Automatic Report Generation Examples

To create a simple input file with a cover page and summary, navigate to the simulation results folder, uFX_Simulation, and create a file named report.img with the following contents:

DATASET{
     type                  	= ufx
     ufx_file              	= "./uFX_fullData/uFX_output.layout"
     summary_file          	= "./uFX_summary.txt"
}
COVER_PAGE{
     title_text             	= "Altair Roadster"
}
DISPLAY{}

Running hwGenImages with this input file in a linux console like this:

>> hwGenImages -pb report -no_run

will produce a simple two page report with a cover page and a summary page.

Use the IMAGE{} command to tell the utility to create and display an image. In the command options, specify which parts are to be shown and the views from which the image is to be rendered. In this example, we define two views: front-top-left and left.

IMAGE("Fan_view"){
    parts                      = {"Fan"}
    views                      = {"front_top_left","left"}
    image_type                 = static
}

The parts options specified above is a reference and needs to be fully defined in a separate PART{} command. This particular command instance is named Car and is referenced above with this name. A PART{} command includes all boundaries and default visualization settings. These are optional and can be customized as seen below:

PART("Car"){
     show_boundary_names       = {"_all"}
     display_type              = solid
     solid_display_type        = smooth
     color_type                = constant
     constant_color            = "white"
}

In addition to the images attached to the report, an image can be included on the cover page with a reference to the IMAGE{} command we defined above named Fan_view. The first view is selected using the cover_image_view_number option.

COVER_PAGE{
     title_text               = "Fan: Without Duct"
     cover_image              = "Fan_view"
     cover_image_view_number  = 1
}

This creates a cover page with an image of the front-top-left view of the fan model. After the summary page, the two views of the Fan model are rendered and attached in the report.

Figure 3.

After the summary page, the two views of the Car model are rendered and attached in the report.

Surface contours are defined in two parts. In the PART{} command, we modify the color_type from constant to contour. This changes the coloring of the car model from a constant color to a surface contour. We also specify the contour function which controls the coloring of the contour, in this example time_avg_Cp. This is followed by more settings that control the legend on the right hand corner in the plot.

IMAGE("Surface Cp"){
    parts                      = {"Surface Cp"}
    views                      = {"front_top_left"}                                 
    image_type                 = static
}

PART("Surface Cp"){
     display_type              = solid
     solid_display_type        = smooth
     color_type                = contour
     contour_function          = time_avg_Cp
     constant_color	      = "white"
     legend_display            = on
     num_labels                = 2
     legend_use_local          = off
     legend_min                = -0.5
     legend_max                =  0.5
     num_decimal_places        = 3
}

Figure 6.

A cut plane is defined with a dedicated command named CUT_Plane{}. In this example, a cut plane corresponding to the plane y = 0 is defined. The instantaneous velocity magnitude, inst_velocity_mag, is used to color the plane and the size of the plane is controlled by the inputs: x_min, x_max, and z_max.

IMAGE("Cut plane y inst. vel"){
    cut_planes                 = {"y cut vel_inst"}
    parts                      = {"Full vehicle - white"}
    views                      = {"left"}
    clip_parts                 = off
}

CUT_PLANE("y cut vel_inst"){
     normal_direction          = y
     cut_location              = 0.0
     display_type              = solid
     solid_display_type        = smooth
     color_type                = contour
     contour_function          = "inst_velocity_mag"
     contour_line_display      = off
     contour_line_display_type = "constant"
     mesh_line_display         = off
     constant_color            = black
     line_thickness            = medium
     legend_display            = on
     legend_use_local          = off
     legend_min                = 0.0
     legend_max                = 45.0
     num_labels                = 5
     num_decimal_places        = 1
     x_min                     = -0.78 - car_length/4.0
     x_max                     = 3.29 + car_length
     z_max 		       = 1.3 + 0.5*car_height

}

Figure 7.

The VARIABLE{} command can be used to define frequently used quantities. This makes it possible to re-use scripts and compute more complex expressions. A VARIABLE{} has a name, variable_name, and an expression associated with it. The expression can be a constant, another variable, or a mathematical expression containing more variables. The following variables, car_length and car_height need to be defined to get the CUT_Plane{} in the previous section to work correctly.

VARIABLE{
	variable_name  			= car_length
	expression 				= 4.07
}

VARIABLE{
	variable_name  			= car_height
	expression 				= 1.317
}

Iso-surfaces are created with the ISO_SURFACE{} command. In this example, the time averaged x-velocity variable, time_avg_velocity_x, is used to create the iso-surface which is then colored with another variable, time_avg_Cp. If the iso-surface needs to be painted with a constant color, set color_type to constant and set constant_color to a supported color (for example, white or magenta).

IMAGE("X Velocity = 0"){
    parts                      = {"Full vehicle - white"}
    iso_surfaces               = {"X Velocity = 0"}
    views                      = {"rear_top_left"}                                                      
    image_type                 = static
}

ISO_SURFACE("X Velocity = 0"){
     iso_function              = time_avg_velocity_x
     iso_value                 = 0
     display_type              = solid
     solid_display_type        = smooth
     color_type                = contour
     contour_function          = time_avg_Cp
     legend_display            = on
     num_labels                = 2
     legend_use_local          = off
     legend_min                = -0.5
     legend_max                = 0.5
     transparency              = 0
     legend_display            = on
     num_labels                = 2	 
     legend_subtitle           = ISO of X Velocity = 0
     num_decimal_places        = 1
}

Figure 10.

A line plot is created with a single LINE_PLOT{} command. The data source to read ASCII data from is specified with the data_file input. The data in the ASCII file is organized into rows and columns. Specify the column numbers in the x_column and y_column fields to get a line plot.

LINE_PLOT("Instantaneous drag"){
    data_source                = "file"
    data_file                  = "./uFX_coefficientsData/uFX_coefficients_Inst.txt"
    num_header_rows            = 11 
    x_column                   = 1
    y_columns                  = {2}
    x_label                    = "Time (s)"
    y_label                    = "Coefficients"
    title                      = "Instantaneous Drag"
    legend_labels              = "C_d"
    show_legend                = on
    show_grid                  = on
}

Figure 11.

REPORT("with and without mirrors advanced"){
    report_type          = run_comparison
    format	             = powerpoint
    image_borders	     = off
    comparison_image_dir = "../02/IMAGES-1.DIR"
    case_1_title         = without mirrors
    case_2_title         = with mirrors  #  title for the data in comparison_image_dir = ...
    slide_aspect_ratio   = "16:9"
    run_comparison_type  = side_by_side
}