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Find out how you can save time and energy using the Zemax Programming Language!

  • 194 Topics
  • 519 Replies
194 Topics
Michael Cheng
Zemax Staff
Michael ChengZemax Staff
posted in ZPL
How to check relative illumination at 'object' surface (verify the relative illumination theory)

Sometimes, we may design the system starting from the 'image' back to the 'object'. For example, this is often the case for those systems that are designed to be viewed by eye, like AR/VR, HUD. In this case, normally, if we want to check the relative illumination, we need to reverse the system to check because the tool 'Relative Illumination' only calculates that on last surface in the system. Here we will provide another way to calculate it using a macro so that you don't need to reverse the system. Note here we at the same time is also demoing how you can verify the calculation theory of the RI. RI is actually much easier to calculate if the system is reversely designed! First, by reading the following forum post, we know that relative illumination at each field is exactly linearly dependent to the area of the beam in cosine space in image space. So, here is the plan. We want to write a macro to calculate the beam area in cosine space for each field, normalize it, and then get the th

14598
D
John.Hygelund
Fully Spectral
John.HygelundFully Spectral
asked in ZPL
concatenate string and variable in ZPL

Regarding the SETVAR ZLP keyword, want to use a variable to define the ‘Pn for parameter n’. I need to concatenate “P” with my index variable i. How do I accomplish this? Thank you, John

6121
Csilla Timar-Fulep
Zemax Staff
bhousand
bhousandMonochrome
asked in ZPL
Converting sequential surfaces to non-sequential objects: ZPL command

All, What is the ZPL command to execute the ‘Convert to NSC Group’ function available via the GUI? I want to convert and save many (Monte Carlo) files in a loop.

2211
David.Nguyen
Luminary
yuan.chen
Zemax Staff
yuan.chenZemax Staff
posted in ZPL
Sample code to modify certain parameters in the settings of an analysis window through ZPL

We can use the below code to close the current analysis result and analyze the new filed. The setting file must be created by clicking the Save button. Stngs$="C:\Users\yuan.chen\Documents\Zemax\Configs\TFM.CFG"CLOSEWINDOW WINL()MODIFYSETTINGS Stngs$,TFM_FIELD,3,"TFM"Openanalysiswindow "tfm",Stngs$

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yuan.chen
Zemax Staff
yuan.chen
Zemax Staff
yuan.chenZemax Staff
posted in ZPL
How to read field data using ZPL Macro

For data that require only one parameter, we can use SYPR(). To extract field data, the solution is to use the numeric functions and a loop to extract data. Here are related numeric functions. To read the number of fields or the maximum value, you can use the below funcions to read them:

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yuan.chen
Zemax Staff
K
Kihong.ChoiSingle Emitter
posted in ZPL
Quick access to peak to valley value in analysis-interferogram

Hi, I am trying to calculate peak to valley value showing on 'analysis-interferogram' window by ZPL, and use it in the merit function editor with ZPLM operand. But I have no idea how to directly get the peak to valley value using any kinds of pre-defind functions or else, so currently what I am doing is to save the text file of interferogram analysis result, then read back in, and extract the peak to valley value, then pass it using OPTRETURN. This process seems require a lot of time to calculate system by system during the optimization, so I want to find a quick method to obtain the peak to valley value, instead of what I am doing now. Thank you in advance. And I hope there is a clever way to do this.

3021
David.Nguyen
Luminary
P
Pascal.BloemenMonochrome
asked in ZPL
Use ZPL to read out the detector pixles

I'm having trouble to read detector pixels using a ZPL. The syntax should be NSCDetectorData,surface,object,pixel,data However, I get error message and do not know how to solve. Can somebody provide me with a example of a piece of ZPL code to get the job done. Ideally reading the detector into a 2D array But I'm already happy with a single statement reading out say the 6th pixel iof the 5th row Hope somebody can help me Pascal

7004
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P
Paolo.ChioettoInfrared
posted in ZPL
Saving elements of a vector in ZPL is very slow!

Hi, I made a ZPL macro that uses GETPSF to retrieve a PSF to a vector and then saves the vector to a file with a FOR loop on the vector elements. The saving part is extremely low! Is there a better way to save the results? I tried doing the same thing with GETTEXTFILE but the speed is similar, and I lose control on file format and can't seem to find a file to set the parameters such as sampling size. Any help really appreciated! Thanks, Paolo

2273
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Luminary
R
Renaud.LigotInfrared
posted in ZPL
Set pickup on a surf parameter in a macro.

Hi, I am writing a macro to modify some surface properties and I can't figure out how to define a pickup... Here is what I am trying to do: SRFn (actually a coordinate break) : I use SETVAR to set the parameter #1 to variable SRFn+3 (I want to make it a coordinate break return): I would like to set parameter #1 of this srf by pickup the one of SRFn but I can't find the right ZPL keyword to do that. Any help is welcome.

