires a UG/Gateway license from Unigraphics Solutions. This is a new requirement by Unigraphics Solutions for all 3rd parties using their UG/OPEN Toolkit.
Unigraphics UG NX 5.0 Access is recommended for this version of Patran and is installed by default if you use the Full installation option. It is not recommended that both UG NX 4.0 and 5.0 both be installed. This configuration has not been tested and could lead to stability issues. If you intend to use UG NX 4.0 or earlier, you will need to choose the User Selectable option from the installation window and select UG NX 4.0 Access for it to be installed. You also need to set the environment variable:
setEnv('MSC_PRE_NX5_LICENSE','yes');If you have an existing UG/Gateway FLEXlm license, you must point to that license server or file with the UGII_LICENSE_FILE (UG NX 4.0 or earlier) or UGS_LICENSE_SERVER (UG NX 5.0) environment variable. If you do not have an existing UG/Gateway license, you must purchase it from your local UG sales office. A listing of these offices is available on the World Wide Web at:
www.ugsolutions.com/contact/sales.shtml
An alternate solution is to export Parasolid files from Unigraphics and import them into Patran. This method does not require UG/OPEN and the associated UG/Gateway license. Use of this method does not, however, allow access to UG assembly import or parameter and feature update.
Caution: | If a UG installation exists on the same machine as Patran, the UG environment variables can cause problems with Patran UG Access. You may have to unset these environment variables or redefine them using the $P3_HOME/site_setup file: setEnv UGII_BASE_DIR setEnv UGII_ROOT_DIR setEnv UGII_SCHEMA setEnv UGII_OPTION |
CATDirect Setup (V4)
CATDirect directly imports CATIA v4 models by spawning the CATIA software in the background. For this reason, both CATIA v4 and CATDirect must be available on the same network, and the correct CATIA environment variables must be set. See
Environment Variables, 50 for additional information on CATDirect environment variables.
Running CATDirect Remotely
If you do not have access to CATIA on the same network or workstation as Patran, the CATDirect executables can be installed on the CATIA workstation. These executables generate intermediate Express Neutral files. The Express Neutral file can be imported into Patran on systems which do not have CATIA installed.
The following steps install the CATDirect executables on a CATIA workstation without a local installation of Patran
1. Create an installation directory ($P3_HOME) on the CATIA workstation with bin and bin/exe subdirectories. For example:
# mkdir /msc/patranxxxx (/msc/patranxxx = $P3_HOME)
# mkdir $P3_HOME/bin
# mkdir $P3_HOME/bin/exe
2. Copy the following Patran CATDirect wrapper links from the Patran installation o the corresponding subdirectories created in step #1.
$P3_HOME/site_setup
$P3_HOME/bin/.wrapper
$P3_HOME/bin/p3_catia_express
$P3_HOME/bin/p3_CATIA_EXPRESS
$P3_HOME/bin/exe/p3_catia_express
$P3_HOME/bin/exe/p3_CATIA_EXPRESS
3. Add the CATIA environment variables to the new site_setup file on the CATIA workstation.
# setEnv CAT_UNLOAD /usr/catia/unload
# setEnv CATIA /usr/catia/cfg
# setEnv CAT_CUST ~catadm
# setEnv CATMSTR ~catusr/USRENV.dcls
# setEnv MSCP_CATIA_LANG en_US
# setEnv CATIA_TMP_DIR /tmp
For additional information on these variables, see
Environment Variables, 50.
4. Edit the local USRENV.dcls file (the one referenced by the CATMSTR environment variable) with the following lines:
alias PATRAN_T =
catia.model=’/tmp’;
Where /tmp is the directory referenced by the CATIA_TMP_DIR environment variable.
5. Run p3_catia_express on the CATIA workstation to generate an Express neutral file:
% $P3_HOME/bin/p3_catia_express <model_name> -fsp/<model_directory_path> -t
The “-t” option specifies a ASCII Express Neutral file (*.exp). Without this option a binary file (*.bxp) will be generated. Both types of files can be imported into Patran using “File|Import|Express Neutral File”.
CATIA v5 Access Setup
The CATIA v5 Access product is installed from mscsetup located on the second DVD-ROM. This single installation script will install CATDirect, CATIA v4 to , and the CATIA v5 to parasolid products.
• MSC setup will add the following variables to the site_setup file for Catia V5 runtime support when you install Catia Access for IBM AIX, HPUX, and Windows.
# setEnv CATIAV5DIR $P3_HOME/lib/lib3dx
# setEnv CATIAPlat aix_a
# setEnv CATInstallPath $CATIAV5DIR/$CATIAPlat
# setEnv CATDLLPath $CATIAV5DIR/$CATIAPlat/code/bin
# setEnv CATICPath $CATIAV5DIR/$CATIAPlat/code/productIC
# setEnv CATCommandPath $CATIAV5DIR/$CATIAPlat/code/command
# setEnv CATDictionaryPath $CATIAV5DIR/$CATIAPlat/code/dictionary
# setEnv CATReffilesPath $CATIAV5DIR/$CATIAPlat/reffiles
# setEnv CATFontPath $CATIAV5DIR/$CATIAPlat/resources/fonts
# setEnv CATGraphicPath $CATIAV5DIR/$CATIAPlat/resources/graphic
# setEnv CATMsgCatalogPath $CATIAV5DIR/$CATIAPlat/resources/msgcatalog
For additional information on these variables, see
Environment Variables, 50.
