I’m using the ZOS-API (ver. 2024 R1) with C# and creating an Open3DViewerExport (I3DViewerExport) bitmap of the Ray Trace.The bitmap gets generated to a file but includes the axis (X,Y,Z) in the lower left corner of the image.The application allows to turn this access off but I don’t see the option within the API. Is there anyway that the API can turn this off as well?Thanks.B.

In the last few weeks, I have received questions regarding how we can use the ZOS-API to pull single ray trace information. For convenience, I will post my answers here in a single post. I pulled together three different methods for extracting single ray trace data. Below I will list the methods with sample code in Python and Mathematica. I’m happy to provide samples in other languages if needed! If you have other methods you use for this kind of analysis, feel free to add them as a reply! Method 1 - Use the Single Ray Trace analysisThis method can be used to pull the results of the Single Ray Trace analysis window.  The benefit of this method is that the results are pulled for all surfaces at once. The drawback of this method is that the data is provided in text form. The output is a TXT file which must be parsed back into the program you are using. This is discussed in a bit more detail here: How to set RayInfo.Vignetted in ZOS-API_Python Python########### Define the constants across

Hi everyone, is there a way to select several cells of interest at once using ZOSAPI? Commands like GetObjectAt() and GetCellAt() allow you to select a certain object and certain cell, but - for instance - I want to select the Ref Object column in the NCE specifically for rows 2-5 and set a common value for them. Is there a command to select these cells at once (without having to loop through each object and set them individually) and then set a common value?

My codes (that were working with the 2024 version) do not work anymore with the 2025 release.This is the error I get:Unhandled Exception: System.IO.FileLoadException: Could not load file or assembly 'ZemaxEngine.dll' or one of its dependencies. A dynamic link library (DLL) initialization routine failed. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007045A).

Hello,I have a question about a glass for the thermal infrared region, specifically IRG26 glass, present in the SCHOTT_IRG catalog.The Tolerance Wizard is not able to insert the tolerance on the Abbe number of this glass. Why? If the Abbe number is not clearly defined, can we trust the raytrace and therefore the evaluation of the chromatic aberrations?Thanks! 

Good day everyone,since ZPL is based on BASIC, I thought some of it generic functions could be used for converting variable types such as VAL(), INT() etc. Only $STR works, the other conversions are not recognized by ZPL.In particular, I want to define a single variable in my script (a particular detector number) and use it for both console output (with PRINT), non-sequential raytrace (with NSTR) and changing Detector Viewer settings (with MODIFYSETTINGS).I could define either a numerical variable and change it to string, but doing so outputs a floating point number (such as 5.000 for instance). Unfortunately, NSTR is having trouble with "h5.000” filter string. Then I thought I can define a string variable "5” and change it to numerical but no commands that I know seem to work. Is there a solution to my issue that would allow me to stay within ZPL script, not switching to ZOS-API?

Hi all, I’ve been modifying .zmx files using Python for a few years now and have been using my own module and PyZOS for a majority of it now.  However, my current project has a bit of a road block I’m not sure how to get around. What I would like to do is take a surface from a file I’ve already created and have it be the exact same surface in a different file.  I could have the code insert the surface, but if possible I’d like to avoid inserting and deleting surfaces as it may effect other parameters in the system (i.e. Merit Functions operands and whatnot).What I’m hoping to code is something like the followingimport zospy as zp zos = zp.ZOS()oss = zos.connect()oss.load(‘file1’)oss2 = zos.create_new_system()oss2.load(‘file2’) first_surface_file1 = oss.LDE.GetSurfaceAt(1)first_surface_file2 = oss2.LDE.GetSurfaceAt(1) #Modify somehow first_surface_file1 == first_surface_file2 #would like to be True I was thinking of somehow looping through the surface params but that’s proving difficult

Dear Zemax community,I am building upon your 'How to design a Gaussian to Top Hat beam shaper' tutorial.Instaed of TOP HAT, my goal is to create a Uuniform Radial Distribution at distance of 1M from the  beam shaper.i.e my goal is to create a uniform distribution on a sagment from a rolled screen. But the ZPL calculates the desired distribuion up on a flat wall, so what should be the distribution up on a “Flat screen” , so it generates a unifrom radial on a rolled sceen ? Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated.Thank you very much, Tali

when i use ZPL output to a text file , The output always stops halfway, and Zemax prompts "cannot open text file". Does anyone know why? For example, I plan to output 40,000 lines of data, but it stops at 10,000.

