Executable File

Executable File#

Interactive Mode: Running the program without a script for live, one-command-at-a-time execution

The first part of any OpenSees or OpenSeesPy command is the name of the executable file. If you run the executable by itself — without providing a script or additional arguments — the program launches in Interactive Mode.

In this mode, the program gives you its own prompt and waits for you to type one command at a time, immediately executing it and displaying results before waiting for the next one.

Running an interactive session of OpenSees allows you to test the program and make sure you have set up the right environment. This is ideal for:

  • Testing syntax or exploring commands in real time

  • Building a small model step-by-step

  • Debugging specific lines of code without running an entire script

Important:

  • Interactive Mode is always single-process — it cannot run in parallel across multiple processors: OpenSees can run interactively only for sequential analyses or methods that do not require mpi management.

  • This is because parallel execution (MPI) requires all processes to read and execute a script in sync, which is not possible when commands are entered manually.

Note

If the executable is not in your system’s PATH, you’ll need to specify its full file path (e.g., /path/to/OpenSees) when calling it.

Application

Command

Prompt

OpenSees-Tcl

OpenSees

OpenSees >

OpenSeesPy (Python)

python (then import OpenSeesPy)

>>> (Python)

When to Use Interactive Mode#

  • Learning or prototyping

  • Inspecting or debugging model elements

  • Quick, single-threaded testing of parameters

Demo Examples#

OpenSees-Tcl Interactive

1. At the Command-line prompt.
Start OpenSees-Tcl interactively by simply typing at the terminal:

OpenSees

You’ll see a prompt like:

    OpenSees -- Open System For Earthquake Engineering Simulation
            Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center
                    Version xx.xx.xx 64-Bit

(c) Copyright 1999-20xx The Regents of the University of California
                        All Rights Reserved
(Copyright and Disclaimer @ http://www.berkeley.edu/OpenSees/copyright.html)


OpenSees >

You can now enter your commands at the prompt, one at a time, as shown below:

OpenSees > wipe
OpenSees > model BasicBuilder -ndm 2 -ndf 3
OpenSees > exit
OpenSeesPy Interactive

1. At the Command-line prompt.
Start python interactively by simply typing at the terminal:

   python

The command-line command will start an interactive session.

Python 3.10.6 | packaged by conda-forge | (main, Aug 22 2022, 20:35:26) [GCC 10.4.0] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>

You can now enter your commands at the prompt, one at a time, as shown below. You need to import OpenSeesPy before you can run OpenSees commands:

>>> import openseespy.opensees as ops
>>> ops.wipe()
>>> ops.model('BasicBuilder','-ndm',2,'-ndf',3)
>>> exit()
Process 0 Terminating

2. In a Jupyter Notebook
You can also run OpenSeesPy interactive by importing it into your Jupyter notebook:

import openseespy.opensees as ops
ops.wipe()
ops.model('BasicBuilder','-ndm',2,'-ndf',3)

You do not need to exit.

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