UTILITIES |
Within Utilities
there are included some commands that provide information or
allow actions over both the geometry and the mesh. Others can act over the whole project.
Preferences |
Note:There are some pre-definitions or ways of working that can be set in GiD. They can be
set in two ways: via the Preferences window or with the Preferences
command.
In the following description, the different Preferences options are shown, giving
their associated variables.
The first group of Preferences (general preferences) is used to set different ways of working with GiD:
General preferences
Splash window:
If this option is set, when program is open again,
a welcome window is displayed. Variable: SplashWindow
. Values:
1,0. Default is 1 (Yes
).
Create new point:
It alters the way how the points are entered in GiD
(see section Point definition). Options are:
Always:
If trying to create a new point in the vicinity of an existing one, the
new point is always created.
Ask:
If trying to create a new point in the vicinity of an existing one, GiD asks
the user whether to make use of the existing point or create a new one.
Never:
Only allows to select existing points. It can be changed
interactively when in creation point mode by setting No join
until all
points are entered.
CreateAlwaysNewPoint
. Respective values: 1,0,-2. Default is
0 (Ask
).
Display coordinates:
If set, GiD shows the coordinates in the graphical window.
Variable: DisplayCoordinates
. Values: 1,0. Default is 1 (Yes
).
Automatic redraw:
If this option is not set, redraws caused by window expositions,
or by internal functions are not performed. This avoids spending a lot of time for
large models. Variable: AutomaticRedraw
. Values: 1,0. Default is 1 (Yes
).
Use more windows:
Depending on the selected field, yes
, no
or
beginner
, some options are asked to the user inside a new window or with a
message in the regular messages window. Variable: UseMorewindows
. Values: 1,0,2.
Default is 1 (Yes
).
Backup file:
If this option is set and a model name is given, model is saved
automatically into that model name with the frequency given in the next option.
Note: Mesh is not saved into the backup to save time.
Variable: BackUpName
. Default name is backup.gid
in current or temporal
directory.
Backup time:
Number of minutes between each backup save. 0 minutes means
not to save backup.
Variable: BackUpMinutes
. Default is 20 minutes.
Write batchfile:
If this option is set, and a filename is given, all
commands used during the current session are saved into this file. It can be executed
later by means of a script file
with the predefined commands to be run in GiD (see section Batch file).
Variable: BatchFileToWrite
.
The second group of preferences (graphical) are used to set different ways of visualizing the model.
They do not change the geometry and the model information. These preferences are:
Graphical preferences
Smoothed Elements:
If set and when rendering a mesh (see section Render),
the intersection between elements with a small angle between their normals will be
illuminated as if it were
a continuous solid. If not, illumination is made considering every element as planar.
Variable: LightSmoothedElems
. Values: 1,0. Default is 1 (Yes
).
The angle (in degrees) is the maximum angle between normals of two elements to allow
smooth lighting between them. If not, one edge is drawn between them.
Variable: CosSmoothedElems
. Saved as the cosinus of this angle. Default is 0.8.
Surface drawing type:
Lets the user choose how to draw the surfaces when
in wireframe (normal) mode. Options are:
None:
Surfaces are not drawn.
Boundary lines:
One magenta line is drawn for every contour line. This
set of lines have a small offset towards the interior of the surface.
Isoparametric lines:
Two yellow lines are drawn for every NURBS surface.
The one for u=0.5
and the one for v=0.5
.
Both:
Draws both modes.
Change color:
It is possible to change the default color of
several things in the program with this option. One possibility is to
change the background color of the GiD graphical window. Other
possibilities are the color of the entities in normal mode (no
render). Variable: BackgroundColor
. Value: hexadecimal RGB
char. And others.
Curve precision:
This option gives the precision used to draw
curves. The internal definition of curves does not change. In the
preferences window, it is possible to dynamically change the drawing of
a curve to test the precision. Variable:
CurvePrecision
. Values: 1.0 to 0.0 from best to worst. Default
is 0.8
Surface precision:
This option gives the precision used to
draw surfaces in render mode. The internal definition of surfaces does not
change. Variable:
SurfacePrecision
. Values: 1.0 to 0.0 from best to worst.
