Various terms are used in the command descriptions throughout this reference, defined as follows:

Analysis -- The set of input lines relating to a single problem. An analysis basically consists of three phases: the Preprocessing Phase, the Solution Phase, and the Postprocessing Phase.

Command -- An instruction to supply data, or control, to the program. Commands usually begin with a prescribed name, followed by alphanumeric data. For example, the command ET, ITYPE, Ename, ... may be input as ET,1,PIPE288 stating that element type 1 is defined as the PIPE288 element. The uppercase argument name indicates that a numerical value is typically entered in that field, whereas an upper-lower case data label indicates that an alphanumeric value is typically entered in that field. Another command, for example, /PREP7, instructs the program to enter the PREP7 portion of the program. All valid commands are alphabetically listed in the Command Dictionary of this document. Unrecognized commands are further processed in a macro search (*USE) before being ignored. Commands may be indented on a line for clarity.

Data -- Data may be numeric (real or integer), alphabetic, or alphanumeric (containing letters and numbers). Nonnumeric data should not contain special characters such as

!   @   #    $   %    ^   &   *   (     )   _    -   +  

=   |   \   {  }   [  ]    "     '   /    <     >   ~    `

Numeric data may be input in a variety of ways as described in Data Input. Some commands are switches of the form Commandname,Key where Key can be 0, NO or OFF to toggle the switch off; or 1, YES or ON to toggle the switch on.

Degree of Freedom -- The degrees of freedom are the primary nodal unknowns determined by the analysis. They may be displacements, rotations, temperatures, pressures, voltages, etc. A degree of freedom is defined by a node number and a label, for example, 1 UX, 87 ROTZ, 4 TEMP, etc. Derived results, such as stresses, heat flows, etc. are computed from the degree of freedom results and are considered secondary unknowns.

Element types with unequal sets of degrees of freedom can be combined in a single structure. For example, a 2-D structure composed of 2-D solid elements having two degrees of freedom (UX, UY) at each node and a 2-D beam element having three degrees of freedom (UX, UY, ROTZ) at each node will have the latter three degrees of freedom at the common nodes. Nodes which do not have a beam element attached will have only two degrees of freedom with ROTZ eliminated from the solution printout.

Field -- The command name and data items entered on a command are separated into consecutive fields. A field is assumed to be as "wide" as the number of characters specified. A comma is used to end one field and begin the next.

Line -- A line of input is a physical record read by the computer. Input lines are limited to 640 characters (including preceding blanks, commas, and any special characters). For file input, a line is represented by one 640 column data record. For interactive input, a line is the string of characters (640 maximum) entered before the RETURN key is pressed. Several commands may be put on one line as described in Data Input. Blank lines are permitted for clarity.

Command name -- Only the first four characters of any alphabetic (or alphanumeric) command name are interpreted by the program (except as noted for certain commands, such as /POSTN, /AUXN. *ENDDO, etc.). The remaining characters of the field are ignored. Names shown with fewer than four characters are assumed to have blanks up through the fourth character as part of the name. For example, this sample ET command may be input as ET,1,42 or ET ,1,42 or ET ,1,42, but not as ETABCD,1,42. Names may not contain special characters (as described in Data Input). If the command name is omitted, the name defaults to the name of the previous command, unless it was a slash (/) or star (*) command.

Postprocessing Phase -- The set of commands causing further processing of the solution output. These commands consist of commands from the POST1 and POST26 processors. The postprocessing phase may consist of input for several postprocessing sessions (in series).

Preprocessing Phase -- The set of commands related to defining the model. The preprocessing phase consists of input from the PREP7 processor.

Program -- The collection of all processors (preprocessing, postprocessing, auxiliary, etc.) is called the ANSYS program.

Processor -- A group of related functions, such as model definition (PREP7) or results examination (POST1).

Run -- The collection of all commands between the system-level commands is called a run or session). A session may also consist of several analyses in series (separated by a /CLEAR command).

Solution Phase -- The set of commands which apply boundary conditions to the model created in preprocessing, then performs a solution for that set of boundary conditions. The solution phase may consist of several solutions in series, such as a static solution, followed by a modal solution, etc.