feat: implement timeline by ZachDerocher · Pull Request #985 · ansys/pyspeos

ZachDerocher · 2026-05-25T06:29:54Z

Description

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Issue linked

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Checklist

[x ] I have tested my changes locally.
[x ] I have added necessary documentation or updated existing documentation.
[ x] I have followed the coding style guidelines of this project.
[ x] I have added appropriate tests (unit, integration, system).
[ x] I have reviewed my changes before submitting this pull request.
[x ] I have linked the issue or issues that are solved by the PR if any.
[x ] I have assigned this PR to myself.
[x ] I have made sure that the title of my PR follows Conventional commits style (e.g. feat: add optical property)
[x ] I have agreed with the Contributor License Agreement (CLA).

…o remove later

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codecov · 2026-05-25T06:36:30Z

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 97.14286% with 1 line in your changes missing coverage. Please review.
✅ Project coverage is 88.50%. Comparing base (041b2dd) to head (10aaf34).
⚠️ Report is 3 commits behind head on main.

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
src/ansys/speos/core/simulation.py	95.65%	1 Missing ⚠️

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##             main     #985      +/-   ##
==========================================
- Coverage   89.98%   88.50%   -1.49%     
==========================================
  Files          45       47       +2     
  Lines       10685    10957     +272     
==========================================
+ Hits         9615     9697      +82     
- Misses       1070     1260     +190

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Signed-off-by: pluAtAnsys <pengyuan.lu@ansys.com>

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR adds timeline support to the inverse simulation API, exposing a toggle and a start time that map to the underlying inverse_mc_simulation_properties.timeline protobuf field.

Changes:

Added timeline and start_time properties to SimulationInverse, including enabling/disabling behavior via protobuf HasField/ClearField.
Extended inverse simulation tests to cover default behavior, enable/disable, and start-time-driven re-enabling.
Added a changelog fragment documenting the new capability.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 4 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

File	Description
`tests/core/test_simulation.py`	Adds assertions covering timeline defaults and transitions for inverse simulations.
`src/ansys/speos/core/simulation.py`	Implements `timeline` and `start_time` properties and wires defaults during inverse simulation initialization.
`src/ansys/speos/core/generic/parameters.py`	Introduces timeline-related parameters for inverse simulations.
`doc/changelog.d/985.added.md`	Documents the new timeline feature.

ZachDerocher · 2026-06-02T11:41:43Z

+    timeline: bool = False
+    """whether timeline is enabled"""
+    start_time: float = 0.00
+    """timeline start time (s)"""


updated to make start_time optional, but retained the boolean field timeline.

StefanThoene · 2026-06-02T06:22:07Z

@ZachDerocher Hi after review we found out that both lightbox timeline and source timeline functionality is not implemented

you can find the related properties in the scene instance and source template

lightbox is now implemented in main

Co-authored-by: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

ZachDerocher · 2026-06-02T11:35:22Z

@ZachDerocher Hi after review we found out that both lightbox timeline and source timeline functionality is not implemented

you can find the related properties in the scene instance and source template

lightbox is now implemented in main

As discussed, I will implement timeline for LB in this feature branch. Timeline support for source will be implemented as a separate feature.

Co-authored-by: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Co-authored-by: Pengyuan LU <89462462+pluAtAnsys@users.noreply.github.com>

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…speos into feat/implement-timeline

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…speos into feat/implement-timeline

StefanThoene · 2026-06-08T07:58:44Z

+    def timeline(self) -> bool:
+        """Switch to enable/disable the simulation timeline.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        bool
+            State of timeline activation.
+        """
+        return self._job.inverse_mc_simulation_properties.HasField("timeline")
+
+    @timeline.setter
+    def timeline(self, value: bool) -> None:
+        props = self._job.inverse_mc_simulation_properties
+
+        if value:
+            if not props.HasField("timeline"):
+                timeline = props.timeline
+                timeline.start_time = 0.0
+        else:
+            props.ClearField("timeline")


you are not using the boolean

why can a user set a timeline when the boolean is false -> either use the boolean or not have it

you could make it read only

SpeosRPC doesn't have a "timeline" boolean, but the Speos UI does have it. My aim was to mimic the UI functionality, for consistency.

I expect a user to set timeline=True, and then set start_time. For disabling, they can set timeline=False. This behavior mimics the Speos UI.

Alternatively, since the timeline property I created here is just an intermediary, the user can optionally work solely with the start_time property. Setting start_time to any value enables timeline; setting start_time to None disables timeline.

In SpeosRPC, the "timeline" boolean is the presence or not of the field timeline in the job.
Exactly what you checked for the timeline property getter few lines above.

I think also that the timeline property can be useful for the client to understand that he is activating/deactivating the timeline.

But then, it is important that you check this property when setting the start_time one.
-> Error if the user tries to set start_time and that he didn't previously activated timeline.

echambla · 2026-06-11T07:29:42Z

+    start_time: Optional[float] = None
+    """Timeline start time in seconds. Set to ``None`` to disable the simulation timeline."""


Suggested change

start_time: Optional[float] = None

"""Timeline start time in seconds. Set to ``None`` to disable the simulation timeline."""

start_time: Optional[float] = 0.0

"""Timeline start time in seconds."""

