The Structure of the Reference Manual

The Reference Manual has three main sections, which are Visual Setup, Text Setup, and Analyzers.

The Visual Setup section will outline all available parameters in the VSim composer, with the commands themselves organized by input property. The Text Setup section follows, and is where Vorpal blocks and macros are found, as well as postprocessing tools.

The general format of each block’s description is:

  • Block name

  • Summary of the block’s purpose

  • List of the block’s parameters

  • Example of the block as used in a Vorpal input file

We note whenever a block can or should contain another block. For the purpose of this document, a kind or a function can be considered a parameter of a block if the kind or function can be used to complete the description of the block or modify block characteristics.

Wherever possible, we describe all of the parameters in the same section as the block. While this requires that we repeat some information for different blocks that use the same parameters, you do not need to go elsewhere to find the rest of the block’s description. In some cases, where a block’s parameters are themselves blocks, we list the parameters’ names, however we completely describe the sub-block or block that is nested in its own section.

Still within the Text Setup section, the macros will follow all the Vorpal block descriptions, and will be organized by VSim version. Postprocessing tools can also be found in Text Setup.

The final major section of VSim Reference is Analyzers, which includes details about all of the VSim (post engine run) analyzer scripts. Each analyzer script section will generally outline the following:

  • Analysis script name

  • Summary of usage with script options

  • Output

Some analyzer script sections also include sections like examples, usage and testing, and other useful information.

VSim Reference is a quick-reference manual for VSim users to look up specific features and syntax for the computational engine, Vorpal. To learn about the complete VSim simulation process, including real-word physics models, please refer to VSim Examples and VSim User Guide. To learn about executing Vorpal from the command line, please refer to the VSim User Guide.