Hi Zemax Community,what’s the best/easiest way to detect rays hitting the back side of a reflective object? It’s a pretty complex Non-sequential system with a source, primary detector and many “parallel” objects in between. I’m trying to understand the losses due to 1) objects blocking rays reflected from another object and preventing them from reaching the primary detector and 2) objects shading other objects and preventing rays from reaching the other objects, to be reflected to the primary detector. One idea for the blocking instances is to create a set of separate, absorbing detectors just off the backsides of the reflective objects. This would work and be a bit cumbersome. Maybe there’s an easier way? Can a reflective object have dual properties on each face? Or?Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks,Josh

If I have say, five more or less identical objects in the NCE, that are in different X,Y positions, and I’m accessing the NCE via an Interactive Extension, is there a way to index the assigned names of the NCE rows somehow? For example, in the Matlab extensioninstead of having to create five unique Objects: Heliostat1, Heliostat2,… Heliostat5, as shown below, Heliostat1 = TheNCE.GetObjectAt(2);Heliostat2 = TheNCE.GetObjectAt(3);Heliostat3 = TheNCE.GetObjectAt(4);Heliostat4 = TheNCE.GetObjectAt(5);Heliostat5 = TheNCE.GetObjectAt(6);is there a way to index the left side variable names so that they can be used in a loop? Such as: for h = 1:5Heliostat(1) = TheNCE.GetObjectAt(h+1);end;When I try the above, I get something like: “Array formation and indexing are not allowed on .NET objects.” I’m hoping there is some sensible way to do this.  This would be extremely helpful when performing looped calculations to alter the physical properties of each of these objects in the NCE and then wantin

Hello Everyone, I have the model for an automotive camera lens. I also have the samples of the lenses to perform measurements.Here is what I would like to do with the model (I am an absolute novice in programming):I would like to specify points in the objects space (varying the object distance and the object height position) and would I would like to extract the Huygen’s MTF and PSF for all these points. I would also like to know the position of the image (of the point) on the imager.So far, I have understood that I can vary the object height points in Python, I am however, not sure how I can vary the object distance!I tried to use the example code for “Retrieve Data from FFT MTF” and made some modifications to extract the MTF information for my lens file. It seems to work for the FOV points (by object height) already specified in the lens model and a constant object distance but I would like to do the same for a list of points in the object space and would be nice if it can be automat

如图，系统的表面1和3都是非序列表面。应该怎么对于这两个components进行修改？ 

I am simulating light propagation through an optical stack and analyzing the path of individual rays.Using the IBatchRayTrace interface is the only way I found to achieve reasonable performance, however when using IRayTraceNSCData, the NSCRayTraceOptions (e.g. in the AddRay function) are limited to either “UseSplitting” or “UseScattering” as enumerated objects. Ordinary NSC raytracing allows for both options to be toggled individually via booleans, however as I need to simulate a large number of rays with individually set properties, this quickly becomes infeasible performance-wise.Is there any way to activate both “UseSplitting” and “UseScattering” when using IBatchRayTrace?I would be grateful for any help/ideas/insight!

Hi, I found options to enable/disable GPU calculations in the ZOSAPI help (bool ZOSAPI.Preferences.IPreferencesGeneral.GetIsGPUEnabled() ), but I can’t find them in Project Preferences → General in OpticStudio nor in my standalone application.When I run a batch ray trace, I can see that the computation are done using the GPU.Thanks 

I had earlier posted a question as a follow up to Syntax help. Reposting here for the benefit of others and to go further with the topic. What I’m actually after is how to tilt an object in the Non-sequential Lens Data Editor, from Matlab. The Matlab connection is working (using the NSE Ray Trace example).Thanks,Josh David Nguyen has replied:Hi Josh, Assuming the Interactive Extension works for you, you’ll need those lines of code:TheObject = TheSystem.NCE.GetObjectAt(1)TheObject.TiltAboutX = 15The property TilteAboutX is read and write so you can access it directly. The same property exists for Y, and Z. GetObjectAt() will return the corresponding object from the NSC editor (it starts at 1).Let me know if that works for you.Take care,David Thanks David,It does seem like it’s working, thanks!Playing around with it more, it seems that Matlab just requests OpticStudio to open a file, do the manipulation, run a ray trace, return the values and does not interact with whatever may have been