In the IAS_ZernikeStandardCoefficients settings, there is a setting called :      ReferenceOBDToVertex  (not sure what OBD means)while in the GUI it is called:     Reference OPD to vertexwhich makes more sense 

Dear all, in progress of fully automating my data export  for my customized documentation, I am trying to access the data generated by the Zemax analysis windows by a standalone API application in python. While this works for most of the analysis, I am having trouble to get data from the vignetting window for further processing by using the GetResults() function. There is not data retrieved. Debugging shows, that there is indeed no data listed in the respective item. I double checked by exporting the data to a text file - this is also empty with respect to data.   My Code therefore  (simple example based on the available python api example 1) works as follows: vig = TheSystem.Analyses.New_Analysis(ZOSAPI.Analysis.AnalysisIDM.VignettingDiagramSettings) vig.WaitForCompletion() vig.ToFile(sampleDir + '\\API\\Python\\TextResults.txt') However, when I save the lens file, and reopen with a Zemax Instance, the vignetting window is displayed correctly and the

This Matlab function imports a raw Zemax ray database stored in ZRD file, groups the rays into distinct paths based on i) the exact same sequence of objects hit AND ii) ray events (such as reflection, splitting etc.), and outputs this information in a form of graphs, human-readable variables and, most importantly, a summary table storing each path in descending total power, object sequence, total ray events and so on, which can be further processed either using Matlab's native capabilities, or exported and processed using Excel or a simple text editor.It DOES NOT need Zemax to be installed onto your system and does not use any API to connect to it. It is a completely standalone function.The need for this custom function came clear during one project at work as the native Zemax ray paths tool was insufficient. As per official documentation, it now groups it based on the sequence of FACES the rays hit.In contrast, this function retains a full low-level list of objects and events. It also

I have a question about Zemax Macro. My macro outputs the results from 1 previous macro setting, even though I edit and save the new setting in the macro every time. I put the screenshot that explain this problem. I have no idea why it happens, so I would like to have any suggestion and comments.  

Hey, I’m very naïve to Zemax and ZOS-API. I just tried to find the setting and run the code, but I couldn’t see the results from the image simulation.I used the standalone application and here is my code.     # load local variables    ZOSAPI = zos.ZOSAPI    TheApplication = zos.TheApplication    TheSystem = zos.TheSystem        # Insert Code Here    file = "C:/2021/Zemax_Image_Simulation/test.zmx"    cfg = "C:/2021/Zemax_Image_Simulation/test.CFG"    TheSystem.LoadFile(file, False)    TheImageSimulation = TheSystem.Analyses.New_ImageSimulation()    analysisSettings = TheImageSimulation.GetSettings()        analysisSettings.ModifySettings(cfg, 'ISM_INPUTFILE', "Text_100p_3x3_2_g1196x1279_dist.png")    analysisSettings.ModifySettings(cfg, 'ISM_FIELDHEIGHT', '15')    analysisSettings.ModifySettings(cfg, 'ISM_FLIPIMAGE', '3')    analysisSettings.ModifySettings(cfg, 'ISM_OUTPUTFILE', 'Test1.png')        analysisSettings.LoadFrom(cfg)    a = TheImageSimulation.ApplyAndWaitForCompletion()   

I have run both the “phases” macro to locate where the steps are for a binary 2 on an aspheric surface and the “DoeSag” macro. However, I get different results as the radius increases. Sometimes, the number of zones ends up different.Which one is correct? I’ve used the “phases” macro for a long time without much issue. Recently, we have had requests for the sag tables on a binary, but I’m not sure I can trust the DoeSag results as the number of zones and zone locations do not match.

