A path is a line you define by specifying a series of points through your model. In a node list path all of the points are nodal locations. For information on including locations other than nodes in a path, see “Creating a path through your model,” Section 31.2.
You create a node list path by entering part instance names, node labels, and node label ranges into a table. You can use the editing techniques described in the following procedures to create a path by selecting nodes directly from the viewport. Alternatively, you can create a node list path by entering values directly into the table. If you do not know the part instance names in the model, use the Query toolset to query nodes in the viewport. To help determine node labels of interest, you may want to produce a model plot with node symbols and node numbers visible prior to creating the path. For more information, see “Customizing model labels,” Section 36.5.
To create or edit a node list path:
Locate the path creation and editing options.
To create a new path:
From the main menu bar, select Tools
PathCreate. The Create Path dialog box appears.
ABAQUS displays a default name for the path in the Name text field. To provide a more meaningful name, replace this default with the name of your choice (including blank spaces if you wish).
In the Create Path dialog box, click Node list; then click Continue.
To edit an existing path:
From the main menu bar, select ToolsPathEdit. From the menu that appears, select the path you want to edit.
Tip:
You can also use the Path Manager to edit a path. From the main menu bar, select ToolsPathManager to display the manager. Select the path you want to edit, and click Edit from the buttons on the right side of the manager.
To specify the nodes along your path, use either of the following techniques:
Select the nodes directly from the viewport:
Click Add Before or Add After to begin making selections.
ABAQUS/CAE prompts you to Select nodes to be inserted into the path and closes the Edit Node List Path dialog box.
Select one or more nodes from the viewport (for more information, see Chapter 6, “Selecting objects within the viewport”). If a desired node exists in more than one part instance, click the selection options tool 
on the prompt line and toggle off the Select the Entity Closest to the Screen tool. If you make an ambiguous selection, the part instance name and node label will appear in the lower left corner of the viewport in the form Highlighting Node Instance.Node. Use the Next and Previous buttons to cycle through the possible selections, and click OK to confirm your selection.
ABAQUS highlights the nodes as you select them and displays the node labels and the path connectivity.
Note: You can only select nodes that are in the current display group.
Click Done in the prompt area when you have finished.
ABAQUS/CAE displays the Edit Node List Path dialog box; the part instances and nodes in your path are listed in the path definition table.
If desired, repeat the preceding steps to add additional points.
The Add Before and Add After buttons determine where your selections will be added in relation to the currently highlighted line in the path definition table.
Enter the node labels directly into the table:
In the Path Definition table, use standard keyboard and mouse editing techniques to insert, modify, or delete part instance names and node label expressions. If you do not know the part instance names in the model, use the Query toolset to query nodes in the viewport. For special table editing options or to read data from an ASCII file, press mouse button 3. (For more information, see “Entering tabular data,” Section 3.2.7.) A node label expression is either of the following:
A single node label; for example, 5.
A range of nodes that you specify with a starting and ending node label optionally followed by an increment; for example, 5:10 or 5:10:2.
Note: If you read node labels from an ASCII file, you must read the table values starting with the first column, and each row must include a part instance name and a node label expression. The part instance name is case sensitive and must be enclosed in quotation marks as follows:
“INSTANCE_NAME”
After each node label expression, press [Enter].
ABAQUS highlights all nodes included in the path and displays the node labels and the path connectivity.
When you are done selecting nodes, click OK.
ABAQUS/CAE saves the path you have specified for the duration of the session. If you created a new path, ABAQUS/CAE adds the path name to the Path Manager list.
