Command Syntax

The execution of CUBIT is controlled either by entering commands from the command line or by reading them in from a journal file. Throughout this document, each function or process will have a description of the corresponding CUBIT command; in this section, general conventions for command syntax will be described. The user can obtain a quick guide to proper command format by issuing the <keyword> help command; see Obtaining Help for details.

CUBIT commands are described in this manual and in the help output using the following conventions. An example of a typical CUBIT command is:

The commands recognized by CUBIT are free-format and abide by the following syntax conventions.

1. Case is not significant.
2. The "#" character in any command line begins a comment. The "#" and any characters following it on the same line are ignored.
3. Commands may be abbreviated as long as enough characters are used to distinguish it from other commands.
4. The meaning and type of command parameters depend on the keyword. Some parameters used in CUBIT commands are:

Numeric: A numeric parameter may be a real number or an integer. A real number may be in any legal C or FORTRAN numeric format (for example, 1, 0.2, -1e-2). An integer parameter may be in any legal decimal integer format (for example, 1, 100, 1000, but not 1.5, 1.0, 0x1F).

String: A string parameter is a literal character string contained within single or double quotes. For example, 'This is a string' .

Filename: When a command requires a filename, the filename should be enclosed in single or double quotes. If no path is specified, the file is understood to be in the current working directory. After entering a portion of a filename, typing a '?' will complete the filename, or as much of the filename as possible if there is more than one possible match.

A filename parameter must specify a legal filename on the system on which CUBIT is running. The filename may be specified using either a relative path (../cubit/mesh.jou), a fully-qualified path (/home/jdoe/cubit/mesh.jou), or no path; in the latter case, the file must be in the working directory or in a directory specified using the -path option to CUBIT (see Executing CUBIT for details.) Environment variables and aliases may also be used in the filename specification; for example, the C-Shell shorthand of referring to a file relative to the user's login directory (~jdoe/cubit/mesh.jou) is valid.

Toggle: Some commands require a "toggle" keyword to enable or disable a setting or option. Valid toggle keywords are "on", "yes", and "true" to enable the option; and "off", "no", and "false" to disable the option.

5. Each command typically has either:

• an action keyword or "verb" followed by a variable number of parameters, for example

• or a selector keyword or "noun" followed by a name and value of an attribute of the entity indicated, for example

The notation conventions used in the command descriptions in this document are:

• The command will be shown in a format that looks like this:
• A word enclosed in angle brackets ( <parameter> ) signifies a user-specified parameter. The value can be an integer, a range of integers, a real number, a string, or a string denoting a filename or toggle. The valid value types should be evident from the command or the command description.
• A series of words delimited by a vertical bar ( choice1 | choice2 | choice3 ) signifies a choice between the parameters listed.
• A word enclosed in square brackets ( [optional] ) signifies optional input which can be entered to modify the default behavior of the command.