Graphical User Interface (GUI)¶

Overview¶

Introduction¶

The Graphical User Interface (GUI) looks like:

A somewhat messy, but more featured image:

../_images/eigenvectors_groups_legend.png

The GUI also has a sidebar and transient support.

Setup Note¶

Download the entire package from Github or just the GUI executable.

If you download the source, make sure you follow the Installation Guide and use setup.py develop and not setup.py install.

Python 2.7 with vtk==5.10.1 will probably give you the best looking GUI. VTK 6 and 7 probably still have some issues. The GUI in Python 3 won’t save your settings.

Running the GUI¶

On the command line:

>>> pyNastranGUI

To view the options:

>>> pyNastranGUI --help

  Usage:
    pyNastranGUI [-f FORMAT] INPUT [-o OUTPUT]
                 [-s SHOT] [-m MAGNIFY]
                 [-g GSCRIPT] [-p PSCRIPT]
                 [-u POINTS_FNAME...] [--user_geom GEOM_FNAME...]
                 [-q] [--groups]
    pyNastranGUI [-f FORMAT] INPUT OUTPUT [-o OUTPUT]
                 [-s SHOT] [-m MAGNIFY]
                 [-g GSCRIPT] [-p PSCRIPT]
                 [-u POINTS_FNAME...] [--user_geom GEOM_FNAME...]
                 [-q] [--groups]
    pyNastranGUI [-f FORMAT] [-i INPUT] [-o OUTPUT...]
                 [-s SHOT] [-m MAGNIFY]
                 [-g GSCRIPT] [-p PSCRIPT]
                 [-u POINTS_FNAME...] [--user_geom GEOM_FNAME...]
                 [-q] [--groups]
    pyNastranGUI -h | --help
    pyNastranGUI -v | --version

  Primary Options:
    -f FORMAT, --format FORMAT  format type (cart3d, lawgs, nastran, panair, stl, surf, ugrid)
    -i INPUT, --input INPUT     path to input file
    -o OUTPUT, --output OUTPUT  path to output file

  Secondary Options:
    -g GSCRIPT, --geomscript        path to geometry script file (runs before load geometry)
    -p PSCRIPT, --postscript        path to post script file (runs after load geometry)
    -s SHOT, --shots SHOT           path to screenshot (only 1 for now)
    -m MAGNIFY, --magnify           how much should the resolution on a picture be magnified [default: 5]
    --groups                        enables groups
    --user_geom GEOM_FNAME          add user specified points to an alternate grid (repeatable)
    -u POINTS_FNAME, --user_points  add user specified points to an alternate grid (repeatable)

  Info:
    -q, --quiet    prints debug messages (default=True)
    -h, --help     show this help message and exit
    -v, --version  show program's version number and exit

The standard way to run the code:

>>> pyNastranGUI -f nastran -i model.bdf -o model1.op2 -o model2.op2

The solid_bending.bdf and solid_bending.op2 files have been included as examples that work in the GUI. They are inside the “models” folder (at the same level as setup.py).

You can also run it like:

>>> pyNastranGUI model.bdf model1.op2

Here the code will guess based on your file extension what your file format is. If you want to load a second OP2, you must use -o model2.op2.

Features¶

fringe plot support

elemental/nodal results

custom CSV results

deflection results

command line interface

scripting capability

high resolution screenshot

snap to axis

change Background Color

show/hide elements

results may be shown alongside geometry

can edit properties (e.g. color/opacity/size) using Edit Geometry Properties... on the View menu

additional points may be added with the -u option

attach simplistic custom geometry

legend is more robust

clipping customization menu

save/load view menu

edges flippable from menu

change label color/size menu

Nastran Specific Features¶

attach multiple OP2 files

supports SPOINTs

displacement/eigenvectors now shown as a deformation (real)

scale editable from legend menu

rotated into global frame

Edit Geometry Properties

SPC/MPC/RBE constraints

CAERO panel, subpanels

AEFACT control surfaces

SPLINE panels/points

bar/beam orientation vectors

CONM2

BDF Requirements¶

Entire model can be cross-referenced

Same requirements as BDF (include an executive/case control deck, define all cross-referenced cards, etc.)

Versioning Note¶

The GUI download is typically newer than the latest release version.

Additional Formats¶

Some of the results include:

Nastran ASCII input (*.bdf, *.nas, *.dat, *.pch); binary output (*.op2)

geometry

node ID

element ID

property ID

material ID

thickness

normal

shell offset

PBAR/PBEAM/PBARL/PBEAML type

maximum interior angle

results (real only)

stress, strain

displacement, eigenvector, temperature, SPC forces, MPC forces, load vector

Cart3d ASCII/binary input (*.tri); ASCII output (*.triq)

Node ID

Element ID

Region

Cp, p, U, V, W, E, rho, rhoU, rhoV, rhoW, rhoE, Mach

Normal

LaWGS input (*.wgs)

Panair input (*.inp); output (agps, *.out)

Patch ID

Normal X/Y/Z

Centroid X/Y/Z

Area

Node X/Y/Z

Cp

STL ASCII/binary input (*.stl)

Normal X/Y/Z

Features Overview¶

Edit Geometry Properties¶

The View -> “Edit Geometry Properties” menu brings up:

This menu allows you to edit the opacity, line width, point size, show/hide various things associated with the model. The geometry auto-updates when changes are made.

Modify Legend¶

The View -> “Modify Legend” menu brings up:

This menu allows you to edit the max/min values of the legend as well as the orientation, number format (e.g. float precision) and deflection scale. Defaults are stored, so they may always be gone back to. The geometry will update when Apply/OK is clicked. OK/Cancel will close the window.

Picking Results¶

Hover over an element and press the p key. A label will appear. This label will appear at the centroid of an elemental result or the closest node to the selected location. The value for the current result quantity will appear on the model.