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Daniel.MossSingle Emitter
asked in ZPL
Changing the title of a analysis window programmatically

I am looking for a way to annotate analysis windows programmatically with the ZPL script language. I would like to change the title but failing that just add some text to the window. Is there some way to do this?

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Helen.SimsonSingle Emitter
posted in ZPL
CodeV to opticsStudioConverter-ZPL latest file! Version: 2.06.4 ! August 28, 2019

Need to convert from codeV to Zemax. Can you please provide the latest CodeV to opticsStudioConverter.ZPL macro. The current file is working properly. Following error 0098 SCC C6 0 No mapping for command SCC 0098 Nothing to convert ! Version: 2.06.4 ! August 28, 2019 ! NOTE: This Macro constructs Zemax OS Optical system using Code V seq file 1333 PIK SCO S14 Z2 C8 SCO S14 Z1 C8 1.00162632102796 No mapping for command PIK 1333 Nothing to convert 1334 PIK SCO S14 Z2 C9 SCO S14 Z1 C9 1.00162632102796 No mapping for command PIK 1334 Nothing to convert 1335 PIK SCO S14 Z2 C10 SCO S14 Z1 C10 1.00162632102796 No mapping for command PIK 1335 Nothing to convert 1336 PIK SCO S14 Z2 C11 SCO S14 Z1 C11 1.00162632102796 No mapping for command PIK 1336 Nothing to convert 1337 PIK SCO S14 Z2 C12 SCO S14 Z1 C12 1.00162632102796 No mapping for command PIK 1337 Nothing to convert 1338 PIK SCO S14 Z3 C2 SCO S14 Z1 C2 1.003255286976006 No mapping for command PIK 1338 Nothing to convert 1339 PIK SCO S14 Z3

1181
S
Luminary
Sean Turner
Ultraviolet
Sean TurnerUltraviolet
posted in ZPL
Simple feature request

Add buttons to Tolerance Data Editor and Multi-Configuration Editor to delete all rows. This exists for Merit Function Editor. Likewise, add the ALL option to the keywords DELETEMCO and DELETETOL similar to DELETEMFO.

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Luminary
V
Vincent (En Hung).LinMonochrome
asked in ZPL
ZPL language question

Hi This Shayne from Clouldight, Vincent's colleague. I would like to know how to use operand of ZPL 'SPRO' . Is it same as SETSURFACEPROPERTY, SURP? Thanks! Sincerely, Shayne

3991
Csilla Timar-Fulep
Zemax Staff
Mike.Jones
En-Lightened
Mike.JonesEn-Lightened
posted in ZPL
How to scale a section of a lens system from within ZPL?

I need to be able to scale a section of a lens system from surface Sj to Sn from within a ZPL macro during optimization. Surface 3 in this system is in collimated light and initially set to 1.0, and can be changed in optimization to scale S7-S9 without affecting the system. The thing being optimized is the S7-S9 EFL. I tried using this macro with no luck. I found no SETSCALE or similar ZPL keyword. How to do this? Thanks, Mike # ZPL20.ZPL # USE T3 IN LENS FILE AS SCALING FACTOR FOR L1/L2 DOUBLET T3 = THIC(3) # Varies from unity during op R7 = RADI(7) * T3 R8 = RADI(8) * T3 R9 = RADI(9) * T3 T7 = THIC(7) * T3 T8 = THIC(8) * T3 OPTRETURN 0, T3 OPTRETURN 1, R7 OPTRETURN 2, R8 OPTRETURN 3, R9 OPTRETURN 4, T7 OPTRETURN 5, T8

2722
yuan.chen
Zemax Staff
Mike.Jones
En-Lightened
Mike.JonesEn-Lightened
asked in ZPL
Writing comments to MCE from ZPL?

I have 81 total configurations for a lens. Using ZPL, I want to be able to write specific comments into the LTTL and MOFF lines that help me keep track of everything. How to do that? Thanks, Mike

1472
Mike.Jones
En-Lightened
A
Anonymous
asked in ZPL
Tangential and sagittal RMS spot size vs. spectrometer resolution

Good morning, I am designing a broadband spectrometer (currently in sequential mode). I think someone may answer the following questions way faster than I can. I am interested in measuring the spot size in the dispersion direction (therefore not as a general RMS parameter, as it is usually given). Is there a way in Zemax to automatically measure it through the merit function? I know that the optimization wizard allows to choose a X Weight and an Y Weight. Is there any reference I can read of the topic? Can you advice any specific reference on how to relate the calculated RMS spot size in Zemax to the spectrometer resolution? Thank you very much, Cinzia

9504
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Luminary
K
kevin.wangInfrared
posted in ZPL
Retrieve current object number in NS with macro

