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Common Fluids Format 2023 R2

Ansys Common Fluids API Build and Usage

Last update: 16.07.2025

CFF SDK Content

The CFF developer package contains:

    include/

In the header files, the main include/ directory should be added to the build path

     lib/
      win64/*.lib
      win64/*.dll

The object libraries for Windows.

Note
Link against the static .lib files during the build process.
Ensure the .dll files can be found by your applications at runtime by setting your %Path% variable correctly.
      linx64/*.so

The object libraries for Linux.

Note
The libraries must be provided during the build process.
Ensure the .so files can by found by you applications at runtime by setting your LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable correctly.
     example/
       hdf/

Source files for example executables that show how to read and write CFF grid and solution files.

       project/

Source files for example executable that show how to read and write CFF project files.

Compiling and Linking on Windows

Requirements

  • Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 or newer (64-bit build environment)

To build an application using the CFF SDK, it is required to

  • Add the include folder to the include folder list for the C++ preprocesssor
  • Use the provided .lib files found in the lib folder when linking your application to the api
Note
You will likely wish to link all libraries in the folder except libansysfluidsprojectqt.lib, which requires Qt 5.9.6 libraries. Delete or move this file to a different location to use the *.lib wildcard.
libansysfluidsproject.lib is only required when using the Project API.

For example, to build one of the provided demonstration files, from a 64-bit build environment:

     cd example/hdf/CellNode/
     cl cellnode.cpp /I..\..\..\include ..\..\..\lib\winx64\*.lib /EHsc

To run the examples, the lib/win64/ .dll files must be either in the current directory, or in the windows Path%

     cd example/hdf/
     copy ..\..\lib\win64\*.dll .
     cellnode.exe

A wrapper script is also provided to ease the library path setup:

     cd example/hdf/
     run.bat cellnode.exe

Compiling and Linking on Linux

Requirements

  • g++ 8.2 or compatible
  • RedHat/Centos 7.4 , newer or compatible

To build an application using the CFF API, it is required to

  • Add the include folder in the include folder list for the C++ preprocesssor
  • Build the source files using the CFF API without the C++11 binary interface, i.e. use the switch -D_GLIBCXX_USE_CXX11_ABI=0
  • Use the provided .so files found in the lib directory when linking your application to the API.

Note: link with all libraries in the folder except libansysfluidsprojectqt.so, which requires Qt 5.9.6 libraries. Erase or move away the file to use the *.so wildcard. libansysfluidsproject.so is only required for the Project API.

For example, to build one of the provided demonstration files:

     cd example/hdf/CellNode/
     g++ cellnode.cpp -I../../../include/ ../../../lib/linx64/*.so -D_GLIBCXX_USE_CXX11_ABI=0 -o cellnode.exe

To run the examples, the linx64/ .so files should typically be in the LIBRARY_PATH

     cd example/hdf/
     export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/path/to/lib/linx64:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
     ./cellnode.exe

A wrapper script is also provided to ease the library path setup:

     cd example/hdf/
     ./run.sh cellnode.exe

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