Default is 0.6
Fast rotation:
If set, some options are able to be chosen. These options
will apply only when rotating. Options are:
points,lines,surfaces,volumes:
To draw or not to draw this type of entity
when rotating. Variables: the same. Values: 0,1. Default is 0 (No
).
Always Geometry:
If set, when viewing the mesh and rotating, the geometry is
drawn instead. Variable: UseAlwaysGeom
. Values: 0,1. Default is 0 (No
).
Draw graphic objects:
If not set, when rotating the geometry, some graphical and
temporal objects like normals or materials or conditions symbols are not drawn.
Variable: DrawGraphicObjects
. Values: 0,1. Default is 1 (Yes
).
Curve precision:
The same as general item Curve precision
, but applied
only when rotating. Variable: CurvePrecision
. Values: 1.0 to 0.0 from best
to worst. Default is 0.8
FastRotation
. Value: 0,1. Default is 0 (No
).
The third group of preferences are meshing options:
Meshing preferences
Surface meshers can be:
Rfast
The most efficient in speed and reliability. With deformed surfaces can
give distorted elements.
Rsurf
Meshes are generated directly in the space. Quality is better but it is
slower and can fail for distorted surfaces.
2dumg
Its use is deprecated.
These generators are based on the advancing front generation mesh technique in order to improve speed and portability.
Note: GiD can internally try another mesher when one of them fails to generate the mesh for one surface.
Mesh until End
If this preference is set, the mesh generator will continue
until end although there are surfaces or volumes that cannot be meshed.
Automatic correct sizes
If this preference is set, just when meshing
begins, there is a correction to the meshing sizes assigned to entities so
as to improve meshing.
Unstructured size transitions:
It controls whether the transitions between different element
sizes are slow or fast.
Allow automatic structured:
If this preference is set, functions
like Assign sizes by Cordal Error
will define some surfaces as
structured with highly distorted elements over them.
Smoothing:
Options for smoothing to enhance the mesh after the generation. Options are:
Nomal:
only the standard smooth is performed.
HighAngle:
an additional smooth with angle criteria is performed.
HighGeom:
an additional smooth with cordal error criteria is performed.
Mesh always by default:
Changes the default meshing criteria. Entities will always be meshed even if they have higuer entities. Example: If surfaces are checked, when meshing a volume, volume elements and surface elements will be obtained.
The fourth group of preferences are the geometry import and collapse options:
Import preferences
Automatic Collapse After Import:
If this option is set, after reading one
IGES file, one global collapse is made. If not, every surface and line will be
independent from each other.
Variable: AutoCollapseAfterImport
. Default is active (1).
Import tolerance:
When importing a file or collapsing, the points closer than this
distance are considered to be unique (see section IGES). Lines and surfaces can
also be collapsed.
Variable: ImportTolerance
. Default is 0.0001.
Collapse
Ignoring Layers:
entities are collapsed also if they belong
to different layers.
Each layer separately:
entities in different layers are not collapsed. (Entities belonging to frozen layers are never considered).
Variable: CollapseIgnoringLayers
. Value is 1.
IGES:Ignore invisible entities:
If this option is set, entities with 'invisible'
flag in an IGES file are ignored. If it is not set, all these entities are sent to a
layer with name: "Invisible".
Variable: IGESIgnoreInvisible
. Value is 1.
IGES: Curve on surface from 3D:
If this option is set, the IGES curves on surface entities are created from the direct 3D space definition (recommended); if the option is not set, IGES curves are created form the surface space parameter definition.
The fifth group of preferences are the fonts used inside GiD:
Font preferences
Normal font:
This is the font normally used inside GiD.
Fixed font:
This font must have the same spacing for every letter. It is used
in places where this property is necessary.
Big font:
Used in some dialog boxes.
Comments font:
Used for comments.
