api-overview.rst

Python API overview

DEME currently preserves its established C++-style method names in Python. This page maps common tasks to the principal bound objects; runtime docstrings and the C++ API reference provide signature-level detail.

Core objects

DEMSolver

Owns workers and simulation state. It loads setup data, configures the solver, initializes, advances time, creates trackers and inspectors, and writes output.

DEMMaterial

Stores material properties loaded through DEMSolver.LoadMaterial.

DEMClumpTemplate and DEMClumpBatch

Describe clump topology and a group of instances. A batch returned by AddClumps can be passed to Track.

DEMMesh and DEMExternObj

Represent mesh particles/bodies and analytical external geometry. See Mesh particles and combined owners for mesh templates and contact scope.

Tracker (native DEMTracker)

Reads or modifies a tracked batch/object after initialization. See Retrieving simulation data.

DEMInspector

Queries aggregate or spatial simulation properties.

DEMForceModel

Selects or customizes the contact force calculation and its material or wildcard requirements.

DEMVisualizer

Displays the current solver state on each explicit Render call without advancing the simulation. See Interactive visualization.

Common task map

Task	Starting methods
Select GPUs	DEMSolver(...), GetGPUDeviceIDs
Load material	LoadMaterial
Define the domain	InstructBoxDomainDimension, InstructBoxDomainBoundingBC
Create particles	LoadSphereType, clump-template loaders, AddClumps
Create geometry	LoadMeshType, mesh/external-object add methods, AddBCPlane
Enable mesh–mesh and mesh–analytical contacts	SetMeshUniversalContact(True) during setup
Create rigid combined bodies	LoadCombinedClumpType, LoadCombinedMeshType, AddCombinedFromTemplate
Configure motion	gravity, family prescriptions, timestep methods
Start simulation	Initialize
Advance simulation	DoDynamics, DoDynamicsThenSync, DoStepDynamics
Inspect or control objects	Track and Tracker methods
Retrieve CUDA data	Tracker methods ending in ToDevice
Write output	WriteSphereFile, mesh/contact output methods, WaitForPendingOutput
Render interactively	DEMVisualizer, Render, SetRenderSpheres, SetRenderTriangles

Discovering installed signatures

The pybind11 extension exposes method signatures and docstrings directly:

import deme

help(deme.DEMSolver)
help(deme.Tracker)
print(deme.DEMSolver.Initialize.__doc__)

Static type stubs and automatically generated Python API pages are not yet shipped. Consequently, IDE completion may be incomplete even though a method is available at runtime.