4.10 Creating and Reading Journal Files

A journal file contains a sequence of ANSYS FLUENT commands, arranged as they would be typed interactively into the program or entered through the GUI or TUI. The GUI and TUI commands are recorded as Scheme code lines in journal files. You can also create journal files manually with a text editor. If you want to include comments in your file, be sure to put a semicolon ( ;) at the beginning of each comment line. See Section  1.2.1 for an example.

The purpose of a journal file is to automate a series of commands instead of entering them repeatedly on the command line. Another use is to produce a record of the input to a program session for later reference, although transcript files are often more useful for this purpose (see Section  4.11).

Command input is taken from the specified journal file until its end is reached, at which time control is returned to the standard input (usually the keyboard). Each line from the journal file is echoed to the standard output (usually the screen) as it is read and processed.

A journal file is, by design, just a simple record and playback facility. It contains no information about the state in which it was recorded or the state in which it is being played back.

• Be careful not to change the folder while recording a journal file. Also, try to re-create the state in which the journal was written before you read it into the program. For example, if your journal file includes an instruction to save a new file with a specified name, you should check that if a file with that name exists in your folder before you read in your journal file. If a file with that name exists and you read in your journal file, when the program reaches the write instruction, it will prompt for a confirmation if it is OK to overwrite the old file.

  Since the journal file does not contain any response to the confirmation request, ANSYS FLUENT cannot continue to follow the instructions of the journal file.

• Other conditions that may affect the program's ability to perform the instructions contained in a journal file can be created by modifications or manipulations that you make within the program.

  For example, if your journal file creates several surfaces and displays data on those surfaces, you must be sure to read in appropriate case and data files before reading the journal file.

  At a point of time, only one journal file can be open for recording, but you can write a journal and a transcript file simultaneously. You can also read a journal file at any time.

Whether you choose to type the text command in full or use partial strings (as described in Section  3.1.1), complete commands are recorded in the journal files. Consider the following examples:

• Typing in the TUI

  solve/set/expert , , yes , ,
  

  will be recorded in the journal file as

  /solve/set/expert yes no yes no no
  

  where , or $<$Enter $>$ signifies default values or entries, as described in Section  3.2.

• Typing in the TUI

  so set ur mom 0.2 pres 0.4
  

  will be recorded in the journal file as two separate commands:

  /solve/set/under-relaxation/mom 0.2 
  /solve/set/under-relaxation/pressure 0.4
  

Only successfully completed commands are recorded. For example, if you stopped an execution of a command using the $<$Ctrl-c $>$ function, it will not be recorded in the journal file. If a GUI event happens while a text command is in progress, the GUI event is recorded first. All default values are recorded (as in the first example above).