Start BatchMesher
BatchMesher can be started on various platforms.
Start BatchMesher on Windows or Linux
Start BatchMesher on Windows
Start BatchMesher on Windows from the Start menu or system command prompt.
Start BatchMesher on Linux
BatchMesher Startup Options
Startup options allow BatchMesher to be launched with a specific behavior or with specific settings defined.
The options are provided as command line options to the application startup script.
<altair_home>\hm\batchmesh\hw_batchmesh.bat -nogui -cad_translator catia -cad_model_dir C:\work\models -cad_model_ext CATPart -criteria_file C:\work\10mm.criteria -param_file C:\work\10mm.param -user_procedure PRE_GEOMETRY_LOAD C:\work\mytcl.tcl myprocedure "myarg1 myarg2" -user_procedure POST_BATCHMESH C:\work\NastranOutput.tcl nastranexport
<altair_home>\hm\batchmesh\hw_batchmesh.bat -config_file C:\work\bm.cfg -multicpu 4 -batch
<altair_home>/altair/scripts/hw_batchmesh -nogui -cad_translator catia -cad_model_dir /work/models -cad_model_ext CATPart -criteria_file /work/10mm.criteria -param_file /work/10mm.param -user_procedure PRE_GEOMETRY_LOAD /work/mytcl.tcl myprocedure "myarg1 myarg2" -user_procedure POST_BATCHMESH /work/NastranOutput.tcl nastranexport
<altair_home>/altair/scripts/hw_batchmesh -config_file /work/bm.cfg -multicpu 4 -batch
BatchMesher GUI Startup Options
- -batch
- Run jobs automatically via a config file.Restriction: Must be used with the -config_file option.
- -config_file <path>
- Specifies the full path and file name of the config file to use.
- -file_wait_timeout <minutes>
- Model loading and PRE_GEOMETRY_LOAD user procedure run time.
- -help
- Print out the BatchMesher usage message.
- -multicpu <number>
- Number of CPUs to use for simultaneous BatchMesher jobs.
- -relocate_to_input
- Move all .hm output files to the corresponding directory of the input model.
- -submit_time <time>
- Define the future submission time of the current GUI configuration.
- -time_limit_default <minutes>
- Model batch meshing step timeout.
- -timeout_scale <scale>
- Proportionally increase/decrease -file_wait_timeout, -time_limit_default and the value read from the time_limit.txt file.
- -total_timeout <minutes>
- Total timeout for whole batch mesh job.
- -work_dir <path>
- Specify the directory where the output files are to be written.
BatchMesher "Watchdog" Startup Options
- -cad_model_dir <directory>
- Specify the directory where CAD/HM input files are located. This is used
for multiple file jobs.Restriction: Must be used with the -cad_model_ext option, and cannot be used with the -cad_model_file option. This is a mandatory argument if -cad_model_file is not specified.
- -cad_model_ext <extension>
- Specify the file extension to use when scanning the -cad_model_dir for
CAD/HM input files. All input files found with this extension will be
batch meshed. This should be simply the extension, not including the
period (.) For example, CATPart instead of .CATPart.Restriction: Must be used with the -cad_model_dir option, and cannot be used with the -cad_model_file option. This is a mandatory argument if -cad_model_file is not specified.
- -cad_model_file <path>
- Specify the full path and file name of the CAD/HM input file.Restriction: Cannot be used with the -cad_model_dir and -cad_model_ext options. This is a mandatory argument if -cad_model_dir is not specified.
- -cad_translator <type>
- Specify the CAD file type being used.
- -criteria_file <path>
- Specify the full path and file name of the criteria input file. This is a mandatory argument.
- -file_wait_timeout <minutes>
- Model loading and PRE_GEOMETRY_LOAD user procedure run time. May be required if some models need more than the default time (20 minutes) to load. Also may be required if the user specified PRE_GEOMETRY_LOAD procedure has a long run time. See also -timeout_scale.
- -help
- Print out the BatchMesher usage message.
- -nobg
- Force BatchMesher to run in the foreground on Linux.
- -nogui
- Run BatchMesher in no GUI mode. This is a mandatory argument.
- -param_file <path>
- Specify the full path and file name of the parameter input file. This is a mandatory argument.
- -recurse <value>
- A true|false value that specifies whether to include sub-directories
when using the -cad_model_dir option.Tip: Not recommended for use in grid computing job submission.
- -qi_post_procedure <value>
- A true|false value that specifies whether to generate the HTML quality reports for the run.
- -run_results <path>
- Specify the full path and file name of the results output file to write/append to.
- -run_tcl_file <path>
- Specify the full path and file name of the Tcl script containing a
procedure to run. If this option is used, then all other options except
-run_tcl_proc are ignored.Restriction: Must be used in conjunction with the -run_tcl_proc option.
