XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX''"> Product Overview
The original goal for developing Tutorials was to make Patran usable for the novice or occasional user. The Tutorial environment makes that possible though its extreme ease of use for the end user, based on the options and information presented by the author.
Tutorial applications present a single form interface for the user. It limits the options available to the user to only those provided by the author. The HTML display widget allows for greater explanations at each step to help guide the user. The explanations can be written in a language the end user understands, whether that is a foreign language such as Japanese, or the terminology of a particular technical discipline such as that used in design of airplane wings.
The Tutorial platform software allows for the capture of the expert’s knowledge and methods. It has features built in allowing the author to enforce these expert methods and best practices. The author is in control of the options presented to the user, and can use bitmap pictures and text to help explain each step, all on the single user interface form. There are also error checking and work-flow management capabilities available to keep the end user from straying too far from the allowable design space.
With all of this control comes a responsibility. The author must provide the appropriate knowledge and information to guide the end user. The author must provide all necessary options for scenarios that the application might cover. The HTML text explanations are written using terms the end user is familiar with. A great amount of trust is placed in application author to insure that simulations performed by non-experts will result in the same fidelity and accuracy that the dedicated experts provide. This requires a high level of professional practice for Tutorial authoring.
Typical File Structure for a Tutorial Application
To run a Tutorial application, the user must have installed:
• A Tutorial application.
• A current version of Patran.
The Patran software that a Tutorial uses is installed as part of the normal Patran installation procedure and is part of the directory tree referenced with the P3_HOME environment variable. To complete a Tutorial application requires the definition of additional environment variables so that the Tutorial application can be found by the Patran software.
Core Run –Time Software Libraries File Structure
The core software used to support Tutorial applications consists of the following files:
• <P3_HOME>/aa_init.pcl - Special initialization script for Patran that loads and initializes the Tutorial software.
• <P3_HOME>/aa_platform.plb - Library of core run-time functions to operate the user interface, state table, drive page interpretation, etc.
• <P3_HOME>/aa_uiprimary.plb - Library of core run-time functions to invoke the “single form drive page interface” that replaces the primary interface form of MSC Patran.
• acumen.dll - A dynamic linked library on Windows NT platforms or shared object files like “acumen.so” on UNIX platforms. This is a library of compiled C-code functions that are linked into the Patran executable at run-time. Most of the functions are involved with the reading and interpretation of XML drive pages.
Specific Tutorial Applications Installation and File Structure
A particular Tutorial application or suite of applications can be installed in any location. For a large audience of users, installing on a machine with a network share is recommended. The <P3_HOME>/tutorial_apps offers an example of application file structure. This directory and file structure represents many individual child Tutorial applications tied together and launched by a parent application. The files for the parent application reside in <P3_HOME>/tutorial_apps. Each child application is in a subdirectory. An example of a child application is in the <P3_HOME>/tutorial_apps/implicit_nonlinear/sol400_pin_clevis_contact directory. The following required file types are found in the pin clevis contact or pcc applicaton:
• .plb file - This is the compiled library of PCL automation functions.
• .def file - This is a PCL function call definitions file with “inputid” indexes that correspond to references made on the XML drive pages. This file defines the user inputs on the Tutorial form and the pcl functions through which the user information is processed.
• .dwn file - This is the Tutorial pull-down labels file. This is used for invoking Tutorial application where all of the standard Patran forms are available along with the Tutorial “single form drive page interface”. The .dwn file allows for customizing with a foreign language.
• .labels file - This text file contains the labels that are displayed on the Tutorial “single form drive page interface”. This file allows for customizing with a foreign language. It also allows a relative sizing control of the three main interface scroll boxes (work flow manager, dialog, inputs) through changing two integer values.
• .xio files - These are the indexed or compiled version of .XML drive pages. They are pre-processed from .xml file automatically or with the use of a Patran session file ( .ses ) to reduce file size and improve efficiencies in reading the file.
• .html files - Used to provide Tutorial application specific help files.