Renumber |
When creating new entities, the label of the new entity will be the lowest number greater than 0 that still does not exist for this entity type. If an entity is deleted, a gap is left in the label's list. This gap would be filled with new entities but it is possible to renumber the geometry to change the former entity labels. There are no problems with materials and conditions applied to entities.
In geometry mode, the renumbered entities are the geometrical ones. In mesh mode, the renumbered entities are the meshed ones. In this case, renumbering not only fills the gaps in the labels list but also changes the node numbers so as to minimize the difference of node numbers within each element. This can be useful when the calculating module uses band or skyline storage methods.
Note: It is usually not necessary to use this command because it is automatically applied when generating the mesh.
Calculator |
Vectorial calculator
This option opens a scalar and vectorial calculator. It has its own help. Try button 2 or 3 over one button.
It's possible to transfer scalar and vector and points and distances from and to the calculator and the main graphical display.
Id |
This command gives the label and coordinates of an existing or new point.
Options are:
Line parameter:
Selecting a line and given the line parameter (t) from
0.0 to 1.0, the point belonging to that line and t is returned.
Surface parameter:
Selecting a surface and given the surface parameters
(u,v) from 0.0 to 1.0, the point belonging to that surface and u,v is returned.
Signal |
With this option, the user can select one entity (point,line surface or volume), and a pair of crossed lines in the graphical window signal the center of the entity.
They must be existing entities, except the especial case of point or nodes, where they can be existing or defined with any of the usual methods.
Option Superpose Lines
is useful when in render mode. Depending
whether it is set or not, lines will be always in front or the object or
they can be partially hidden by the model.
List |
List entities window
Command List
gives information about the selected entities. This
information is read only.
If option Mass
is checked, information about physical properties
is given: length of lines, center of masses, area of surfaces, volume of
solids. It works either for the geometry or for the mesh.
Status |
Project status window
Option Status
gives information about useful general data of the project.
Distance |
Command Distance
gives the distance between two existing or new points.
Draw line normals |
Command DrawNormals. Lines
draws the sense of the selected lines.
If the line lies on the plane z=0
, apart from the sense, GiD displays
the normal of the line in 2D.
Viewing commands (zoom, rotation, etc.) can be applied and the normals remain on the screen.
It is possible to swap the sense of the lines using the options
All swaped
or Swap some
.
Options are:
Swap some
changes the sense of the selected lines.
All swaped
changes the sense of all lines asking confirmation for the
change.
Draw surface normals |
Command DrawNormals. Surfaces
draws the normals of the selected surfaces.
Surfaces belonging to the plane z=0
will have, by default, its normal
oriented towards the z positive. Then, they are defined as anti-clockwise surfaces in 2D.
It is possible to swap the sense of the normals when the corresponding surfaces do not belong to higher entities.
Options are:
Swap some:
changes the sense of the normals of the surfaces after
selecting them again.
All swaped:
changes the sense of all selected surfaces, asking for
confirmation for the change.
Swap group:
changes normals of all selected surfaces or elements
so as all of them have its normal to the same sense that adjacent entities.
This sense is arbitrary but common to all adjacent entities.
Sel by normal:
user is prompt to enter a vector and selection is reduced
to entities that have their normal in the same sense (dot product positive) as the
given normal.
Color:
With this option set, all surfaces are draw with filled color.
Their front side will be drawn with their regular color, and their back face with
yellow.
Note: Volumes are correctly oriented by GiD, regardless of their surface orientation.
Copy |
Copy window
Copy
is a general function that allows the user select a group of entities
and copy them with a movement that can be translation
, rotation
,
mirror
,scale
or offset
. The process is:
Select the type of entities to copy: point
, line
, surface
or volume
, when being in geometry mode, or option nodes
or
elements
, when being in mesh mode. All the lower entities that
belong to the selected ones will be automatically computed.
the type of movement needs to be chosen and
the parameters for the movement are defined. Options are:
x,y,z
axis. Scale factor greater than one,
increases size, while less than one decreases the size. It may also be negative,
changing the sign of the corresponding coordinates.
z=0
plane. This option works either for lines, surfaces or for mesh elements.
