The following list describes the order in which commands are documented in the ABAQUS Scripting Reference Manual:

The description of each object in the ABAQUS Scripting Reference Manual begins with a section that describes how you access an instance of the object. The import statements are provided for completeness. ABAQUS/CAE imports all modules when you start a session, and you do not need to include the import module name statement in your scripts. However, you must import the ABAQUS Scripting Interface Symbolic Constants with the following statement:

from abaqusConstants import *

The following is the access description for the Material object:

import material
mdb.models[name].materials[name]

The access description also specifies where instances of the object are located in the data model. In the previous example the second line indicates how your script can access Material objects from a particular model. You must qualify a material object, command, or member with the variable mdb, as described in “Functions and modules,” Section 4.6.5. For example,

mdb.models[crash].Material[steel]
mdb.models[crash].materials[steel].Elastic(
    table=((30000000.0, 0.3), ))
elasticityType = mdb.models[crash].materials[steel].elastic.type

Similarly, if you are reading from an output database, the following is the access description for the HistoryRegion object:

import odbAccess
session.odbs[name].steps[name].historyRegions[name]

The Access description for the FieldOutput object is

session.odbs[name].steps[name].frames[i].fieldOutputs[name]

sideLoadStep = session.odbs['Forming loads'].steps['Side load']
lastFrame = sideLoadStep.frames[-1]
stressData = lastFrame.fieldOutputs['S']
integrationPointData = stressData.getSubset(
    position=INTEGRATION_POINT)
invariantsData = stressData.validInvariants

A method that creates an object is called a “constructor.” The ABAQUS Scripting Interface uses the convention that constructors begin with an uppercase character. In contrast, methods that operate on an object begin with a lowercase character. The description of each constructor in the ABAQUS Scripting Reference Manual includes a path to the command. For example, the following describes the path to the Viewport constructor:

session.Viewport

mdb.models[name].parts[name].DatumAxisByCylFace
mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.DatumAxisByCylFace

If you are using the ABAQUS Scripting Interface to read data from an output database, the objects exist when you open the output database, and you do not have to use constructors to create them. However, if you are creating or writing to an output database, you may need to use constructors to create new objects, such as part instances and steps. The documentation describes the path to the constructors that create objects in an output database.

For example, the Path description for the FieldOutput constructor is

session.odbs[name].steps[name].frames[i].FieldOutput

myFieldOutput = session.odbs[name].steps['Side load'].frames[-1].\
    FieldOutput(name='S', description='stress', 
    type=TENSOR_3D_FULL)

The ellipsis (...) in the command description indicates that the command takes one or more arguments. For example, the Viewport constructor takes arguments.

Viewport(...)

makeCurrent()

Some arguments of a command are required, and some arguments are optional. In the ABAQUS Scripting Reference Manual the required arguments are listed first, followed by the optional arguments. If the argument is optional, ABAQUS provides the documented default or initial value.

In most cases the documentation describes the “default value” of an argument to a method. The default value is the value used for an optional argument when you call a method and omit the argument.

Some objects have no constructors; ABAQUS creates the objects for you. For such objects the documentation describes the “initial value” of an optional argument. The initial value given for the argument is the initial value assigned to the corresponding member when ABAQUS creates the object. For example, the defaultViewportAnnotationOptions object has no constructor; ABAQUS creates the defaultViewportAnnotationOptions object when you start a session. When you create a new viewport, the settings are copied from the current viewport.

You can use the setValues method to modify the value of a member; for example, to modify the value of the triad member of the defaultViewportAnnotationsOptions object. When you call session.defaultViewportAnnotationOptions.setValues(triad=OFF), the value of the triad member is set to off. The other member values remain unchanged; this behavior is called “as is” behavior because the values remain “as is.” The setValuesInStep method displays similar “as is” behavior.

Keyword and positional arguments are described in “Creating functions,” Section 4.6.1. We recommend that you use keyword arguments since they can be supplied in any order and they make your scripts easier to read and debug; for example,

newViewport = session.Viewport(name='myViewport', 
    origin=(10, 10), width=100, height=50)

newViewport = session.Viewport('myViewport', 
    (10, 10), 100, 50)

newViewport = session.Viewport('myViewport', 
    (10, 10), width=100, height=50)

newViewport = session.Viewport(name='myViewport', 
    (10, 10), 100, 50)

All commands return a value. Many commands return the None object described in “Python None,” Section 4.5.6. Constructors (methods that create an object) always return the object being created. The return value of a command can be assigned to a Python variable. For example, in the following statement the Viewport constructor returns a Viewport object, and the variable newViewport refers to this new object.

newViewport = session.Viewport(name='myViewport', 
    origin=(10, 10), width=100, height=50)

if newViewport.titleBar:
    print 'The title bar will be displayed.'