This area, shown in
Selected files area
, provides a quick interface to your data files. This area consists of the
Selected files
list, the
Open
button, the
Replace
button, the
Overlay
button, and the
Output window
icon, and the
Busy clock
icon, which is only visible when MeshTV is working on displaying a plot.
This scrollable list displays selected files. When you start MeshTV, this list will usually already contain files. These are the files in the directory that matched the path stored in the Select files window (accessed via the File pulldown menu in the MeshTV Main window) and that also matched the file filter found in that window. If you want to select other files, you must go to the Select files window by pulling down the File menu and choosing the Select files... entry. When you select new files via that window, the selected files appear in this list.When you click on a file name, the Open , Replace , and Overlay buttons will become active. You can also open a file by double clicking on the file name.
Each file in this list receives a number before it, like "0: myfile.silo", and this number allows you to associate variables in a plot with their parent data file. All plots in the Active plots list contain a number before them which corresponds to the number of the file from which the variable came. For example, "0: MESH - mesh1" indicates that the variable, mesh1, came from the "myfile.silo" file.
Use this button to open a file in the Selected files list. This button will be grayed out until you click on a file in the list. Once you open a file, various other options (like creating plots) will become available. Once you click on this button, it will gray out again until the next time you click on a file name.
Use this button to open a file in the Selected files list. This button will be grayed out until you click on a file in the list and have already placed plots into the Active plots list . This button differs from the Open button in one significant way. If you have already opened a file and have created plots, you can use the Replace button to open the new file and place the new file's variables into the existing plots. This allows you to reuse existing plots, but only works if the new file contains variables of the same names. You must also make sure that the Reset attributes on replace toggle button in the Preferences window is off, unless you want all your plot attributes to reset to their defaults when you replace the file. Once you click on the Replace button, it will gray out again until the next time you click on a file name (and you have plots in the Active plots list ).
Use this button to open a file in the Selected files list. This button will be grayed out until you click on a file in the list and have already placed plots into the Active plots list . This button is like the Replace button , but it differs from the Replace button in one significant way. If you have already opened a file and have created plots, you can use the Overlay button to open the new file and create copies of the existing plots, but have them use the new file's variables. This allows you to create new plots which are just like the existing plots, making comparisons much easier. However, this only works if the new file contains variables of the same names. Once you click on the Overlay button, it will gray out again until the next time you click on a file name (and you have plots in the Active plots list ).
Pressing
this icon brings up a window which has all kinds of information in it. Some types of information the window might display include the graphics driver used and pick and query output. Each time information is sent to the window, the icon changes from a blue "i" to a red "!" to inform you that new information has arrived. After you open the window, the icon reverts to the information icon to indicate you have already read the information and needn't look at the window again.
Various kinds of information are printed to this window, which pops up after you click on the Output window icon . One type of information is the type of renderer you are using (e.g., X11, GL, Software Renderer), which will be listed when you first bring up MeshTV. Warnings, errors, and informational messages are also echoed here, as well as being presented in a pop-up window. Results from certain operations, like the Pick & Query command, appear in this window.
MeshTV informs you it's busy by placing a busy clock icon in this area. While you can still manipulate items in the MeshTV
Main
window, you should not expect to see results from your actions until the clock icon goes away.