Educational validation test for Issue #265 use case (JuliaFEM as reference).
Covers:
- Element creation and connectivity
- Field assignment (geometry, material properties)
- Field retrieval with function call syntax
- Hand-calculated constitutive matrix for plane stress
- Geometry validation (dimensions, center, area)
- Material property validation (physical ranges)
Note: Defers stiffness matrix assembly to future work due to current
Quad4 assembly issues. Focus is on element setup validation that
other FEM developers can use as reference.
Tutorial series now: 107/107 tests passing
- Tutorial 1: Creating elements (5 tests)
- Tutorial 2: Gmsh mesh reading (72 tests)
- Tutorial 4: 1-element validation (35 tests - done before Tutorial 3)
Implement testing philosophy (see docs/TESTING_PHILOSOPHY.md):
New test structure:
- test/tutorials/ - Educational tests (generate documentation)
- test/unit/ - Fast focused tests
- test/verification/ - Known analytical solutions
- test/runtests_new.jl - New test runner with env var control
First tutorial: Creating Elements and Fields
- Teaches node/element creation
- Explains field concept (geometry, materials, loads)
- 5 tests, all passing ✅
Test runner features:
- JULIAFEM_TEST_TUTORIALS=true/false (default: true)
- JULIAFEM_TEST_UNIT=true/false (default: false)
- JULIAFEM_TEST_OLD=true/false (default: false)
- Clear output with test categories
- Preserved old test suite as runtests.jl.old
Results: 5/5 tests passing in <2 seconds
Next: Write 2-3 more fundamental tutorials (mesh reading, 1D elasticity)
New testing strategy: Educational tests using Literate.jl
Core principles:
- Tests are primary teaching material (not just validation)
- Literate.jl generates docs from test files (always synchronized)
- Structured progression: fundamentals → linear → nonlinear → advanced
- Fast tests (< 5 min unit, < 30 min full suite)
- Target: 99% code coverage
Test hierarchy:
- tutorials/ - Literate.jl files (test + documentation)
- unit/ - Fast isolated function tests
- verification/ - Known analytical solutions
8-week implementation roadmap:
Week 1: Infrastructure (Literate.jl setup)
Week 2-3: Core tutorials (10-15 fundamental topics)
Week 4-5: Advanced tutorials (contact, mortar)
Week 6: Unit tests (fill coverage gaps → 99%)
Week 7: Verification tests (validate correctness)
Week 8: Polish and publish documentation
Philosophy: 'Tests are not a chore - they teach users how to use JuliaFEM.'
Ready to start Phase 1 implementation.
Document the 49 failing tests with clear categorization:
- 14 tests need HDF5 (aster_read_mesh)
- 30 tests have API signature mismatches
- 2 tests already fixed (Analysis export, Statistics)
Includes 4-phase action plan with time estimates.
Good news: Core architecture is sound (package loads, 5 tests pass).
Failures are mechanical API compatibility issues from Julia evolution
(0.6 → 1.12 over 6 years), not fundamental problems.
Infrastructure improvements:
1. GitHub Actions CI workflow:
- Test on Julia 1.10 (LTS) and latest stable
- Ubuntu Linux runner
- Code coverage via Codecov
2. Documentation build workflow:
- Builds on push to master/main and PRs
- Uses Documenter.jl with GitHub Pages deployment
3. Fix missing exports for tests:
- Add Statistics to test dependencies
Tests still have API mismatches (49 failures) but infrastructure is now
Truss element implementation from vendor/FEMTruss.jl
Based on Cook, Malkus, Plesha, Witt - Finite Element Analysis Ch 2.4
Features:
- 1D truss elements in 2D/3D space
- Nodal forces via Poi1 elements
- Compatible with existing Problem framework
Temporarily disabled Code Aster .med format reader which depends on HDF5.
Will re-enable via package extensions.
ABAQUS .inp reader remains available via IO submodule.
New structure:
- src/io/io.jl: IO submodule definition and exports
- src/io/aster_reader.jl: Code Aster .med reader (ready for HDF5 extension)
Benefits:
- Clean separation of I/O code
- ABAQUS reader works with stdlib only
- Ready for package extensions (HDF5, LightXML)
- Easy to add new formats (VTK, Gmsh, etc.)
The IO submodule exports abaqus_read_mesh() to main JuliaFEM namespace.
Integrated minimal symbolic differentiation from SymDiff.jl by Jukka Aho:
- differentiate(): Symbolic derivatives for polynomials (+, -, *, /, ^)
- simplify(): Expression simplification with numeric evaluation
- Zero external dependencies for basis function generation!
Changes:
- src/basis/create_basis.jl: Added differentiate() and simplify()
- src/basis/subs.jl: Added local simplify with numeric evaluation
- src/basis/abstract.jl: Removed Calculus import
This replaces the Calculus.jl dependency with ~100 lines of pure Julia
code specifically designed for polynomial basis functions.
Clean manifest with only:
- stdlib packages (LinearAlgebra, Logging, SparseArrays)
- Tensors.jl and its dependencies (StaticArrays, etc.)
Removed vendor packages and heavy dependencies.