Hello, I would like to retrieve current object number in Macro while I choose ZPL macro in solveing type of x position in pure NS editor. I check Manual and found there is a function that can get the object number. NPRO(surf, object, code,face), but the object parameter in this function is object number which is what I want to retrieve. How can I retrieve current object number in NS mode while I write ZPL code? Best regards Kevin

3142
K
Hui Chen
Zemax Staff
Hui ChenZemax Staff
posted in ZPL
Use ZPL macro to save data from Detector Viewer

A user asked why when using ZPL macro to save the Cross Section Row Coherent Irradiance data from Detector Viewer, the .txt file he got does not match the information displayed in the Text tab of the Detector Viewer. Instead of seeing a 2-column data of X position versus Irradiance, he kept seeing 3-column data displaying “Spatial Frequency, X and Y” This is because in his code, the Configuration file is saved with the settings displayed in the Graph tab of the Detector Viewer, where the Cross Section Row is data value #4 in the “Show As:” dropdown list, (the index starts at 0). However, the GETTEXTFILE keyword is retrieving data from the Text tab of the Detector Viewer, where there isn’t a data value #4 in the “Show As:” dropdown list, so OpticStudio simply saves the data from the last available data value #3 which is the “Geometric MTF”. In order to save the data for the Cross Section Row irradiance, you need to use MODIFYSETTINGS keyword to set this “Show As:” data value to data val

11403
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Luminary
R
Renaud.LigotInfrared
asked in ZPL
slope error for asphere specification

Hi all Surface slope error is considered by lens manufacturer as an essential specification for asphere production. Unfortunately Zemax doesn't still allow directy tolerancing on slope error and it is suggested that user should write a macro to do it. So, here is my question: Does somebody have such a macro that he/she would be so kind to share? Thank you! Renaud

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J
Jungtae.rhaMonochrome
posted in ZPL
ZPL editor button can't open the ZPL files.

I like to edit the ZPL codes but the button of 'Edit' could not open the file, just execute the zpl files. It was working but for some reason, it is not working now at all. Please let me know.

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S
Luminary
Michael Cheng
Zemax Staff
Michael ChengZemax Staff
posted in ZPL
A macro for grid distortion using centroid and shown in image coordinate

This code calculates grid distortion based on centroid. The advantage is it works for systems where the chief ray cannot reach image surface. Note that, although chief ray doesn't need to reach image surface, there should still be some rays reaching the image surface. This only works when the field type is either Angle or Object Height. Another useful points of this tool is it shows data on image coordinate, not object coordinate as in the native Grid Distortion analysis. In the generated layout, you can see red and blue marks. Red marks are the centroid position of each sampled field. Blue marks are the 'reference' that serves as definition of 'no distortion'. Note Red marks are the ray-tracing result of your system and cannot be changed. However, the blue marks is defined by ABCD matrix, which can be user-defined. In other words, there is no a standard of 'no distortion'. The macro will automatically find a reasonable ABCD matrix just like the native Grid Distortion, but you can defi

9551
Michael Cheng
Zemax Staff
Z
Zhiguang.XuMonochrome
asked in ZPL
What is the ZPL command to save the graphic result

I want to use ZPL to save the graphic result from 'Partially Coherent Image Analysis'. Could you tell me what the correct macro command to use? An example code will be very helpful. Thanks!

5624
Z
J
Jingran.LiangStudent
asked in ZPL
How Zemax writes its results such as Wavefront map to a text file automatically

When the analysis is finished in Zemax, how can I get a text file which including the outputs in 'Text' tab automatically? That means every time I run the model, I can get this text file at the same time. Thank you.

5598
J
Alberto.Donazzan
Ultraviolet
Alberto.DonazzanUltraviolet
asked in ZPL
NSDE Data# not working as expected

Can you confirm the Data# field of NSDE is not working as expected, both in ZPL and MF? Help reference: The Optimize Tab (non-sequential ui mode) > Automatic Optimization Group (optimize tab, non-sequential) > Merit Function Editor (optimize tab, non-sequential) > NSC Operands I expect the following to work in fully non sequential mode: ! Detector color object reference det = 4 TotalFlux = NSDE(1,det,0,0,0,0) MaxIrradiance = NSDE(1,det,-1,0,1,0) But actually, the following work for me, i.e. return the correct quantity: TotalFlux = NSDE(1,det,0,0,1,0) MaxIrradiance = NSDE(1,det,-1,0,2,0) Therefore, if this is confirmed, the Data# reported in the table of the Help is wrong and should be incremented by 1. Thank you

845
Alberto.Donazzan
Ultraviolet
Z
Zhenfeng.ZhuangMonochrome
asked in ZPL
psf data values in um apart

when i use getpsf in zpl, the result mentioned that there are np data points, and spaced by micrometers apart. what does it mean? Is it the average position between the psf data points? also, the data spacing reduces as pupil sampling increases. do you have some references for me to better understand this results.

961
Kevin Scales
En-Lightened

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