GUI and Kernel Processes 183

kernel processes. GUI processes execute GUI commands and kernel processes execute kernel commands.

You’ve already seen kernel commands. All of the scripts written up until this point were kernel scripts. They interacted with the Abaqus kernel in order to set up your model, send it to the solver, and post process it. To elaborate further, only a kernel script can have a statement such as

mdb.Model(name=My Model, modelType=STANDARD_EXPLICIT) 

or

myPart = myModel.Part(name='Plate', dimensionality=THREE_D, type = DEFORMABLE_BODY) 

Model() and Part() are commands that are executed by the Abaqus kernel. Kernel scripts usually have the following import statements at the top

from abaqus import * 

from abaqusConstants import * 

GUI scripts on the other hand only deal with GUI processing. They create the GUI, and can issue Python commands, but not commands that target the Abaqus kernel. They usually have the import statement

from abaqusGui import * 

at the top.

GUI and kernel scripts must be kept separate. You cannot have “from abaqus import *”

and “from abaqusGui import *” in the same script as a script must either be purely GUI or purely kernel.

Since the GUI must eventually issue commands to the kernel, a link must be established between GUI and kernel scripts. This is usually done using a mode. For example, a form mode (AFXForm) launches a dialog (AFXDialog) which contains the GUI commands necessary to display widgets (checkboxes, text fields, labels etc), and when the OK button is pressed in the dialog box the form calls a command in a separate kernel script.

This way the GUI and kernel scripts are kept separate and one calls the other through the use of a mode. Another method is to use sendCommand() method. You will see both of this demonstrated in the next chapter, but it is essential that you learn these concepts right now.

184 Create a Custom GUI Application Template

20.5 Methodology

In this example we create a basic GUI application. As such it does not execute any kernel scripts; it is just a GUI with no real functionality. However it is a complete framework, and we will be using it for the example in the next chapter. More importantly, this code framework can be reused by you in all GUI scripts you write in the future, as it serves as a stable base off which you can build.

The GUI application is created using a number of scripts. We will examine each of these scripts in turn, but first an overview so that you see the bigger picture.

 customCaeApp.py is the application startup script. It creates the application (AFXApp) and calls the main window

 customCaeMainWindow.py creates the main window (AFXMainWidnow). It registers the toolsets and modules that will be part of the application. These toolsets and modules include standard ones as well as custom ones made by us.

 modifiedCanvasToolsetGui.py creates a modified version of the Viewport menu which you see when you open Abaqus/CAE. It will adds a few new menu items to the Viewport menu, removes others that exist by default, adds a couple of horizontal separators in the menu pane, and changes the name of the Viewport menu to ‘Viewport Modified’.

When menu items or toolbar buttons are clicked in this modified viewport toolset, the form mode, defined in demoForm.py, is called to post the dialog box which is defined in demoDB.py

 customToolboxButtonsGui.py creates a new toolset (AFXToolsetGui). The toolset buttons which appear to the left of the canvas (along with module toolboxes) will be visible in all modules.

When buttons in this toolbox are clicked, the form mode defined in demoForm.py is called to post the dialog box defined in demoDB.py

 customModuleGui.py creates a new module (AFXModuleGui) which appears in the module combobox as ‘Custom Module’. This module has a menu (AFXMenuPane) called ‘Custom Menu’ associated with it, a toolbar (AFXToolbarGroup) called ‘Arrow Toolbar’ and a toolbox group (AFXToolboxGroup). All of these are only visible when the user is in the custom module.

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