REPORTER 9.2

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Contents

• Introduction to Reporter• User interface – menu layout• Creating a template – first steps• Text • Editing objects• Variables• D3PLOT images• T/HIS graphs• Lines, arrows, etc• Library programs• Ordering objects• Managing pages

• Lining up objects neatly• Error log• Comparing two or more models• Saving and exporting reports• Batch mode operation • User-written scripts• Summary reports for multiple an

alyses

LS-DYNA is a registered trademark of Livermore Software Technology Corporation

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Reporter - Introduction

• Reporter offers automatic extraction of results and generation of report files from LS-DYNA output files– Integration of several scripts and command files into single report

– Reports can be generated for a series of analyses

– Accessed through Oasys shell, or typing the executable name (unix) or by double-clicking the executable or its icon (PC)

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Example Report 1

Information extracted from the otf file

(d3hsp)

Example Report Page

Output from D3PLOT

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Example Report 2

Numerical values from analysis

Output from T/HIS

Example Report Page

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File name preference

• Before creating your first template, we recommend setting Reporter’s preference for LS-DYNA output file names according to how the files are written by LS-DYNA on your system.

• LSTC file names = d3plot, d3thdt, d3hsp, etc• OASYS file names = name.ptf, name.thf, name.otf, etc

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User Interface

Output from External

Programs

Style and Colour

Lines, Shapes and Text

Template / Presentation View Toggle

Switch

Objects

Drop-Down Toolbar Menu

Object Selector Button

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User Interface: Object Icons

Arrow

T/HIS graph

Image file to be read when generating report

Library program

Script

Ellipse

Image

Line

D3Plot image

Text from file

Library image (e.g. logo)

Table from multiple analyses

Rectangle

Text

Output from user’s Program

Report viewing

Object selector

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Creating a Template File

Create a new template by selecting ‘New’

from File menu or the New File icon

Preference settings

Page size / orientation

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Creating a Template: Text

To insert text,

1) select text box icon or ‘Text..’ from drop

down menu

2) Click on page at desired location

3) Text properties

4) Enter text and press ‘OK

This cross is at the point where you clicked (see Justify settings

in text box menu

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Creating a Template: Editing objects

To move/resize an object, first right-click the object to make the yellow drag handles appear.

Then use the drag handles or drag the object

Right click an object, edit

Enter updated text

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Variables

• Variables can be any character or numerical data • Can change the variable values before generating a report• Used to globally substitute throughout a report (e.g. analysis name

and directory, allowing the whole report to be generated quickly for different models

• Variables can be created by and exchanged with external programs– FAST-TCF scripts for T/HIS– D3Plot command files– Library programs and scripts– User-written programs

• Managed through a single menu • Examples:

– Titles– File or directory names– Numerical values from input/output files– Maxima/minima etc from graphs– Node/element ID in FAST-TCF scripts

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Variables: Menu

Create, edit and delete variables through ‘Variables’ menu

Default Reporter variables

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Variables: Editing

Set variable name, description and value. If the variable is a

directory or file name, a browse button is available.

Directory containing LS-DYNA output files

Analysis root filename eg tube if tube.key

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Using variables in text objects

When in a text box, right click and Insert

Variable

… or type the variable name enclosed with %, e.g.

%VAR_NAME%

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Variables: Output values

Select ‘Presentation’ view toggle switch to see displayed value

Interpreted values of variables

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Creating new Variables

Give variable name and type. Setting the type to Directory or File enables Browse button. Options for File, e.g /data/RUN1/basename.key:

File(absolute) = /data/RUN1/basename.key

File(basename) = basename

File(extension) = key

File (tail) = basename.key

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D3PLOT Object: Creating

Press ‘Capture’ to start D3PLOT

Select D3PLOT object and drag screen area to insert onto page

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D3PLOT Object: Capturing

Perform D3PLOT operations as

normal to achieve desired view

Once finished select ‘=>

Reporter’ in drop down ‘File’ menu

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D3PLOT Object: Capturing

D3PLOT command file now embedded within template

Right click on object to edit

Job file automatically uses the DEFAULT_DIR and DEFAULT_JOB

variables if they match the file opened.

