NAS101, Appendex A, Page 1 DOCUMENTATION This section briefly describes the MSC.Nastran documentation. A quick overview of these documents is shown in Table 1.  MSC.Nastran Quick Reference Guide Contains a complete description of the NASTRAN statements, File Management statements, Executive Control statements, Case Control commands, Bulk Data entries, and parameters. This book is necessary for all MSC.Nastran users.  MSC.Nastran Release Guide Describes version-dependent capabilities and presents illustrative examples. This document is required to use the new capabilities in each new version of MSC.Nastran.

NAS101, Appendex A, Page 2 DOCUMENTATION (Cont.)  MSC.Nastran Common Questions and Answers Contains answers to commonly asked questions on a wide variety of analysis topics.  MSC.Nastran Reference Manual Contains material that is primarily reference oriented, non-solution sequence dependent material and is highly subdivided for ease of use. This manual is independent of machine type or operating system. This document is typically not required for the day-to-day analysis activities of most analysts and can therefore be shared by a group or department.  MSC.Nastran Configuration and Operations Guide Contains machine-dependent information for installing, customizing, and using MSC.Nastran.

NAS101, Appendex A, Page 3 DOCUMENTATION  MSC.Nastran DMAP Module Dictionary replaces Section 5 of the old MSC.Nastran User’s Manual. This manual is required if you are using MSC.Nastran DMAP features. MSC.Nastran User’s Guides and Other Books User’s Guides describe in detail all aspects of MSC.Nastran input, output, and modeling guidelines used for specific analysis capabilities. These documents are recommended for the various capabilities that you use most often. The following books are available:

NAS101, Appendex A, Page 4 DOCUMENTATION (Cont.)  Getting Started with MSC.Nastran User’s Guide  MSC.Nastran Linear Static Analysis User’s Guide  MSC.Nastran Basic Dynamic Analysis User’s Guide  MSC.Nastran Advanced Dynamic Analysis User’s Guide  MSC.Nastran Design Sensitivity and Optimization User’s Guide  MSC.Nastran Thermal Analysis User’s Guide

NAS101, Appendex A, Page 5 DOCUMENTATION (Cont.)  MSC.Nastran Numerical Methods User’s Guide  MSC.Nastran Aeroelastic Analysis User’s Guide  MSC.Nastran Bibliography äLists approximately 1900 technical papers pertaining to MSC.Nastran arranged by author and topic.

NAS101, Appendex A, Page 6 DOCUMENTATION (Cont.) Table 1. MSC.Nastran Documentation System. MSC.Nastran Documentation Reference Manual DMAP Module Dictionary Quick Reference Guide User’s Guides Online Encyclopedia CD-ROM Bibliography Common Questions & Answers Configuration and Operations Guide Release Guide

NAS101, Appendex A, Page 7 ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION Older User Documentation Available  MSC.Nastran Handbook for Superelement Analysis  MSC.Nastran Handbook for Nonlinear Analysis  MSC.Nastran Demonstration Problem Manual Shows illustrative examples with MSC.Nastran input and output.  MSC.Nastran Verification Problem Manual Provides examples for which there are known solutions and compares MSC.Nastran output with theory. Examples using most of the Unstructured Solution Sequences are included.

NAS101, Appendex A, Page 8 ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION (Cont.)  The NASTRAN Theoretical Manual Explains the theoretical basis of the elements and algorithms. The numerical algorithm material is superseded by the MSC.Nastran Handbook for Numerical Methods and the MSC.Nastran Numerical Methods User’s Guide.  MSC.Nastran Programmer’s Manual Describes the input and output for the modules. This manual is not recommended for general use but is useful for advanced DMAP development.  All of the documents listed above can be ordered from your local MSC office representative or directly from our website.

NAS101, Appendex A, Page 9 ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION (Cont.)  MSC Corporate Web Site  The MSC.Software Corporation’s Web site provides several sources of information that can assist you in running MSC.Nastran and our other products. MSC’s Web address is  Here you can find out what is new with MSC, read white papers on the use of MSC products, download technical papers from previous User’s Conference, order documentation from the MSC Bookstore, obtain a schedule of training courses, share feedback and suggestions interactively with other users, and even download software patches and utilities. The sssalter library and error list will also be posted on the Web in the future.