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The Basic Computational Environment 1 1 Introduction – The Basic Computational Environment This chapter provides you with some basic introduction to your 'Computational Work desk'. It is structured into three parts. The first one consists of some quick tutorial how to login into your machine. The second part deals with basic steps in a UNIXlike environment and introduces the 'SHELL', the UNIX command line. In the third part two of the most used editors are presented in order to enable the user to manipulate text files at will. 1.1 Login Into Your Computer Before you can login it is essential that you haven been provided with a username and a password. Usually these are provided by your chemistry department or your system administrator. The first thing you will see is the 'loginscreen', asking you to type in your username. Figure 1: a typical login screen The screen might look somewhat different, but it should be similar to the one shown above. Once you typed in your username and pressed the <RETURN> key, the system will ask you for your password, which you are expected to type, again followed by <RETURN>. (The pressing of the <RETURN> key after typing in some commands or other things is assumed from now on.) Having succeeded in providing the correct password you are provided with your graphical desktop. All your actions will take place in this environment. The next thing to do is to open a window containing a command line, which is usally called a 'shell'. This is nothing else than a window where you can type in your commands. Click unto the icon on the left bottom (or top) and search for a program called 'Konsole' or 'Terminal'. Having done so, your screen will look similar to the one in the figure below:

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The  Basic  Computational  Environment     1  

1 Introduction  –  The  Basic  Computational  Environment    This  chapter  provides  you  with  some  basic  introduction  to  your  'Computational  Work  

desk'.  It  is  structured  into  three  parts.  The  first  one  consists  of  some  quick  tutorial  how  

to  login  into  your  machine.  The  second  part  deals  with  basic  steps  in  a  UNIX-­‐like  

environment  and  introduces  the  'SHELL',  the  UNIX  command  line.  In  the  third  part  two  

of  the  most  used  editors  are  presented  in  order  to  enable  the  user  to  manipulate  text  

files  at  will.    

1.1 Login  Into  Your  Computer  Before  you  can  login  it  is  essential  that  you  haven  been  provided  with  a  username  and  a  

password.  Usually  these  are  provided  by  your  chemistry  department  or  your  system  

administrator.    

The  first  thing  you  will  see  is  the  'login-­‐screen',  asking  you  to  type  in  your  username.  

 Figure  1:  a  typical  login  screen  

The  screen  might  look  somewhat  different,  but  it  should  be  similar  to  the  one  shown  

above.  Once  you  typed  in  your  username  and  pressed  the  <RETURN>  key,  the  system  

will  ask  you  for  your  password,  which  you  are  expected  to  type,  again  followed  by  

<RETURN>.  (The  pressing  of  the  <RETURN>  key  after  typing  in  some  commands  or  

other  things  is  assumed  from  now  on.)    Having  succeeded  in  providing  the  correct  

password  you  are  provided  with  your  graphical  desktop.  All  your  actions  will  take  place  

in  this  environment.  The  next  thing  to  do  is  to  open  a  window  containing  a  command-­‐

line,  which  is  usally  called  a  'shell'.    This  is  nothing  else  than  a  window  where  you  can  

type  in  your  commands.  Click  unto  the  icon  on  the  left  bottom  (or  top)  and  search  for  a  

program  called  'Konsole'  or  'Terminal'.  Having  done  so,  your  screen  will  look  similar  to  

the  one  in  the  figure  below:  

The  Basic  Computational  Environment     2  

 Figure  2:  The  graphical  desktop  with  a  shell  window  

The  following  part  deals  with  commands  you  can  enter  into  this  command  window  and  

how  to  find  your  way  around  in  a  UNIX  system.  

1.2 The  UNIX  Command  Line  Although  most  computer  use  graphical  displays  and  fancy  graphical  user  interfaces  

nowadays,  UNIX  is  traditionally  rooted  in  text  based  environments  without  any  graphics,  

that  is,  you  tell  the  computer  what  to  do  only  by  typing  in  commands  without  further  use  

of  a  mouse  or  by  clicking  onto  menu  bars.  In  this  it  is  not  so  different  from  very  old  

personal  computers  running  MS-­‐DOS  in  times  when  no  Windows  was  around.    