- -run_tcl_proc <proc>
- Specify the name of the Tcl procedure to run.Restriction: Must be used in conjunction with the -run_tcl_file option.
- -time_limit_default <minutes>
- Model batch meshing step timeout. May be required if some steps need more than the default time (15 minutes). The actual timeout is the maximum of -time_limit_default and the value read from the time_limit.txt file (updated automatically after each step). This is ignored if ≤ 0. See also -timeout_scale.
- -timeout_scale <scale>
- Proportionally increase/decrease -file_wait_timeout, -time_limit_default and the value read from the time_limit.txt file.
- -total_timeout <minutes>
- Total timeout for whole batch mesh job. May be required if model batch meshing require more than the default time (240 minutes).
- -user_procedure <type> <path> <proc> <args>
- Specify user-registered procedures. This option can be used multiple
times, once for each type.
- type
- Type of procedure to register.
- path
- Full path and file name of the Tcl script containing a procedure to run.
- proc
- Name of the Tcl procedure to run.
- args
- List of arguments to pass into the procedure. This can be empty. If there are multiple arguments, they must be enclosed in quotes.
- -work_dir <path>
- Specify the directory where the output files are to be written.
Enable Grid Computing
BatchMesher supports grid-based computing.
The default grid is "PBS Pro".
By default, the "Grid" option is disabled in BatchMesher's base configuration (loaded from the <altair_home>\hm\batchmesh\hw_batchmesh.cfg file).
Grid Computing Default Scripts
Overview of the default scripts used for grid computing.
The three default scripts were created for use with Unix PBS Pro clusters and will work without modification if your cluster configuration is similar to the default configuration.
qsub.tcl
qsub.tcl -batch_args {args} -work_dir dirThe qsub.tcl script creates a node-side script and submits the job to the computing grid. If an error is encountered at job submission, this script returns the word "error". Otherwise, it returns the unique JobID for the submitted job.
- args
- Command line for one BatchMesher job, contained in curly braces. This line is created by the BatchMesher GUI, and has to be written to the node-side script.
- dir
- Specify the directory where the output files are to be written.
qstat.tcl
qstat.tcl JobIDListThe qstat.tcl script obtains status information for jobs with specified JobIDs. It returns a list of JobIDs paired with status mnemonics.
- R
- Job is running
- Q
- Job is queued, eligible to run
- E
- Job is exiting after having run
- W
- Job is waiting for idle resource
- U
- Status undefined (if status not R, Q, E or W)
- none
- Information about job was not found
qdel.tcl
qstat.tcl JobIDListThe qdel.tcl script terminates jobs with specified JobIDs. It returns 0 if the jobs terminated without errors or "none" if the jobs cannot be terminated or there was a termination error.
Error Codes
Error codes encountered in BatchMesher.
- 101
- Wrong number of arguments provided to hw_batchmesh. Used only in the command line.
- 102
- Missing required arguments for hw_batchmesh. Used only in the command line.
- 103
- The specified output directory does not exist. (See –work_dir option in hw_batchmesh).
- 104
- Undefined required environment variable.
- 105
- The specified input directory contains no model files (see -cad_model_dir in hw_batchmesh).
- 106
- The custom pre-run or post-run Tcl procedure generated an error.
- 107
- At least three critical errors occurred during the meshing of one model.
- 111
- The HyperMesh executable (hmopengl) is in an incorrect path or is inaccessible.
- 112
- The input geometry file is in an incorrect path or is inaccessible from hw_batchmesh.
- 113
- The criteria file is in an incorrect path or is inaccessible from hw_batchmesh.
- 114
- The parameter file is in an incorrect path or is inaccessible from hw_batchmesh.
- 121
- Either the time_limit.txt or result (*_res.txt) file was not created after the specified timeout.
- 132
- Result file (*_res.txt) not found.
- 133
- Error while reading the time_limit.txt file.
- 134
- Abnormal termination of the HyperMesh process.
- 135
- The HyperMesh process is frozen, possibly waiting for user input.
- 141
- The input geometry file is in an incorrect path or is inaccessible from HyperMesh.
- 142
- The criteria file is in an incorrect path or is inaccessible from HyperMesh.
- 143
- The parameter file is in an incorrect path or is inaccessible from HyperMesh.
- 144
- An error occurred while reading the input file (see HyperMesh *readfile command).
- 145
- An error occurred while importing the input file (see HyperMesh *feinputwithdata2 command).
- 146
- An error occurred while reading the criteria file (see HyperMesh *readqualitycriteria command).
- 147
- An error occurred while running hw_batchmesh.
- 148
- The custom pre-geom, pre-mesh or post-mesh Tcl procedure generated an error.
- 151
- Licensing error.