Isight can handle huge Abaqus input files, we just need to set it up properly so that we do not ask the impossible.

I am going to explain how to modify the Abaqus component configuration file and show how commenting out unnecessary keywords will make the parsing much quicker. 

In the Abaqus component, when an input file is selected and the ‘read file’ button is clicked, Isight parses the entire input file to look for possible parameters. Once the file is parsed, Isight lists all the possible parameters and the user chooses which parameters to map in Isight. When Isight parses the Abaqus input file, it looks for the keywords listed in the Abaqus component configuration file (Abqconfig.txt).

This parsing can be personalized changing the Abaqus component configuration file. In the Execution tab of the Abaqus component it is possible to point to a user configuration file. The Abaqus component configuration file allows you to determine which parameters will be extracted from the ASCII Abaqus input (.inp) file and data (.dat) file when using the Abaqus component. Specifically, it controls parsing of the Abaqus input file and the Abaqus data file.

Using the configuration file, you can define which Abaqus keywords the Abaqus component will support. You can also define the numerical values associated with each keyword that will be parameterized. The file provides the ability to customize the parameter naming patterns.

If the file you are trying to parse contains a large number of keywords that are listed in the Abaqus component configuration file, the parsing will result in a very heavy job. Isight will try to prepare a variable for each and every keyword read in the input file and listed in the Abaqus component configuration file.

There are therefore some different ways to proceed in order to lighten the parsing of the input file.

One of the first way to proceed is to modify the Abaqus component configuration file. If some unnecessary keywords are commented out from the Abaqus component configuration file, the parsing can become much quicker.

An example can be an Abaqus input file containing a large number of materials, but the user is only interested in modifying the step properties. In this case you would want to comment out all the keywords but the *step. This will make the parsing much faster.

Another way to proceed is to modify the input file using the *include option. With this option it is possible to split the input file into many input files. If all the parameters that we want Isight to pars are in the main input file and the rest are in auxiliary input files, Isight will only have to parse a smaller input file, and therefore be quicker.

One last solution is not to use the Abaqus component and use a Simcode component, but I would suggest only going down this path when there is no other solution. The Abaqus component is a very powerful tool that can save us a lot of time, so I always keep it as my first choice.