Hey everyone. I have a NSC model that contains two sets of CPC’s and a Mersenne relay. My source is an array of conical wavefronts to mimic Cerenkov radiation. I need to trace a lot of rays through the system to the detector to look at the temporal dispersion of rays vs. time (or more correctly, Power vs. Time). So I’m writing my ray trace to a ZDR file. But when I convert it to text, I can’t get all the rays because the file is too large.So I want to try using the ZRD2MAT function that writes the ZRD data to a Matlab.m file.I have no idea how to do this. Currently, I’ve been creating a lot of text files with the ZRD info in them and reading and summing all the Optical Path data to get the total OP from source to detector. then, catching the last Intensity value for that ray and storing the info in a 2D array in Mathematica. It’s a PITA! I’d rather do it in Matlab.What path do I use if Matlab is in one folder and the lens is in another folder?anyone who can help me will get 100 Atta-Bo

I notice these are “Reload Surface” and “Reload All Surfaces” tools on the top of the LDE window. Does anyone know how do we access this tool in Matlab API? I did not find such a function in ZOS-API. One similar function is  “Reload Object” but it doesn’t work for “Reload Surface”.The reason why I need this function is I am simulating gradient index lenses whose property is read from an external file named “GRADIENT_9.DAT”. After I change the material property in this external “.DAT” file, I need to Reload All Surfaces to update the material.If anyone has suggestions on how to do this, I would appreciate it a lot.

Hello!I’m attempting to use the ZOS-API in Python (3.8.13). I’ve been running my code from the terminal window and have successfully executed a batch ray trace. I’m working on something that could benefit from using an interactive environment, so I am trying to use a Jupyter notebook or interactive cells in VS code.When I try to run <import zosapi> the kernel dies immediately. One of the errors thrown is“Unhandled Exeption: System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly ‘ZOSAPI_Interfaces, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=Neutral, PublicKeyToken=null’ or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified”Am I missing a ZOSAPI_Interfaces file? Has anyone encountered this error before?Thanks,Jaren

Hi , I am currently trying to use python (Spyder) to connect with Zemax. But I am getting the errors below (shown in the picture below) . I can’t find any solution. I tried to use another python version - 3.7.0 , but still same error. Both standalone application and interactive extension result in same error messages. Appreciate if anyone could give me some guidance. Thank you      

Hi all,I have been using ZOS-API Pythonnet to perform a ray trace and save the ray trace data as text files. The following program snippet worked perfectly fine up until a few months ago. Now, when I run the same code, it does the ray trace and saves the text file without changing any of the settings.import ZOSAPI;TheSystem = TheApplication.PrimarySystem;teleFile=('T_file.zmx')TheSystem.LoadFile(teleFile,False);Systemdata=TheSystem.SystemDataTheAnalyses=TheSystem.Analyses;X, Y = np.round(np.mgrid[(-1):(1):100j, (-1):(1):100j],3)positions = np.vstack([X.ravel(), Y.ravel()])pos=np.transpose(positions)px=pos[:,0]py=pos[:,1]max_rays=len(px)newWin=TheAnalyses.New_Analysis(ZOSAPI.Analysis.AnalysisIDM.RayTrace);newWin_Settings=newWin.GetSettings();Field_1 = Systemdata.Fields.GetField(1)Field_1.X=0Field_1.Y=0path='\RT_trial'for i in range(max_rays):    newWin_Settings.Px=px[i];    newWin_Settings.Py=py[i];    #newWin_Settings.Wavelength.SetWavelengthNumber(1);    #newWin_Settings.Field.SetFiel

Hi,I’m using ZOS-API in python to analyse PSFs using the Huygens and FFT methods. Is there a way to extract the airy radius and return it to Python? 

I’m still new to the API and having trouble getting and setting the “Ignore this surface” via the API.I’m working in Matlab and trying:TheLDE.GetSurfaceAt(4).GetSurfaceTypeSettings(ZOSAPI.Editors.LDE.ILDETypeData.IgnoreSurface)but get the error:The property 'IgnoreSurface' in class 'ZOSAPI.Editors.LDE.ILDETypeData' must be accessed from a class instance because it is not a Constant property. Can someone point me in the right direction?Thank you,John

We can get and set the folders in Project Preferences in OpticStudio using ZOS API.Save the Project Preferences Configuration(.CFG) file in Zemax LLC\Documents\Zemax\Configs or you can use default Project Prefrences configuration file OpticStudio Save Project Prefrences Configuration file  Add the following code for connecting saved configuration file                                 Python Code                                                               print('\n===PreferencesFile===\n') cfgFile = r"ZemaxLLC\Documents\Zemax\Configs\Project_Prefferences_test.CFG" print(os.path.exists(cfgFile))         if (cfgFile):             self.TheConnection.PreferencesFile = cfgFile         else:             print('Default OpticStudio.CFG preferences used\n')                           MATLAB Code:                                                                                                             fprintf('\n===PreferencesFile===\n')  cfgFile = 'C:\Users\Documents\Zemax\Configs\Project_Pre

