[Paraview] File format for CFD

[Berk Geveci]

I apologize for taking so long to answer this question. Your options are:

- EnSight
- Exodus
- VTK XML

If you are OK with linking against an external library to write out the data,
I would go with Exodus. You can download the library source and the
documentation
here:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/exodusii/

You will also need NetCDF. The best way of using Exodus in parallel is to
produce 1 file per partition. If you name them as a series, ParaView will
recognize that they represent a partitioned dataset.

If you are not OK with linking against an external library, I'd go with EnSight.
The current reader can read a single EnSight in parallel but you also have the
option of using the SoS format if you want to write 1 file per partition.

Right now, VTK XML is not as good because it is missing some features such
as the ability to name blocks. We will work on making these improvements
in the near future.

Also, we will be performing some scalability studies with these formats. I will
keep the mailing list in the loop as we get some results.

Best,
-berk

On Tue, Sep 21, 2010 at 4:49 PM, Bart Janssens <bart.janssens at rma.ac.be> wrote:
> On Wednesday, September 15, 2010 09:40:07 pm Bart Janssens wrote:
>> I want to get data from our finite element CFD solver into paraview, so
>> I'd  like to write an exporter that writes in the format that is best
>> suited and well supported by existing paraview readers. It should be
>> possible to read large data sets in parallel, with good performance.
>
> Well, I've been looking through the options some more, and it looks like
> Exodus II might be the way to go. If I understand correctly, I can supply an
> XML file that will name the different zones in the mesh.
>
> There is a library available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/exodusii/ , is
> that the recommended path to write Exodus II files?
>
> Also, I found a reference to the full spec at
> http://endo.sandia.gov/SEACAS/Documentation/exodusII.pdf but I get 403
> Forbidden on that. Is the spec available from somewhere else, or is it not
> meant to be public?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Bart
>
> --
> Bart Janssens
> Captain, Assistant
> Royal Military Academy of Belgium
> Department of Mechanical Engineering
> _______________________________________________
> Powered by www.kitware.com
>
> Visit other Kitware open-source projects at http://www.kitware.com/opensource/opensource.html
>
> Please keep messages on-topic and check the ParaView Wiki at: http://paraview.org/Wiki/ParaView
>
> Follow this link to subscribe/unsubscribe:
> http://www.paraview.org/mailman/listinfo/paraview
>