File Format Reference

This section details the formats of files when tables are saved to disk and the formats of files from which you can read a table.

The following principles apply to using variables in either internal table format:

  • You can use any variable name that you like in the file as a heading row, and then assign it to the scalar value in the boundary condition. See Setting Values Using A Table.
  • The file can contain any number of variables, and they can be used or unused.
  • However, the xyz file must have the fields X, Y and (if three-dimensional) Z, while the radial file needs the field R.
  • A variable name can contain a units specification. The units are specified within a set of parentheses () as part of the variable name:

    “Volume (in^3)”, “Density (lb/ft^3)”

    Imported units are converted to the preferred units for a dimension that is based on the Preferred System property, which is specified in the Units node. See Working with Units.

    If the provided units are not known to the units manager, the Output window displays that unit conversion is not possible.

  • The layout of data in imported tables can impact Simcenter STAR-CCM+ performance. See Cartesian and Structured Tables for details.
NoteTo import properly into Simcenter STAR-CCM+, an input file that contains special characters (including accented characters) requires UTF-8 encoding rather than ANSI.

Xyz Internal Table

An example of a two-dimensional xyz internal table file is shown below, with columns for ‘X’ and ‘Y’ and the field functions ‘U’ and ‘SaNut’.

Critical aspects of the file format are:

  • The specific parentheses used
  • The use of quotation marks to identify text strings
  • The literal identifiers including ’Type’, ’xyz’ and ’DataSets’.
The columnar data inside the brackets are free format, and delimiters are used to separate the individual numbers. Each column of data must have the same number of elements. There must be columns of data that are identified using ’X’, ’Y’ (and ’Z’ in three-dimensional space). 
{’Type’: ’xyz’
’DataSets’: [ ’X’  ’Y’  ’U’  ’SaNut’]
’X’:
[-4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4]
’Y’:
[1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0]
’U’:
[0.04 0.123 0.209 0.291 0.359 0.409 0.445 0.471 0.491 0.509 0.523]
’SaNut’:
[1.14e-05 3.51e-05 6.078e-05 8.84e-05 0.00012 0.00015 0.00019 0.00022 0.00026 0.00030 0.00035] }

Radial Internal Table

An example of a radial internal table file is shown below.

Critical aspects of the file are the specific parentheses used, the use of quotation marks to identify text strings, and the literal identifiers such as ’Type’, ’radial’ and ’DataSets’. The columnar data inside the brackets are free format, and any delimiters can be used to separate the individual numbers. Each column of data must have the same number of elements. There must be a column of data identified as ’R’. 
{’Type’: ’radial’
’DataSets’: [ ’R’  ’axial-vel’]
’R’: [0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.05 0.07 0.09 0.1 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15]
’axial-vel’: [0.9700 0.9756 0.9697 0.9878 0.9955 1.0223
1.0404 1.0519 1.059543 1.065043 1.064233 1.071543] }

.csv Table File

A simplified example of a .csv (comma-separated values) table file is shown below.

The individual numbers can be separated by commas or white space. Each column of data must have the same number of elements. Labels at the top are optional, but if a label contains multiple strings it must use quotation marks, for example 'Laminar Flame Speed'. 
Vol   Press
0.01  458.58
0.10  417.85
0.20  286.26
0.30  278.52
0.40  267.68
0.50  254.59
0.60  239.05
 ...   ...
2.20 -204.01

This format is the best way to bring in user data (.usr) files from pro-STAR that were written in ASCII format using the SAVU command.

.tab Table File

An example of a .tab table file is shown below.

Each column of data must have the same number of elements.

Critical aspects of the file format are:

  • The specific parentheses used.
  • The use of quotation marks to identify text strings.
  • The literal identifiers such as ’DataSets’, ’Modified Diffusivity’ and ’Velocity: X-Component’. 
    {’DataSets’: [’Modified Diffusivity’, ’Velocity: X-Component’, ’Velocity: Y-Component’, ’X’, ’Y’, ’Z’], 
’Modified Diffusivity’: [0.00050444749649614095688, 0.0015556754078716039658, ...], 
’Type’: ’xyz’,
’Velocity: X-Component’: [0.55402863025665283203, 0.68478977680206298828,...],
’Velocity: Y-Component’: [-7.3806604632409289479e-06, -3.4772736398736014962e-05, ...],
’X’: [-4.0000000000000000000, -4.0000000000000000000,...],
’Y’: [8.9650001525878906250, 8.8903274536132812500,...],
’Z’: [0.0000000000000000000, 0.0000000000000000000,...]}

Although .csv is the standard format for exporting table data from Simcenter STAR-CCM+, .tab is still supported as a legacy format for reading into a simulation.

.xy Table File

An example of a .xy table file is shown below.

Each column of data must have the same number of elements. There must be columns of data identified as ’X’, ’Y’ (and ’Z’ in three-dimensional space). 
Y X Z U
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.00000
0.0005 0.0 0.0 0.11408
0.001 0.0 0.0 0.22230
0.002 0.0 0.0 0.42120
0.003 0.0 0.0 0.59670
0.004 0.0 0.0 0.74880
0.005 0.0 0.0 0.87750
 ...  ...  ...  ...
0.3 0.0 0.0 0.00000

Although .csv is the standard format for exporting table data from Simcenter STAR-CCM+, .xy is still supported as a legacy format for reading into a simulation.