One  essential  feature  of  the  shell  is  the  administration  and  organisation  of  the  files  

within  your  home  directory.  Typing  in  the  command  'pwd'  the  computer  will  tell  you  

where  in  the  directory  hierarchy  you  are  at  the  moment,  e.  g.  /home/frankw.  Unix  

directories  are  sperated  by  the  slash  '/'  character.  So  /home/frankw  means,  the  

directory  'frankw'  in  the  'home'  directory  which  itself  is  located  at  the  root  of  all  

directories  on  this  computer,  called  root,    or  '/'.  When  you  just  opened  you  command  

window,  you  usually  end  up  in  your  'HOME'  directory,  the  directory  which  is  your  own  

private  data  space.  Here  you  can  copy  files,  create  further  directories,  execute  programs  

and  all  other  things  usually  done  with  a  computer.  When  you  get  lost  in  all  the  

directories,  'pwd'  (print  working  directory;  you  see  most  UNIX  commands  are  

abbreviations  or  acronyms....)  will  tell  you  where  you  are  now  and  a  simple  'cd'  (change  

directory)  will  bring  you  back  to  the  top  of  your  HOME  directory.  

Some  useful  commands  dealing  with  files  and  directories  are  listed  in  Table  1.  

The  Basic  Computational  Environment     3  

Table  1:  Some  useful  unix  commands  for  dealing  with  files  and  directories  

Command   Description  pwd Print working directory

ls List all files in the current directory

ls *.inp List all files with extension .inp in the present directory (analogous to dir *.inp under windows)

ls -l List all files in current directory with detailed information

cp file1 file2 Copy a file with name “file1” to a file with name “file2” (analogous to the copy file1 file2 command under windows)

cp -r dir1 dir2 Copy a directory with name “dir1” to a directory with name “dir2”

mkdir calc Make the directory “calc” (same under windows) cd calc Change into the directory calc (same under windows) cd .. Change to a lower directory level rm *.tmp Remove all files with extension .tmp (CAREFUL: in unix

there is no “undelete” command – gone is gone!). mv file1 file2 Rename the file “file1” to “file2” find . -name "*.inp"

Find all files in all subdirectories with extension .inp

 

In  the  following  table  some  commands  are  listed  dealing  with  text  files.  Text  files  are  

especially  important  since  they  are  used  almost  everywhere  in  UNIX,  for  example,  they  

contain  the  input  and  output  of  your  calculations,  provide  the  system  with  information,  

customize  your  shell  etc.    Table  2:  Some  useful  unix  commands  for  dealing  with  the  contents  of  text  files  

Command   Description  cat file Print contents of file (without pausing on screen

boundaries) more file Print contents of file, pausing when screen end is

reached. Pressing <RETURN> scrolls down one line, <SPACE> on screen

grep -i "string" file

Search in file for "string" and print all lines containing this string

sed "s/string1/string2" file

Search in file for all occurences of string1 and replace them with string2 and print the result on the screen

 

Some  other  commands  which  might  come  in  useful  are  listed  in  the  following  table.  

Especially  the  man  command  is  useful,  for  it  provides  you  with  a  help  text  about  other  

commands.  Table  3:  Some  more  useful  linux  commands  and  tools  

Command   Description  man ls Gives you all information about the command 'ls'.

xterm & Opens another command window. (The ‘&’ signifies that the processs xterm is to be send to the background

The  Basic  Computational  Environment     4  

while you can keep on working in your present window). tar cvf file directory

Creates an archive of 'directory' into 'file'

gzip file Compresses the contents of 'file', most often used with archives

gzip -d archive.tar.gz ; tar xvf archive.tar

Uncompressed some archive (with suffix .tgz), which has been created before using tar and gzip.

 

There  are  a  few  other  things  you  should  know  about  UNIX  commands.  

Usually  if  you  type  in  a  command  or  start  a  program,  which  is  essentially  the  same,  it  

uses  some  INPUT,  does  some  work  or  calculation,  and  produces  some  OUTPUT.  Usually  

this  means  that  all  INPUT  comes  from  the  keyboard  (for  you  to  type  in),  and  all  OUTPUT  

will  be  directed  to  the  screen.  Sometimes  the  OUTPUT,  for  example  from  some  

calculation,  becomes  so  large,  that  you  would  rather  put  it  into  a  file  for  looking  at  it  

afterwards  in  your  own  time.  To  do  so,  UNIX  provides  you  with  INPUT/OUTPUT  

redirection,  e.  g.  find . -name "*" > all_your_files

This  command  will  'find'  all  your  files,  from  the  current  directory  onwards  (from  '.')  and  

put  them  into  the  file  'all_your_files'.  This  output  redirection  via  '>'  works  with  all  kinds  

of  commands.    

