Tips to Facilitate Report Generation

Moldflow Plastics Insight® (MPI®) and Moldflow Plastics Advisers® (MPA®) products both offer an easy-to-use Report Generation Wizard that helps users to summarize and communicate analysis results with others. In addition to preparing reports in the default HTML format, users can also produce reports in Microsoft® Word® document (*.doc) and PowerPoint® presentation (*.ppt) formats. Extensive documentation and examples of how to create reports can be found in the MPI and MPA product Help systems (Help > Search Help > Contents (tab) > Working with Reports or Help > Tutorials > Generating Reports).

This article presents three useful tips related to report generation, including how to use the Plot Note tool, how to save images with multiple results or studies, and how to avoid report viewing errors when saving reports with embedded animations in *.doc or *.ppt formats.

Tip 1: Add a Plot Note to a Result

The Plot Note tool offers a useful way to add text comments that are associated with a particular result plot, and the notes are saved with the study. When a result image with an associated plot note is added to a report, the text of that plot note is used as the initial image description in the report. Any changes made to this text once it has been included in the report will only appear in the report; the text of the plot note itself remains unchanged.

This feature is particularly useful when generating many reports that use similar text or when including long, explanatory descriptions. The procedure to add a plot note to a result in an open study is as follows:

1. Display a result plot.
   NOTE: This feature is available only for analyses that produce at least one graphical result plot.
2. Click (Results > Plot Notes).
   The Plot Notes tab of the Notes panel appears and becomes active.
3. Enter the text to associate with the displayed result plot in the space provided.
4. Click (File > Save Study) to ensure that the note text is retained with the result in the study.
   NOTE: Each plot note is associated with a single result plot.

For our example cell phone cover part (Figure 1), we have already successfully completed a Dual Domain Fill analysis using MPA 8.1 software. Figure 1 shows the results of adding plot notes to a Pressure at end of fill result.

Figure 1: Plot note added to Pressure at end of fill result in MPA 8.1.

Tip 2: Capture Split Windows or Multiple Studies in One Image

When discussing multiple results of one study or comparing results of more than one study in a project report, it is often useful to view a single image that presents all of the results or studies simultaneously instead of having to scroll through separate report images that may span several pages. The Image Capture Option feature specifies the portion of the Graphics Display Area that is captured when copying an image to the clipboard or saving an image to a file. The options are:

• Active View causes the active view in a split window, or the window of the active study if it contains only one view, to be captured.
• All Views causes all (up to four) views in a split window of the active study to be captured.
• Graphics Display Area causes all of the windows displayed in the Graphics Display Area, including the Analysis Log/Results Summarypane if you chose to display it, to be captured.

When the captured image is saved to a file, it must be added manually to a project report.

To capture four results of one study in a single image, follow this procedure:

1. Open a study that includes results.
2. Use the Horizontal Split and Vertical Split tools on the Viewer toolbar (View > Toolbars >Viewer) tocreate four views in the active study window.
3. Select View > Lock > All Views.
   This synchronizes the rotation, panning and zooming of all views in the split window.
4. Use the Rotate tool on the Viewer toolbar to rotate the model to an appropriate viewing angle.
5. Display a different result in each view.
6. Select Edit > Image Capture Option > All Views to capture all four split views in the active study window (see Figure 2).
7. Select Edit > Save Image to File.
8. Navigate to the location in which you want to save the image file.
9. In the File name text box, enter a name for the image file.
10. Select the desired image file format from the Save as type drop-down list, and then click Save.

Figure 2: Example of a single captured image showing multiple results from one study in split views.

To capture results of multiple studies in a single image, follow this procedure:

1. Open at least two studies that include results.
2. Use the Window > Tile Horizontally or Tile Vertically tools to make all of the study windows visible in the display.
3. Display the result(s) of interest in each study.
4. Select Edit > Image Capture Option > Graphics Display Area to capture all windows displayed (see Figure 3).
5. Select Edit > Save Image to File.
6. Navigate to the location in which you want to save the image file.
7. In the File name text box, enter a name for the image file.
8. Select the desired image file format from the Save as type drop-down list, and then click Save.

Figure 3: Example of a single captured image showing results from two studies in windows that have been tiled vertically.

Tip 3: Set File Type Association to View Report Animations Properly

When generating project reports in *.doc or *.ppt formats, two preliminary steps are necessary.

1. The appropriate Microsoft program must be installed on the computer on which the report is generated. Reports can be viewed using the appropriate Word or PowerPoint program in the Microsoft Office 97 suite or later versions.
2. All Windows systems must have required file type association settings in order for the reports to display embedded images and animations properly.

To display embedded animations in *.avi format in *.doc or *.ppt reports, the *.avi animation file type should be associated with the default Microsoft Windows Media Player. If the *.avi file type is associated with another program, embedded animations may not display properly when the generated report is view using the Microsoft Word or PowerPoint program.

To check and change *.avi file type association setting, follow this procedure:
NOTE: It is recommended that you close all programs before proceeding.

1. From the Windows Start menu, select Control Panel.
2. On Windows XP systems:
   1. From the Name list, select Folder Options.
      The Folder Options dialog opens.
   2. Select the File Types tab.
   3. Scroll through the Registered file types list and find AVI in the Extensions list. The Details for 'AVI' extension area should show that files with extension *.avi open with Windows Media Player.
   4. If another program is associated with the *.avi extension, click the Change button.
      The Open With dialog appears.
   5. Select Windows Media Player from the Programs list. Ensure that the Always use the selected program to open this kind of file option is turned on. Click OK to accept the selection and return to the Folder Options dialog.
   On Windows Vista systems:
1. From the Name list, select Default Programs.
   The Default Progams dialog opens.
2. Select Associate a file type or protocol with a program.
   The Set Associations dialog opens.
3. Scroll through the Extensions list and find the
   *.avi extension. The Current Default column should
   show that files with extension *.avi open with
   Windows Media Player.
4. If another program is associated with the *.avi extension, click the Change program button.
   The Open With dialog appears.
5. Select Windows Media Player from the Recommended programs list. Ensure that the Always use the selected program to open this kind of file option is turned on. Click OK to accept the selection and return to the Set Associations dialog.
3. When the *.avi file type is set to open with Windows Media Player, click Close to accept these settings.
4. Close the Control Panel.

NOTE: Changing the file type associations as described restores Windows default behavior and file type associations, which other graphic programs might have overridden. Changing these file type association settings should not cause problems when using any other programs.

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