1. Code_Aster documentation: organization and access#

1.1. A logical division into Manuals: the ARDUV#

Code_Aster technical documentation includes:

  • five manuals,

  • a set of other documentary objects that complement the basic technical documentation above.

User Manual

U

Instructions for using commands, user data structures, usage examples

Reference Manual

R

Formulation of modelled phenomena, analysis methods, numerical algorithms

Manual of Computer Description

D

Data structures, algorithms, architecture, environment

Validation Manual

V

Basic test sheets in all modeling domains

Administration Manual

A

Quality Plan, Development and Maintenance Procedures, Service Commitments, Versioning

Other documentary elements exist (newsletters, the code presentation brochure, various presentations, presentations at the annual day…) and are all accessible on the website `https://www.code-aster.org`_ < https://www.code-aster.org/>.

The basic user manuals of*Code_Aster* are the User Manual, the Reference Manual, and the Validation Manual. The User Manual frequently refers to the Reference Manual. The IT Description Manual is reserved for developers, in principle it does not concern users; the same is true for the Administration Manual. A major exception for the latter: the user has access to the Quality Sheets and Quality Monitoring Sheets which indicate to him for the exploitation and development versions of the code what the evolutions are, the identified errors corrected or not and the workarounds.

The manual is subdivided into ten named parts (numbered 0 to 9), the parts into equally named issues (00 to 99), the parts into documents (00 to 99), and the parts into documents (00 to 99).

1.1.1. The documentary key#

A document is identified in the document space of the manuals by a documentary key:

Manual_part.fascicle_number.document_number

Example of a documentary key: U1.02.00

Of course, a document is referred to by its documentary key. For reasons of convenience, two classes of documents are also referred to by the Aster function that they document:

the documents for the instructions for using the controls (User Manual) designated by the documented**name of the command*,

the documents describing the elementary test cases dedicated to code validation (Validation Manual) designated by**the test case code*.

Examples:

U4.43.01 documents command DEFI_MATERIAU, say document DEFI_MATERIAU.

V7.90.04 documents the thermomechanics test case HNSV100: Thermoplasticity in simple traction, we’ll say document HNSV100

Documentary objects other than those contained in the manuals are not affected by the key just mentioned.

1.1.2. What version of the code does the document apply to?#

Each technical manual document has a certain number of bibliometric information on the header (the title of the document, the name of the manager, the key, the summary, the version of the code). Among these, three deserve particular attention because they relate to the Quality Assurance of the code and the updating of documents:

  • the version of the code concerned by the document,

  • the revision index of the document,

  • the date that corresponds to the date of publication of the revision concerned of the document.

At the top right of the top of the document page is an indicator that indicates which version of Code_Aster the document applies to. This indicator can take two types of values:

  • « Development Version » if the document is in the current production cycle, linked to the development version of Code_Aster. The document visible to the reader is then the last published state, which replaces any previous states attached to this version.

  • A version number, « 10 » for example, when the document is attached to an operating version of Code_Aster. This number is then the major version number of Code_Aster. The documentation applies to the sub-index version in operation (« 10.6 » for example) then in force.

There are always, at least, 2 versions of the code available:

  • The so-called Validated and Qualified Exploitation version that must be used for QA studies.

  • The Development version, not yet validated or qualified. The Code_Aster user must know which operating version and development version are officially available at all times.

These versions change every 2 years (increment of the version number). Each time a version and sub-versions of exploitation or development are put into service, a Quality Sheet and Quality Follow-up Sheets are put into service. These documents list, for a given version or sub-version, the list of qualified domains (functionalities) and the remarks and restrictions on qualified domains. These sheets (which are documents from the Administration File) are available as A documents.

1.2. Access Code_Aster user documentation#

The technical documentation for using Code_Aster is a subset of its general documentation.

1.2.1. It is a fully electronic documentation#

The documentation is published on the code’s website at:

https://www.code-aster.org/

Every night, an automatic process allows the editing on this site of documents that have been published in the a-ged document management application during the previous day. In practice, updates mainly concern the development version, whose documentation evolves at the rate of new developments integrated into the code every week.

1.3. General presentation of the documentary resources for use#

In fact, the basic user will draw his documentary resources from 3 manuals, in this order:

  • Manuel U whose structure he must have in mind

Documented features

Manual parts

How to use the controls

U4: basic commands U7: commands to exchange data with other software

Characteristics of the models

U3

Instructions for using the models

U2

Code access

U1

  • Manual R: finite elements, the formulation of models of phenomena

  • Manual V: validation test cases