The NSC Surface Sag (available in Ansys Zemax OpticStudio 2023 R1 and OpticStudio 23.1) is fully implemented in ZOS-API. It means that you can open that analysis, define the settings and get the results. It makes it easy to convert an object face into a Grid Sag Surface.Here is an example of a Matlab code:TheSystem=TheApplication.PrimarySystem;MyNSCSag = TheSystem.Analyses.New_Analysis(ZOSAPI.Analysis.AnalysisIDM.NSCSurfaceSag)MyNSCSag.HasAnalysisSpecificSettingsreturns TrueThe settings are:MyNSCSag.ApplyAndWaitForCompletionMyNSCSag_results = MyNSCSag.GetResultsreturns a DataGrid containing the sag pointsSag = MyNSCSag_results.GetDataGrid(0).Values.double; 

Hello,Is there a way to choose which source I want to raytrace in ZOS-API?In ZPL I’m familiar with the NSTR property but didn’t see similar property in the INSCRayTrace Tool. Thanks,Oran

Hey Everyone! I am currently trying to figure out a way to get the coordinates of the Chief Ray from a Monte Carlo Run so that I get a dataset of Chief Ray coordinates correlating to different lens displacements.  I am using the the Merit Function Criterion for the Monte Carlo Run in the Tolerancing tab. My Merit Funtion consists only of the Headers and one operand ( REAY or REAX).  The results only give out positive values for the Merit Function but I need it to also show me negative displacements.I am new to ZOS so any help is very appreciated! 

Hi I’m currently attempting to run some a series of Physical Optics Propagations in parallel, using pythonnet. They are pretty simple standalone codes which load in a lens file, carry out the propagation and output the coupling. I’ve been using multiprocessing/Pool and have an unusual issue when using too many cpus.The computer I’m using has 16 cpus, but if I were to try and run more than 7 in parallel using Pool, I get a LicenseException (License is not valid for ZOSAPI use), though only for the 8th cpu.I just wondered if you had any insight as to what could be causing this/different recommendations for running the API in parallel in Python. Thanks!

Hi,The other day python.Net version 3.0.0, supporting Python 3.10, was released. Hence, I’m curious to hear when we can expect ZOS-API to support this very much appreciated combo.Best regards,Hans

Hello Everyone,I am trying to change the Aperture file of a surface aperture using python. All I could do is to change the Aperture type to User Aperture but the Aperture file is not specifyed.This is the code I am usingfilename= ‘HP.uda’User_Aper =TheLDE.GetSurfaceAt(2).ApertureData.CreateApertureTypeSettings(ZOSAPI.Editors.LDE.SurfaceApertureTypes.UserAperture)User_Aper.ApertureFile = filenameSurface_3.ApertureData.ChangeApertureTypeSettings(User_Aper) Using Matlab, it is working perfectly using the same code and also, it works that I can change the Aperture file manually in zemax so this means the aperture uda file is at the correct location with the correct content.I also tried to change the filename string to the full directory of the uda file and it is not working too. [Mod note: moved to more appropriate forum for ZOS-API related discussions.]  

Hello Everyone, I want to run a DOE with ZEMAX where the idea is to generate synthetic data by running image simulations while changing position of lenses (adding decenter and tilt to individual lens elements in a lens stack).I want have a bunch of tilt and decenter scenarios and would like to automate the process via API.Is there a sample code that I could use for this application? Is there a sample code to automate image simulations and save resulting images in general that I could modify to suit my needs?All suggestions are appreciated :) Best regards,Amit

I’m using ZOS-API by matlab.I’ve tried to run Geometric Bitmap Image Analysis and succeed Running Analysis by using Interactive Extension.GeoBitIA = TheSystem.Analyses.New_Analysis(ZOSAPI.Analysis.AnalysisIDM.GeometricBitmapImageAnalysis);I want to control some setting by using matlab. However I do not find right method to modify Settings.Do me a favor to do that things.Thank you.

Hi, I am using Matlab to run zemax simulation. could you tell me how to set up the intensity threshold when I am using the “RayTrace.SplitNSCRays = true”. Thanks a lot. 

Hi,I’m using the Path Analysis feature (run from Matlab) to analyze how the light is going through a system. Path Analysis is a great feature!What I’m noticing is that if I add up the number of rays in the path analysis rows, they equal to the number of rays in the ray trace / and in the layout. However, if I add up the powers in the rows, there is a total loss of about 1.8%. I currently do not have any coatings set on the various components (struggling to get that to work for some unknown reason or the other). Just mirror/reflector and absorbers.Is there an atmospheric loss built into Zemax due to the air the light passes through? I tried setting the air pressure to zero in the System Explorer/Environment to try and simulate a vacuum, and it didn’t change anything. And, if there are air losses, I’d like to control them or set them to zero and calculate the losses numerically. Thanks!