Other available options are:
Volumes
is chosen, the volume contained between old and
new surfaces is also created. This option is not allowed when copying volumes.
mirror
.
copy
operation occupies the same position than an existing one that does not belong to
a frozen layer, both entities are converted into one.
Mantain layers: If this option is not set the new entities created will be placed in the layer to use; otherwise, the new entities are copied to the same layers as their originals.
Note: Entities belonging to a frozen layer (see section Layers), are not checked when sharing old entities.
Move |
This command works like the command Copy
but moves the entities instead of
copying them. The program checks automatically if some of the entities must be copied
instead of moved (for this reason, these entities belong also to non-selected
entities of higher level) and performs the corresponding operation.
Options like Extrude
, Multiple copy
and Create contacts
are
disabled for movements.
Repair |
This option checks the coherence of the database information. Only use it if there are problems. When used, a window notifies repaired items and may give some warnings about incorrect entities.
Collapse |
The function Collapse
convert coincident entities or entities that are
close each other into one.
The variable ImportTolerance
(see section Preferences), controls the maximum
distance between two adjacents points to be converted into one. With lines
and surfaces, a maximum distance between both entities is calculated and
when it is less than ImportTolerance
, they are converted into one.
Select the type of entities: point
, line
, surface
or volume
, when being in geometry mode. All the lower entities that
belong to the selected ones will be automatically computed. After pressing
escape
, collapse is performed.
Option Model
performs the operation over all the entities of the model.
COLLAPSING MESH:
When a mesh is created the collapse menu changes and it's possible to collapse edges, nodes, elements or the entire mesh.
Note: Entities belonging to a frozen layer (see section Layers), are not checked when collapsing.
Uncollapse |
Function uncollapse permits the user to select either lines or surfaces and duplicate boundary entities.
Typically, if two surfaces share one line as an edge, after applying this function to both surfaces, that line will be duplicated and every line will belong to a different surface.
Undo |
Undo window
This command allows the user undo any previous commands executed since the last time the project was saved or read. To do this, the user must select in the undo window the set of commands that have to be undone.
Comments |
This facility is included to add comments to the pictures obtained through GiD
(see section Print to file). Three lines are allowed and with the Comments
button
the user can impose their printing on the screen to foresee mistakes or perform
changes before printing.
All the comment lines have their corresponding input button and the literal text, written into the command line between double-quotes, will be the output.
Graphical |
In this menu there are some options to change the windows appearance. They can be inside another window or independent or disappear. Windows are:
Toolbars view and position configuration window
With this window the position: inside, outside, top left, bottom right, etc. of following item can be configured, or siwtched on and off.
Up menu
appear again, shortcut Control-U
or
Control-Shift-u
can be used.
Coordinates window |
This option opens a window used to enter points (see section Point definition). It can be used in any place where it is possible to enter one point.
To accept one point in this window, press Accept
or press the Return
key.
Option Coordinate system
allows the user select between:
Option Local axes
allows the user choose:
Pick
a
point from graphical window.
New point
shows the current way of entering points. Button Change
opens the preferences window (see section Preferences) where it can be changed.
Button Pick
allows the user select a point from the window and it is inserted in
the point fields. Then it can be edited and used.
Read batch window |
A batch file can be read to execute some functions (see section Batch file) or
to create an animated view of these operations. This latter case can be performed
with the Read batch window
.
Read batch window
Once selected a file, it is possible to execute it interactively and make it stop
in some interesting parts. To allow all the movements (rotations and so on) be
executed in the same way that originally, option Write rotations in batch:
must be set in preferences (see section Preferences), when creating the batch.
There are several ways to stop the running batch. One of them is to include stops in
the show file section with the Mark break
button, and selecting
Internal stop
. This marks can be saved in the batch file with button
Write...
.
Option Show info
lets the program write all the usual messages in the GiD
messages window.
Clip planes |
This window allows to hide the front or the back of the view.
