Report Generator V201.12

magnus.gustafsson@edrmedeso.com

Report Generator - Overview

• Report Generator

• Target application: Mechanical

• Description: Utility tool to create Word report direct from a Mechanical model. The Word template can be modified by the user. Customer tailored versions can be made to included additional Mechanical features, section headings and text objects etc.

• The version of the App and the supported versions of ANSYS are the ones indicated on the App Store.

ACT App Store

• https://appstore.ansys.com/shop/ACTApps_act%20apps

• Great place to get started

− A library of helpful extensions available to any ANSYS customer

− New apps added regularly

− Applications made available in either binary format (.wbex file) or binary plus scripted format (Python and XML files)

− Scripted extensions are great examples

− Documentation and training materials available on the ANSYS Customer Portal: https://support.ansys.com/AnsysCustomerPortal/en_us/Downloads/ACT+Resources

Information

• Please pay attention to paragraph 9 of the CLICKWRAP SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR ACS EXTENSIONS regarding TECHNICAL ENHANCEMENTS AND CUSTOMER SUPPORT (TECS): “TECS is not included with the Program(s)”

• Report any issue or provide feedback related to this app please contact:

magnus.gustafsson@edrmedeso.com

Binary App Installation (1)

Installing from the ACT Start Page:

1. From the project page, select the“ACT Start Page” option

2. Click on “Extension Manager”

3. Press “+” symbol in the top right corner

4. It will open a file dialog to select theappropriate “*.wbex” binary file

5. The extension is installed

Loading the extension:

1. From the Extension Manager,click on your extension and choose‘Load Extension’

2. The extension is loaded

Notes:• The extension to be installed will be stored in the following location: %AppData%\Ansys\[version]\ACT\extensions (Example for [version]: v190)• The installation will create a folder in this location, in addition to the .wbex file

Binary App Installation (2)

Installing from the Extensions menu:

1. From the Extensions menu, select the “Install Extension…” option

2. It will open a file dialog to select the appropriate “*.wbex” binary file

3. Click “Open” to install the extension

Loading the extension:

1. From the Extension Manager,click on your extension and choose ‘Load Extension’

2. The extension is loaded

Notes:• The extension to be installed will be stored in the following location: %AppData%\Ansys\[version]\ACT\extensions (Example for [version]: v190)• The installation will create a folder in this location, in addition to the .wbex file

Binary App Installation (3)

Define additional folders in which ACT will search for extensions in order to expose them in the Extension Manager

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Notes:• During the scan of the available extensions, the folders will be analyzed according to the following order:

1. The application data folder(e.g. %AppData%\Ansys\[version]\ACT\extensions)2. The additional folders defined in the “Additional Extension Folders” property3. The installation folder4. The “extensions” folder part of the current Workbench project (if the project was previously saved with

the extension)• If an extension is available in more than one of these locations, the 1st one according to the scan order is used

• Once the binary extension is installed at default location, one can move the *.wbex and the folder to any other location– Default path: %AppData%\Ansys\v190\ACT\extensions– New path: Any location on your machine, shared drive etc.

• All users interested in using the extension need to include that path in their Workbench Options1. In the “Tools” menu, select the “Options…”2. Select “Extensions” in the pop up panel3. Add the path under “Additional Extensions Folders”

ERROR starting paid apps

• Paid apps needs a license in order to be activated in a project. It is a floating license of same type as for all other ANSYS products and is limited in number of users (seats) and supported ANSYS versions.

• If you get this error: “An error occurred during loading the App name extension.” look in the Extensions Log File (Extensions>View Log File) to see if you managed to check out the app license. Possible errors are:

– “Request name act_app_license does not exist in the licensing pool” App license is not installed or license server not restarted after install or no app license available. Solution: Start the “Client ANSLIC_ADMIN Utility” and list the license status.

– “License server system does not support this version of this feature”Your are running a newer version of ANSYS than what is supported in the license. For apps bought in R17 or R18 you are entitled to run current version plus one major upgrade, i.e. R18.2 and R19.2 respectively. From R19 apps are sold with one year lease allowing usage in any new ANSYS version within the lease period (if the app supports that version).Solution: Contact your ANSYS reseller or visit ANSYS app store to buy a new license ANSYS AppStore catalog

– License server R19.2 does not support app license check out. The client will get a “license timeout”.Solution: Install R2019R1 license server

Report Generator

• Background

– The Mechanical “Report Preview” can be used to extract model information and figures for export to Word or Power Point but it requires a lot of manual work to make the report usable.