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D3PLOT Object: Generating

Right click on object, then Generate. Or, to generate the whole report, press CTRL-G or File=>Generate

Select ‘Presentation’ mode to view

resulting output

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D3PLOT Object: Copy / Paste

Paste copied object using Ctrl-V or Edit->Paste, or right click

at a specific location

Copy an existing object through right click, Ctrl-C

or Edit->Copy

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D3PLOT Object: modifying the picture

Pressing ‘Capture’ for an existing object: re-opens D3PLOT with the chosen

view

Perform additional operations in

D3PLOT and return to Reporter

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D3PLOT Object: Output

Right click ‘Generate’ on newly created object

Switch to Presentation view to see resulting

output

Ctrl-G generates the

full report

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T/HIS graphs – using FAST-TCF

Select T/HIS object and screen drag an

area

Load an existing FAST-TCF script …

... or press ‘Capture’ to start T/HIS

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FAST-TCF Object: Capturing

Perform T/HIS operations as

normal to achieve desired plot. The graph may show

one or many curves.

Once finished, select ‘Return to Reporter’ in drop down ‘File’ menu

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FAST-TCF Object: Creating

FASTTCF script now embedded within template

Press ‘Capture’ again if you want to modify the graph

Analysis path should

usually be replaced with

a variable

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FAST-TCF Object: Editing

Additional commands from a second ‘Capture’

are automatically appended to script

Save script for use outside Reporter

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FASTTCF Object: Generating

Right click and ‘Generate’ to

execute script Select ‘Presentation’ mode to view

resulting output

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FASTTCF Objects: Variables

Variables can be created within the FASTTCF script: this line is typed manually into the

script (see section on FAST-TCF syntax in the T/HIS manual). It finds the maximum value on the curve with tag “forcekn” and stores it in a

variable MAX_FORCE

Variable reference

within text box

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FASTTCF Objects: Variables

Interpreted value of variable

Select ‘Presentation’ mode to view

resulting output

Switch back to ‘Template’ mode to continue editing the

template

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Image Objects

Three further methods of inserting an image:

– Standard image• Any existing bitmap, jpeg or gif image

– Image File• Named image file to be inserted when generating the

report

– Library Image• Image from Reporter’s library, e.g. company logo

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Drawing Objects

Image from image library

Rectangles to frame images

Lines

Formatting options

Drawing Objects

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Library Programs

Reporter has a library of programs to extract information from the LS-

DYNA keyword and printed output files (*.key, *.otf or d3hsp)

Select library tool icon and drag across a suitable screen area

(OTF file =d3hsp file)

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Library Programs: Inserting

Expand / contract list

Arguments passed to program – e.g. for

d3hsp file this should be

%DEFAULT_DIR%/d3hsp

‘OK’ to insert selected program

Select program

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Library Programs: Formating

Can apply conditional formatting based on

output

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Library Programs: Generating

Select and right click ‘Generate’

to execute program

Select ‘Presentation’ mode to view

resulting output

Conditional formating

Switch back to ‘Template’ mode to continue editing the

template

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Library Programs: Generating

Create a summary table by inserting several library programs

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Ordering Objects

When generating a report, Reporter processes objects in order. If a

variable is created by object A and used in object B, then object A must

be generated before object B.

Use to adjust the order of an

object

E.g. text object using variable MAX_FORCE

must occur after FAST-TCF object that created the

variable

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Managing Pages

Define master page to apply

consistent format

Export Page

Insert page from another template

or library

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Lining up objects neatly

When in presentation mode, click the Selector tool, then click on an

object and drag or nudge.

Another method is to use the geometry data (corner coordinates and size) in the Object Edit menu to set several objects to have the

same X or Y coordinates and size.

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Error Log

The Logfile records all operations executed by Reporter with

associated warnings and errors. It can be useful for debugging

templates

Errors/warnings appear in red

Search for next error or warning

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Comparing two or more models

• Pictures and graphs comparing two (or more) models can be made.• First, create a new variable for the directory of the second model

(e.g. BASE_DIR)• If using OASYS filenames (jobname.thf, jobname.ptf, etc), create a

new variable for the second model name (e.g. BASE_JOB)• Now capture graphs and pictures in the normal way; when in T/HIS

or D3PLOT, open two (or more) models and create the desired pictures or graphs.

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In D3PLOT, use File=>Open new model to open the second model.

Window=>Edit Window can be used to control which models appear in which windows, and

change the colour of each model.

File=> return to Reporter as before.

Comparing two or more models

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• The Job file text box now shows a list of the models opened by D3PLOT. Use the left/right arrow keys to scroll through the text box.

