Including other files

If, for some reason, you want to spread your PLUMED input over a number of files you can use INCLUDE as shown below:

Click on the labels of the actions for more information on what each action computes
tested on v2.8
INCLUDE 
FILE
compulsory keyword file to be included
=filename

So, for example, a single "plumed.dat" file:

Click on the labels of the actions for more information on what each action computes
tested on v2.8
dist: DISTANCE 
ATOMS
the pair of atom that we are calculating the distance between.
=1,2 RESTRAINT
ARG
the input for this action is the scalar output from one or more other actions.
=dist
AT
compulsory keyword the position of the restraint
=2.0
KAPPA
compulsory keyword ( default=0.0 ) specifies that the restraint is harmonic and what the values of the force constants on each of the variables are
=1.0

could be split up into two files as shown below:

Click on the labels of the actions for more information on what each action computes
tested on v2.8
dist: DISTANCE 
ATOMS
the pair of atom that we are calculating the distance between.
=1,2 INCLUDE
FILE
compulsory keyword file to be included
=toBeIncluded.inc

plus a "toBeIncluded.inc" file

Click on the labels of the actions for more information on what each action computes
tested on v2.8
#SETTINGS FILENAME=toBeIncluded.inc
# this is toBeIncluded.inc
RESTRAINT 
ARG
the input for this action is the scalar output from one or more other actions.
=dist
AT
compulsory keyword the position of the restraint
=2.0
KAPPA
compulsory keyword ( default=0.0 ) specifies that the restraint is harmonic and what the values of the force constants on each of the variables are
=1.0

However, when you do this it is important to recognize that INCLUDE is a real directive that is only resolved after all the Comments have been stripped and the Continuation lines have been unrolled. This means it is not possible to do things like:

Click on the labels of the actions for more information on what each action computes
tested on v2.8
# this is wrong:
DISTANCE 
INCLUDE
could not find this keyword
FILE
could not find this keyword
=options.dat RESTRAINT
ARG
the input for this action is the scalar output from one or more other actions.
=dist
AT
compulsory keyword the position of the restraint
=2.0
KAPPA
compulsory keyword ( default=0.0 ) specifies that the restraint is harmonic and what the values of the force constants on each of the variables are
=1.0