Hi, I started working with ZOSAPI in Python. I am aware that since I am using clr.AddReference(<Module>) that means that they are dynamically being imported but is there a way to achieve autocomplete and error checking?

How to get FFT MTF, EFL values of Montecarlo runs when RMS wavefront is selected as criteria in tolerancing, any macro is available or can be done 

We recently implemented the Geometric Image Analysis in ZOSPy 1.30. While doing so, we noticed that IAR_DataGrid.MinY does not return the lower bound of the y-axis for the output (at least when compared to the output in OpticStudio itself). It seems to be returning either the upper bound or the abolute value. E.g., when the analysis is centered at (0,0), the x- an y-axes in OpticStudio start at -25 while the API returns -25 for MinX and 25 for MinY.  Could you elaborate on what MinY (and to an extend MinX) correspond to. So far, we thought the datagrids and their axes follow the normal matrix conventions, which was the case for all analyses we implemented and used. Is this not the case for Geometric Image Analysis, or is there an error in the API?

The usage of ZOSAPI.AnalysisSettings.IAS_Surface.UseObjectiveSurface() is not clearly documented. The only place where is appears is in the ZOSAPI introduction under “Changing Settings” to explain that an errormessage can be returned if it did not work. In contrast to ZOSAPI.AnalysisSettings.IAS_Surface.UseImageSurface(), which selects the image surface whenever available, it is unclear what UseObjectiveSurface() does. The only place where I have actually managed to get it to work is for the Start Surface in the PhysicalOpticsPropagation analysis, where it selects the Entrance Pupil. Is the intended use selecting surfaces that are not an actual surface within the model (such as the entrance pupil)?

I am implementing a fix for the incorrect MinY of the Geometric Image Analysis in Python, as discussed in this post. While doing so, I noticed an odd behavior. It is allowed to specify the Image Size as negative for the Geometric Image Analysis, but this causes problems with the resulting output. With the example Double Gauss 28 degrees field, I can create the following analyses using the API with slightly different settings:API output for 4 slightly different analyses Showing that the extent of the axis with a negative image size and the number of pixels set to 100 will always equal 100. First I thought this was an API problem, but this is the same output in OpticStudio:The same analyses in OpticStudio.  Field widths: Analysis 1: 50, Analysis 2: -50, Analysis 3: 100, analysis 4: -100 Note that the image width of Analysis 2 is 100 millimeters while it should be (-)50 millimeters:Settings for analysis 2 Increasing the number of pixels to 200 increases the field width of the analyses wit

Hello to all,I read the topic about : “how to ignore Surface in API”. I tried to do something similar for non-sequential object but it is not working.         surf4 = TheSystem.NCE.GetObjectAt(4)        surf4.TypeData.IgnoreObjects = 1First TypeData.IgnoreObjects want a string but I don’t know what to write. Thank you very much in advance fir your answer. Clotilde 

Hi all,I am trying to run a simple standalone c++ application which gives  “Microsoft C++ exception: _com_error at memory location” The error is on line 29 // Create the initial connection classIZOSAPI_ConnectionPtr TheConnection(__uuidof(ZOSAPI_Connection)); Does someone have an idea on what could be the issue? I prefer to use C++ as I have to integrate other code with it. Thank you.

In some surface types, e.g. Paraxial XY or Grid Gradient, data entry for Radius and Conic is disabled (their cell value is returned to a blank after typing in a value).Can this behaviour be programmed in a UDS?

Hello All,how can I suppress writing UNDO files in an interactive zosAPI extension?This is important to speed up the process!Thanks!Hans-Jürgen

Hello,still can't we save polar detector data in eulumdat/ies files with ZOS-API? Is there an alternative solution? And most importantly, can we hope that it will be implemented?Thank you!