I would rather separate notion of start_time, of the one of timeline (de)activation.
It can be weird for the user to set start_time to 0.0 in order to activate the timeline.
Instead, setting the default value to 0.0, will mimic SpaceClaim behavior.

echambla · 2026-06-11T07:37:28Z

+                timeline = props.timeline
+                timeline.start_time = 0.0


This is equivalent to:

Suggested change

timeline = props.timeline

timeline.start_time = 0.0

props.timeline.start_time = 0.0

echambla · 2026-06-11T07:42:45Z

+    def timeline(self) -> bool:
+        """Switch to enable/disable the simulation timeline.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        bool
+            State of timeline activation.
+        """
+        return self._job.inverse_mc_simulation_properties.HasField("timeline")
+
+    @timeline.setter
+    def timeline(self, value: bool) -> None:
+        props = self._job.inverse_mc_simulation_properties
+
+        if value:
+            if not props.HasField("timeline"):
+                timeline = props.timeline
+                timeline.start_time = 0.0
+        else:
+            props.ClearField("timeline")


In SpeosRPC, the "timeline" boolean is the presence or not of the field timeline in the job.
Exactly what you checked for the timeline property getter few lines above.

I think also that the timeline property can be useful for the client to understand that he is activating/deactivating the timeline.

But then, it is important that you check this property when setting the start_time one.
-> Error if the user tries to set start_time and that he didn't previously activated timeline.

echambla · 2026-06-11T07:44:42Z

Would it be interesting to build a specific example notebook for timeline?
@ZachDerocher @StefanThoene
-> I will add one in the PR timeline for sources

Signed-off-by: pluAtAnsys <pengyuan.lu@ansys.com>

…speos into feat/implement-timeline

for more information, see https://pre-commit.ci

Signed-off-by: pluAtAnsys <pengyuan.lu@ansys.com>

ZachDerocher added 2 commits May 21, 2026 11:32

initial feature commit; includes tracking of local feature testing, t…

2b312ce

…o remove later

feature completion, addition of testing

ca4f679

ZachDerocher self-assigned this May 25, 2026

ZachDerocher requested review from StefanThoene, echambla, jomadec and pluAtAnsys as code owners May 25, 2026 06:29

ZachDerocher linked an issue May 25, 2026 that may be closed by this pull request

Add Implement timeline functionality (Speos RPC 2026R1sp1) #969

Open

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github-actions Bot added the enhancement New features or code improvements label May 25, 2026

pluAtAnsys changed the title ~~Feat: implement timeline~~ feat: implement timeline May 26, 2026

pluAtAnsys added documentation Improvements or additions to documentation testing Anything related to tests labels May 26, 2026

pluAtAnsys and others added 3 commits May 26, 2026 12:50

Merge branch 'main' into feat/implement-timeline

af32742

style fix

8c56d08

Signed-off-by: pluAtAnsys <pengyuan.lu@ansys.com>

chore: adding changelog file 985.added.md [dependabot-skip]

78fcbbd

pluAtAnsys requested changes May 28, 2026

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Comment thread src/ansys/speos/core/simulation.py

pluAtAnsys requested a review from Copilot May 28, 2026 15:29

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Comment thread tests/core/test_simulation.py Outdated

StefanThoene and others added 2 commits June 2, 2026 08:22

Merge branch 'main' into feat/implement-timeline

027674d

Potential fix for pull request finding

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ZachDerocher and others added 4 commits June 2, 2026 20:35

Potential fix for pull request finding

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Co-authored-by: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Update src/ansys/speos/core/simulation.py

24f862e

Co-authored-by: Pengyuan LU <89462462+pluAtAnsys@users.noreply.github.com>

ci: auto fixes from pre-commit.com hooks.

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separated timeline unit test, using 26r1 decorator

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pre-commit-ci Bot and others added 7 commits June 5, 2026 05:40

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added trajectory property for lightbox

45355e0

Merge branch 'feat/implement-timeline' of https://github.com/ansys/py…

57c586e

…speos into feat/implement-timeline

ci: auto fixes from pre-commit.com hooks.

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resolve precommit style issues

fa73273

Merge branch 'feat/implement-timeline' of https://github.com/ansys/py…

41eedf7

…speos into feat/implement-timeline

added example

c02587e

StefanThoene reviewed Jun 8, 2026

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Merge branch 'main' into feat/implement-timeline

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echambla reviewed Jun 11, 2026

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pluAtAnsys and others added 6 commits June 11, 2026 11:08

Merge branch 'main' into feat/implement-timeline

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typo

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Signed-off-by: pluAtAnsys <pengyuan.lu@ansys.com>

Merge branch 'main' into feat/implement-timeline

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sim run unit test using vtp; improved defaults handling

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Merge branch 'feat/implement-timeline' of https://github.com/ansys/py…

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…speos into feat/implement-timeline

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echambla reviewed Jun 12, 2026

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Comment thread .../Timeline.speos/PerfectLambertian_d9bf-491f-7462-6c22._34fe-a047-a80e-f42b..simplescattering Outdated

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pluAtAnsys and others added 11 commits June 12, 2026 20:07

support visualize lightbox trajectory path

8444cac

Signed-off-by: pluAtAnsys <pengyuan.lu@ansys.com>

support visualize camera trajectory path

f32caee

Signed-off-by: pluAtAnsys <pengyuan.lu@ansys.com>

cleaning up; timeline simulation test now uses export_xmp_to_image()

6ef83cd

cleanup

e51f095

adjust test limit

238c083

merging

4a2bfe8

merging

c7e6c47

logging

5367d9e

Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into feat/implement-timeline

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fix issue during merge

0b16b4e

fix

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Signed-off-by: pluAtAnsys <pengyuan.lu@ansys.com>

		start_time: Optional[float] = None
		"""Timeline start time in seconds. Set to ``None`` to disable the simulation timeline."""

	timeline = props.timeline
	timeline.start_time = 0.0
	props.timeline.start_time = 0.0

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ZachDerocher commented May 25, 2026

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