Dear Zemax Community, When I try to use the BatchRayTrace tool from Python in an Interactive Extension, I get a RemotingException, which seem to be related to the use of the AddRay method in the IRayTraceNormUnpolData interface. To reproduce the issue, try making Example 23 into an Interactive Extension (instead of a Standalone Application). Alternatively, this is my code snippet for an Interactive Extension: from System import Enum, Int32, Double # Open the BatchRayTrace tool MyBatchRT = TheSystem.Tools.OpenBatchRayTrace() # Add an unpolarized-raytrace ToImageSurface = 3 MaxRays = 1 MyUnpolRT = MyBatchRT.CreateNormUnpol(MaxRays, ZOSAPI.Tools.RayTrace.RaysType.Real, ToImageSurface) WaveNumber = Int32(0) Hx = Double(0) Hy = Double(0) Px = Double(0) Py = Double(0) MyUnpolRT.AddRay(WaveNumber, Hx, Hy, Px, Py, Enum.Parse(ZOSAPI.Tools.RayTrace.OPDMode, 'None')) # Run the raytrace MyBatchRT.RunAndWaitForCompletion() # Close the BatchRayTrace tool MyBatchRT.Clos

Is it possible to increase the text size of the ZOS-API Syntax File? The text is so small I can hardly read it. I’ve tried to increase the Windows Font Size, look for zoom buttons, anything.. and seem to be stuck with miniature text size.. The font size will increase on everything except the useful text.. I’m an experienced computer use, so this shouldn’t be an issue.. Seems like a silly topic to post in the forums!  

I am running OpticStudio Professional (19.4) using a black USB key with with support expiring in Decemeber.  When I try to connect using a Matlab ZOS interactive extension it fails the license check.  What can I do about this. I suppose I could run it standalone in debug mode...  Other ideas? Thanks.

Does anyone know the name of the FDTD software which can directly input the ray file for Zemax?

I have an application in which I would really like to have access to the raw spot diagram data, both with and without surface scattering.  This includes the ray spatial coordinates as well as their direction cosine coordinates.  Not sure why it is not available from the analysis window -- seems like a rather basic aspect.  In any event, it would be nice if the datagrids were exposed in the ZOS-API. On a related note, I can certainly trace rays to programmatically create a spot diagram (similar to Example 22), but with IBatchRayTrace, which mimics the old DDE Extensions for sequential batch ray tracing, there is no option to include surface scattering.  So, adding a boolean switch for scattering would also be helpful!

In OpticStudio interface, If the optical system has some error then just after opening we get the error messages in Zemax Error Message Box .As we can see in image below ,SK2 was excluded before user setting .In ZOS-API, there are some methods under the ZOSAPI.IOpticalSystem Interface Reference that allows to zemax error messages: The general workflow is to whatever operation will generate the message you need to call  TheSystem.GetCurrentStatus() .It will show the status of your optical setup .Here sample code for Matlab :import ZOSAPI.*; TheSystem = TheApplication.PrimarySystem;sampleDir = TheApplication.SamplesDir; testFile = System.String.Concat('C:\test\Double Gauss 28 degree field.zmx'); test = char(TheSystem.GetCurrentStatus()) Here’s sample code for Python  : # Insert Code Here# Setup testFile =r"C:\test\Double Gauss 28 degree field.zos"TheSystem.LoadFile(testFile,False)# To get the Error message test = str(TheSystem.GetCurrentStatus())print(test)I create a connection with the

Hello,I would like to get Tolerance Sensitivity Data in Tolerance Data Viewer through Python-API.I know how to get Criterion Value in Python-API, but I don’t know how to get COMP Value in each row. ZOSAPI.Tools.Tolerancing.ISensitivityData.GetCompensator(index) treate just statistics value, not each comp value in Tolerance Operand.Do you know how to get comp column data in Python-API?Thank you Hideki Nishioka  

Hi everyone, When specifying custom boundary constraints, I was using the Default Merit Function as a template, moving the default boundary constraints above DMFS and making my edits there.I created a simple user-extension to speed up this process. This user-extension creates default boundary constraints at the top of a sequential Merit Function. It uses the default values (Min: 0 | Max: 1e+03 | Edge Thickness: 0) and only creates the relevant operands. If it is an air space it only creates MNCA, MXCA, and MNEA. If it is a glass space it only creates MNCG, MXCG, and MNEG.Small update: it only adds boundary constraints to thicknesses that are variable.Maybe this can be useful for someone else.Take care, David

I recently upgraded to version 21.1.2 and started getting this error when I am trying to run the code I had no issued runnign previously. Is there a new licensing model in place?

Hi, I tried to trace some ray in C++ through a simple test lens file with two surfaces after the lens and the IMAGE surface (see file).I create a batch with CreateDirectunpol() function but I noticed two behaviors that seemed strange to me : when I set  toSurface  parameter to a negative number (CreateDirectUnpol(1000, RaysType_Paraxial, 0, -1)  for example), no error are thrown, and the function does not return nullptr. Even more strange, I could add rays, trace them and read output result. Obviously, rays were unchanged. when I set toSurface parameter to TheSystem->LDE->NumberOfSurfaces, I have the exact same output as TheSystem->LDE->NumberOfSurfaces - 1.Do you have any explanation for these behaviors ?Thanks 

Hello,I was wondering, if there is a ways using the API to reload the zemax file to its default.Every single time, I am using the API, I need to start a new instance of OpticStudio. However, it would be nice, to simply reload the file, that I am working on, in order to save some time. Is there a way to do something like this? 

