Mechanical APDL Basic Analysis Guide - Ansys

Chapter 10: Getting Started with Graphics
2. You use graphics action functions to actually produce the display.
You can perform both types of graphics functions either by using menu functions in the GUI or by typing
in commands directly.
10.5.1. GUI-Driven Graphics Functions
When running the ANSYS program interactively, most users will prefer to use the GUI. As you use the GUI
functions, you execute commands without actually seeing or editing them. (The program will record all underlying
executed commands in your Jobname.LOG file.) You can access graphics specification functions
via Utility Menu> PlotCtrls. Graphics action functions reside under Utility Menu> Plot.
10.5.2. Command-Driven Graphics Functions
As an alternative to using the GUI functions, you can type ANSYS commands directly in the Input Window.
In general, you enter the graphics specifications using the graphics "slash" commands (for example, /WINDOW,
/PNUM, etc.). Graphics action commands are usually either prefixed with PL (PLNSOL, PLVAR, etc.) or are
suffixed with PLOT (EPLOT, KPLOT, etc.).
10.5.3. Immediate Mode Graphics
By default in the GUI, your model will immediately be displayed in the Graphics Window as you create new
entities (such as areas, keypoints, nodes, elements, local coordinate systems, boundary conditions, etc.). This
is called immediate mode graphics. Anything drawn immediately in this way, however, will be destroyed if
you bring up a menu or dialog box on top of it. Or, if you iconify the GUI, the immediate mode graphics
image will not be shown when you restore the GUI icon.
An immediate image will also be automatically scaled to fit nicely within the Graphics Window - a feature
called automatic scaling. Periodically, though, you may need to issue an explicit plot function because you
have created new entities which lie "outside" the boundaries of the scaled image already in the Graphics
Window and are thus not captured with immediate mode graphics. The plot function will rescale and redraw
the image.
To obtain a more "permanent" image, you need to execute one of the plot functions (such as Utility Menu>
Plot> Volumes) or a graphics action command (such as VPLOT). An image generated in this way will not
be destroyed by menu pop-ups or by iconifying the GUI. Also note that symbols (such as keypoint or node
numbers, local coordinate systems, boundary conditions, etc.) are also shown immediately but will not be
present on a "permanent" display unless you first "turn on" the appropriate symbol using the functions under
Utility Menu> PlotCtrls or the appropriate graphics specification command.
If you prefer not to see things immediately as you define them, you can use the IMMED command (Utility
Menu> PlotCtrls> Erase Options> Immediate Display) to turn off immediate mode. When you run the
ANSYS program interactively without using the GUI, immediate mode is off by default.
10.5.4. Replotting the Current Display
The /REPLOT command (Utility Menu> Plot> Replot) re-executes the last display action command that
was executed. However, the program can execute that command only if it is valid in the current ANSYS
routine. For instance, if you issue a PLNSOL command in POST1, then exit that routine and replot while at
the Begin level, no contour display will be formed. To save time, you may want to define an abbreviation
for the /REPLOT command so that it is available on the Toolbar as a "quick pick."
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