CFD Script Editors

There are two ways to create and run scripts with the Autodesk® CFD API:

The CFD Script Editor within the Autodesk® CFD user interface
The External CFD Script Editor

Internal Script Editor

The internal script editor is well suited for working with completed simulations. Example applications include the following:

Extraction of custom result quantities
Automation of repetitive functions
Extraction of results data in ways not available in the user interface

To open the Script Editor, click Setup (tab) > Design Study Tools (panel expanding menu) > Script Editor. In many cases, a script is run within the same session as a completed scenario. This allows results manipulation directly within the design study environment.

Note: Note that a design study must be open to access the script editor.

Script Editor User Interface

File

Click New to create a new script.
Click Open to open an existing script.
Click Save to save the current script to a folder.

Edit

To revert to an earlier state, click Undo. To return to the last state prior to clicking Undo, click Redo.
To remove highlighted text, click Cut. To insert cut text elsewhere, position the mouse at the desired location, and click Paste.
To skip to a specific line, click Go To. Enter the desired line number when prompted.

Tools > Triggers

You can use triggers to automatically launch a script when a specific event occurs.

Examples of using trigger events:

Use a trigger to detect when the simulation finishes so that a script can automatically extract results or save a specific data item. This automates data extraction, and eliminates manual intervention.
Use a trigger to detect when the geometry model is loaded to execute a script that automates the setup and execution of the simulation. This is useful if you are automatically varying geometric parameters from a CAD tool.

Pre-defined trigger events:

SolverFinished: When the simulation (numerical solve) has completed.
New Design: When a design is created.
Update Design: When a design has been modified with an updated version of the geometrymodel.

There are two levels of triggers:

Default triggers are invoked for all models. They are saved in \AppData\Local\Autodesk\CFD 2016\Triggers
Design Study triggers are invoked only for the model in which there were created. Design Study triggers are saved with the design study. Note that you must have a design study open to create or edit a Design study trigger.

To create a trigger:

Click Tools > Triggers...
Right click on the desired trigger event (from either the Default or Design Study groups), and select Add Trigger.
A minimum script is automatically created. Modify this script to include your specific actions and commands.

To change the name of a trigger or script, double click over the name and enter the new name.

Tool bar Commands

Select the appropriate scripting language. The choices are Python and QT Script. The choice depends on the functions you intend to automate. Click here for more information about programming languages.
Click the Run button to execute the script.

Text Region

The text region is contains several features that make text development easier:

a. Color-coding for several elements including variable declarations, comments, strings, and vectors

b. Line numbers

c. Current line highlighting

External Script Editor

Use the external script editor to execute a Script from outside Autodesk® CFD.

To open the external editor, navigate to your CFD installation folder, and doubleclick on CFDScriptEditor.exe.

The primary use of the external editor is to run existing scripts.

To open a script, click Browse.
To view or modify a script, click Edit. The script opens in a separate text editor.
To run the script, click Run.
To select a different text editor, click Options..., and input the name of the editor executable.

Related Topics

Application Programming Interface (API)

API Programming Reference

Overview of the API structure and hierarchy