• Change the directories shown to %DEFAULT_DIR% and %BASE_DIR%

• Now, by editing the variables BASE_DIR and DEFAULT_DIR, any two models may be compared.

Comparing two or more models

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In T/HIS, use Read=>LSDYNA and New Model to open two (or more)

models.

Perform any necessary operations to display the desired graph.

File => return to Reporter as before

As with the D3PLOT object, the Job File text box now contains a list of models. Change the directories

to %BASE_DIR% and %DEFAULT_DIR% as before.

Comparing two or more models

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Saving / Exporting

Save Reporter template file (*.ort): contains all the information required to generate a report

Write a Reporter report file (*.orr): same as template file, but also includes pictures and graphs generated during the current session, i.e. the report can be viewed in Reporter without needing to re-generate

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Saving / Exporting

Postscript: better definition for printing. Viewable in Ghostscript. File may be large.PDF: Adobe Acrobat format. Can be printed.Html: suitable for on-line usage.Powerpoint VBA: a Visual Basic macro - run macro to generate powerpoint version of report (this is available on any computer)Powerpoint: generate a powerpoint file directly. This can be done only on a PC that has Powerpoint installed

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Running in Batch

Reporter can be run in batch mode using

the following command line

options

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Running in Batch

Example:

(path)/reporter92.exe –batch –file=(path)/example.ort –varDEFAULT_DIR=/data/example/RUN1 –pdf=(path)/example.pdf –exit

In this example, the LS-DYNA results in directory /data/example/RUN1 will be processed using Reporter template example.ort, and the report saved to a pdf file named example.pdf. Reporter will then exit.

When the path includes spaces (on PCs), it should be enclosed by quote marks, e.g. “C:\Documents and Settings\example”

-batch indicates that Reporter should not ask questions or expect any interaction with the user. Reporter still displays the images on-screen during report generation when in batch mode.

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Unicode Characters

If your computer has Unicode fonts (e.g. Chinese, Japanese, Korean), these characters may be included in Text objects and Variables, displayed in Reporter, and written to all output formats except postscript.

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Advanced Topics: User Written Program

Insert a program

object

Select a user written external program (can

be a script written in Perl, Python etc or

be an executable).

The output to “stdout” from the program

will be displayedDefine arguments

required by program

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Advanced topics: D3PLOT added commands

Add extra command-file lines to a D3PLOT object through the ‘Edit’

button. This is rarely needed – all the necessary commands are stored automatically while Capturing.

Load existing command files, add further commands to automatically-generated

command files, or save a file for use outside Reporter

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Advanced Topics: Multiple Analyses

Run1.key Run3.keyRun2.keyKey list

Template 1

LS-DYNA

Results 3

Shell

Reporter

Report

LS-DYNALS-DYNA

Results 1 Results 2

Reporter Reporter

Report Report

Variables file

Variables file

Variables file

Reporter

Summary Report

Template 2 Template 2 creates a summary report, using the variable values generated

by Template 1

Template 1 post-processes each

analysis separately, and writes a file containing the values of the

variables

Whole process can be controlled

by Oasys Shell if

required

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Advanced Topics: Multiple Analyses

In Template 1 (used to post-process each analysis separately):

Request a Reporter variables file

Variable values are written to a plain text file

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Advanced Topics: Auto Table

Template 2: Reporter can

generate a table of results from

multiple analyses

Insert an Autotable object

by screen dragging an area

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Advanced Topics: Auto Table

Select root directory

containing analyses

Variable value to enter into column - can be the output

from a program

Add / Remove columns

Table Dimensions

Apply conditional

formatting and create

hyperlinks to other files

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Advanced Topics: Auto Table

Values extracted from

Reporter variables files

Conditional formatting

based on value

Hyperlinks to individual report files

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Advanced Topics: “Blob” plots

Variable values (e.g. HIC) and corresponding X,Y & Z co-ordinates extracted from all analyses contained within root directory.Each “blob” represents one analysis.

This requires two objects: (1) A library script that creates a data file, and(2) A D3PLOT object that reads and displays the data

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Insert a library program object

and select D3PLOT data file

Variable values to extract from

variables files

Root directory containing analyses

Advanced Topics: “Blob” plots

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D3PLOT data file library program

Insert a D3PLOT object and select

the data file generated by the library program

Press Capture to load D3PLOT

using the data file

Advanced Topics: “Blob” plots

REPORTER 9.2