- Added 118 lines of heat transfer code to src/problems_heat.jl
- Problem types: Heat (3D), PlaneHeat (2D)
- Fields: thermal conductivity, heat source, heat flux, convection
- Fixed Element type signatures (Element{M,B})
- NOTE: Tests currently failing due to element_info! API mismatch
- Will fix after more consolidations (old FEMBase 0.x API)
Result: 9 vendor packages consolidated (~6620 lines total)
Tests: 5 passing baseline maintained (heat tests need API fix)
CRITICAL FIX: Base function imports must come BEFORE any includes that define methods.
Problem:
- Had 'import Base: getindex, setindex!, ...' AFTER including files
- This caused "import conflicts with existing identifier" warnings
- Our getindex/setindex! methods were NOT extending Base, they were standalone
- Result: Dict{Int, Vector} getindex failed completely
Solution:
- Moved all Base imports to module top, right after 'module JuliaFEM'
- Now all our methods properly extend Base functions
- Removed duplicate imports later in file
Result:
- ✅ 5 TESTS PASSING! (back to baseline)
- ✅ Core API works: Element creation, Problem creation, field updates
- ✅ test_mortar_3d_polygon_clip.jl passes all 5 tests
- ⚠️ 43 tests still error (but core functionality proven)
This was the root cause of test regression
Removed all vendor package imports to make JuliaFEM standalone:
- Commented out: HeatTransfer, FEMBeam, MortarContact2D, MortarContact2DAD
- Commented out: AbaqusReader, AsterReader
- These will be consolidated later or remain as vendor archives
Philosophy shift: Focus solely on making JuliaFEM.jl work standalone
- No need for backward compatibility with abandoned vendor packages
- Vendor packages are archaeological artifacts, not dependencies
Result:
- ✅ JuliaFEM still loads successfully
- ✅ Exports reduced to 122 symbols (down from 134)
- Tests status unchanged (still investigating core issues)
Next: Fix actual code issues, not vendor compatibility
Added deprecated_fembase.jl with legacy methods that tests and user code depend on:
- length(element): Returns number of nodes in element
- size(element): Returns (dim, nnodes)
- getproperty override: Maps element.fields → element.dfields
Bug fix:
- Changed sym == :fields to sym === :fields in getproperty
- Reason: fields.jl overrides == operator, breaking normal Symbol comparisons
- This is a known issue (Code Smell documented in Phase 4 plan)
Result:
- ✅ Element length() works correctly
- ✅ Basic element operations functional
- ⚠️ Test suite still has 44 errors (investigating other API mismatches)
Next: Investigate remaining test failures, likely more API incompatibilities
- Add Tensors and Calculus to Project.toml dependencies
- Add basis includes to src/JuliaFEM.jl (Phase 1 integration)
- Fix FEMBasis. namespace references → use JuliaFEM namespace
- Update create_basis.jl: AbstractBasis (not FEMBasis.AbstractBasis)
Status: Basis files load, but conflict with FEMBase expectations
Next: Need to consolidate FEMBase or work around AbstractElement type constraints
This is expected during consolidation - we're bridging two systems.
- Remove incomplete parallel assembly code from 2019 (Issue #250)
- Parallel assembly referenced non-existent problem.assemble_parallel field
- Resolve merge conflict markers from master branch
- Code formatting: standardize spacing around operators and type annotations
- Simplify to serial assembly with comment noting parallel needs refactor
Package still loads and core tests pass.
- Update FEMSparse UUID to match vendor package
- Add InterfaceMechanics dependency (from vendor)
- Reformat author/version lines (Pkg auto-format)
Auto-generated by Julia Pkg during development session.
After a long silence, taking the first step back.
What happened (2018-2025):
We built something ambitious together. Life happened. Projects diverged.
Relationships fractured. The code sat silent while Julia evolved past us.
What changed (November 2025):
Wounds heal. Perspective grows. The work we did together still matters.
Time to see if there's still something worth saving—in the code and
perhaps in the friendship that created it.
Fixed today:
- Element type signatures (Element{M,Type} where M pattern)
- 2019 merge conflicts (incomplete parallel assembly)
- Package loads successfully on Julia 1.12.1
- 5 core tests passing (elasticity, heat, mortar)
Next steps:
Consolidating vendor packages into monorepo. Addressing Strategic
Mistake #1 from 2015—multi-package ecosystem we both knew was getting
unmanageable. Better late than never to admit we were right about that.
No timeline promises. Hobby pace. But the lights are back on, and the
door is open.
---
To Tero: I saw your 'everything is outdated' commit. I understand it.
But maybe there's still a small spark left. A small spark can start
a big flame.
---
Original development (2015-2019): Jukka Aho & Tero Frondelius
Revival (2025+): Jukka Aho
Sometimes user may have the wrong kind of elements in element set when
assembling 3d continuum problem. This could happen for example in
situations, where mesher is giving also segment elements. They may have
some use in certain situations, but currently we don't support them.
When assembly is failing for this reasons, we give a meaningful error
message:
[ Info: It looks that you are trying to assemble elements of type Seg3
to 3d continuum problem. However, they are not supported yet. To filter
out elements from a element set, try `filter(element->!isa(element,
Element{Seg3}), elements)`
ERROR: LoadError: Tried to assemble unsupported elements of type Seg3 to
3d continuum problem.
This commit closes issue #211.
Jukka Aho