Saving plot results in XML format

Results can be saved as an XML text file for interfacing with other software programs, such as ANSYS.

To save the plot results in XML format, you first need to have the result displayed.

XML plot results file structure

In the exported XML file, data is separatde into blocks. Each block has an index number and its contents depend on the data type (mesh data on elements or nodes; non-mesh data; and highlight data).

For mesh data, each block:

• Corresponds to one animation frame.
• Contains independent variable names, values and units.
• Contains dependent variable name, values and unit.
• Contains data type element or node ID and data values.
• Contains layer information. Included only if the data has layer information.

Non-mesh data is structured similarly to mesh data but has no element or node IDs.

Highlight data has only one block with one or more groups, each containing a set of point coordinates.

XML plot results file example explained

The following is an extract of an XML plot results file. Explanations are displayed in bold in comments after the // characters and are not part of the file.

        ///////////////////////////////////////////////
//Exported mesh data:
///////////////////////////////////////////////

<?xml version="1.0"?>
 
<MoldflowXMLDocument>

<!-- ****************************************************************** -->

<!-- ****************************************************************** -->

<!--File Name: C:\temp\stress.xml--> //file name

<!-- ****************************************************************** -->

<!-- ****************************************************************** -->

<HEADER>

<NAME> Moldflow Simulation Results XML Writer</NAME>

<Version> 1.00</Version>

</HEADER>

<Dataset Name="Stress, Mises-Hencky (stress)" ID="6604"> //dataset name

<DataType> ELDT(Element data)</DataType> //data type: mesh (element or node), highlight, or non-mesh data

<DeptVar Name="Stress, Mises-Hencky (stress)" Unit="Pa"/> //dependent variable name

<NumberOfComponents> 1</NumberOfComponents>

<NumberOfIndpVariables> 2</NumberOfIndpVariables>

<IndpVar Name="Load factor" Unit="%"/> //active independent variable name

<IndpVar Name="Normalized thickness" Unit=""/> //active independent variable unit name

<Blocks>

<NumberOfBlocks> 2</NumberOfBlocks>

<Block Index="1">

<IndpVar Name="Load factor" Value="100.000000" Unit="%"/> //first active independent variable name and value

<IndpVar Name="Normalized thickness" Value="-1.000000" Unit=""/> //second active independent variable name and value

<NumberOfDependentVariables> 460</NumberOfDependentVariables>

<Data>

<ElementData ID="1"> //data type (element or node) id

<DeptValues> 2.2634e+006</DeptValues> //data values (one value for scale and three or six for vector/tensor)

...

...

 </Data>

</Block>

</Blocks>

</Dataset>

</MoldflowXMLDocument>

///////////////////////////////////////////////

//Exported non-mesh data:

///////////////////////////////////////////////

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<MoldflowXMLDocument>

<!-- ************************************************ -->

<!-- ************************************************ -->

<!--File Name: C:\temp\xyplot.xml-->

<!-- ************************************************ -->

<!-- ************************************************ -->

<HEADER>

<NAME> Moldflow Simulation Results XML Writer</NAME>

<Version> 1.00</Version>

</HEADER>

<Dataset Name="% Shot weight" ID="1160">

<DataType> NMDT(Non-mesh data)</DataType>

<DeptVar Name="% Shot weight" Unit="%"/>

<NumberOfComponents> 1</NumberOfComponents>

<NumberOfIndpVariables> 1</NumberOfIndpVariables>

<IndpVar Name="Time" Unit="s"/>

<Blocks>

<NumberOfBlocks> 39</NumberOfBlocks>

<Block Index="1">

<IndpVar Name="Time" Value="0.171670" Unit="s"/>

<NumberOfDependentVariables> 1</NumberOfDependentVariables>

<DeptValues> 4.9860e+000 </DeptValues>

</Block>

...

...

</Blocks>

</Dataset>

</MoldflowXMLDocument>

///////////////////////////////////////////////

//Exported highlight data:

///////////////////////////////////////////////

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<MoldflowXMLDocument>

<!-- ************************************************ -->

<!-- ************************************************ -->

<!--File Name: C:\temp\highlight.xml-->

<!-- ************************************************ -->

<!-- ************************************************ -->

<HEADER>

<NAME> Moldflow Simulation Results XML Writer</NAME>

<Version> 1.00</Version>

</HEADER>

<Dataset Name="" ID="1700">

<DataType> ELDT(Highlight data)</DataType>

<DeptVar Name="Clamp force centroid" Unit=""/>

<NumberOfIndpVariables> 0</NumberOfIndpVariables>

<Blocks>

<NumberOfBlocks> 1</NumberOfBlocks>

<Block Index="1">

<Groups>

<NumberOfGroups> 28</NumberOfGroups>

<Group>

<NumberOfPoints> 2</NumberOfPoints>

<Point Index="1">

<LOC> -2.8685e-002 1.1691e-002 4.1508e-002 </LOC>

</Point>

...

...

</Group>

</Groups>

</Block>

</Blocks>

</Dataset>

</MoldflowXMLDocument>