Hi, I am trying to optimize a simple lens that focuses and couples a Gaussian beam into two different fibers. I want to optimize a lens that will yield the best combined coupling efficiency for both fibers. Just to clarify, the beam will be coupled into one fiber at a time, but the same lens will be used to couple a Gaussian beam into both fibers. The fibers are represented by .zbf files which are loaded in the Fiber Data tab in Physical Optics. Right now, I’ve written two ZPL macros that will each open a different .zbf, and they are called in the MFE using two separate ZPLM operands. Each ZPLM operand is immediately followed by a POPD operand to get the coupling efficiency which is then optimized, as shown below. I am not sure if this works as intended. When optimizing, are the operands in the MFE cycled in a loop, so to speak? Also is there a more elegant way of doing this, other than using ZOS-API, or should I use ZOS? Thank you, Sam

I tried those code: FOR i = -0.500, 0.500, 0.1 PRINT $STR(i)," ",NEXTPRINT! This one starts from -0.5 and ends at 0.5 FOR i = -0.500, 0.500, 0.05 PRINT $STR(i)," ",NEXTPRINT ! This one starts from -0.5 and ends at 0.5 FOR i = -0.500, 0.500, 0.01 PRINT $STR(i)," ",NEXTPRINT ! This one starts from -0.5 and ends at 0.49, WHY? Thanks! Xing

Hi, I would like to use zpl to update my detector viewer and save it as an image. However, neither Ray Database nor Filter are adjusted in the detector viewer. #trace rays & evaluate Detector filter$ = "h3&h6&!x_hitface(8,0)&!x_hitface(8,2)&!x_hitface(4,0)&(x_hitface(7,1)|x_hitface(7,0))"filter2$="h3&h6&!x_hitface(8,0)&!x_hitface(8,2)&!x_hitface(4,0)"fileName$ = "ZMPRays.ZRD" NSTR 1, 0,0,0,0,1,0,1,fileName$temp = NSDD(1,0,0,0) ZRDPlayback fileName$,1,0,1, filter2$UPDATE ALLPRINT NSDD(1,9,0,0)ZRDPlayback fileName$,1,0,1, filter$UPDATE ALLPRINT NSDD(1,9,0,0) settingsFile$= "...\Zemax\Configs\DVR.CFG"MODIFYSETTINGS settingsFile$, DVW_ZRD, fileName$MODIFYSETTINGS settingsFile$, DVW_FILTER, filter$UPDATE ALL The PRINT NSDD(….) commands give the correct outputs, but the detector viewer is not updated. How can I use ZPL to update the detector viewer using the Ray Database fileName$ and the filter string filter$?

The current Through Focus Spot Diagram (TFSD) merges all wavelengths in the same plot, however it provides separation between fields. Right now I’m cloning windows and set the wavelength separate in each window. Is it possible to have a “simple” script to have them separate by wavelengths for a single field? What could be a command for the TFSD plot then? In principle it gives a different view to a Focal Shift.

Hi, I would like to use the ZRDPLAYBACK function, but it doesn't seem to work, I think it doesn't take filters string into account. I have similar problem iy I use a function like NSTR 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, A$ ,”W1”,2 Marc.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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

Is there a way to access the field 'Convert To' function in a ZPL macro? If not, can this be added to the new features list? Thanks. Pat.

Hi everyone, I am new here and trying to write a macro for a simple setup that I have. I have a beam at source with specific NA and goes through few optics and get focused on a surface with floating aperture. My inputs are relative position of source/object respect to image in X and Y and output is efficiency at “Geometric Image Analysis”. How can I write such a Macro?

Hello Optics Team! I meet a question when writing ZPL. There is a mirror-reflected system and I would like to do the sensitivity analysis on some tolerances. When it comes to decenter, I found that it was difficult to pick up a surface’s ‘Before surface tilt/decenter’. There is a function of picking up ‘After surface tilt/decenter’ (SURP 66) but no such a function for ‘Before surface tilt/decenter’. Anyone have some experience about it? Thank you!