Another  important  feature  of  the  UNIX  command  line  is  the  ability  to  put  commands  into  

the  'background'.  Usually,  if  you  enter  a  command  or  a  program  name  the  program  does  

it's  work  and  meanwhile  you  have  to  wait  until  it  finishes.  Now,  if  you  put  a  '&'  character  

at  the  end  of  you  command  line,  you  will  be  greeted  immediately  to  enter  the  next  

command.  In  the  meantime  your  program  is  executed  invisibly  in  the  background!  

For  example:  orca test.inp >& output &

1.3 The  Texteditor  You  need  to  use  a  text  editor  in  order  to  edit  textfiles,  that  is,  to  produce  input  to  the  

quantum  chemical  program  packages.  For  this  you  can  use  the  standard  editors  vi  and  

emacs  or  nedit.  The  latter  is  not  available  on  all  unix  machines  but  is  essentially  self-­‐

explanatory.  The  other  editors  are  standard  software  but  are  a  bit  less  convenient  to  use.  

Basic  familiarity  with  them  is  helpful.  Some  fundamental  concepts  and  commands  are  

presented  hereafter.  

The  Basic  Computational  Environment     5  

1.3.1 The  VI  Editor  One  of  the  most  widely  used  editors  on  UNIX  systems  is  the  vi  editor.  Although  it  lacks  

the  look  and  feel  of  today's  editors,  it  has  the  advantages  of  being  available  on  all  UNIX  

systems  and  being  very  quick  to  use  (and  in  extended  versions  also  very  powerful).  

You  can  load  a  file  into  vi  just  by  typing:  vi filename

If  the  file  did  not  exist  before  it  will  be  created.  One  feature  that  is  somwhat  difficult  to  

grasp  at  the  beginning  is  that  editing  in  vi  takes  place  in  two  different  modes:  A  

command  mode  and  an  insert  or  edit  mode.  Vi  starts  in  command  mode.  You  can  always  

get  back  into  command  mode  by  pressing  <ESC>.  In  this  mode  you  can  move  the  cursor  

around  on  the  screen  and  position  it  where  you  want  to  modify  your  text.  For  moving  

around  you  can  use  the  CURSOR  keys  or  the  keys  h,  j,  k,  l.  Having  positioned  the  cursor,  

press  i  for  insert  mode.  Now  you  can  enter  your  text.  Pressing  <ESC>  enters  command-­‐

mode  again.  In  the  following  table  are  the  most  common  keys  accessible  in  command  

mode.  Table  4:  usage  of  the  vi  editor  

Command   Description  h, j, k, l Movement (left, down, up, right)

i, I Insert text before cursor position (before first character of the line)

a, A Append text after cursor position (at the end of current line)

o, O Open new line below the current line (or above current line)

X Delete charcter under cursor

Dd Delete whole line D Delete line from cursor position to the end of line

r, R Replace character under cursor (replace from cursor on onwards until leaving by <ESC>)

:wq Save file and exit vi :wfile Save current contents in 'file'. :q! Exit without saving changes

 

1.3.2 The  EMACS  Editor  Another  powerful  editor  under  UNIX  is  the  EMACS  editor.  You  can  start  it  by  simply  

calling:  emacs filename

or

xemacs filename

The  file  will  be  opened  in  a  different  window,  displaying  the  file's  content.  In  this  buffer  

you  can  move  around  either  by  using  the  cursor  keys  or  by  scrolling  and  placing  the  

The  Basic  Computational  Environment     6  

cursor  via  mouse  click.  Editing  is  done  in  the  usual  way,  text  is  inserted  before  the  cursor  

and  you  can  delete  it  by  pressing  the  delete  key  repeatedly.  Many  functions  in  emacs  are  

accessible  through  the  menu  bar,  but  using  key  combinations  is  more  flexible  and  faster.  

This  is  just  a  small  subset  of  those  Table  5:  Useful  key-­‐combinations  for  the  emacs  editor.  

Command   Description  <CTRL>-x <CTRL>-s Save file and exit emacs <CTRL>-x <CTRL>-c Exit emacs <CTRL>-u Undo <CTRL>-k Delete line from cursor on to the end of line

(pressing <CTRL>-k repleatedly deletes lines) <CTRL>-<space> Mark beginnig of a selected region <CTRL>-w Cut region <CTRL>-y Paste region <CTRL>-x r k Cut marked rectangle <ALT>-x transient-mark-mode

Enable highlighting of selected region

If things get rough: <ALT>-x doctor

...

