Expecting second argument to be a Function

On Sun, 05 May 2013 11:11:33 -0000
imranal <email address hidden> wrote:
> New question #228187 on DOLFIN:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/dolfin/+question/228187
>
> I came upon this strange error message while running the following
> code (the error message has been included at the end) :
>
> from dolfin import *
>
>
> N = 100
> alpha = 0.1
> mesh = UnitInterval(N)
> V = FunctionSpace(mesh,"CG",1)
>
> def left(x,on_boundary):
> return on_boundary & near(x[0],0)
> def right(x,on_boundary):
> return on_boundary & near(x[0],1)
>
> # The boundary conditions
> bc_left = DirichletBC(V,Constant(0),left)
> bc_right = DirichletBC(V,Constant(1.0),right)
> bcs = [bc_left,bc_right]
>
> # The variational formulation
> u = TrialFunction(V)
> v = TestFunction(V)
> a = (-u.dx(0)*v + alpha*u.dx(0)*v.dx(0))*dx
> L = Constant(0)*v*dx
>
> # Solve the variational problem
> solve(a == L,u,bcs)
> #u_ = Function(V)
> #solve(a==L,u_,bcs)
>
> The commented code works well. However when I try to solve the
> variational problem and store the solution in u, which is the trial
> function, I produce the error message :
>
> >> python convection_diffusion_1D.py
>
> Traceback (most recent call last):
> File "convection_diffusion_1D.py", line 26, in <module>
> solve(a == L,u,bcs)
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dolfin/fem/solving.py", line
> 250, in solve _solve_varproblem(*args, **kwargs)
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dolfin/fem/solving.py", line
> 261, in _solve_varproblem = _extract_args(*args, **kwargs)
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dolfin/fem/solving.py", line
> 368, in _extract_args u = _extract_u(args[1])
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dolfin/fem/solving.py", line
> 418, in _extract_u "Expecting second argument to be a Function")
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dolfin/cpp.py", line 2261,
> in dolfin_error return _cpp.dolfin_error(*args)
> RuntimeError:
>
> ***
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *** DOLFIN encountered an error. If you are not able to resolve this
> issue *** using the information listed below, you can ask for help at
> *** *** https://answers.launchpad.net/dolfin
> ***
> *** Remember to include the error message listed below and, if
> possible, *** include a *minimal* running example to reproduce the
> error. ***
> ***
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *** Error: Unable to solve variational problem. *** Reason:
> Expecting second argument to be a Function. *** Where: This error
> was encountered inside solving.py. ***
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Why does this happen ? I have solved plenty of problems using the
> trialfunction as an argument in different solvers to store the
> solution inside.
>

TrialFunction is an argument of form in which the form is linear and in
particular it is the first argument of form - TestFunction being last.
So TrialFunction is used in definitions of bilinear forms.

On the other hand finite element functions (i.e. linear combinations
of basis functions) are handled via Function object. So your
outcommented code is correct. You could also label solution as u
instead if u_

u = TrialFunction(V)
v = TestFunction(V)
a = ...
L = ...

u = Function(V)
solve(a==L, u, bcs)

This is in fact a canonical way how to solve linear problem.

Jan