View source for Reading Material Points from a Previous Simulation

Sometimes it is useful to run a simulation, output the material point locations, and them use those settings for a new MPM simulation. One approach is to extract all material point locations to an <tt>XML</tt> file using the [[ExtractMPM]] tool, and then input that file to a new commands file. The process is:

<ol>

<li>Run an MPM simulation

<li>Select an archive time and use [[ExtractMPM]] to extract particle data to an XML file. A typical command would be:

<pre>ExtractMPM -Xh -q mass -o particles Archive.1843
</pre>

where <tt>Archive.1843</tt> is desired time archive containing material point locations. The points will be written to an <tt>XML</tt> file called <tt>particles.xml</tt>. The output file will have one [[PointList Block|<tt><PointList></tt> block]] with one<tt><mp></tt>element for each material point. See the [[ExtractMPM]] tool documentation for more details on an XML extraction.</li>

<li>Finally, include this saved file in another commands file using an <tt>XML</tt> entity reference. First, define the path to the new file using an [[Entity Command|<tt>Entity</tt> command]] such as:

<pre>Entity mpfile,particles.xml
</pre>

where its value is a relative path to the file with the particle locations. In <tt>XML</tt> files, the entity is defined in the file's <tt>DOCTYPE</tt> element such as:

<pre>&lt;!DOCTYPE JANFEAInput SYSTEM '/full path to/NairnMPM.dtd'
[   &lt;!ENTITY mpfile SYSTEM "pointlist.xml"&gt;
]&gt;
</pre>

Secon, include that file in the section that defines material points using and [[XMLData Command|<tt>XMLData</tt> command]] such as:
<pre>XMLData,MaterialPoints
   &amp;mpfile;
EndXMLData
</pre>

In <tt>XML</tt> files, the file is include in the <tt><MaterialPoints></tt> element using

<pre>&lt;MaterialPoints&gt;
   &amp;mpfile;
&lt;/MaterialPoints&gt;</pre>

</ol>