 

Quick  Start  into  The  Program  Packages     7  

2 Introduction  –  Quick  Start  into  the  Program  Packages  and  Analysis  

Tools  

2.1 Calling  the  ORCA  Program  In  order  to  run  the  ORCA  program  you  need  to  create  an  input  file  (e.g.  myinp.inp)  and  

then  call:   orca myinp.inp >myinp.out &

You  can  look  at  the  progress  of  the  calculation  using   tail –f myinp.out

A  general  form  of  the  input  file  is:  

   

(NOTE:  the  multiplicity  is  defined  as  2S+1  where  S  is  the  total  spin  of  the  state  under  

investigation;  for  our  purposes  Mult=Number  of  unpaired  electrons+1).  

An  example  is:  

 

2.2 Keywords  for  ORCA  Below  is  a  summary  of  keywords  that  will  be  used  within  this  course.  The  program  has,  

of  course,  many  more  options  –  however,  in  this  course  you  will  essentially  only  need  

those  listed  below.  If  you  go  on  to  do  research  in  theoretical  chemistry  it  is  very  likely  

# comment lines (anywhere in input) ! Method BasisSet Additional-Keywords #Possible input blocks start with ‘%’ # for example: %scf maxiter 150 end * xyz Charge, Multiplicity Cartesian coordinates * or: * int Charge, Multiplicity Z-Matrix *

# Check H2CO optimization ! B3LYP SVP Opt TightSCF * xyz 0 1 C 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 O 1.200000 0.000000 0.000000 H -0.550000 0.952628 0.000000 H -0.550000 -0.952628 -0.000000 *

The  Basic  Computational  Environment     8  

that  you  need  to  consult  the  manual  of  the  program,  learn  about  other  programs  and  

familiarize  yourself  with  advanced  aspects  of  the  various  program  packages.  Table  6:  Useful  Keywords  for  the  ORCA  program.  

ORCA ACTIONS  RHF Perform  a  restricted  (closed-­‐shell)  Hartree-­‐Fock  calculation  UHF Perform  a  spin-­‐unrestricted  open-­‐shell  Hartree-­‐Fock  calculation  B3LYP/G Perform  a  B3LYP  calculation  with  B3LYP  being  defined  as   in   the  Gaussian  series  of  

programs.   (Note   for  spin-­‐unrestricted  calculations   the  keyword   is  UKS B3LYP/G;  the  program  automatically  chooses  UHF  for  open  shell  systems).    

MP2 Perform  a  MP2  calculation  on  top  of  a  RHF  starting  point.  This  is  possible  for  energy  and  geometry  optimization  calculations.  

RI-MP2 Perform   a   RI-­‐MP2   calculation   –  much   faster   than   standard  MP2   but   requires   the  input   of   an   “auxiliary   basis   set”   (here:   SV/C   if   SVP;   TZV/C   if   TZVP   and   TZVPP/C   if  TZVPP)  

CCSD(T) Perform  a   coupled  cluster   calculation  with   single-­‐   and  double  excitations   together  with  a  perturbative  estimate  of  triple  excitations.  This  is  an  accurate  and  expensive  level  of  theory  (presently  only  available  for  closed  shell  systems  in  ORCA).  

SVP Use  the  SVP  basis  set.   (small  double  zeta  basis  set  for   initial  explorations;  contains  one  set  of  polarization  functions:  p  for  H  and  d  for  heavier  elements.  With  SV(P)  the  p  functions  on  the  hydrogens  are  deleted)  

TZVP Use  the  TZVP  basis  set.  (medium  triple-­‐zeta  basis  set  ;  already  good  for  geometries  and  frequencies;  contains  one  set  of  polarization  functions:  p  for  H  and  d  for  heavier  elements)  

TZVPP Use  the  TZVPP  basis  set.  (Larger  triple-­‐zeta  basis  set  for  accurate  energies.  Contains  three  sets  of  polarization  functions:  2p1d  for  H  and  2d1f  for  heavier  elements).  

QZVP Large   quadruple-­‐zeta   basis   set  with  multiple   polarization   functions.   Expensive   but  accurate  for  close-­‐to-­‐basis-­‐set-­‐limit  results.  

Opt Perform  a  geometry  optimization  NumFreq Perform   a   second   derivative   calculation   (ORCA   can   only   do   numerical   frequency  

calculations  presently).  This  will  also  automatically  provide  a  calculated  IR  spectrum  as  well  as  ZPE  and  thermal  corrections  to  the  energy  

TightSCF Request  “tight”  SCF  convergence  criteria  (Necessary  for  geometry  optimizations  and  frequency  calculations;  required  input  for  ORCA).  

