PyKat is a wrapper for using FINESSE (http://www.gwoptics.org/finesse).
It aims to provide a Python toolset for automating more complex tasks
as well as providing a GUI for manipulating and viewing simulation
setups.
Installation
-------------
The easiest way to install PyKat is through PyPi::
pip install pykat
If you are a Windows user you also have the option to download the installer at https://pypi.python.org/pypi/PyKat.
You will also need to ensure that you have a fully working copy of FINESSE installed and setup on your machine.
More details on this can be found at http://www.gwoptics.org/finesse.
Usage
------
This does not detail how to use FINESSE itself, just PyKat. FINESSE related queries should
be directed at the FINESSE manual or the forum http://kvasir.sr.bham.ac.uk/redmine/projects/finesse/boards.
We highly recommend running PyKat with IPython, it has so far provided the best way to explore the various PyKat objects and output data.
Also of use is IPythons interactive matplotlib mode - or pylab mode - which makes displaying and interacting with multiple plots easy.
You can start pylab mode from a terminal using::
ipython -pylab
Regardless of which interpreter you use, to begin using PyKat you first need to include the following::
from pykat import finesse
from pykat.detectors import *
from pykat.components import *
from pykat.commands import *
from pykat.structs import *
This provides all the various FINESSE components and commands you will typically need.
Running a simulation requires you to already know how to code FINESSE files, which is beyond
the scope of this readme. FINESSE commands can be entered in many ways: Reading in a previous .kat
file, creating pykat objects representing the various FINESSE commands or by wring blocks of code
as shown next::
import pylab as pl
code = """
l l1 1 0 0 n1
s s1 10 1 n1 n2
m m1 0.5 0.5 0 n2 n3
s s2 10 1 n3 n4
m m2 0.5 0.5 0 n4 n5
s s3 10 1 n5 n6
yaxis abs:deg
"""
# this kat object represents one single simulation, it containts
# all the objects and their various states.
kat = finesse.kat()
# Currently the kat object is empty. We can fill it using a block
# string of normal FINESSE commands by parsing them.
kat.parseCommands(code)
# Once we have some simulation built up we can run it simply by calling...
out = kat.run()
# This out object contains the results from this run of the simulation.
# Parameters can then be changed and kat.run() can be called again producing
# another output object.
# We can plot the output simply enough using pylab plotting.
pl.figure()
pl.plot(out.x, out["pd_cav"])
pl.xlabel(out.xlabel)
pl.ylabel("Intensity [W]")
pl.legend(out.ylabels)
pl.show()
The above demonstates a way of packaging up a FINESSE simulation - simple or complex - and
including any post-processing and plotting in one Python script file. Or you can create
kat files separately and produce Python scripts to run and process them, that choice is upto
you, Pykat provides the means to be used in both ways.
Finesse Test Server
----------------------
A Flask based website that runs the Finesse test suites is included in PyKat. This can be hosted in Apache or run as a development server for quick testing on a system. This is a developer tool for testing FINESSE against a selection of known test cases.
Prerequistes:
Flask
Numpy
Command to start server:
.. code:: bash
python -m pykat.test.web_server --path=[path to create website] --port=[HTTP port] --git-bin=[path to git binary]
The website can then be accessed in a web browser at the address: localhost:[port]
