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Startup Procedures and Customizations
Start and configure the applications.
Settings Files
Settings files include command<#>.tcl and hwsettings.xml.

Welcome
What's New
View new features for Altair HyperWorks 2024.1.
Get Started
Learn the basics and discover the workspace.
Tutorials
Learn more about the Altair HyperWorks suite of products with interactive tutorials.
Startup Procedures and Customizations
Start and configure the applications.
- Start Applications
  Learn how to start applications on Windows and Linux.
- Start HyperMesh Batch
  HyperMesh Batch is a non-graphical version of HyperMesh that can be used to run command files or Tcl scripts in batch mode.
- Start-in Directory
  The start-in directory is the location from which the application is launched.
- Settings Files
  Settings files include command<#>.tcl and hwsettings.xml.
- Customization
  There are various types of startup customizations that are possible. These items define how the application looks or behaves at product startup.
Tool Finder
View a list of deprecated panels and their newer, equivalent workflows.
Manage Files and Data
Create, open, import, and save models.
Sessions and Report Templates
Set up sessions and create report templates.
Interface with External Products
Solver interfaces supported in HyperMesh.
Entities and Solver Interfaces
A solver interface is made up of a template and a FE-input reader.
Browsers
Browsers provide a structured view of model data, which you can use to review, modify, create, and manage the contents of a model. In addition to visualization, browsers offer features like search, filtering, and sorting, which enhance your ability to navigate and interact with the model data.
Sketching
Create and edit 2D parametric sketch geometry.
Topology
Create, edit, and cleanup geometry.
FE Geometry
FE geometry is topology on top of mesh, meaning CAD and mesh exist as a single entity. The purpose of FE geometry is to add vertices, edges, surfaces, and solids on FE models which have no CAD geometry.
Meshing and Elements
Explore the different types of mesh you can create in HyperMesh and create and edit 0D, 1D, 2D, and 3D elements.
Model Build and Assembly
Create, organize and manage parts and subsystems.
Composites
HyperMesh composites modeling.
Connectors
Create connections between parts of your model.
Morph
Rapidly change the shape of the FE mesh without severely sacrificing the mesh quality.
Skeleton Modeling
Create a reduced ordered model to facilitate optimization at the concept phase.
Design Space
Workflow to support topology optimization model build and setup.
Optimization
Setup an Optimization in HyperMesh.
Design Explorer
Multi-disciplinary design exploration and optimization tools.
Validate
Validate the model built before running solver analysis.
Analyze
Models require loads and boundary conditions in order to represent the various physics and/or physical equivalents to bench and in-use testing.
Axisymmetry
Reduce a full 3D model with axisymmetric surfaces while accounting for imperfections.
Concept Modeling
Tools and workflows that are dedicated to rapidly creating new parts for specific use cases, or amending existing parts. The current capabilities are focused on stiffening parts.
Crash and Safety
Tools used for crash and safety analysis.
Airbag
Use airbag folder utilities and export a resulting airbag in a Radioss deck.
Aerospace
Essential utility tools developed using HyperMesh-Tcl.
Aeroelasticity
Import an aeroelastic finite element model with Nastran Bulk Data format.
Certification
Framework to plug certification methods to assess margin of safety from the model and result information.
PhysicsAI
Use PhysicsAI to build fast predictive models from CAE data. PhysicsAI can be trained on data with any physics or remeshing and without design variables.
Results Data
Results data can be post-processed using both HyperMesh and HyperView.
Developer
The Developer ribbon contains tools for automation and customization.
Plot Data
HyperGraph is a data analysis and plotting tool with interfaces to many file formats.
Multibody Modeling
MotionView is a general pre-processor for Multibody Dynamics.
Media Files
MediaView plays video files, displays static images, tracks objects, and measures distances.
Tabulate Results
Use TableView to create an Excel-like spreadsheet.
Text Files
TextView math scripts reference vector data from HyperGraph windows to automate data processing and data summary.
Publishing and Reporting
Create, define, and export reports.

View All Altair HyperWorks Help

Settings Files

Settings files include command<#>.tcl and hwsettings.xml.

The list of files written is detailed below.

command<#>.tcl

The command file is a command history file containing the commands executed in HyperMesh whenever any operation is performed. This file can be used to rerun operations or as a basis for determining the commands required to automate a given process. By default, the command file is written to the start-in directory for each session. It is possible to customize the location where this file is written to using the HM_COMMANDFILE_DIR environment variable. Note that on Linux, the command file is named command.tcl.

hwsettings.xml

The hwsettings.xml file stores information on the browsers, the user interface layout (tab locations, command window, panel location, toolbars, and so on), keyboard preferences, import/export settings, recent files, and other various settings. By default, the hwsettings.xml file is written to the My Documents directory on Windows and in ~/.altair on Linux after each session is closed. Deleting this file resets the stored settings to their default values. It is possible to customize the location where this file is read from during start-up and written to on exit. The application always writes the hwsettings.xml file back out to the location where it originally read it from for that session. The following order is used to find the hwsettings.xml file.

HW_SETTINGS_DIR environment variable. If this is defined, the search stops even if the file does not exist.
My Documents directory on Windows or ~/.altair on Linux.