%cis nroots 10 end

Absorption   spectra:   Calculate   the   first   10   excited   states   using   configuration  interaction  with  single  excitations  (appropriate  for  RHF  or  UHF  SCF  calculations).  

%tddft nroots 10 end

Absorption   spectra:  Calculate   the   first  10  excited   states  using   the   time-­‐dependent  density  functional  theory  (appropriate  for  a  DFT  SCF  calculation)  

%eprnmr gtensor true Nuclei = all { aiso, adip} End

ESR  Spectra:  Calculate  the  most  important  parameters  of  the  ESR  spectrum  of  S=1/2  systems.  NMR  chemical  shifts  can  also  be  calculated.  

NPA Perform  a  natural  population  analysis  

 In  order  to  constrain  an  optimization  you  have  to  create  input  as  in  the  following  

example:  

The  Basic  Computational  Environment     9  

 

 NOTE:  

• “value”  in  the  constraint  input  is  optional.  If  you  do  not  give  a  value,  the  present  

value   in   the   structure   is   constrained.   For   cartesian   constraints   you   can’t   give   a  

value,  but  always  the  initial  position  is  constrained.  

• It  is  recommended  to  use  a  value  not  too  far  away  from  your  initial  structure.  

• It  is  possible  to  constrain  whole  sets  of  coordinates:    

Relaxed  surface  scans  can  be  performed  as  in  the  following  example:  

   In  the  example  above  the  value  of  the  bond  length  between  C  and  O  will  be  changed  in  

12  equidistant  steps  from  1.35  down  to  1.10  Angströms  and  at  each  point  a  constrained  

geometry  optimization  will  be  carried  out.    

! RKS B3LYP/G SV(P) TightSCF Opt %geom Constraints { B 0 1 1.25 C } { A 2 0 3 120.0 C } end end * int 0 1 C 0 0 0 0.0000 0.000 0.00 O 1 0 0 1.2500 0.000 0.00 H 1 2 0 1.1075 122.016 0.00 H 1 2 3 1.1075 122.016 180.00 *

Constraining bond distances : { B N1 N2 value C } Constraining bond angles : { A N1 N2 N1 value C } Constraining dihedral angles : { D N1 N2 N3 N4 value C } Constraining cartesian coordinates : { C N1 C }

! RKS B3LYP/G SV(P) TightSCF Opt %geom Scan B 0 1 = 1.35, 1.10, 12 # C-O distance that will be scanned end end * int 0 1 C 0 0 0 0.0000 0.000 0.00 O 1 0 0 1.3500 0.000 0.00 H 1 2 0 1.1075 122.016 0.00 H 1 2 3 1.1075 122.016 180.00 *

The  Basic  Computational  Environment     10  

In  order  to  find  transition  states  you  have  to  have  a  structure  that  is  fairly  close  to  the  

transition  state  itself.  This  can  be  generated  by  a  relaxed  or  unrelaxed  surface  scan,  by  

chemical  intition  or  by  some  other  means.  A  suitable  input  is:  

 

2.3 The  MSINDO  program  MSINDO  is  a  semiempirical  method.  It  will  be  used  for  the  simulation  of  solids  and  

surfaces  in  a  later  chapter.  In  order  to  run  MSINDO  you  need  to  create  an  input  file  (e.g.  

myinp.inp)  and  then  call:  

MSINDO < myinp.inp > myinp.out &

You  can  look  at  the  progress  of  the  calculation  using   tail –f myinp.out

A  general  form  of  the  input  file  is:  

! RHF SVP TightSCF SlowConv Opt PModel NumFreq %geom TS_search EF Calc_Hess true # Calculate the exact Hessian initially # Alternatively use InHess read # and InHessName "MyJob.hess" to read # a Hessian calculated at a lower level # of theory coordsys redundant Recalc_Hess 5 # re-calculate Hessian after 5 steps # Additional options: #modify_internal # { B 1 0 A } # # add a bond between atoms 0 and 10 # { B 3 1 A } # # add a bond between atoms 0 and 10 # end #Update Powell End * int 0 2 H 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 H 1 2 0 1.0 0 0 H 2 1 0 1.0 180 0 *

The  Basic  Computational  Environment     11  

   

Due  to  the  approximative  nature  of  the  semiempirical  method,  MSINDO  results  are  in  

general  different  from  ORC  or  other  ab  initio/DFT  programs.  The  parameterization  

includes  the  most  common  bonding  situations  of  elements  H,  Li    -­‐    F,  Na    -­‐    Cl,  K  –  Br.    

