Using Abaqus Online Documentation  


4.5 Using the Advanced Search options

This section contains information on using the Advanced Search options available in the Abaqus HTML documentation in both the book and collection windows. Click Advanced Search in the navigation frame to display the Advanced Search window (see Figure 4–6).

Figure 4–6 The Advanced Search window.

The Advanced Search window allows you to vary the default search behavior. The following topics are covered:For information about basic search behavior and search procedures, see “HTML search details,” Section 4.4.


4.5.1 Excluding unwanted terms

To remove unwanted terms from the search, enter a term or phrase in the Without the text field of the Advanced Search window. For example, you can search for occurrences of "continuum" without "shell" inside the same section, as shown in Figure 4–7.

Figure 4–7 Using the Advanced Search window to remove terms.


4.5.2 Narrowing the focus of a search

Use the Advanced Search options to restrict a search to a particular context. Occurrences of the search phrase that do not appear in that context are not included in the search results. The list of available search filters appears when you click the Limit search to menu button. By default, the search function locates words in All searchable text. To limit your search, choose from the following options (see Figure 4–8):

Figure 4–8 The Limit search to menu in the Advanced Search window.

  • Abaqus keywords: Keywords (also known as “options”) are preceded by an asterisk and appear in uppercase letters in the Abaqus documentation. *SOLID SECTION is an example of an Abaqus keyword.

  • Abaqus parameters: In Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit the term is used to refer to a parameter that follows a keyword in an Abaqus input file. Keyword parameters, which can be optional or required, provide additional information concerning the keyword. NLGEOM is an example of an Abaqus parameter. This option also finds execution command line parameters, such as job.

  • Parameter values: The value of an Abaqus parameter. NEW is an example of an Abaqus parameter value.

  • User subroutine names: User subroutines are subroutines you write to increase the functionality of Abaqus options for which data line usage may be too restrictive. User subroutines are typically written as FORTRAN code. CREEP is an example of an Abaqus user subroutine.

  • MPC names: MPCs (multi-point constraints) allow constraints to be imposed between different degrees of freedom of the model. BEAM is an example of an Abaqus MPC.

  • Connector names: Connector elements in Abaqus provide an easy and versatile way to model many types of physical mechanisms whose geometry is discrete (i.e., node-to-node), yet the kinematic and kinetic relationships describing the connection are complex. REVOLUTE is an example of an Abaqus connector element.

  • GUI text: GUI text includes buttons and labels. Interference Fit is an example of GUI text.

  • Abaqus Scripting Interface object: A Python object defined by the Abaqus Scripting Interface. MeshEdge is an example of a Python object.

For example, if you are looking for the *ELASTIC keyword and not just any occurrence of the word “elastic,” type elastic in the Search text field and select the Abaqus keywords search filter. The search function finds only cases where the word appears as part of a keyword name, such as *ELASTIC and *POROUS ELASTIC. If you type elastic in the Search text field without using a search filter, the search result includes any usage of the word “elastic.” If you are looking for occurrences of the word “creep” and you select the Abaqus keywords search filter, the search function finds only cases where the word appears as part of a keyword name, such as *CREEP and *CREEP STRAIN RATE CONTROL. If you select the User subroutine names search filter, the search function finds only cases where the word is used as the name of user subroutine CREEP.


4.5.3 Limiting the search results by proximity or context

To search for a particular word or phrase near another word or phrase, use the Display occurrences within menu button. By default, the search function locates multiple search terms that appear inside the same section. To control the area within which all words listed in the Search text field must appear, choose from the following options (see Figure 4–9):

Figure 4–9 The Display occurrences within search menu in the Advanced Search window.

In addition, you can search for words that appear within the following blocks of text:If the number of hits seems excessive, you can add more words to the Search text field or select another option to narrow the search.


4.5.4 Search word match criteria

To select the word form or derivative words that the search function will match, use the Match parameter. By default, the search function matches the exact spelling of the search term or phrases. The search function is insensitive to case. To change the word match selection, choose from the following options (see Figure 4–10):

Figure 4–10 The Match parameter in the Advanced Search window.

For example, a search for the word "element" produces the following results, depending on the match parameter selected:If the search returns no hits or the number of hits seems low, widen the search by increasing the number of word forms that the search function attempts to locate.