CFF File Formats

There are three types of file that represent the Data Models that are described by this SDK.

CFF Project Format

Project files provide a method to represent the Project data that defines relationships between the simulations, runs, and sequences of data (such as transient sequences), and the files that store the data associated with each.

Read the Project API to understand how the file should be accessed or modified using the supplied ansys::Project API functions.

CFF Restart Format

CFF Restart files are used to store representations of mesh, topology, physics, settings, and results data models that are used by a solver and may subsequently be read by post-processors and another downstream component.

The CFF Restart files are concrete implementations of the CFF Restart Data Model and should be accessed using the ansys::CffProvider and ansys::CffConsumer API functions that are appropriate for this model.

CFF Post Format

CFF Post files are used to store a simplified representation of the data model and are designed for faster post-processing with minimal data manipulation.

The CFF Post files are concrete implementations of the CFF Post Data Model and should be accessed using the ansys::CffProvider and ansys::CffConsumer API functions that are appropriate for this model.

Important Notes on Processing Files Containing CFF Restart and CFF Post Data

As noted above, both the CFF Restart Format and CFF Post Format files should be accessed using the ansys::CffProvider or the ansys::CffConsumer APIs.

Three questions therefore arise:

• Could a file hold both data models?
• How do you determine which data model is present within a file?
• How do you access the model that is required?

It is possible to write both types of data model to one file but this is not a recommended practice at this time.

Determining the type of data within a file should be done by examining its contents. Although the file extension might give you a clue to the contents of the file, this is not a robust approach as a person may rename the file or the file extension may change depending on the solver that has written the data.

The recommended way to determine the contents of a file is to use the ansys::CffProvider API. It provides a function, ansys::CffProvider::hasTarget, that allows you to query what the target model is; CFF_RESTART or CFF_POST.

It is possible that a file can contain both types of data. Therefore, before accessing the data it is necessary to call ansys::CffProvider::setTarget with the appropriate target specified as an argument.

The default target that will be used by the API when both data models exist is CFF_RESTART.

Similarly, when writing data to a file, again the target must be specified using ansys::CffConsumer::setTarget prior to passing data to the API functions.

Although the API used to manipulate data in both files is the same, not all API functions can be used on both file types. Refer to the appropriate Model and API documentation for further information.