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The NodeSet section allows users to define node sets. These node sets can then later be used in the definition of the fixed and prescribed boundary conditions. A node set is defined by the NodeSet tag. This tag takes one required attribute, name, which defines the name of the node set. A node set definition is followed by a list of nodes. For each a node tag is defined which requires one attribute, named “id”, which takes the node number as its value. For example,

<NodeSet name="nodeset1">
  <node id="1"/>
  <node id="2"/>
  <node id="101"/>
  <node id="102"/>
</NodeSet>

Node sets can also be nested.

<NodeSet name="set1"> ... </NodeSet>
<NodeSet name="set2"> ... </NodeSet>
<NodeSet name="set3">
  <NodeSet node_set="set1"/>
  <NodeSet node_set="set2"/>
<NodeSet>

This is useful for defining larger nodesets without repeating node numbers.