5.1. LAMMPS input scripts

LAMMPS executes by reading commands from a input script (text file), one line at a time. When the input script ends, LAMMPS exits. Each command causes LAMMPS to take some action. It may set an internal variable, read in a file, or run a simulation. Most commands have default settings, which means you only need to use the command if you wish to change the default.

In many cases, the ordering of commands in an input script is not important. However the following rules apply:

(1) LAMMPS does not read your entire input script and then perform a simulation with all the settings. Rather, the input script is read one line at a time and each command takes effect when it is read. Thus this sequence of commands:

timestep 0.5
run      100
run      100

does something different than this sequence:

run      100
timestep 0.5
run      100

In the first case, the specified timestep (0.5 fs) is used for two simulations of 100 timesteps each. In the second case, the default timestep (1.0 fs) is used for the first 100 step simulation and a 0.5 fs timestep is used for the second one.

(2) Some commands are only valid when they follow other commands. For example you cannot set the temperature of a group of atoms until atoms have been defined and a group command is used to define which atoms belong to the group.

(3) Sometimes command B will use values that can be set by command A. This means command A must precede command B in the input script if it is to have the desired effect. For example, the read_data command initializes the system by setting up the simulation box and assigning atoms to processors. If default values are not desired, the processors and boundary commands need to be used before read_data to tell LAMMPS how to map processors to the simulation box.

Many input script errors are detected by LAMMPS and an ERROR or WARNING message is printed. The Errors page gives more information on what errors mean. The documentation for each command lists restrictions on how the command can be used.