Installation questions for the MCNPX Visual Editor(2.7) RSICC distribution CCC-740
1. Where is the Visual Editor executable?With this release the Visual Editor, help files and libraries are in the …\MCNP5\utilities VISUAL_EDITOR directory. The Visual Editor can be run from this directory without any problems. Alternatively, you could move the entire contents of this directory to a working folder that you will access frequently. In the classes, we always create a “C:\VIS” directory and work out of this directory for viewing and creating input files.
If you do all your reading and editing of Visual Editor files in a single directory, the code will not have any problems accessing and the material libraries or help files.
2. Where is the MCNP5 executable?
This package does not contain a MCNP5 Visual Editor executable. The MCNPX executable should be able to read and modify most MCNP5 input files.
3. Where is the LINUX executable?
This package does
not contain a LINUX Visual Editor executable. The LINUX executable is no longer
supported at this time. It could be reinstated at a future date.
4. Where are the material libraries?
With this package, the material libraries are in the “…\LANL\MCNP5\utilities\VISUAL_EDITOR” directory. The Visual Editor is expecting them to be in a '…\LANL\vised” directory. It is recommended that you create a vised directory under the LANL directory and place the material libraries there. For detailed instructions on how to fix this problem, Click Here.
5. Why don't I see my help files when I click help in the Visual Editor?
The
Visual Editor can only access help if it is available in the current
working directory. When initially starting the Visual Editor, this
directory will typically be the directory the executable is in. When
reading an input file, this directory is the directory the input file is
in. You need to place the vised.chm and vised.chi files in the directory
you are working in to access help. For detailed instructions on how to
fix this problem, Click Here.
6. How does the Visual Editor “RUN MCNPX”?
When the Visual Editor executable is created, it compiles and links with the MCNPX Fortran code so that the memory structures are available to the graphical interface. This means that the Visual Editor has a complete internal copy of MCNPX that it uses. The Visual Editor does not run the executable distributed by RSICC. You should not use the Visual Editor to make quality affecting MCNPX runs, instead run MCNPX outside the Visual Editor.
7. How does the Visual Editor access xsdir?
The Visual Editor uses xsdir in two different ways, to run MCNP and to access the cross sections for creating materials. In both cases, it gets the xsdir file from the DATAPATH environment variable.
The Visual Editor is running MCNP whenever you do 'Run', 'Particle Display', 'Tally Plots', 'Cross section plots', or '3D View'. When running MCNP, the Visual Editor will find the xsdir file from the DATAPATH statement. If you are having problems accessing the cross sections, check to make sure the DATAPATH environment variable has been correctly set. You can display the environment variables by type 'Set' in a command prompt window. You should see a line that says:
DATAPATH =C:\Program Files\LANL\MCNPDATA
8. What are the material libraries?
The material libraries contain a number of common materials that have been formatted for MCNPX. This library allows for the easy inclusion of common materials in your input file.
9. Where are the usr.n and usr.p files?
These files are files that contain user materials for specific user applications. The user can store materials in these files that can then be read in later. These files are created the first time the user stores a material in the library. To store a material bring up the material panel (Data->Materials) then select Store. This will bring up the material library showing the material that has been stored. If you now select save, the Visual Editor will create the usr.n or usr.p file depending on the problem mode. This file will be created in the same directory the standrd.n and stndrd.p files are located.
10. What is the vised.defaults file?
The vised.defaults file contains the locations of xsdir and the material library files used by the Visual Editor in creating materials and for storing materials in a material library. To create this file in the Visual Editor, go into Data->Materials, and then select Files. After filling in the 5 text entries indicating the location of the material libraries and xsdir, select Apply to create the vised.defaults file. This file needs to be in the same location as the input file you are reading in.
With the current package, the vised.defaults file is no longer needed. Instead the Visual Editor will get the location of xsdir from the DATAPATH environment variable and the material libraries from the current directory.