For “NodeID”, the xyz of the selcted point and the node in global XYZ space will be shown. Labels may be cleared from the View menu. Text color may also be changed from the View menu.

Focal Point¶

Hover over an element and press the f key. The model will now rotate around that point.

Model Clipping¶

Clipping let’s you see “into” the model.

Zoom in and hover over an element and press the f key. The model will pan and now rotate around that point. Continue to hold f while the model recenters. Eventually, the frame will clip. Reset the view by clicking the Undo-looking arrow at the top.

Modify Groups¶

The View -> “Modify Groups” menu brings up:

Had you first clicked View -> “Create Groups by Property ID”, you’d get:

Add/Remove use the “Patran-style” syntax:

# elements 1 to 10 inclusive
1:10

# elements 100 to the end
100:#

# every other element 1 to 11 - 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11
1:11:2

The name of the group may also be changed, but duplicate names are not allowed. The “main” group is the entire geometry.

The bolded/italicized text indicates the group that will be displayed to the screen. The defaults will be updated when you click Set As Main. This will also update the bolded/italicided group.

Camera Views¶

The eyeball icon brings up a camera view. You can set and save multiple camera views. Additionally, views are written out for scripting. You can script an external optimization process and take pictures every so many steps.

User Points¶

User points allow you to load a CSV of xyz points. These may be loaded from within the GUI or from the command line.

# x, y, z
1.0, 2.0, 3.0
4.0, 5.0, 6.0

These will show up as points in the GUI with your requested filename.

User Geometry¶

User geometry is an attempt at creating a simple file format for defining geometry. This may be loaded from the command line. The structure will probably change.

The geometry may be modified from the Edit Geometry Properties menu.

# all supported cards
#  - GRID
#  - BAR
#  - TRI
#  - QUAD
#
# doesn't support:
#  - solid elements
#  - element properties
#  - custom colors
#  - coordinate systems
#  - materials
#  - loads
#  - results

#    id  x    y    z
GRID, 1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.3
GRID, 2, 1.2, 0.3, 0.3
GRID, 3, 2.2, 0.3, 0.3
GRID, 4, 5.2, 0.3, 0.3
grid, 5, 5.2, 1.3, 2.3  # case insensitive

#    ID, nodes
BAR,  1, 1, 2
TRI,  2, 1, 2, 3
# this is a comment

QUAD, 3, 1, 5, 3, 4
QUAD, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4  # this is after a blank line

Custom Scalar Results¶

Custom Elemental/Nodal CSV/TXT file results may be loaded. The order and length is important. Results must be in nodal/elemental sorted order. The following example has 3 scalar values with 2 locations. The model must have only two nodes.

# x(%f), y(%i), z(%f)
1.0,     2,     3.0
4.0,     5,     6.0

Custom Results Specific Buttons¶

Nastran Static/Dynamic Aero solutions require custom cards that create difficult to view, difficult to validate geometry. The pyNastranGUI aides in creating models. The CAERO panels are seen when a model is loaded:

Additionally, by clicking the Toggle CAERO Subpanels button (the figure is somewhat outdated), the subpanels may be seen:

Additionally, flaps are shown from within the GUI. SPLINE surfaces are also generated and may be seen on the View -> Edit Geometry Properties menu.

Scripting¶

GUI commands are logged to the window with their call signature. Scripting may be used to call any function in the GUI class. Most of these commands are written to the COMMAND output.

For example, you can:

load geometry

load results

plot unsupported result types

custom animations of mode shapes

high resolution screenshots

model introspection

Command line scripting¶

geom_script runs after the load_geometry method, while postscript runs after load_results has been performed

import sys
self.on_take_screenshot('solid_bending.png', magnify=5)
sys.exit()

>>> pyNastranGUI solid_bending.bdf solid_bending.op2 --postscript take_picture.py

High Resolution Screenshots¶

Option #1¶

self.on_take_screenshot('solid_bending.png', magnify=5)

Option #2¶

self.magnify = 5

Now take a screenshot.

Animation of Displacment/Mode Shapes¶

While it’s possible to take multiple screenshots of geometry with different scale factors, it’s tedious. Additionally, you can only plot displacement-type results (e.g. displacement, eigenvector) with deflection and not result types like Node ID or stress unless you write a script.

from PIL.Image import open as open_image
from pyNastran.gui.images2gif import writeGif

icase = 9
out = self.get_result_data_from_icase(icase)
obj, i, j, res_name, subcase_id, result_type, vector_size, location, data_format, label2 = out

xyz_base = obj.xyz
nnodes = xyz_base.shape[0]
actor = self.geometry_actors['main']

screenshot_filenames = []
scales = np.arange(-1., 1., 0.1) * 100.
for scale in scales:
    screenshot_filename = 'solid_bending_%.0f.png' % scale
    xyz = xyz_base + scale * obj.dxyz[i, :]
    for j in range(nnodes):
        self.grid.GetPoints().SetPoint(j, xyz[j, :])

    self.grid.Modified()
    actor.Modified()
    self.rend.Render()
    self.on_take_screenshot(screenshot_filename, magnify=1)
    screenshot_filenames.append(screenshot_filename)

screenshot_filenames += screenshot_filenames[::-1][1:]
gif_filename = 'solid_bending.gif'
with open_image(screenshot_filenames[0]) as image:
    shape = (image.width, image.height)

print('Writing gif to %s' % (gif_filename))

# down-res the image so we use less space
shape2 = (shape[0] // 2, shape[1] // 2)
images = [open_image(filename).resize(shape2) for filename in screenshot_filenames]

#writeGif('solid_bending.gif', images, duration=1/framerate, subRectangles=False)
writeGif(gif_filename, images, duration=0.1, dither=False)