Read ASCII files

Read ASCII file: Load elements from file in ASCII format

All or selected elements can be read from file. Nodes and elements are read from different files with extensions .efp (nodes) and .efe (elements), having the same basis name. Node file (*.efp) must contain the external node ID and three coordinate values for each node. Element file (*.efe) must contain external element ID,  geometrical type ID,  group ID, mechanical type ID, and external node IDs of the element nodes. The number of external nodes depends on the element type. Optionally in the first line of the element file a number m may be given, in this case m numbers are read for each element independent of the element type, if the number of node Ids is less than m-4, additional values must be given as zeros.

Note: If the node file contains nodes that are not used as element nodes, these nodes get a single node element assigned to.

Following dialog shows the available options:

File title

Current title of the project is shown which could be used as the basis name for the files.

New title: A file selection box pops up to select a new title

Element selection

All: Read all elements from file

New selection: The following dialog pops up where elements can be selected. Only elements which meet the given criterions (IDs within given ranges) will be read from file.