Working with Variables

A variable is a numerical value, mathematical expression, or mathematical function that can be assigned to a design parameter in Maxwell. You can assign a variable to any dimensional or material property, or output value. Variables are useful in the following situations:

When you expect to change a parameter often
When you expect to use the same parameter value often
When you intend to run a parametric analysis, in which you specify a series of variable values within a range to solve
When you intend to optimize a parameter value by running an optimization analysis
When you intend to run a convergence on an output variable

There are two types of variables in Maxwell:

Project Variables

A project variable can be assigned to any parameter value in the project in which it was created. Maxwell differentiates project variables from other types of variables by prefixing the variable name with the $ symbol. You can manually include the $ symbol in the project variable's name, or Maxwell can automatically append the $ after you define the variable. Project variables can be used in any design within the project.

Design Variables

A design variable can be assigned to any parameter value in the Maxwell design in which it was created. Design variables are not available to other designs within the same project.

Clicking View > Variables brings up a dockable variable window that is associated with the active project and/or design. When there is an active project, there will be a corresponding project variable tab. When there is an active design, there will be a corresponding design variable tab. Each tab contains an Add... button allowing creation of new variable of this type. If variables exist for the Project or Design, they are shown in the corresponding tab.

First window shows Variables window with design variables shown, the second window shows the Variables window with project variables shown.

Working with Variables

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