2.4 The  Molecular  Editing  and  Visualization  Program  Molden  Molden  is  a  convenient  visualization  program  for  displaying  molecular  structures  

(including  animation  for  geometry  optimizations  and  vibrations),  electronic  properties  

(orbitals,  electron  densities)  http://www.cmbi.ru.nl/molden/molden.html.  

ORCA  cube  files  can  also  be  displayed  in  the  <Dens. Mode>.  For  outputs  of  geometry  

optimizations  the  starting  structure  is  displayed.  Structural  changes  are  visualized  by  

<Movie>.  Animations  of  vibrations  are  possible  in  the  <Norm. Mode>.  MSINDO  

generates  Molden  inputs  if  the  keyword    

   is  given.  This  will  produce  a  file  named  by  the  chemical  formula,  e.g.  OCH2.molden  for  

the  above  example.  The  command  molden OCH2.molden

PRINTOPTS=MOLDENMOS

# 1st line: Title (must include the string :NEW) CH2O :NEW # Section 1: keywords RHF or UHF MULTIP=… # closed or open shell OPT ANALY # opt. of internal coordinates CARTOPT ANALY # opt. of Cartesian coordinates # using analytical 1st derivatives NVIB=4 FULL # vibrations/heat of formation PRINTOPTS=MOLDEN # output for MOLDEN :END # end of section 1 # Section 2: atomic coordinates # Cartesian coordinates (CARTES in section 1): # Atomic number or symbol x y z (one per line) C 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 O 1.200000 0.000000 0.000000 H -0.550000 0.952628 0.000000 H -0.550000 -0.952628 -0.000000 # Or Z-Matrix: 1 O 1 2 C RCO 1 2 3 H RCH AOCH 3 1 2 4 H RCH AOCH DHOCH :END # end of section 2 # Section 3: variables (if used in section 2) RCO = 1.20 RCH = 1.10 # Angstrom AOCH = 120 # Degrees DHOCH = 180 :END # end of section 3 END # End of input

The  Basic  Computational  Environment     12  

will  give  the  output  shown  below.  With  the  <ZMAT Editor  >  it  is  possible  to  generate  

structure  definitions  of  simple  molecules  or  to  modify  the  actual  Z  Matrix.    

           Figure  3:  Screenshot  of  the  MolDen  program  showing  the  molecular  structure  window  as  well  as  the  progress  of  SCF  and  geometry  convergence  and  the  Z-­‐matrix  (=structure)  editor  

2.5 The  Visualization  Program  Molekel  You  can  use  the  ORCA  program  to  produce  so-­‐called  Cube  files,  which  contain  the  

information  that  is  necessary  in  order  to  visualize  molecular  orbitals  with  either  the  

Molden  or  Molekel  programs.    

In  order  to  use  orca  you  have  to  invoke  a  small  auxiliary  program  called  orca_plot.  

You  have  to  start  it  with  the  name  of  a  so-­‐called  gbw-­‐file.  The  GBW  file  is  a  file  that  is  

automatically  made  during  the  execution  of  ORCA.  It  contains  in  binary  form  a  summary  

of  the  calculation.  For  example,  if  you  ran  myjob.inp  the  program  will  produce  

myjob.gbw  which  contains  the  geometry,  the  basis  set  used  and  the  wavefunction  that  

was  computed.  Call:  orca_plot myjob.gbw -i

This  will  give  you  a  small  “stone-­‐age”  menu  which  you  can  use  to  produce  the  desired  

graphical  information.  First  choose  “5”  to  choose  an  output  format.  Select  “7”  to  choose  

“Gaussian  Cube”.  Then  select  “2”  and  choose  the  number  of  the  MO  that  you  want  to  plot.  

Remember  that  ORCA  starts  counting  with  zero  and  refer  to  the  output  file  to  figure  out  

which  MO  you  want  to  see.  Finally  choose  “10”  in  order  to  produce  the  plot.  This  will  

lead  to  a  file  called  myjob.moXa.cube  where  X  is  the  number  of  the  MO  that  you  

selected  for  plotting.  After  you  have  made  all  cube  files  that  you  wanted,  start  the  

The  Basic  Computational  Environment     13  

Molekel  program  and  proceed  as  described  below.  Since  the  cube-­‐files  are  ASCII  files  

you  can  also  transfer  them  between  platforms.    

