Scoping and support
Last update: 18.06.2026A scoping is a list of entity IDs with an associated location (for example 'Nodal',
'Elemental', 'TimeFreq_sets'). It tells an operator which subset of the data to
process. A support (such as TimeFreqSupport) describes the full spatial or temporal
context of an analysis and is used to translate between load steps, substeps, and cumulative
set indices.
Mesh scoping
Manual construction
import Ans.DataProcessing as dpf
# Nodal scoping
sc = dpf.Scoping()
sc.Location = 'Nodal' # or dpf.locations.nodal if available
sc.Ids = [1, 2, 3, 100]
print("Count: {0}".format(sc.Count))
print("ID at index 0: {0}".format(sc.IdByIndex(0)))
print("Index of ID 100: {0}".format(sc.IndexById(100)))
print("Has ID 5: {0}".format(sc.HasId(5)))
Supported location strings: 'Nodal', 'Elemental', 'ElementalNodal'.
Factory helpers
MeshScopingFactory provides shorthand constructors to create mesh scopings:
import Ans.DataProcessing as dpf
# Nodal scoping from a list of node IDs
nodal_sc = dpf.MeshScopingFactory.NodalScoping([1, 2, 3, 100])
# Elemental scoping from a list of element IDs
elem_sc = dpf.MeshScopingFactory.ElementalScoping([10, 11, 12])
Named selection scoping
Named selections created in Mechanical can be resolved to a mesh scoping through either the factory or the dedicated operator. The name must be passed in uppercase.
import mech_dpf
import Ans.DataProcessing as dpf
mech_dpf.setExtAPI(ExtAPI)
analysis = ExtAPI.DataModel.Project.Model.Analyses[0]
ds = dpf.DataSources()
ds.SetResultFilePath(analysis.ResultFileName)
model = dpf.Model(ds)
# Option 1 - factory (returns a Scoping directly)
ns_sc = dpf.MeshScopingFactory.NamedSelectionScoping("MY_SELECTION", model)
# Option 2 - operator (connects lazily inside a chain)
ns_op = dpf.operators.scoping.on_named_selection()
ns_op.inputs.named_selection_name.Connect("MY_SELECTION")
ns_op.inputs.data_sources.Connect(ds)
stress_op = dpf.operators.result.stress()
stress_op.inputs.data_sources.Connect(ds)
stress_op.inputs.mesh_scoping.Connect(ns_op.outputs.mesh_scoping)
Time scoping
Time scopings select which time or frequency sets an operator works with. Cumulative set indices are 1-based and span all load steps.
Factory helpers
TimeFreqScopingFactory provides the recommended way to build time scopings:
import Ans.DataProcessing as dpf
# Single load step (all substeps of load step 2)
ts_ls = dpf.TimeFreqScopingFactory.ScopingByLoadStep(2)
# Multiple load steps
ts_mls = dpf.TimeFreqScopingFactory.ScopingByLoadSteps([1, 2])
# Single cumulative set (1-based index across all steps)
ts_set = dpf.TimeFreqScopingFactory.ScopingBySet(5)
# Multiple cumulative sets
ts_sets = dpf.TimeFreqScopingFactory.ScopingBySets([1, 2, 3])
# By step and substep (requires a Model or TimeFreqSupport)
ts_sub = dpf.TimeFreqScopingFactory.ScopingByStepAndSubstep(1, 2, model)
# All time/frequency sets
ts_all = dpf.TimeFreqScopingFactory.ScopingOnAllTimeFreqs(model.TimeFreqSupport)
Pass the scoping to a result operator:
disp_op = dpf.operators.result.displacement()
disp_op.inputs.data_sources.Connect(ds)
disp_op.inputs.time_scoping.Connect(ts_ls)
Manual construction
For simple cases a plain dpf.Scoping with 'TimeFreq_sets' location works too:
sc = dpf.Scoping()
sc.Location = 'TimeFreq_sets'
sc.Ids = [1] # cumulative set index
disp_op.inputs.time_scoping.Connect(sc)
TimeFreqSupport
TimeFreqSupport describes the full temporal or frequential space of the analysis. It is
available from the model and is useful for translating between step/substep and cumulative
indices.
import mech_dpf
import Ans.DataProcessing as dpf
mech_dpf.setExtAPI(ExtAPI)
analysis = ExtAPI.DataModel.Project.Model.Analyses[0]
ds = dpf.DataSources()
ds.SetResultFilePath(analysis.ResultFileName)
model = dpf.Model(ds)
tfs = model.TimeFreqSupport
# Total number of time/frequency sets across all steps
print("Sets: {0}".format(tfs.NumberSets))
# Field of real time values (unit usually 's' or 'Hz')
time_field = tfs.TimeFreqs
print("Unit: {0}".format(time_field.Unit))
# Time value at a given step / substep (both 1-based)
t = tfs.GetTimeFreq(1, 1)
print("Step 1 substep 1 time: {0}".format(t))
# Cumulative index from step and substep (add 1 to use as set ID)
cum_idx = tfs.GetTimeFreqCummulativeIndex(1, 1)
print("Cumulative index: {0}".format(cum_idx))
