Summary of Abaqus Scripting Interface changes between Abaqus 6.10 and Abaqus 6.11

This section summarizes the changes and the additions that have been made to the Abaqus Scripting Interface between Abaqus 6.10 and Abaqus 6.11. SIMULIA makes every attempt to have the Abaqus Scripting Interface be backward compatible, and Abaqus can execute most Abaqus Scripting Interface scripts from previous versions of Abaqus. However, backward compatibility is not guaranteed beyond two versions of Abaqus, and it is recommended that you upgrade your commands to the most recent version.

To help you determine the status of your scripts, Abaqus displays a dialog box listing the deprecated commands when you execute the script from the main menu using FileRun Script. You are advised to upgrade scripts that contain deprecated commands as soon as possible. To obtain the upgrade utility provided with the Abaqus release, type the following command at the system prompt:

abaqus fetch job=upgradeScript.py
To run the upgrade utility:
abaqus python -m upgradeScript [options] scriptName [scriptName ...]
scriptName can be either a file or a directory. The options for the upgrade utility are:

-fileNames fileName Read a list of file names from the file specified.

-searchSubdirectories Search any subdirectories (if any of the script names are directories). By default, subdirectories are searched.

-logfileName logFileName Specify the name of the log file.

-backup Whether to make backup versions of the upgraded files. By default, no backup versions are created.

-preview Preview the changes to the file instead of changing the file.

-diffExecutable application The application used to display the differences between the script and the upgraded script. By default, the differences are displayed by a web browser.

The upgrade utility upgrades your scripts to the most recent version of Abaqus, regardless of when they were created. The upgrade utility upgrades both kernel commands and GUI commands. If scriptName is a directory, the upgrade utility upgrades each script in the directory. For example,
abaqus python -m upgradeScript -preview tireSlip.py tireWear
would preview all of the upgrades to the tireSlip.py script and to all of the scripts in the tireWear directory.

More options are available if you use the upgradeScript method in an Abaqus Scripting Interface script to upgrade your scripts. For more information, see Upgrade script commands, Section 52.10. In addition, an Abaqus plug-in is available that provides a graphical interface to the upgradeScript method. For more information, see Upgrading a script, Section 82.5 of the Abaqus/CAE User's Manual.

Alternatively, you can run the following upgrade utilities from the command line interface. The same options are available as for the upgradeScript function.

In the following list of modified commands, the full path to the method is listed along with the required and optional arguments. Arguments enclosed within angle brackets, “< >”, are optional arguments. The syntax of the commands is as follows:


(Blue bold text)New method or argument.
(Red italic text)Removed method or argument.
(Green italic text)Changed argument; for example, the argument type has changed or the possible values of the SymbolicConstant have changed.

You can click on a method to view its description in the command reference. Refer to the Abaqus 6.10 Scripting Command Reference manual for a description of methods that have been removed.

Abaqus/CAE Display Preferences commands

Abaqus/CAE Display Preferences commands are new in Abaqus 6.11.

Adaptivity commands

No changes.

Amplitude commands
Animation commands

No changes.

Annotation commands

No changes.

Assembly commands
Basic geometry commands
Beam section profile commands

No changes.

Boundary condition commands
Calibration commands

Calibration commands are new in Abaqus 6.11.

Canvas commands

No changes.

Connector commands

No changes.

Constraint commands
customKernel module

No changes.

Datum commands

No changes.

Display Group commands

No changes.

Display Options commands
Edit Mesh commands
Engineering feature commands
Feature commands
Field commands
Filter commands

No changes.

History and Field Report commands

No changes.

Interaction commands
Job commands
Load commands
Load Case commands

No changes.

Material commands
Mdb commands

No changes.

Mesh commands
Messaging commands

No changes.

Miscellaneous commands

No changes.

Model commands

No changes.

Odb commands
Odb Display commands
Optimization commands

Optimization commands are new in Abaqus 6.11.

Part commands
Partition commands

No changes.

Path and Probe commands
Plot Options commands
Plug-in commands

No changes.

Predefined Field commands
Print commands

No changes.

Property commands

No changes.

Region commands
Section commands
Session commands
Sketcher commands

No changes.

Step commands (step)
Step commands (miscellaneous)
Step (output) commands
Text Representation commands

No changes.

Utility commands

No changes.

View commands

No changes.

XY commands