I-deas Access Setup
I-deas Access requires Patran and a UGS I-deas NX installation on the same machine Version 11 is supported for HP HP-UX and IBM AIX. Version 12 is supported for SUN Solaris.
Note: | The Orbix daemons need to be installed and in running state. |
To import an I-deas model file (.mfi) into Patran, you must first run I-deas in OpenBatchDesign mode (possibly also known as Master Modeler mode).
$IDEASROOT/bin/ideas -n OpenBatchDesgin
Then you can run Patran and initiate the I-deas import. Please, ensure the IDEASROOT environment variable has set proper value before executing Patran.
The installation will prompt the user for the value of IDEASROOT which needs to be the root installation location of I-deas. IDEASROOT is the path to the I-deas installation,
e.g. IDEASROOT = /UGS/IDEAS12
The installation setup will add the following variables to the site_setup file for I-deas runtime support when you install I-deas Access.
# setEnv IDEAS_VERSION
# setEnv ORBIX
# setEnv OI_SERVER_NAME
# setEnv IT_CONFIG_PATH
Patran Thermal Setup
64 bit Version
A Assuming that the compilers are installed in each manufactures default locations, to execute the 64 bit version, define the environment variable RUN64 with a value of “yes” ( lower case ). Any other value will not invoke the 64 bit executables.
setenv RUN64 yes
As in the past, the compilers and appropriate libraries are referenced in the thermal shells. If you wish to place compilers and/or libraries in different locations, their paths and references in the thermal shell will need to reflect these changes. The RUN64 environment variable is the test switch that selects the appropriate compiler, linker and path options.
Note: | Patran is executed as a 32 bit code even if the 64 bit versions of the thermal modules are to be used. |
Flightloads and Dynamics Setup
FlightLoads and Dynamics supports separate “interactive” and “batch” locations of the MSC Nastran executable. Interactive MSC Nastran is used for spline verify, aero model import and loads extraction from aerodynamic/aeroelastic databases. Batch MSC Nastran is used for running analyses. The interactive MSC Nastran executable must be on the local machine (i.e. the system running Flightloads and Dynamics).
1. Edit
site_setup in the Patran
$P3_HOME directory. For additional information on setting environment variables in this file see
Environment Variables, 50.
2. Set the MSCP_FLDS_MSG_FILE environment variable to point to $P3_HOME/flds.msg:
% setEnv MSCP_FLDS_MSG_FILE $P3_HOME/flds.msg
3. Set the MSCP_LOCAL_NASTRAN_CMD200n environment variable to point to MSC Nastran command program for interactive processes. This must be a local installation of MSC Nastran 200n, for example:
% setEnv MSCP_LOCAL_NASTRAN_CMD200n /msc/bin/nast200n
4. Set the MSCP_NASTRAN_CMD200n environment variable to point to the MSC Nastran executable for batch processes (and for non-MSC.Flightloads MSC Nastran analysis):
% setEnv MSCP_NASTRAN_CMD200n /tmp_mnt/msc/bin/nast200n
5. Start Patran with one of the following commands:
% $P3_HOME/bin/patran -ifile init_fld.pcl
% $P3_HOME/bin/p3 -ifile init_fld.pcl
% $P3_HOME/bin/p3fld
Substitute $P3_HOME with the actual installation directory path.
Analysis Manager Setup
Below is a brief overview of the process for installing and configuring the Analysis Manager for a typical, standard installation, assuming it has been unloaded properly from the DVD-ROM using mscsetup.
1. On all machines that will run analysis jobs (MSC Nastran, Marc, ABAQUS, etc.), login to each and start a Remote Manager. This requires that you install using
mscsetup (or the installation directory
$P3_HOME must be “seen”) on each machine. The Remote Manager daemon must be run on all “Analysis Hosts” for proper communication. This daemon should not be run as root! If some of these machines are Windows machines, see
Analysis Manager Setup, 19 in
Installing on Microsoft Windows, 5.
$P3_HOME/bin/RmtMgr -path $P3_HOME
2. Choose the machine that will act as the “Master Host.” This system will run the Queue Manger daemon, which schedules analysis jobs. Login to this machine and execute the administration utility.
$P3_HOME/bin/p3am_admin $P3_HOME
When the interface appears, enter an administration user. It is not necessary to be root to do this, but it should be the administrator of the Analysis Manager configuration file. The configuration files will be owned by this user.
3. Choose “Modify Config Files | Applications” to add an application definition. This will typically be MSC Nastran, Marc, or ABAQUS.
4. Choose “Modify Config Files | Physical Hosts” to define the machines that will run analyses (“Analysis Hosts”).
5. Choose “Modify Config Files | A/M Hosts” to define the application paths on the physical hosts. Note that each physical host may have multiple “A/M Host” definitions (i.e. one for MSC Nastran, one for Marc, one for ABAQUS, or one for each different version of these programs that are to be accessible).
