Use TUI commands#

TUI commands refer to a programming interface that mirrors the Fluent TUI (text user interface). There is a TUI command hierarchy defined for each of the two modes: meshing and solution. The hierarchy that is active depends on the current Fluent mode. The guidance in this topic applies to both modes.

The PyFluent TUI commands allow you to automate workflows. Everything that’s in the Fluent TUI (which itself is a comprehensive automation interface) is exposed in PyFluent. The PyFluent TUI commands are Python versions of the commands that are used in the Fluent console.

The Python TUI is superseded by purpose-built PyFluent interfaces that are more powerful and user-friendly. See settings objects for solution mode, and guided workflows for meshing mode.

The PyFluent TUI commands do not support TUI features such as aliases or command abbreviation. To make using PyFluent commands in an interactive session easier, you can install a tool such as pyreadline3, which provides both command line completion and history. To inspect any PyFluent TUI object further, you can use the Python built-in help and dir functions. For example, to see the options available under the viscous model menu, the following can be used, assuming that Solver is the session instance returned by launch_fluent() function:

>>> dir(solver.tui.define.models.viscous)
['add_intermittency_transition_model', 'add_transition_model',
'corner_flow_correction', 'curvature_correction',
'detached_eddy_simulation', 'inviscid', 'k_kl_w', 'ke_realizable', 'ke_rng',
'ke_standard', 'kw_bsl', 'kw_geko', 'kw_low_re_correction', 'kw_sst',
'kw_standard', 'kw_wj_bsl_earsm', 'laminar', 'large_eddy_simulation',
'mixing_length', 'near_wall_treatment', 'reynolds_stress_model', 'sas',
'spalart_allmaras', 'transition_sst', 'turbulence_expert', 'user_defined']

To see the documentation for the viscous model menu options, you can run:

>>> help(solver.tui.define.models.viscous)
Help on viscous in module ansys.fluent.core.generated.solver.tui_241 object:

class viscous(ansys.fluent.core.services.datamodel_tui.TUIMenu)
 |  viscous(service, version, mode, path)
 |
 |  Enters the viscous model menu.
 |
 |  Method resolution order:
 |      viscous
 |      ansys.fluent.core.services.datamodel_tui.TUIMenu
 |      builtins.object
 |
 |  Methods defined here:
 |
 |  __init__(self, service, version, mode, path)
 |      __init__ method of TUIMenu class.
 |
 |  add_intermittency_transition_model(self, *args, **kwargs)
 |      Enable/disable the intermittency transition model to account for transitional effects.
...

Each TUI method argument is the Python analogue that would be passed in direct interaction in the Fluent console. In the recent Fluent versions, in both meshing and solution mode, you can use Python journaling, which is a beta feature, to construct the TUI commands for PyFluent. The following section describes how to construct the TUI commands for PyFluent in different Fluent versions.

TUI command construction#

From the 2023 R2 release onward, a Fluent Python journal contains Python calls corresponding to the TUI commands executed in Fluent. Python journaling generates a call to a corresponding settings API command if one exists. For instance, with Fluent running in solution mode and Python journaling started, you can type the following in the Fluent console to set velocity inlet properties:

/define/boundary_conditions/set/velocity-inlet

This command instigates a sequence of prompts in the console. Assume that your responses to each prompt are as follows:

velocity-inlet-5
()
temperature
no
293.15
quit

The following code yields the same result but specifies all arguments in one call:

/define/boundary-conditions/set/velocity-inlet velocity-inlet-5 () temperature no 293.15 quit

The recorded Python journal contains the following line which can be executed in PyFluent, where Solver is the session instance returned by launch_fluent().

solver.settings.setup.boundary_conditions.velocity_inlet['inlet1'] = {"t" : 293.15}

In the above example, the settings API command is recorded as that exists for the TUI command. An example where settings API doesn’t exist is setting the pressure unit:

/define/units pressure "Pa"

The corresponding Python command recorded in the Python journal is:

solver.tui.define.units('pressure', '"Pa"')

Note, the string "Pa" is wrapped in single quotation marks to preserve the double quotation marks around the TUI argument.

A command line flag -topy is also available in Fluent to convert an existing Fluent journal to Python journal. The following command writes a Python journal file my_journal.py in the working directory.

fluent.exe 3ddp -i my_journal.jou -topy

In Fluent 2023 R1, calls to TUI commands that have equivalents in the solver settings API are automatically recorded as method calls to the corresponding solver settings objects in the Python journal. If a TUI command does not have an API analogue, it is recorded as execute_tui(<argument>), where <argument> is the original TUI command string. You’ll need to manually convert these TUI commands using the transformation rules provided in the next section.

In Fluent 2022 R2, the Python journaling feature is not available. Therefore, you must manually convert all TUI commands using the transformation rules described in the next section.

TUI command transformation rules#

The following rules are implied in the preceding examples:

  • Each forward slash separator between elements in TUI paths is transformed to Python dot notation.

  • Some characters in path elements are either removed or replaced because they are illegal inside Python names. For example:

    • Each hyphen in a path element is transformed to an underscore.

    • Each question mark in a path element is removed.

  • Here are some rules about strings:

    • String-type arguments must be surrounded by quotation marks in Python.

    • A target Fluent TUI argument that is surrounded by quotation marks (like "Pa" in the preceding example) must be wrapped in single quotation marks so that the original quotation marks are preserved.

    • The contents of string arguments are preserved.

Limitations#

  1. The command file.set_batch_options is not supported because batch options are automatically configured to ensure the execution environment in Fluent is correctly set for remote operations.

  2. The commands under the TUI menus display.views and display.set.windows are not available in PyFluent meshing session. Those commands can be executed using the execute_tui method. For example:

    <meshing_session>.execute_tui("/display/views/camera/position 2 3 4")
<meshing_session>.execute_tui("/display/set/windows/open-window 2")

    The argument to the execute_tui method is the exact TUI command string in Fluent.