You  can  now  start  Molekel  and  load  (via  a  right  mouse  click)  the  XYZ  file  (or  also  

directly  the  .cube  file).  Then  go  to  the  surface  menu,  select  “Gaussian-­‐cube”  format  and  

load  the  surface.  For  orbitals  click  the  “both  signs”  button  and  select  a  countour  value  in  

the  “cutoff”  field.  The  click  “create  surface”.  The  colour  schemes  etc.  can  be  adjusted  at  

will  –  try  it!  It’s  easy  and  produces  nice  pictures.  Create  files  via  the  “snapshot”  feature  of  

Molekel.  Other  programs  can  certainly  also  deal  with  Gaussian-­‐Cube  files.    

   Figure  4:  The  π  and  π*-­‐MOs  of  CO  as  visualized  by  Molekel.  

2.6 The  Data  Analysis  Program  XMGrace  For  a  survey  over  all  features  of  xmgrace,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  excellent  manual  

provided  under    http:www.grace.com  

2.6.1  Plotting  a  Graph  with  XMGrace  Getting  data  Before  anything  can  be  plotted,  the  data  must  be  generated.  To  prepare  the  data  so  that  

it  can  be  read  in  directly  by  xmgrace,  one  should  store  it  in  a  plain  text  file,  containing  

only  numbers.  Decimal  numbers  must  be  written  with  points.    To  actually  start  xmgrace,  

type  

$:  xmgrace  datafile                        

while  datafile  is  the  name  of  the  file  containing  the  prepared  data.      

The  Basic  Computational  Environment     14  

 Figure  5:  The  “Getting  Data”  window  of  Xmgrace  

By  default,  the  first  column  is  read  in  as  the  x  values,  while  the  second  represents  the    y  values.  Getting  even  more  data      To  load  a  new  dataset  (in  short:  “set”      into  the  actual  graph,  select  “Data  -­‐>  Import...  -­‐>  

ASCII”  from  the      menu  bar.  Be  sure  to  eliminate  the  last  entry  of  the  filter  (*.dat)  if  you  

can't  see  the  desired  file  (1).  

To  start  a  completely  new  graph,  select  “File  -­‐>  New”  from  the  menu  bar.  

Getting  more  complicated  data  Data  that  contains  more  than  two  rows  can  be  read  in  via    “Data  -­‐>  Import...  -­‐>  ASCII”.  

Selecting  “Load  as  -­‐>  Block  data”  (2)  will  provide  a  new  window  where  you  can  select  

which  row  of  data  should  be  used  for  the  x  and  the  y  axis.  

 

2.6.2 Polishing  the  Graph:  Menu  Plot    Graph  appearance...  Here  one  can  alter  the  appearance  of  the  legend,  the  title,  the  frames  of  the  graph  as  well  

as  the  legend  box.  It  is  common  to  select  “2”  for  the  width  of  all  lines,  in  this  case  the  

frames.  

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The  Basic  Computational  Environment     15  

 Figure  6:  The  “Set  Appearance”  window  of  Xmgrace  

The  same  menu  can  be  opened  by  double  clicking  with  the  left  mouse  button  outside  the  

graph.  

Set  appearance...    Here  one  can  change  the  design  of  every  single  set  (of  data).  The  first  part  “Select  set”  

(1)  allows  to  choose  the  set  to  edit.  Because  we  normally  have  discrete  values,  we  prefer  

a  representation  of  every  single  point  over  lines.  This  is  done  by  going  to  tab  “Main”,  

select  “Symbol  properties  -­‐>  Type:  Diamonds”  (for  example)  (2)  and  select  “Line  

properties  -­‐>  Type:  None”  (3).  Here  you  can  also  fill  in  the  name  of  the  data  set  for  the  

legend  (4).  The  command  “\s”  makes  all  following  letters  to  be  written  as  a  subscript,  

“\N”  returns  to  normal  format.  Hit  “Apply”  (5)  to  not  loose  this  changes  while  going  to  

the  next  tab,  “Symbols”.  

Here,  set  the  “Symbol  outline  -­‐>  width”  to  “2”  and  “Symbol  fill  -­‐>  Pattern”  to  the  filled  

black  square.  All  other  tabs  are  not  important  at  the  moment.      

The  same  menu  can  be  opened  by  double  clicking  with  the  left  mouse  button  directly  on  

one  data  point  (or  one  line).    

Axis  properties  Here  the  range  of  the  axis,  the  appearance  of  the  axis  bars  and  the  title  of  the  axis  are  set.  

