Installing questions for the Visual Editor for the MCNP5 RSICC distribution (ver. 1.4):
1. 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.
2. Do I need a vised.defaults file?
With version 1.4, the vised.defaults file (see FAQ #3) is no longer needed. Instead the Visual Editor will get the location of xsdir and the material libraries from the DATAPATH environment variable. With the default installation, the Visual Editor can not find the material libraries (see FAQ #4) and the vised.defaults file is one way to solve that problem. See FAQ #5 for more information.
3. 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.
4. What are the material libraries?
The material libraries contain a number of common materials that have been formatted for MCNP. This library allows for the easy inclusion of common materials in your input file.
5. Where are the material libraries?
With version 1.4, the material libraries are in the 'bin directory. The Visual Editor is still expecting them to be in the 'Vised directory. It is recommended that you create a Vised directory under the MCNP5 directory and place the material lilbraries there. For detailed instructions on how to fix this problem, Click Here.
6. 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.
7. How does the Visual Editor 'RUN MCNP?
When the Visual Editor executable is created, it compiles and links with the MCNP 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 MCNP 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 MCNP runs, instead run MCNP outside the Visual Editor.
8. 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