When you watch someone work with a tool as complex as ANSYS Workbench, you quickly realize that they use different tools and features than you do. One thing I noticed the other day was someone really using the Files View. So I thought, I should really make sure I know what is there and take advantage of it. In looking into it I found a few things I was not aware of, and I needed an article, so here we are.
Philosophy of Files in Workbench
Before we get started, you have to realize that the way ANSYS Workbench thinks about files is unique, and you should understand it. The idea originally was that the program itself would manage all your files. You just had to worry about the project file and the directory tree it points to. Therefore the directory structure in that tree is pretty complex, and the user can not change the name of a file being used. That is all managed by the program. Times have changed and there are a lot of programs that run in the Workbench that require the user to know about the files, especially some of the legacy solvers. So we have the Files View to help us with that.
It is very important that you do not go in and rename, delete, or move files around. ANSYS Workbench has no way of knowing that you have done that. You should just use it to find files, edit their content, and deal with files that non-workbench type solvers (FLUENT, MAPDL, Etc…) use that are not managed by the Workbench.
The Files View
You see your files through view by toggling it on and off. Under the View menu there is Files item. Click on it to turn on the Files View and click on it again to make it go away.
If you see the check and not the view, then use View->Reset Window Layout
As with any window in the ANSYS Workbench GUI you can drag the bar at the top of the view, or click the thumbtack in the upper right corner, to break it out as its own window, and drag it anywhere you want. I have two monitors so I like to do that, and have a full size graphics window.
If you look at what is in the view, there are no real surprises. Like a lot of Workbench applications, the information is presented in a spreadsheet from. If we take a look at each column we can learn some things:
Name:
Nothing spectacular here. The icons are kind of nice to let you know what type of file you are dealing with.
Cell ID:
This one is kind of handy. It shows you where in your project the file in question is used. This helps with complex models where you have multiple systems. If you don’t change the names on your files, then things get confusing quickly. The Cell ID helps sort it out.
Take a look at the Cell ID and the associated project schematic. You can see that the geometry is used in two systems, and that the material properties are used in the Static Structural system. As you review this, you can see how useful these references can be.
Also notice how some of the files only have a letter for the Cell ID. These are usually solver related files that really apply to the whole system, and not to any one particular cell in the system.
Size:
Not much to say here. One nice use is to see if your result files are large enough to indicate a successful solve.
Type:
This tells you what type of file you are dealing with, often including the tool that uses it. What is cool about it is that you can sort on it and you can filter on the file type. More on that below.
Date Modified:
Always useful for finding out what files were, or were not created and what the most recent work is.
Location:
Again, not much to say here. This is where your files are. Sometimes you can tell a bit more about where the file is used by looking at what directory it is in.
Interacting with the Files View
You can do some cool stuff in the Files View. The most obvious, is you can click on the upside down triangles and sort by any of the columns: Ascending or Descending.
You can also choose Sort Settings… and specify multiple columns to sort on.
Just add columns and set the Ascending flag as needed. Delete by clicking the X or Remove All.
Notice how the triangle now shows the columns that are being used to sort.
When you are done using the sorting, you can click on any of the columns being used in the sort, and choose Cancel sorting.
If you right mouse button (RMB) on any of the cells, you get two options. They both do what they say: open the folder that contains the file or bring up the File Type Filter.
Note, just because you can open the folder that does not mean you can go messing around with file names and locations. Only do that on files that are not managed by Workbench.
The File Type Filter will list all of your file types and let you turn on or off the visibility of any of them.
This can be very useful for a very complicated project.
Some Suggested Uses
So using this tool is not that hard. A better question than how is why? Here are some suggestions:
Finding Output Files
Many of the solvers in the ANSYS family create log, error, journal, and output files. Instead of poking around and trying to find them through the operating system, you can quickly use the type filter and maybe sort by Date Modified to find the files you need. Then open up the folder containing them and view the contents.
Extracting a Solve
Sometimes you need to get into the lower levels of the directory structure and get all the files associated with a particular solve so that you can run them outside of workbench, or give them to a user who does not use Workbench. Using this too, you can quickly sort by directory, find the one you need, then bring up the OS file browser tool.
Managing Macros and Input files
If I’m writing macros or input files, I really don’t want to dig around through directories. So when I’m ready to save my macro, I copy the directory that my solver uses out of the cell in the Files View, then paste it into my text editor’s Save As… dialog.
Making a File Table
Because the information is presented like a spread sheet, you can copy and paste any of the columns you want right into Excel. This comes in handy for reports because you can add a column where you add your own description or notes. To copy hold down the CTRL key and click on the column label of any columns you want.
Get to Know your Files View
We recommend that you use the Files View all the time, not just when you have to. The more familiar you are with the files the program is using the better you will understand what is going on when you use the program. Black boxes are fine and dandy when you are learning or in a hurry, but if you are going to be spending a good chunk of your life alone with one of the ANSYS, Inc. products, you should be spending some time looking at what file are created and where it stores them.
