4.0 Preferences

Preferences window

The Preferences window is shown in Preferences window . The options selected when you bring up the window might be different from the options selected in the picture below.

The Preferences window allows you to set your own options for various MeshTV functions. For example, if you prefer, you can decide to "turn off" informational messages so that you no longer see them. Any changes in this window remain in effect, till they are modified again. Modifications remain in effect for the rest of the current MeshTV session. To set permanent defaults for items in this window, you can make your changes to the window and then select the Save settings item in the File menu of the MeshTV Main window.

Information Display area

This area allows you to indicate which messages you would like to receive. For example, you can decide to see warnings but not messages to cut down on the number of informational windows you'll see during your MeshTV session.

Display hints toggle button

You can turn this option on if you want to see hint messages. Hint messages contain helpful information on how to use MeshTV. When hints are enabled, moving the pointer over hint-enabled windows will display hints in a small raised window. Not all windows have hints.

Display messages toggle button

You can turn this option off if you don't want to see informational messages. Messages contain helpful or confirmational information and as such require no action. For example, a message will pop up after you request Getting Started... from the Help pulldown menu, informing you that Netscape Navigator has been started.

Display warnings toggle button

You can turn this option off if you don't want to see warnings. Warnings indicate that something is wrong, but not seriously wrong. For example, a warning pops up if you press the Apply button in a plot attribute window, and there are no plots of that type (i.e., pressing the Apply button in the Label plot attributes window , and there are no label plots.)

Miscellaneous area

This area allows you to show hidden variables (variables which start with a dot.)

Show hidden variables toggle button

When displaying variables, MeshTV normally hides directories that start with a dot or are referenced by a multimesh object. When this option is set to on, all variables will be visible in the variable lists. Changing the setting affects only subsequently opened files, not currently open files. Most users never have occasion to turn this option on.

Renderer area

You can instruct MeshTV to customize the graphics renderer you're using. You can optimize graphics for two dimensional datasets by selecting the Optimize for 2D graphics toggle button, and you can fade details into the distance using the Depth Cue controls.

Optimize for 2D graphics toggle button

This option only applies if you are using the Software Renderer driver. Turning this on improves the speed and quality for all 2D plots except pseudocolor plots with nodal centering. This switches all 2D plot windows to the X11 driver from the Software Renderer, providing a significant speed increase.

Depth cueing controls

The Depth cueing toggle button option enables or disables depth cueing on three dimensional images. This blends objects into the background based on their distance from the viewer, and it can clarify details on complex objects.

When it is enabled, other controls are available. The quality selection radio buttons, Fast and Nice , hint to the renderer the method to use when applying depth cueing. Note, however, that when using the software renderer on very complex datasets, the Nice option may be faster. The Fade slider controls the amount of fading applied to the objects.

Material interface reconstruction controls

The options in this area deal with tuning the algorithm used for reconstructing material interfaces. This occurs in the material plots and when applying material selection to other plots. When these options are changed, existing plots are not affected. Changes only affect future plots.

Subdivision level

This option selects the amount of subdivision to use. The lowest value implies no subdivision. This is the fastest option. The highest value can better handle zones with higher numbers of materials or complicated interfaces, but it takes longer and can introduce minor oscillations in the reconstructed surface.

Maximum iterations

This specifies the maximum number of iterations to use when attempting to make the volume fractions in the reconstruction represent the true volume fractions. It can be zero, implying no iteration, or a positive integer. Note that iteration can take a while in 3D, and that most of the accuracy is recovered after only a few iterations, so if you need more accuracy, start with an iteration count of 1 or 2, and work up from there.

Use old isosurface algorithm

When this option is on, any further material interface reconstruction will use the older algorithm. This algorithm is an isosurface-based approach which treats each material as the region where its volume fraction is greater than some value (typically 0.5). This algorithm is less accurate than the newer, probability-based algorithm, especially for clean zones and zones containing more than two materials. Note that the old algorithm is only available for 3D plots; this option does not affect 2D plots.

Volume fraction

The isosurface algorithm is not precise and can be tuned through its volume fraction parameter. When this value is reduced, material boundaries grow. When it is raised, materials encompass less.

Opening files area

The options in this area deal with what happens when files are opened. You can tell it to automatically reset attributes when you replace a file, ignore file times when reading in a family of files, and use the current working directory for your initial directory when selecting files.

Reset attributes on replace toggle button

When this option is on, plots are redrawn from data in the new file with most of the plot settings (e.g. contour levels, pseudocolor range, etc.) reset to values based on the new data file. When this option is turned off, the attributes for the plots will stay exactly the same after the replace as before. When this option is on, pressing the Draw button on the MeshTV Main window without adding a plot causes the plots to be redrawn with the attributes reset.

Ignore file times toggle button

This option controls the reading of the times associated with each file in a family of files. If the option is off, the times inside each SILO file in the family are read when a member file is opened. If the option is set to on, the times inside each file will not be read when a family file member is opened. This greatly increases the speed of opening families of files. The drawback is that file times will no longer appear in the text field next to the animation slider on the main control panel. Also, the error checking insures that the times associated with each file in the family are monotonically increasing will be bypassed.

Unless you are running an animation which contains non-regular time intervals, you will probably want to set this option on, to avoid the slow down caused by reading file times. If you are running an animation which has constant time intervals, you don't need to read file times, because setting the frame to 3/4 through the animation will be both 3/4 in frames and 3/4 in time. However, if your files are irregularly spaced in time, setting the frame to 3/4 through the animation will be 3/4 in frames when you ignore files times, and 3/4 in time if you don't ignore file times while reading in files.

Use current working directory toggle button

When you select Save settings from the File menu in the MeshTV Main window, you can either save the directory path which is currently typed into the Path text field in the Select files... window, or you can instruct MeshTV to use whatever the current directory happens to be the next time MeshTV is run. MeshTV uses the current working directory when this option is on, else it uses the directory which was in the Path text field when Save settings was last selected.

Preferences

Overview