Ansys ACT 2023 R2 Known Issues and Limitations

Ansys ACT 2023 R2 Known Issues and Limitations

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Ansys ACT 2023 R2 Known Issues and Limitations

Contents
Ansys ACT 2023 R2 Known Issues and Limitations ................................................................... 1Links in the help for an ACT wizard do not work ................................................................... 5Extension images from network locations and mapped drives do not display .......................... 5Captions for custom objects cannot end in a space followed by a number .............................. 5
Third-party solver fails to display in Workbench .................................................................... 5ACT panels may not fill entire dialog width ........................................................................... 6Reloading a Workbench extension while in use ..................................................................... 6
After installation, the ACT Start Page sometimes appears blank ............................................. 6VPN conflicts can arise if IP information is retained ............................................................... 6Enabled FIPS security policy ................................................................................................ 7Workbench customization ................................................................................................... 7For DesignModeler, the ACT Console, Extensions Log, and ACT wizards are supported on
Windows platform only ....................................................................................................... 7ACT for Fluent is supported on Windows platform only ......................................................... 7For Fluent, the initial attempt at opening the Extensions Log from the ACT Start Page causesan unexpected shutdown .................................................................................................... 7
ACT Debugger and App Builder are supported on Windows platform only .............................. 7
ACT App Builder is not supported in Ansys Electronics Desktop ............................................. 7
Limited ACT localization support .......................................................................................... 8
Default location of ACT extensions for SpaceClaim ................................................................ 8Ansys ACT 2023 R2 Known Issues and Limitations
Mechanical read-only mode ................................................................................................. 8Captions for custom objects cannot contain a space followed by a number ............................ 8
ExtAPI.Extension.Attributes does not support OrderedDict values .......................................... 8
Saving dictionaries in attributes slows the opening of Mechanical significantly ........................ 8
Accessing UserInterface on ExtAPI in Mechanical from an onInit callback or globally causeserrors ................................................................................................................................ 9Electronics Desktop module CoreGlobalScriptContextFunctions is unavailable ......................... 9
Limitations Unique to Linux ................................................................................................. 9Starting the ACT Start Page can cause an unexpected shutdown .................................... 9Some Linux versions contain a JPEG library that conflicts with the Ansys package ........... 9Graphics API issues in Ansys DesignModeler and Mechanical when no extensions areloaded ...................................................................................................................... 10

Ansys ACT 2023 R2 Known Issues and Limitations

Ansys ACT 2023 R2 Known Issues and Limitations
This document lists known issues and limitations in the ACT 2023 R2 release.
Note:
••

This document might contain entries that do not appear in “Known Issues and Limitations” in theACT Developer’s Guide because they were found after this guide’s publication.
For known issues and limitations specific to Mechanical APIs, see “Mechanical API Known Issuesand Limitations” in the Scripting in Mechanical Guide.

Links in the help for an ACT wizard do not work
Due to a limitation in third-party packages used by ACT, the help for an ACT wizard can only link toon-disk locations (ref="file:///..."). Using a location other than the local disk will result inan empty help content area within the wizard.

Extension images from network locations and mapped drives do not display
Extension images residing on a network location or a mapped drive do not display on web
browser-based ACT views. Affected views include all tools available from the ACT Start Page, suchas the Extension Manager and Wizards Launcher. Instead of seeing the intended image for anextension, you will see a "?" icon. However, the extension will execute properly.

Captions for custom objects cannot end in a space followed by a number
When naming a caption for a custom object, the software automatically appends a number to thename if it is identical to existing objects. Do not end the name with a space followed by a number.
While no error appears, the number will be removed and may be changed. Workaround: Whenrenaming a caption for a custom object, always follow a space with a non-numeric character before
using a number. For example, rather than renaming a caption to my custom object 2, rename
it to my custom object n2.

Third-party solver fails to display in Workbench
A third-party solver exposed through the <solver> simdata tag may not display in the Workbench
Toolbox if the XML file specified for the attribute system_template relies on aValidationCode. To obtain a correct ValidationCode value compatible with recent licensing
system upgrades, contact your local support channel.

5Ansys ACT 2023 R2 Known Issues and Limitations

ACT panels may not fill entire dialog width
Some ACT panels, such as the ACT Console and ACT Debugger, may not "spring" the entire width ofthe parent dialog. Panel behavior and user interaction are unaffected.

Reloading a Workbench extension while in use
A Workbench extension can define new systems to insert in the Project Schematic. Reloading suchan extension after creating new system instances will result in unexpected behavior. Before
reloading, delete all extension-related systems or save and reset the project.

In HTML components, the URL protocol must be used for image, custom JS,and CSS files
In an HTML component, an image, custom JS, or CSS file does not display unless the file URL
protocol (file:///) is placed before the file path.
Prior to 2020 R2, an absolute path could be used:
img src="c:/Users/User1/myimage.jpg"
However, the file:/// protocol must now be placed before the file path. Some examples follow.
For an image:img src="file:///c:/Users/User1/myimage.jpg"
For a custom JS file:component.CustomJSFile = r'file:///' +str(ExtAPI/Extension.InstallDir)+ r'\custom_table.js'

After installation, the ACT Start Page sometimes appears blank
If after installing Ansys products, you see that the ACT Start Page is blank, right-click inside the blank
window and select Reload.

VPN conflicts can arise if IP information is retained
When using a VPN, IP information can be retained, even after turning off the VPN and rebooting thecomputer. The workaround is to release the IP configuration using the following script:

echo Releasing IP
ipconfig /release > NUL
echo Acquiring new IP
ipconfig /renew > NUL6Ansys ACT 2023 R2 Known Issues and Limitations

Enabled FIPS security policy
When running with an enabled FIPS security policy, ACT User Interface elements are not supported.