• Solution

– The Report Generator app allows the user to select what to export to the report and how the report should look like by modifying the included Word template.

– The standard version includes definition of Word report file name and sections for “Introduction” and “Conclusions”.

– Additional customizations can be made by EDRMedeso.

• News in V201.12

– Support for 2020R1

Preference

• Define figure settings from Mechanical Options window. (Tools>Options…)• Graphics:

− Define background color.

• Report:− Define chart and graphics width and height to fit page width. (Word uses 96 dpi)− Define graphics resolution

Initiate report

• Click the first button to define standard comments (ReportName, Introduction, Conclusions), Title figure and the tag “Report”.Note: Any Figure named “Title” can be used as the front page title figure.

• Edit the text in “ReportName” to set the file name of the report. “FileName.docx” will use linked images.“FileName.doc” will use embedded images.

• Edit the text in “Introduction” and “Conclusions”.The text can be formatted. If you insert images first save them in the project “user_files” folder. You can also paste text and tables from Word.

• To exclude ”Introduction” or ”Conclusions” from the report simply click the “Un-Tag” button. Do not delete the comment.

• Special characters (ûüåäö etc.) can be used, except in Project Details (Author, Subject, Prepared For).

Add content

1. Select objects in the tree and click “Tag Report Objects” to include in the report.

2. Remove the “Report” tag by clicking the “Un-Tag Report Objects”.

3. Find all report objects by clicking the “Filter Report Objects”.(This is the same as setting “Filter: Tag=Report” in the Tree Filter)Reset the tree filter by clicking “Filter Report Objects” again.

4. Insert and name text comments to add information about an object.The comment name becomes the heading unless the comment name is “Comment”.

5. Insert and name the Figures. (Default name is “object name”)The name will be used as figure caption text in the report (and picture file name).

6. Use “New Static Images” to add Images to objects. If selecting “Figures” a static figure of each is created, e.g. to compare difference between an original and modified model or to export an individual image.

7. Command Objects, UCO, will be included if tagged.

8. Insert “Figures from file” to add external images to the report.

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Disposition

Grouping of Load and Result objects may be used to define a disposition in the report with sub headings under Analysis and Solution. The group must also be tagged and is printed before any un-grouped objects, e.g.

1. Static Structural

1. 1 Analysis Settings

1.2 Boundary Conditions

1. 2.1 Frictionless Support

1.2.2 Fixed Support

1.2.3 Displacement

1. 3 Loads

1.3.1 Bearing Load

1.3.2 Pressure

1.3.3 Bolt Pretension 1

2. Structural Results

2. 1 Pump housing results

2.1.1 Equivalent (von-Mises) Stress T = 1s

2.1.2 Equivalent (von-Mises) Stress T = 2s

2. 2 Total Deformation

Note:A group may be used to re-order the objects in the report. If the group is not tagged the disposition level is not changed.

Load details

Tagging a load object will create a details summary table in the report after the comments and figures.

Results details

Tagging a result objects (contour, path and probe) will create a results summary table by default.

The automatic table can be included/excluded for the different types of objects by setting the corresponding parameter to True/False in the preference file (reportGeneratorPref.py).

Grouped Results

Grouping result objects (contour, path and probe) of the same type and tagging the group but not the object will create a results summary table of result details.

Export Report/Figures

• Click the “Create Report” button to create and save the report.

• Click the “Update Figures” button to only export figures with the tag “Report”.The figures are saved in the folder “ReportName_images” in the project “user_files” folder.

• The “Report Generator” uses standard Mechanical functions for text, figures and tags and is only needed during the export of a report or figures. The project can be opened and edited without the app being activated.

Update figures in Word

• The “Update Figures” button can be used to update figures in the Word report to reflect changes made in Mechanical such as a new view or contour settings etc. In Word click “File>Edit Links to Files” and select the figures and click “Update Now”. Note: This will only work when using the “docx” format.

Note: You may select all images in the list and check “Save picture in document” to enable the document to be edited without the image folder.

Add appendices

• To make one report from several Mechanical models start by defining the main report from one of the Mechanical systems.