Set customize ribbon (File>Options) to enable Developer tab in Excel Open VBA through Developer> Visual Basic It is required to load the ZOS-API assembly at the beginning. The macros can be checked from VBAProject> Modules  Open the linked Excel file (with macro included), the Connect button and Surface Data button are linked to different macros.   Click Interactive Extension, then the connect button. A message box will pop up and show the connected message.   7. Click Surface Data button, LDE and FDE data of the current active lens file will be extracted 8. Click any surface button from the generated surface button list, incident angles of rays on the target surface that tracing across the whole pupil from specific field will be retrieved and displayed on a newly opened sheet.    Find the files here on the Code Exchange here: ZPL Macro: Read optimization operand across pupil | Zemax Community  

I’d like to programmatically adjust the value of a Parameter cell in the Non-Sequential Editor, something like:TheSystem.NCE.GetObjectAt(obj_num).GetObjectCell(cell_num).DoubleValue = value;However, GetObjectCell only takes a ObjectColumn enum as an argument, and the ObjectColumn enum does not seem to accept assignment from an integer.  I can write a lengthy switch block that returns the appropriate ObjectColumn enum based on an integer input, but that seems like an ugly solution, when (according to the manual), the enum value for the Parameter columns is the parameter number plus 10, i.e. the following should work:TheSystem.NCE.GetObjectAt(obj_num).GetObjectCell(param_num + 10).DoubleValue = value;However, this generates an error.  I tried using cast, e.g.param_col = cast(param_num + 10, ‘ZOSAPI.Editiors.NCE.ObjectColumn’);but this generates an error.Any suggestions appreciated.

Hi,I would like to calculate the coupling efficincy into different few mode fibers. For this I would need the complete E and H vectorial fields from POP. Is obtainng the [Ex(X,Y), Ey(X,Y), Ez(X,Y)] and [Hx(X,Y), Hy(X,Y), Hz(X,Y)] of a field possible in zemax? If so what is the best aproach? Thank you.  

Hi guys I have a very simple POB object which is just a wedge, and I’m trying to see how the angle between the internal and external reflective surfaces change with tilt angle rotation around x. I can do this fine in OpticsStudio, by altering the TiltAroundX in the non-sequential component editor. Screenshot of simple designI then made a C# standalone app, so that I could control what I wanted programmatically.  I open up the file, no problems: IOpticalSystem TheSystem = TheApplication.PrimarySystem;            // Add your custom code here...            ///open relevant file            bool SuccessfulFileOpen = TheSystem.LoadFile(FQP,                saveIfNeeded: false            );            Console.WriteLine("File succesfully opened: " + SuccessfulFileOpen);            Console.WriteLine(FQP); I then access the object to make sure it’s thr right one:INonSeqEditor NCE = TheSystem.NCE;            INCERow Object_n = NCE.GetObjectAt(ObjectNumber: 1);            Console.WriteLine("Object

Hi,  I would like to run a python script from a macro (could be a python executable), then get some of the outputed values in the macro. Then I would like to write this values in a merit function from the macro. Is there a simple way to do it or some starting code? Thanks, Jose

 Hi, What is the correct way to save the whole .txt file in the POP Analysis?I am using and UDOC running a Csharp UserOperandApplication containing the following code:...POPDef.ApplyAndWaitForCompletion();                                  POPDef.ToFile("C:/Users/file.txt");…some calculations... It works for a single call from OpticStudio, but it gives problems when doing tolerancing. Somehow the file saving command is not synchronous and cannot keep up.Is there other command for saving the whole .txt file?-or maybe a way to make the rest of code wait for POPDef.ToFile?Regards,Jose

I am gaining a lot of functionality from using direct NSC raytraces via the ZOSAPI from python. However, this method appears to be limited to only the 12 available system wavelengths.The limiting interface seems to be ZOSAPI.Tools.RayTrace.IRayTraceNSCData, which takes a wavelength index (referring to a system wavelength) as an input. I can in principle define 12 system wavelengths, do a trace, clear the wavelengths, assing 12 new ones, do a trace, aso -- and append the results to a complete result for higher spectral sampling. However, this appears mightly clumsy.Knowing that NSC source traces can cover non-system wavelengths (if the source is setup respectively): is there a way to do the equivalent in direct raytraces (i.e. detached from NSC source objects)? Or if not, could this capability be added? It would give a lot more freedom to custom spectral raytraces via the ZOSAPI.--S