SFEPY-RUN(1)

📦
version 2026.1 · 5 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

🎀 NAME 🎀

sfepy-run — run declarative SfePy problem description files. Yes bestie, this is the manual page for SfePy's very own command, and it is literally your little key to the whole PDE kingdom 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

sfepy-run [-h] [--version] [-a {bvp,homogen,bvp-mM,evp,phonon}]
       [--debug] [--debug-mpi] [-c "key : value, …"] [-O "key : value, …"]
       [-d "key : value, …"] [-o filename] [--format format]
       [--save-restart mode] [--load-restart filename] [--log file] [-q]
       [--save-ebc] [--save-ebc-nodes] [--save-regions]
       [--save-regions-as-groups] [--save-field-meshes] [--solve-not]
       [--phonon-band-gaps] [--phonon-dispersion] [--phonon-plot]
       [--phonon-phase-velocity] [--list what] [filename_in]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

Okay so. What this does is solve partial differential equations that you wrote down in a SfePy problem definition file. That's the whole vibe. 🧚

Wanna see some? Example problem definition files are chillin' in the sfepy/examples/ directory of the SfePy top-level directory. Go look, they ate. 👑

Heads up bestie: in all the examples below it is supposed that sfepy is installed. If you're using the in-place build, swap sfepy-run out for python3 sfepy/scripts/simple.py instead. No cap. 🔥

The supported application kinds (that's the --app option, iykyk) are:

  • bvp — boundary value problem. Example:
sfepy-run sfepy/examples/diffusion/poisson.py
  • homogen — calculation of local microscopic problems (correctors) and homogenized coefficients. Example:
sfepy-run sfepy/examples/homogenization/perfusion_micro.py
  • bvp-mM — micro-macro boundary value problem. Solve a coupled two-scale problem in parallel using MPI. One computational node is solving a macroscopic equation while the others are solving local microscopic problems and homogenized coefficients. The --app option is required in this case, the way that it simply will not run otherwise. Example:
mpiexec -n 4 sfepy-run --app=bvp-mM --debug-mpi sfepy/examples/homogenization/nonlinear_hyperelastic_mM.py
  • evp — eigenvalue problem. Example:
sfepy-run sfepy/examples/quantum/well.py
  • phonon — phononic band gaps. Example:
sfepy-run sfepy/examples/phononic/band_gaps.py --phonon-plot

Both normal and parametric study runs are supported, periodt. A parametric study allows repeated runs for varying some of the simulation parameters — go peek at the sfepy/examples/diffusion/poisson_parametric_study.py file if you want to see how that looks. 🦋

🫶 POSITIONAL ARGUMENTS 🫶

  • filename_in — the SfePy problem description file. Your main character moment, honestly. 💖

👑 OPTIONAL ARGUMENTS 👑

  • -h, --help — show this help message and exit ✨
  • --version — show program's version number and exit
  • -a {bvp,homogen,bvp-mM,evp,phonon}, --app {bvp,homogen,bvp-mM,evp,phonon} — override application kind, which is normally determined automatically. The supported kinds are: bvp (boundary value problem), homogen (correctors, homogenized coefficients), bvp-mM (micro-macro boundary value problem, homogenized coefficients computed in parallel using MPI), evp (eigenvalue problem), phonon (phononic band gaps)
  • --debug — automatically start debugger when an exception is raised 🐛
  • --debug-mpi — log MPI communication (mM mode only)
  • -c "key : value, …", --conf "key : value, …" — override problem description file items, written as python dictionary without surrounding braces
  • -O "key : value, …", --options "key : value, …" — override options item of problem description, written as python dictionary without surrounding braces
  • -d "key : value, …", --define "key : value, …" — pass given arguments written as python dictionary without surrounding braces to define() function of problem description file
  • -o filename — basename of output file(s) [default: <basename of input file>]
  • --format format — output file format, one of: {vtk, h5} [default: vtk]
  • --save-restart mode — if given, save restart files according to the given mode.
  • --load-restart filename — if given, load the given restart file
  • --log file — log all messages to specified file. And bestie, listen: an existing file will be overwritten! 😭 Not a drill.
  • -q, --quiet — do not print any messages to screen 🤫
  • --save-ebc — save a zero solution with applied EBCs (Dirichlet boundary conditions)
  • --save-ebc-nodes — save a zero solution with added non-zeros in EBC (Dirichlet boundary conditions) nodes — scalar variables are shown using colors, vector variables using arrows with non-zero components corresponding to constrained components
  • --save-regions — save problem regions as meshes
  • --save-regions-as-groups — save problem regions in a single mesh but mark them by using different element/node group numbers
  • --save-field-meshes — save meshes of problem fields (with extra DOF nodes)
  • --solve-not — do not solve (use in connection with --save-*), iconic combo honestly 💅
  • --phonon-band-gaps — detect frequency band gaps
  • --phonon-dispersion — analyze dispersion properties (low frequency domain)
  • --phonon-plot — plot frequency band gaps, assumes -b
  • --phonon-phase-velocity — compute phase velocity (frequency-independent mass only)
  • --list what — list data, what can be one of: {terms, solvers}

🌈 Author 🌈

SfePy developers 🫶 — shoutout to the whole squad.

2020, Robert Cimrman and SfePy developers

And that's the whole page, bestie! This one's from version: 2026.1, dated Apr 26, 2026, and it signs off as SFEPY-RUN(1) 💜 Go run some PDEs, you've got this 💖✨🎀

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