Icem Sim

• In scope: Running ICEM Tcl batch scripts, unstructured tetra meshing (ic_uns_*), hex blocking (ic_hex_*), geometry import (ic_load_tetin, ic_geo_import_*), boundary conditions (ic_boco_*), mesh export to solver formats.
• Out of scope: Interactive GUI operations (display, rotation, zooming), CAD creation (use SpaceClaim or CATIA), solver execution (use the corresponding solver driver: fluent, cfx, mapdl, etc.).

Hard constraints

1. Call ic_batch_mode (no arguments) at script top. Without it, output interfaces may attempt interactive prompts that hang med_batch.exe. Note: ic_batch_mode 1 throws "wrong # args" (see KI-008) — it's a toggle, not a setter.
2. End scripts with exit 0. med_batch.exe does not auto-exit after script completion — omitting exit causes a hang.
3. Geometry must be watertight for tetra. Open surfaces produce zero-element meshes with no error message.
4. Forward slashes in paths. Even on Windows, use C:/sim/model.tin not C:\sim\model.tin — Tcl backslash-escapes break paths.
5. No display commands in batch. ic_display_*, ic_view_*, ic_screen_* require a GUI and fail silently in batch mode.
6. Tcl 8.4 limitations. Documented as 8.3.3 but actual version is 8.4.11 (on 24.1). No lmap, no dict. {*} expansion works.
7. *Wrap ic_ calls in catch**. ICEM Tcl commands print errors to stderr but return empty string — use if {[catch {ic_uns_run_mesh} err]} { puts "ERROR: $err"; exit 1 } to detect failures.

File index

Required protocol

Before writing a script

1. Read base/reference/icem_tcl_api.md — understand the ic_* command families and batch-mode conventions.
2. Read base/reference/mesh_workflow.md — pick tetra or hex depending on the task.
3. Read base/reference/output_formats.md — pick the right export interface for the downstream solver.

While writing

• Start with ic_batch_mode 1 and end with exit 0.
• Use catch around critical ic_* calls.
• Forward slashes in all paths.
• Print structured JSON as the last line of stdout (sim parse_output convention):

  puts "{\"ok\": true, \"nodes\": 1234, \"elements\": 5678}"
  exit 0
  

Acceptance gates

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