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The  Basic  Computational  Environment     16  

“Edit”  determines  which  axis  is  to  be  edited.  Make  sure  that  you  edit  the  right  axis,  and  

that  “Apply  to”  at  the  bottom  is  set  to  “Current  axis”  before  hitting  apply.  Note  that  most  

of  the  alterations  have  to  be  done  twice.  

The  tab  “Main”  is  mostly  to  modify  the  axis  label.  If  “Symbol”  must  be  used  as  the  

language,  open  in  the  main  menu  “Window  -­‐>    Font  tool”,  select  “Symbol”  as  the  

language,  and  click  on  the  desired  letter.  The  appearing  string  can  directly  be  plugged  

into  the  axis  label.  

To  get  a  consistent  graph,  go  to  tab  “Tick  marks”  and  set  all  line  width  to  “2”  as  well  as  

“Placement  -­‐>  Draw  on:”  to  “Normal  side”.  

The  same  menu  can  be  opened  by  double  clicking  with  the  left  mouse  button  directly  on  

one  axis.            

2.6.3 Evaluating  the  data:  Fitting  Procedures  The  most  frequently  used  methods  to  search  for  trends  in  experimental  or  

computational  data  are  regression  analysis  and  the  non-­‐linear  curve  fitting.  

A.  Regression  analysis  To  do  a  linear  regression  analysis,    select  “Data  -­‐>  Transformation  -­‐>  Regression  ...”  .  This  

will  lead  to  a  new  window,  where  you  can  choose  which  data  set  should  be  analyzed,  and  

with  which  method.  Furthermore,  selecting  “Restrictions  -­‐>  Region  ..”  you  can  choose  

which  subset  of  data  points  should  be  used  for  the  regression.  

To  define  a  region,  go  to  “Edit  -­‐>  Regions  ...-­‐>  Define”  in  the  main  menu.  Select  the  region  

type  and  click  “Define”.  Then  use  the  left  mouse  button  (one  click  per  corner/end)  to  

define  the  geometrical  structure  you  have  selected.  

Back  to  the  linear  regression,  click  “Accept”.  Now  a  new  data  set  is  created,  which  can  be    

treated  like  any  data  set  before.  Also,  all  information  of  the  fitting  procedure  are  printed  

in  a  new  window.  There,  go  to  File  -­‐>  Save  to  save  these  results.  

 

The  Basic  Computational  Environment     17  

 Figure  7:  The  “Nonlinear  Curve  Fitting”  window  of  Xmgrace  

B.  Non-­‐linear  curve  fitting  

To  do  a  non-­‐linear  curve  fitting,  select  Data  -­‐>  Transformation  -­‐>  Non-­‐linear  curve  

fitting.  In  the  new  window,  you  must  select  the  data  set  (1),  the  fit  function  (2)  and  the  

number  of  parameters  (3)  present  in  the  fit  function.  Make  sure  that  the  parameters  in  

the  fit  function  are  labeled  A0,  A1  ...  .  

The  rest  is  done  in  an  analogue  way  to  the  linear  regression  analysis.  

Note  that  the  curve  is  plotted  by  connecting  data  points  with  the  x  values  of  the  original  

data  set  in  the  order  of  the  original  basis  set.  This  can  lead  to  quite  confusing  results  at  

first  glance,  so  one  has  to  switch  back  to  2.2  and  edit  the  new  data  set  accordingly,  i.e.,  by    

changing  form  line  to  point  representation.    

2.6.4 Printing  and  Saving  the  Results  To  save  the  whole  graph,  go  to  “File  -­‐>  Save  as  ...“  in  the  main  menu.  

 

To  print,  go  to  “File  -­‐>  Print  setup  “and  disable  “Output  -­‐>  Print  to  file”(2).  Type  “lpr  -­‐

Plexzip”  in  “Output  -­‐>  Print  command”  (3).    

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The  Basic  Computational  Environment     18  

Select  “File  -­‐>  Print”  back  in  the  main  menu.  

To  save  this  graph  as  an  eps  file,  go  to  the  print  setup  and  enable  “Output  -­‐>  print  to  

file”(2).  

Select    “Device  Setup  -­‐>  Device  -­‐>  EPS”(1).  

Alter  “Output  -­‐>  File  name  -­‐>  ....eps”(4).  

Select  “File  -­‐>  Print”  back  in  the  main  menu.  

 Figure  8:  The  “Printing  and  Saving  the  Results”  window  of  Xmgrace  

 

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The  Basic  Computational  Environment     19  

   

The  Basic  Computational  Environment     20