• For each extra system define a unique “ReportName” e.g. “Appendix_A.docx” and only Tag those objects to include. Click the “Update Figures” button (1) to export the figures and a html report (Appendix_A.html) to the folder “user_files”.

• Appendices from other sources are also possible if saved as a html file (with corresponding image folder) in the folder “user_files”.

• In the main Mechanical model click the “Insert Appendix” button (2). This will create an appendix comment with listing of all available html files (except the main report).You may remove or change order of the file names.

• Export the report as normal and the selected appendices will be included at the end of the report.

(1) (2)

Set Report Folder

• Clicking the “Set Report Folder” will open a folder browser window to set the current output folder for the report and image folder. This overrides the global setting “report_path” in the preference file.

• To revert to the default folder “user_files” click the “Set Report Folder” and then click “Cancel”.

• The global default can be edited in the preference file by clicking “Open Preference”.

Summary table pref.

• Clicking the “Open Preference” button once will insert a copy of the current “reportGeneratorPref” settings for Word template and automatic summary tables to the project.

• This allows to select the Word template and turn on/off individual summary tables without changing the global settings.

• To revert to the global settings simply delete the preference comment or “un-tag” it from “Report”.

• Clicking the preference button twice will open the preference file for editing.

Note: “Automatic summary tables” allows to include/exclude individual types of tables by setting the corresponding parameter “True/False”.

Word Template and style preferences

• The included Word template can be edited by the user to modify front page, heading styles etc. The template is saved in the extension folder, e.g. %appdata%\Ansys\v192\ACT\extensions\ReportGenerator_V192.11.Note: The template uses Visual Basic to work together with Mechanical!

• You may have several different Word templates in the extension folder.Click “Open Preference” to edit the name of the active one.

• Additional style settings for caption, table borders, font, background color as well as caption and UCO style is defined in this file using HTML5 style syntax.

Note: In “table_font” and “uco_font” an additional “ ‘ “ is needed to make it a valid string definition in Python.

Note: The preference file is loaded when Mechanical is opened or if the “Reload Extension button” is clicked.

New style preferences

There are a number of new style preference compared to previous versions. If they are undefined in the preference file default values are used.

Make sure to use the new preference file when migrating your current version to take use of the new features.

New Word VBA macros

The Word template contains a number of macros to import the report and set field information.

One new feature is automatic conversion of “text to fields”. Any text in between “{ }” will be treated as a field string.

In “Sub Document_New()” the conversion is called by the lines:“Selection.WholeStory

CallTextToFields”

And it uses new macros:“CallTextToFields()”

“TextToFields(rng1 As Range)”

“GetField(rng As Range) As Range”

Maintenance of custom versions

• The global version of the Report Generator app can now be updated with the customization files for customer specific versions.

• In addition to the Word template and the style preference file the automations and customizations are defined in the file “reportGeneratorCustom.py”.

• When installing a new version of Report Generator starting with version V190.8 the default included Word template (ReportGenerator.dotm), preference file (reportGeneratorPref.py) and customization file (reportGeneratorCustom.py) can be replaced to change the behavior of the app. It is therefore not required to have a compiled customer version of the app but there will only be one global version of the app.

• In a multi-user organization the app administrator installs the Report Generator app first and adds the customization files and then shares this app installation according to the instructions on slide 7 (Binary App Installation (3)). Make sure to include any new preference options and Word VBA macros defined in the official version (see previous slides).

• EDRMedeso can offer the service to create a customer specific version of the app and deliver the customization files to the customer in order to use it in current and future versions. Contact info@edrmedeso.com for more information or to request a quotation for customization.

ACT Load and Result support

• Properties from any ACT load or result objects can be displayed in a table if the ACT object writes a property file to the solution folder with name (using Python syntax): loadFileName = "UserDefinedLoad_" + load.ObjectId.ToString() + ".prop"

resultFileName = "UserDefinedResult_" + result.ObjectId.ToString() + ".prop"

(Note: Bolt Toolkit, Weld Strength and Weld Fatigue has this feature)

Supported Analysis Systems

• The number of supported analysis systems now covers all Mechanical, Thermal and Acoustic systems and includes “Initial Conditions” and “Analysis Settings”.