I’m trying to run a simple macro to test printing to screen: PRINT “Hello world” When I run this, all that appears is a text viewer saying “Executing path/to/macro...” and nothing else. I tried adding OUTPUT SCREEN before the print statement to make sure the statement prints to screen, but same issue. Any advice?

Hi, I would like to write a macro that runs the surface slope analysis and outputs the “Text” tab results (X-Coord, Y-Coord, and Slope) to a file. I was thinking of using GetTextFile, but I don’t see a string code for surface slope cross section (or slope either). What’s the best way to do this? Thank you, -Jen

Question 1: what de Ex and Ey mean? I cannot find answers in user manu Question 2: non-sequential mode launches rays in a partial random manner, how Hx, Hy, Px, Py work for random rays?

I wrote a macro to do this but it is slow (line by line). Is there a build-in method to do this? I can’t find it in the user manual. Thanks! sub clear_all_lenses num_s = nsur() if (num_s > 2) for i, num_s-1, 1, -1 !print "delete surface ",i delete i next endifreturn

I searched in the help files but didn’t find one. Thanks.

Hi Everyone, I would like to ask how to use zbftilt? The help document reads a bit confusing: This keyword requires the name of the ZBF file and four numbers. The phase of the beam is modified by a phase angle given by θ = ( x – cx )tx + ( y – cy )ty . The cx and cy values are the center of the phase tilt, and tx and ty are the slopes of the tilt in units of radians per lens unit length. The coordinates x and y refer to positions within the beam file, with the center coordinate (x = 0, y = 0) being at the point (nx/2 + 1, ny/2 + 1) where nx and ny are the number of points in the x and y directions. The length units in the ZBF file are converted automatically to the current lens units. The resulting data is written back to the same file name. If I want to rotate an elliptical beam mode by 90°, how should I write it? Thanks! Di

Hi, Is there a way to change variable from float to integer? I want to use it to write list of polygons in loop: for i:n: polygon_name 1.pob polygon_name 2.pob polygon_name 3.pob …. In other words, i dont want something like that: Thanks, Nadav …..

The program in the following file assigns random values ​​to the specified Zernike terms. This ZPL works in non-sequential mode but not in sequential mode.Where do I need to modify it to make it work in sequential mode? Lens data is attached in another file.

There is minor typo in the current help file for Zemax OpticStudio. I caught it in the PDF for 2024 R1; however, it is present in the online help file from Ansys as well discussing Numeric Functions. In the description of the obselete STDD() tag for ZPL programming, it references SRPO which does not exist. It meant to reference SPRO. Confirmation that SPRO is correct can be found in @Katsumoto Ikeda’s post here.

Fellow ZPL programmers, I want to share some of the tools that I use for editing ZPL scripts and code. I use Microsoft Visual Code Studio to edit the ZPL files. I also use an extension from Hiiragi that enables support for ZPL in VS Code. It provides syntax highlighting and some code completion through IntelliSense.For IntelliSense, I would disable the option “Editor>Suggest: Match On Word Start Only”. This allows you to type “MERIT” and pull up all the tags that contain “MERIT”. Option to enable “Fuzzy Search” Example of Code Completion, Example of Code Completion with DEFAULTMERIT Example of Sanjay’s PLOT_TEST.ZPL script with indentations provided by me to enable code folding. Example of Sanjay’s Code in VS Code without Code Folding Example of Sanjay’s Code in VS Code with Code Folding Hiiragi supports and requests community contribution to the repository. Please consider supporting the project and providing feedback to Hiiragi, forking the repository, etc.

If I have a 2D array e.g. 10x2 A(x,y), what’s the syntax to extract one column (or row) in that array so that it’s a 1D array? I’ve tried: col = A(1:10,3) col = A(:,3)