Example: Creating the Symbols file

Here is an example of how to create a symbols file. Create and edit the file (problem_type_name.sim in this example) inside the problem_type_name directory (where all your problem type files are located). Except for the extension, the names of the file and the directory must be the same.
The contents of the problem_type_name.sim example should be the following:

cond Point-Constraints
3
global
cond(int,5)
1
0
0
Support3D.geo
global
cond(int,1) && cond(int,3)
1
0
0
Support.geo
global
cond(int,1) || cond(int,3)
cond(int,3)
cond(int,1)*(-1)
0
Support-2D.geo
cond Face-Load
1
local
fabs(cond(real,2)) + fabs(cond(real,4)) + fabs(cond(real,6))>0.
cond(real,2)
cond(real,4)
cond(real,6)
Normal.geo

This is a particular example of the .sim file where four different symbols have been defined. Each one is read from a ***.geo file. There is no indication of how many symbols are implemented overall. GiD simply reads the whole file from beginning to end.

The ***.geo files are obtained through GiD. You can design a particular drawing to symbolize a condition and this drawing will be stored as problem_name.geo when saving this project as problem_name.gid. You do not need to be concerned about the size of the symbol, but should bear in mind that the origin corresponds to the point (0,0,0) and the reference vector is (1,0,0). Subsequently, when these ***.geo files are invoked from problem_type_name.sim, the symbol drawing appears scaled on the display at the entity's location.

Nevertheless, the number of symbols and, consequently, the number of ***.geo files can vary from one condition to another. In the previous example, for instance, the condition called Point-Constraints, which is defined by using cond, comprises three different symbols. GiD knows this from the number 3 written below the condition's name. Next, GiD looks to see if the orientation is relative to the spatial axes (global) or moves together with its entity (local). In the example, the three symbols concerning point constraints are globally oriented.

Imagine that this condition has six fields. The first, third and fifth field values express if any constraint exist along the X-axis, the Y-axis and the Z-axis, respectively. These values are integers and in the case that they are null, the degree of freedom in question is assumed to be unconstrained.

For the first symbol, obtained from the file Support3D.geo, GiD reads cond(int,5), or the Z-constraint. If it is false, which means that the value of the field is zero, the C-condition will not be satisfied and GiD will not draw it. Otherwise, the C-condition will be satisfied and the symbol will be invoked. When this occurs, GiD skips the rest of the symbols related to this condition. Its orientation will be the same as the original drawing because the spatial vector is (1,0,0).

All these considerations are valid for the second symbol, obtained from the file Support.geo, but now GiD has to check that both constraints (&&) - the X-constraint and the Y-constraint - are fixed (their values are not zero).

For the third symbol, obtained from the file Support-2D.geo, only one of them has to be fixed (||) and the orientation of the symbol will depend on which one is free and which one is fixed, showing on the screen the corresponding direction for both degrees of freedom.

Finally, for the fourth symbol, onbtained from the file Normal.geo, it can be observed that the drawing of the symbol, related to the local orientation will appear scaled according to the real-type values of the second, fourth and sixth field values. Different types of C-language expressions are available in GiD. Thus, the last expression would be equivalent to entering '(fabs(cond(real,2))>0. || fabs(cond(real,4))!=0. || fabs(cond(real,6))>1e-10)'.

Note: As previously mentioned, GiD internally creates a project_name.geo file when saving a project, where it keeps all the information about the geometry in binary format. In fact, this is the reason why the extension of these files is .geo. However, the file project_name.geo is stored in the project_name.gid directory, whereas these user-created ***.geo files are stored in the problem_type_name.gid directory.