5.1 Viewing the Abaqus PDF documentation

The Abaqus documentation is available in portable document format (PDF) as an optional supplement to the online documentation in HTML format. Both the HTML and PDF documentation collections can be installed using the Abaqus installer (see Chapter 2, Installing Abaqus,” of the Abaqus Installation and Licensing Guide).

You can use a PDF viewer, such as Adobe Reader, to view the PDF documentation files. The following PDF viewers are recommended for viewing the Abaqus PDF documentation:

Note:  To view current information on platform support for PDF viewers, consult the System Information section of the Support page at www.simulia.com.

The ability to view PDF documents on a particular platform depends on the availability of PDF viewer software on that platform. Search capabilities in PDF viewers vary from platform to platform and with the viewer software version.

To view the Abaqus PDF documentation on Windows platforms:

  1. Use the Start menu shortcut:

    ProgramsAbaqus 6.12 DocumentationPDF Documentation

  2. If the PDF documentation was configured instead of the HTML when Abaqus was installed, you can type abaqus doc on the command line (where abaqus is the command to run Abaqus). See Abaqus documentation, Section 3.2.9 of the Abaqus Analysis User's Manual.

  3. Alternatively, you can open the collection index file (index.pdf) directly in your PDF viewer.

    • If the HTML and PDF documentation were installed, the PDF index file is located in the following subdirectory under the SIMULIA installation directory:

      simulia_dir\Documentation\docs\v6.12\pdf_books\index.pdf
    • If only the PDF documentation was installed, the PDF index file is located in the following subdirectory:

      simulia_dir\Documentation\pdf_docs\v6.12\index.pdf

  4. Click a title to open an individual book, or use the search function to search the PDF documentation collection.

Note:  The PDF collection index file can also be accessed from within the HTML documentation by clicking the Adobe PDF file icon in the upper right corner of the HTML collection index file (index.html).

To view the Abaqus PDF documentation on Linux platforms:

  1. If the PDF documentation was configured instead of the HTML when Abaqus was installed, you can type abaqus doc on the command line (where abaqus is the command to run Abaqus). See Abaqus documentation, Section 3.2.9 of the Abaqus Analysis User's Manual.

  2. Alternatively, you can open the collection index file (index.pdf) directly in your PDF viewer.

    • If the HTML and PDF documentation were installed, the PDF index file is located in the following subdirectory under the SIMULIA installation directory:

      simulia_dir/Documentation/docs/v6.12/pdf_books/index.pdf
    • If only the PDF documentation was installed, the PDF index file is located in the following subdirectory:

      simulia_dir/Documentation/pdf_docs/v6.12/index.pdf

  3. Click a title to open an individual book, or use the search function to search the PDF documentation collection.

Note:  The PDF collection index file can also be accessed from within the HTML documentation by clicking the Adobe PDF file icon in the upper right corner of the HTML collection index file (index.html).