Clip planes is a way not to draw the geometry or mesh that is very close or very far to the viewer.
Moving Near plane
, hides the geometry that is closer to the viewer.
Moving Far plane
, hides the geometry that is further to the viewer.
To see the changes dynamically, select Dynamic update
.
Option Fixed distance
, allows a constant distance between both planes.
A new rotation center can be chosen or selected from the window.
Option Increase boundaries
, increments the ends in the bars of Far
plane and Near plane.
Note: All this information is reset when performing a
zoom frame
.
(see section Zoom).
Save configuration file |
It is possible to save a window configuration into a file. Then if GiD is open again with option -c (see section INVOKING GiD) and this file, the windows are open in the same place and size.
Perspective |
Perspective window
By default, a model is viewed inside GiD using orthogonal projection.
With this option, it is possible to change to a perspective projection. In this mode, the user can choose a distortion factor for the perspective. This can be updated dynamically.
Change Light Vector |
With this option the user can change the VECTOR of the light direction interactively or just entering the VECTOR components on the command line.
Options are:
Default Vector:
with this option the ligth direction
vector changes to its default value.
Change Z Sign:
here the user tells the program if the
light comes from the front of the object, or from behind the object.
The mouse cursor are changed arcondingly.
Macros window |
Window that allows the creation and recording of macros
Window 'Macros' permits to create sequences of commands and give a name to them. This group of commands can also be recorded from one execution set inside the program.
It is possible to assign a keyboard shortcut to a given macro.
Note: Macros are considered as a user preference and not
related to the active model. So, to transfer a set of macros from one
user to another it is necessary to check the files: gid.ini
or
.gidDefaults
.
Selection window |
In these functions where the user has to select some entities (creation of a surface or a volume, copy of entities ...) it is possible to use the selection window. The selection window lets you take control of the selection process.
Selection window
Note: the option Sel window
is only avalaible in the mouse menu during the selection process.
The selection window has the following options:
Select all
: if this option is chosen all entities are selected. If a filter is selected, the filter is applied to all entities.
From, To
: this option lets the user select a range of entities. If a filter is selected, the filter is applied only to that range of entities. To see the id numbers of entities, use the Label
command (see section Label).
Mode
: there are three selection modes:
Filter
: if a filter is selected, only the entities that accomplish with the filter criteria will be selected. This menu changes depending on what type of entity is being selected: Clear
: Clears the current selection.
Animate Controls |
Animate controls window
This windows allows the creation of animations while using GiD.
Any of these format can be selected: MPEG, AVI True Color, AVI 15bpp (reduced number of
colors: 32768) and GIF. AVI with MJPEG compression is also supported.
After giving a name and a delay time between frames (for
20 frames per second, a delay of 1/20 = 50 ms. should be entered) the process can start
just clicking on the start button ( film roll and arrow
button), the green
led will change to red.
The user can add frame by frame the pictures he wants into the animation file
just clicking on the film roll and arrow
button.
The option Save redraws tells GiD to save every redraw automatically into the
animation file, so no user intervention is needed to store frames.
The animation can be finished at any time just pressing the closed film roll
button,
the red led will change to green.
Note: To avoid problems when trying to view an MPEG format animation in Microsoft Windows, it is strongly recommended to use the Default menu to select a 'standard' size and press the Resize button. The graphical window will change to this 'standard' size. After finishing the animation, just selecting Default on the menu and pressing the Resize button, the previous size will be restored.
Note: The AVI files with MJPEG compression, can be viewed with xanim
on
Linux and unix machines, and with DirectX 8.x installed in Microsoft Windows machines.
Dimensions |
With the dimensions
option it's possible to add textual information to your model. That information can be changed of layer or deleted.
There are the following options:
Deletes a "dimension". Select the dimension you want to delete and press ESC.
Select the dimension you want to edit, change the text, and click OK.
This option lets you change the appearence of a "dimension"; a "dimension" can be drawn with or without a box. Choose ShowBox
on or off, select a "dimension" and press ESC.
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