Workbench customization
When using ACT to create Workbench custom workflows, not all optional attributes for the tag<property> are currently supported. For example, visibleon is not supported.

For DesignModeler, the ACT Console, Extensions Log, and ACT wizards aresupported on Windows platform only
For DesignModeler, the ACT Console, Extensions Log, and ACT wizards are supported only when
DesignModeler is running on the Windows platform.

ACT for Fluent is supported on Windows platform only
When using ACT for Fluent customization, ACT is supported only when Fluent is running on the Windowsplatform.

For Fluent, the initial attempt at opening the Extensions Log from the ACT Start
Page causes an unexpected shutdown
In a new Fluent installation, the initial attempt at opening the Extensions Log from the ACT Start Page
does not display the log dialog box. Instead, Fluent shuts down unexpectedly. However, subsequentattempts at opening this dialog box are successful.

ACT Debugger and App Builder are supported on Windows platform only
The ACT Debugger is supported only on the Windows platform from the Project page in Ansys
Workbench and from DesignModeler and Mechanical. The ACT App Builder is supported only
on the Windows platform.

ACT App Builder is not supported in Ansys Electronics Desktop
The ACT App Builder is not supported in Ansys Electronics Desktop (AEDT). Clicking the Open App Builder
icon on the ACT Start Page in AEDT will not start the App Builder.

7

Ansys ACT 2023 R2 Known Issues and Limitations

Limited ACT localization support
Localization of ACT is limited to the languages currently supported in Ansys Workbench. This limitation
does not apply to the ability to manage various languages within the extension. For example, theproperty names created by an extension do not have to be in the same language as the current
activated language in Workbench.
There is no mechanism to integrate localization for the property names defined by an extension. Tomanage different languages for your property names, you must develop localization yourself. Bothregional settings based on the "." or the "," decimal symbol are available. However, theimplementation of the extension should use the "." symbol for any value defined at the XML orIronPython level.

Default location of ACT extensions for SpaceClaim
The default location in which SpaceClaim is to look for ACT extensions is%ANSYSversion_DIR%\scdm\Addins. However, SpaceClaim is not currently recognizing thislocation. Workarounds include either installing extensions in%APPDATA%\Ansys\v212\ACT\extensions or using the gear icon on the graphic-based Extension
Manager accessed from the ACT Start Page to add the folder for the default location or the folder towhich you installed the extension.

Mechanical read-only mode
ACT does not support Mechanical read-only mode. If you launch Mechanical and see read-only mode,
avoid interactions with ACT extensions and features as changes could result in unexpected application
behavior.

Captions for custom objects cannot contain a space followed by a number
When renaming a caption for a custom object, do not follow a space with a number. While no error
appears, the caption is not renamed. Workaround: When renaming a caption for a custom object,always follow a space with a non-numeric character before using a number. For example, rather thanrenaming a caption to "my custom object 2", rename it to "my custom object n2".

ExtAPI.Extension.Attributes does not support OrderedDict values
When ExtAPI.Extension.Attributes is used to store a value of type OrderedDict, anempty dictionary is stored instead of the supplied value.

Saving dictionaries in attributes slows the opening of Mechanical significantly
When loading a project with custom ACT objects whose attributes have been filled with dictionaries,
it takes Mechanical much more time to open. In cases where these dictionaries are very large,
Mechanical may be unable to recreate results as ACT results, displaying user-defined results instead.
8Ansys ACT 2023 R2 Known Issues and Limitations

Accessing UserInterface on ExtAPI in Mechanical from an onInit callback or
globally causes errors
Accessing UserInterface on ExtAPI in Mechanical from an onInit callback or globally causes
errors to be thrown in the Extensions Log File, resulting in instability. Workaround: Access
UserInterface from an onload callback or any place other than the onInit callback. Keep inmind that an onLoad callback is invoked only when Mechanical is started. Reloading an extension
using the button in the GUI will not invoke an onLoad callback.

Electronics Desktop module CoreGlobalScriptContextFunctions is unavailable
The Electronics Desktop module CoreGlobalScriptContextFunctions is unavailable in ACT.
The following functions are available only through the Command window in Electronics Desktop:•AddErrorMessage•

AddFatalMessage•

AddInfoMessage•

AddWarningMessage•

LogDebug•

LogError

As alternatives, you can use the following:•oDesktop.AddMessage•

Python logging functionality (for example, "import logging" and use the logging
module)Limitations Unique to LinuxIf you are running on Linux, you should be aware of the following limitations:Starting the ACT Start Page can cause an unexpected shutdown
When you start the ACT Start Page on Linux, an unexpected shutdown can occur. On some Linux
operating system variants such as Red Hat, removing the package totem-mozplugin resolves theissue:
yum remove totem-mozplugin

Some Linux versions contain a JPEG library that conflicts with the Ansys package
In some Linux versions, a JPEG library conflicts with the Ansys package. When using ACT wizards with
JPEG images, this conflict can produce an SIGSEV error and an application crash. If this occurs, you canconvert your images to other file formats such as GIF or PNG.

9Ansys ACT 2023 R2 Known Issues and Limitations

Graphics API issues in Ansys DesignModeler and Mechanical when no extensions are loaded
When no extensions are loaded, there are some limitations on the Graphics API from the ACT Console
in Ansys DesignModeler and Mechanical For instance, the Factory2D does not work. Therefore, you
should load one or more extensions before using the Graphics API from the ACT Console.

10