Supported Model Object

• Geometry

– Body/Part

– Point Mass

– Distributed Point Mass

– Thermal Point Mass

– Surface Coating

– Thickness

• Construction Geometry

– Path

– Surface

– Solid

• Virtual Topology

• Coordinate Systems/Coordinate System

• (Symmetry)

• Remote Points/Remote Point

• Connections

– Contacts/Contact

– Joints/Joint

– Body Interactions/Body Interaction

– (Contact Tool)

• Mesh

• (Fracture)

• (Mesh Edit)

• Mesh Numbering/Numbering

• (Condensed Geometry)

• Named Selections/Named Selection

• Basic output for a model object is the object name as the header and comments and figures. Objects put in between brackets only output the basic information.

Supported Analysis Objects

• Analysis Settings

• Initial Conditions

– Pre-Stress

– Initial Temperature

– Velocity

– Angular Velocity

– Drop Height

• Inertial

– Acceleration

– Standard Earth Gravity

– Rotational Velocity

– Rotational Acceleration

• Loads

– Pressure

– Pipe Pressure

– Hydrostatic Pressure

– Force

– Remote Force

– Bearing Load

– Bolt Pretension

– Moment

– Line Pressure

– Thermal Condition

– Pipe Temperature

– Temperature

– Convection

– Radiation

– Heat Flow

• Supports

– Fixed Support

– Displacement

– Remote Displacement

– Frictionless Support

– Compression Only Support

– Cylindrical Support

– Simply Supported

– Fixed Rotation

– Elastic Support

• (Conditions)

• Direct FE

– Nodal Orientation

– Nodal Force

– Nodal Pressure

– Nodal Displacement

– Nodal Rotation

– EM Transducer

Supported Solution Objects

• Solution Information (Modal; Frequency list & Participation factors)

• Deformation

• Strain

• Stress

• (Energy)

• (Damage)

• Linearized Stress

• (Volume)

• Probe

• Frequency Response chart (Stress, Strain, Def, Velo., Acc.)

• Tools

– Stress Tool

– Fatigue Tool

– Contact Tool

– Bolt Tool

– Beam Tool

– Fracture Tool

– (Composite Failure Tool)

– Response PSD Tool

– (Expansion Settings)

• Solution Combination

• (Fatigue Combination)

• Chart of result objects

Supported Workbench Language

• Report Generator will use the selected Workbench language when exporting the report.

• Supported languages in Mechanical are; English (default), Deutsche, French and Japanese(Tools > Options > Regional and Language Options)

Workbench journaling report export

• The report can be automatically exported from a selected analysis system by using Workbench journaling.

• Identify the System ID (“SYS 2” in this case) and add the lines below to your script (myJournal.wbjn).You may edit the report name using the yellow lines (optional).

• The journaling script may be used from the project page: “File>Scripting>Run Script File…”or when running Workbench in batch from command prompt: “C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\V193\Framework\bin\win64\runwb2” –X –R myJournal.wbjnNote: Mechanical must be able to open and Word must be installed on the PC if using the batch option.

system1 = GetSystem(Name="SYS 2")

model1 = system1.GetContainer(ComponentName="Model")

model1.Edit()

reportName = "'myReport.docx'"

commandText = "[i for i in ExtAPI.DataModel.Project.Comments if i.Name =='ReportName'][0].Text = " + reportName

model1.SendCommand(Language='Python', Command=commandText)

model1.SendCommand(Language='Python', Command='exportReport(None)', ExtensionName='Report Generator')

model1.Exit()

Known Issues and limitations

• This version is not compatible with ANSYS version prior to R19.2.

• Report Generator tries to export information from all “tagged” objects.If the object type is “unknown” no information for that object is exported.

• If an object has a new property as a result of ANSYS adding/modifying the features Report Generator may fail to extract information correct. In this case an error message will be displayed but the export will continue.After the export is done any object causing an error is selected in the model tree.

• Please report if an object is not exported, i.e. “Missing Feature” or if an object is causing an error. Send a screen shot of the object property details and the error message to: ansys@edrmedeso.com

References

• A demo model “ReportGenerator_V201.12.wbpz” is included in the installation package. This project is used to create demo report (saved in the projects “user_files”) and demonstrate the current features of extracting part list summary, material properties, contact settings, analysis settings etc.

THANK YOU!Magnus Gustafsson

magnus.gustafsson@edrmedeso.com