Hi,I am using the ZOS-API interface with Python (pythonnet 2.5.2.) to set the coefficients for a Zernike Standard Sag surface, one at a time. It takes several seconds!! Is there any faster way, or a way to set all parameters at once?I’d like to run a Monte Carlo analysis with thousands of istances of zernike surfaces, so a faster way would be really beneficial.%timeit M1_surf.GetCellAt(30).DoubleValue = 6.46449601150208e-06386 ms ± 28.1 ms per loop (mean ± std. dev. of 7 runs, 1 loop each)%timeit M1_surf.SurfaceData.SetNthZernikeCoefficient(4, 6.46449601150208e-06)354 ms ± 27.5 ms per loop (mean ± std. dev. of 7 runs, 1 loop each) As a comparison, reading a value is three orders of magnitude faster:%timeit M1_surf.GetCellAt(30).DoubleValue513 µs ± 78.3 µs per loop (mean ± std. dev. of 7 runs, 1000 loops each) The LDE is the only open window, so there are no analyses being updated. Any help would be very much appreciated! Paolo

Hi, Having started with the default python Interactive Extension template generated by OpticStudio, I added the following code:# Insert Code Herehuygens_psf = TheSystem.Analyses.New_HuygensPsf()huygens_psf.ApplyAndWaitForCompletion()success = huygens_psf.GetResults().GetTextFile("textdump.txt")print(success)When running this as an interactive extension, the following gets printed to my terminal emulator:Found OpticStudio at: %sc:\program files\zemax opticstudio Connected to OpticStudio Serial #: L118546

So my problem is roughly that I want to do my own tolerance analysis and retrieve the RMS Spot Radius value as my criterion. But after changing certain values, as the Thickness and Tilt X, the programme does not seem to register this. The Value is not changing and i just get the same value over and over again. Can someone explain how to effectively change these parameters in Optic Studio, so I can retrieve the actual RMS Spot Radius Value?I’m just assigning these parameters to my own values (f.e. from -10 to 10 with step 0.2) in a loop. Here a snippet of it:surf36 = TheSystem.LDE.GetSurfaceAt(36)mir1_thickness = surf36.ThicknessCell.DoubleValuemir1_tiltX = surf36.GetCellAt(14).DoubleValuefor indexTilt, stepTilt in enumerate(np.arange(-10, 10, 5)): mir1_tiltX = round(stepTilt, 2) spotdata_analysis = TheSystem.Analyses.New_Analysis(ZOSAPI.Analysis.AnalysisIDM.StandardSpot) spot_settings = spotdata_analysis.GetSettings() spot_settings.Wavelength.SetWavelengthNumber(0) spotd

Hello Everyone,I want to use python standardalone to open a analyse window of huuygens PSF ,but i find that doesn’t work. althought the windows is opened, but settings has not been set correctly. the code like this, I want to set SampleSize as 64 ,but when I open the file, that still the default setting of 128:TheAnalyses = TheSystem.AnalysesnewWin = TheAnalyses.New_HuygensPsf()print("HuygensPsf has analysis specific settings? ", newWin.HasAnalysisSpecificSettings) newWin_setting = newWin.GetSettings()newWin_setting.PupilSampleSize = ZOSAPI.Analysis.SampleSizes.S_64x64 print(ZOSAPI.Analysis.SampleSizes.S_64x64)newWin_setting.ImageSampleSize = ZOSAPI.Analysis.SampleSizes.S_64x64 print(ZOSAPI.Analysis.SampleSizes.S_128x128)newWin_setting.HuygensPsfTypes = ZOSAPI.Analysis.Settings.HuygensPsfTypes.Phase newWin.ApplyAndWaitForCompletion() And i also get a problem about the warning of this, for I have already pip install pythonnet, and uninstall clr. it is still not worked. 

Pythonnet is a package that gives Python programmers an integration with the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR).Our ZOS-API is a .NET 4.8-based library. So the Pythonnet version should support .NET 4.8 to be used with ZOS-API.We had some reports that pythonnet 3.0 didn’t work with ZOS-API. I also did a couple of tests last week and encountered issues. So the recommendation for now is not to use pythonnet 3.0 with ZOS-API.I personally use pythonnet 2.5.2.  

Hello everyone out there,I use a python script and successfully execute some commands:open a zmx file in the back ground, add/change operands in the merit function, (local) optimization and finally i save the zmx file. When I manually open that file after the python script was run, I can see that everything was executed as intened.But I fail to use a python script to: load a merit function that simply runs a zplm to export jpg, the exported file are 0 kB “empty”.Here is the corresponding python script:TheMFE = TheSystem.MFETheSystem = zosapi.TheSystem## not shown here, but working perfectly fine:# open zmx file, adding/changing operands in merit function, # changign values in the lensdata editor, [...]# running optimization and saving file# Now I just want to save the focal shift window and spot diagram to jpg FocalShift = TheSystem.Analyses.New_FocalShiftDiagram()FocalShift.ApplyAndWaitForCompletion()Spot = TheSystem.Analyses.New_StandardSpot()Spot.ApplyAndWaitForCompletion()mf=r'C:/T

Hello all,How to extract the diffraction limited spatial frequency values in tangential/sagittal planes for FFT-MTF?I am unable to find a reference to this in the ZOS-API interface documentation. Additionally, how to do the same in a ZPL?Cheers