• .png - Image files used by the Tutorial applicaton. The Tutorial core software used Internet Explorer on Windows and an HTML widget on UNIX. The HTML widget is limited with its ability to display images and is limited in its support of HTML. The use of Internet Explorer on Windows allows the full power of that tool to be used in a Tutorial application. If the application is Windows specific the power of Java Script and full support for a wide range of image types can be used in the application.
The following optional file types may be found in the pin clevis contact or pcc applicaton directory:
• .pcl type files - These are PCL automation function source files used to create the .plb file for the application. These file are not needed to run the application and are provided for informatonal purposes only.
• .xml files - These are the source “drive page” files that govern the process flow and user interface display during the execution of an application. They are pre-processed into .xio files automatically or with the use of a Patran session file ( .ses ) to reduce file size and improve efficiencies in reading the file.
Run-Time Environment Variables
Listed below are required Tutorial specific environment variables that need to be defined to identify a Tutorial application to Patran. A good way to define these variables is with a .bat on Windows or a Korn (ksh) shell script with UNIX.
The "ACUMEN_APPLICATIONS" and "HTML_IMAGE_PATH" environment variables can be and are set or changed during runtime. This allows application behavior to be modified as needed to point to the appropriate file sets.
• ACUMEN_APPLICATIONS - Defines the path and name of the home drive page (.xio). This value is also used to identify the location and name of the .def, .dwn, .labels and the .plb file used by the Tutorial application. The default for this environment value is <P3_HOME>/tutorial_apps/tutorial.xio
• HTML_IMAGE_PATH - Defines the location of image files for the HTML browser widget in Patran. This environment variable does not have a default value.
• ACUMEN_BROWSER - Defines the path and executable used to display .html help files. This environment variable has the same value as used with P3_BRW_HELP. This relationship is established in <P3_HOME?/bin/patran.pl on WINNT and <P3_HOME>/site_setup on UNIX.
Optional Tutorial environment variables. The "ACUMEN_DEBUG" value is useful in debugging both Tutorial and stand alone applications. The other environment variables are usefull with stand alone Tutorials or with existing applications.:
• ACUMEN_HOME - Defines the path to the runtime files needed to run a Tutorial applicaton (aa_platform.plb, aa_uiprimary.plb, acumen.dll). The default for this environment value is <P3_HOME>.
• ACUMEN_INTERFACE - This environment variable can be set to ENABLE or DISABLE. The default value is DISABLE. When this value is set to ENABLE, the Tutorial application will display the standard Patran user interface and the Tutorial form or run in the “author” mode. When this value is set to DISABLE,, only the Tutorial form will be displayed and the standard Patran user interface will be disabled; this is often called the “runtime” mode.
• ACUMEN_Y_SCALE - A scaling factor that can be used to adjust the height of the Tutorial form. This value can be set to a real value ranging form 0.5 to 1.5. This value was implemented to allow form heights on laptops be be fine tuned. For almost all cases the default value will be appropriate.
• ACUMEN_DEBUG - A value used for debugging purposes. Defining this value causes a lot of internal debugging information to be displayed in the session file. This value can be set to an integer value ranging from 0 to 5 where 0 is the default value no debugging information to a value of 5 for the maximum level of debugging information. Levels 1 through 4 will display information that is not platform or location dependant. Debug level 5 can include platform and locattion dependant information. This value is heavily used with regression tests.
• ACUMEN_MOTIF - This value is obsolete and should not be used.
If an operating system script file such as a korn, csh, .cmd, .bat or some other similar file is used to define these environment values then Patran can be started with a command line argument to run a Tutorial as a stand alone application. A stand alone Tutorial application can be started in Windows:
<P3_HOME>/bin/patran.exe -ifile aa_init.pcl
On UNIX"
<P3_HOME>/bin/p3 -ifile aa_init.pcl
The “-file” command and argument will start Patran with a custom initialization file that will load and start the Tutorial application defined by the environment variables.