Command-line Interface

The command-line interface is the quickest way to run an analysis — no Python scripting required.

Prerequisites

• The package is installed inside an active virtual environment.
• You have a completed master sheet, Template mastersheet REH.xlsx. If you don't have one yet, download the blank template and fill it in with your project's data.

Running an analysis

1. Place the completed master sheet in the folder where you want to run the analysis.
2. From that folder, activate your virtual environment (see Create a Virtual Environment).
3. Run:

retaining-wall

The retaining-wall command becomes available automatically once the package is installed inside the active environment.

By default, the command looks for a file named Template mastersheet REH.xlsx in the current directory. Results are written to an outputs/ sub-folder created in that same directory.

Options

Flag	Description	Default
--mastersheet PATH	Explicit path to the master sheet Excel file	Template mastersheet REH.xlsx in the current directory
--metric VALUE	Output metric — FOS or UTILISATION	FOS
--output-dir DIR	Directory to write outputs to	outputs/ in the current directory

Examples

Run all factor cases with the default master sheet in the current directory:

retaining-wall

Specify the master sheet location explicitly, for example when running the command from a different working directory:

retaining-wall --mastersheet "C:/Projects/MyProject/Template mastersheet REH.xlsx"

Report utilisation instead of factor of safety, and write the results elsewhere:

retaining-wall --metric UTILISATION --output-dir "C:/Projects/MyProject/results"

Version check & usage logging

On every run, the CLI:

• Checks the installed package version against the latest release and prints a warning if it is out of date.
• Sends a one-line usage log (project name and project number, as read from the master sheet) to the internal usage dashboard. This is skipped automatically when the project name is TEST.

Both steps use your corporate credentials (interactive sign-in the first time, then a cached token) and never block the analysis from running if they fail.

Where to find your results

After the command finishes, open the outputs/ folder (or the folder passed to --output-dir). Inside it, each section gets its own sub-folder named after that section's sheet name (e.g. Section A, Section B). Within a section's folder, you'll find:

• One result workbook per factor case, load case and combination case, named <project_name>_<factor_case>_<load_case>_<combination_case>_Leading.xlsm.
• A Combined_Results.xlsx summary workbook for that section.

Troubleshooting

• Command not found — make sure your virtual environment is activated in the current terminal session before running retaining-wall. See Create a Virtual Environment.
• File not found — confirm the master sheet is named exactly Template mastersheet REH.xlsx and is in the current directory, or pass its location explicitly with --mastersheet.

Need more control?

If you need to run a single section, override specific inputs, or run without an Excel file at all, use the Python API instead:

• Python API — Excel master sheet
• Python API — static inputs