Documentation

This documentation aims at guiding the User within the whole OpenTURNS documentation. The OpenTURNS documentation is divided into three main parts:

• Theory of Uncertainty Study,
• Text User Interface,
• Software Source.

Theory of Uncertainty Study

The documentation of this section presents everything the User needs to know in order to understand what performing an uncertainty study means.

The documentation regroups two Guides, whose titles are :

• Reference Guide ( HTML) ( PDF),

OpenTURNS - Reference Guide

This Guide presents the Global Methodology to perform a probabilistic uncertainty treatment study. The different steps of the Global Methodology are described. The User is invited to follow them in the recommended order in the Global Methodology.

It also gives detailed information about all the methods used in the Global Methodology and available in OpenTURNS. Each method presents a form with the following items :

• Mathematical Description : this field describes the mathematics of the algorithm and precises the vocabulary under wich the method is used in different domains.
• Link with the OpenTURNS Methodology : this field recalls the position of the algorithm in the Global Methodology. It precises to which step of the Global Methodology it participates.
• References and theoretical basics : this field gives some usefull references to the User who wants to know more about the method. It recalls, too, some limits in the use of the method.
• Examples : this field applies the method on a simple example. Most of the forms of this documentation present the analytical example of a cantilever beam, of Young’s modulus E, length L, section modulus I, which undergoes a concentrated bending force at one end. We study then the vertical displacement of the extreme end.

To get an example of a particular algorithm use, or of a particular method, the User is invited to refer either to the documentation Reference Guide - OpenTURNS in its section Example or to the documentation Example Guide - OpenTURNS which puts into practice the Global Methodology on a particular example. Some hyperlinks are available to facilitate the navigation between the documentation Uncertainty Reference Guide - OpenTURNS and the other ones.

Text User Interface (TUI)

The documentation of this section presents all the elements needed by the User to easily perform an uncertainty study through the Text User Interface of OpenTURNS. This documentation regroups two Guides, whose titles are :

• User Manual for the Text User Interface ( HTML) ( PDF),
• Use Cases Guide for the Text User Interface ( HTML) ( PDF).
• Examples Guide for the Text User Interface ( HTML) ( PDF).

OpenTURNS - User Manual for Text User Interface

This Guide presents most of the objects present in the TUI of OpenTURNS. In particular, for each of them, it details the following items :

• Usage : how to create the object,
• Arguments : the signification of each argument of the creation,
• Methods : list of the methods proposed by the object, detailing their use, their arguments and the signification of their parameters.

This Guide recall also some basic knowledge to manipulate an oriented object language and some basic infor- mation about python. The User is invited to refer to that documentation in particular to have information on the signification of the arguments of each object. It completes the python documentation that the User may consult in line.

OpenTURNS - Use Cases Guide for the Text User Interface

This Guide describes most of the OpenTURNS use cases. The User should find in this documentation the implementation through the TUI of most of the studies which are likely to be performed within a global uncertainty study. The presentation follows the recommended steps in the Global Methodology. The User is invited to consult this documentation before implementing a study through the TUI : he will probably find there an example of what he wants to perform. The documentation is made to let the User make some cut/copy from the documentation into his study. An example of a complete uncertainty study is given at the end of the documentation : the analytical example of a cantilever beam which undergoes a concentrated bending force at one end.

OpenTURNS - Examples Guide

This Guide puts into practice the whole Global Methodology on some examples. The User may find in this documentation complete probabilistic uncertainty treatment studies. In particular, all the results are discussed and the documentation aims at emphasizing the interest of such studies.

Software Source

The documentation of this section presents the architecture of the source code of OpenTURNS in order to make easier new developments, and some elements to write easily an OpenTURNS wrapper. This documentation regroups several Guides, whose titles are :

• First Elements of the Architecture Guide ( HTML) ( PDF),
• Wrappers Guide - How to interface an external simulation code with OpenTURNS ( HTML) ( PDF),
• Coding Rules - Conventions and guidelines for C++ and python development in OpenTURNS ( HTML) ( PDF),
• Contribution Guide - Tips and tricks on the process to develop a new functionality or a new module for OpenTURNS ( HTML) ( PDF),
• Windows Port Guide - How to compile OpenTURNS and to generate an installer for the Windows platform (2000, XP, Vista) ( HTML) ( PDF).
• Reference Guide of Open TURNS' classes and library API ( HTML) (no PDF for the moment).

OpenTURNS - First Elements of the Architecture Guide

This Guide presents some elements to make the understanding of the OpenTURNS architecture easier. This documentation is not complete and will be completed in the next version of OpenTURNS (in a few months).

OpenTURNS - Wrappers Guide

This Guide presents all the elements needed to write a wrapper between an external code and OpenTURNS. It details all the mechanisms provided to the developer to ease the writing of an efficient wrapper, including the automatic generation of input files and the automatic parsing of the output files, the multi-thread facilities for the evaluation of the external code over a sample and more.

OpenTURNS - Coding Rules

This Guide presents the rules used in the development of OpenTURNS, from the naming conventions to the order of initialization in class constructors.

OpenTURNS - Contribution Guide

This Guide gives clues to potential contributors for a successful integration of their contribution into the OpenTURNS mainstream. It describes the steps to follow for a successful integration of a new development into the C++ library under different scenarii, how to interact with the versioning system and how to develop an external module.

OpenTURNS - Windows Port Guide

This Guide gives step by step instructions to cross-compile OpenTURNS for the windows platform, as well as to generate an installer for this platform.