6. Choose “Modify Config Files | Filesystems” to define a filesystem directory for each A/M Host. The defaults are /tmp. The analyses are run in these directories. Press the Apply button to save the configuration files.
7. Test the configuration by selecting “Test Configuration” for each of the objects.
8. Select “Queue Manager” and start the Queue Manager daemon. If all the tests passed, the Analysis Manager should now be able to successfully run from within Patran.
SuperModel
SuperModel requires the following:
1. A full Patran installation.
2. An installation of the Analysis Manager. See
Analysis Manager Setup, 44. MSC Nastran must be available somewhere on the network and the Analysis Manager configured for proper access.
3. Patran customization tools and the MSC Nastran Preference. These should be selected as part of the standard Patran installation with.
4. A File Manager server and client. The server and client can be the same machine or
different machines.
SuperModel can be launched with the following commands:
% $P3_HOME/p3sm
% $P3_HOME/p3 -ifile init_sm.pcl
% $P3_HOME/patran -ifile init_sm.pcl
Note: | Supermodel is not available with MD Patran. |
File Manager Server
The following are brief instructions for an initial installion of the File Manager server. If all you need is a client installation only or you are upgrading an existing server or for more details, please consult the SuperModel Installation Guide as mentioned above. You must have superuser privileges to perform
this installation.
1. After installing the Supemodel product set, change to the following directory:
% cd $P3_HOME/Filemanager/install
2. Run the File Manager installation script (it must be run from the above directory):
% ./fm_install
Perform a server installation. Enter the name of the server machine (the machine you are installing on). Accept the default for all other items unless you have good reason to change them. Read the rest of the instructions from running this script and follow them for a server installation.
3. At this point the script then asks you to initialize the server:
% ./initialize_server
When the File Manager service is installed, Patran is run as part of the installation procedure and you should see the following messages among others for a successful installation:
program 539117062 version 1 ready and waiting
Initializing the FileManager Database
!!! SUCCESSFULLY INITIALIZED FILEMANAGER DATABASE !!!
Initializing Default File Types
!!! SUCCESSFULLY ESTABLISHING DEFAULT FILE TYPES !!!
!!! SUCCESSFULLY ESTABLISHING DEFAULT FILE TYPES !!!
4. Add a File Manager administrator user name to the end of the following file where the Filemanager repository was specified in the second step above:
smdl_fm_administors
If this does not work, then try again by stopping the inetd service as explained in the second step above when running fm_install. Then stop the File Manager daemon by querying the system for its pid and referencing it in the kill command.
% ps -ef | grep msc
% kill <pid>
Restart the inetd daemon.
Remove the File Manager repository directory created in the second step above.
% rm -r <smdl_fm_repository>
Then repeat the above steps. If you continue to have problems, please consult your
MSC Application Engineer.
Tutorials (Formerly Acumen)
Acumen is now known as Tutorials and is an integral part of Patran installed automatically and configured to run a standard Acumen demo (hello_world) from the Help | Tutorials menu. No external environment variables need to be set to run the Help | Tutorials application. The integrated Tutorial system is backwards compatible with existing Acumen applications. The ACUMEN_HOME environment variable can be set to P3_HOME or be undefined to allow the application to use the Tutorial system code. Standard Acumen environment variables as documented in Acumen manuals continue to work as advertised.
The Acumen application can still be invoked from the command prompt or the Patran desktop icon properties can be modified as such:
$P3_HOME\bin\patran -iam MSC.ACUMEN
$P3_HOME\bin\patran -iam MSC.ACUMEN_RunTime
$P3_HOME\bin\patran -iam MSC.ACUMEN_RunTime -ifile aa_init.pcl
Patran Enterprise Materials
You will be asked for the hostname and port of the computer hosting the Integrated EMV (Enterprise MVision) client. This information is recorded in a properites file. You can edit this file at any time after installation to make changes.
$P3_HOME/IntegratedClient/config/MscSdmIC.properties
An environment variable is set in site_setup in $P3_HOME to point to this file. This environment variable can be set manually also. For example in C-Shell:
% setenv MSC_SDM_IC_PROPERTIES_FILE $P3_HOME/IntegratedClient/config/MscSdmIC.properties
The following script can be run after installation to change the server and port information: $P3_HOME/IntegratedClient/install/configure_IC
Documentation
Patran documentation exists in $P3_HOME in the helpfiles directory. Both PDF and HTML versions exist. The latest available documentation for MSC Nastran and Marc are also available in PDF format if unloaded from the delivery media.
Patran’s context sensitive help system is accessed by pressing the F1 key for the currently active form. In order for the HTML based help system to work properly, the follwing variables must be set (check the site_setup.pm file in $P3_HOME):
Variable | Description |
P3_HELP_MODE | Set this to “2” to indicate the HTML helpfile system is to be used. |
P3_BRW_HELP | Set this to the location of the browser you wish to use, e.g., /tools/bin/netscape |
P3_HELP_DIRECTORY | Set this to the location of the HTML helpfile system, e.g., $P3_HOME/helpfiles/html_patran |