[Paraview] File Series Reader as a Plugin

[Sean Ziegeler]

I found the problem, and it seems so simple now.  In addition to the 
server .xml file, I needed to create a .bqrc file for the client side.

I figured this out by reading both the "Animating Legacy VTK File 
Series" and the "Plugin How-to" wiki pages and putting the knowledge 
together.  Would anyone object to me laying this out a little more 
explicitly in the "Animating Legacy..." page (only the one on 
paraview.org, not the one on vtk.org)?  I could append a section called 
"File Series Plugins for Existing Readers" or something like that.

-Sean

Sean Ziegeler wrote:
> I haven't tried adding it to readers.xml.  I want to distribute this to 
> other users, and it would be best if they didn't have to recompile - 
> just use the plugin.
> 
> The good news is that the reader isn't mine; it already exists.  It is 
> the UNC Meta Image reader (vtkMetaImageReader).  It reads .mha & .mhd 
> files.  I'm simply trying to extend it to read time series.  I've 
> attached the .xml file that I've written.
> 
> It appears to select the original reader rather than the file series 
> reader for these files.  I _think_ I've set all of the properties 
> correctly.  I wonder if I need to tell it to override the file 
> extensions somehow?
> 
> Thanks,
> Sean
> 
> Quoting Berk Geveci <berk.geveci at kitware.com>:
> 
>> Hmmm. It should work. Are you saying that it works if you add it to
>> readers.xml but not as a plugin? Can you share your xml and maybe the
>> reader code with the guts taken out?
>>
>> -berk
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 5:13 PM, Sean Ziegeler
>> <sean.ziegeler at nrlssc.navy.mil> wrote:
>>> I'd like my new FileSeriesReaderProxy to be a run-time loaded plugin.
>>> I've created the necessary XML tags as per the discussion below, and put
>>> it in a .xml file.  It loads fine with the Plugin Manager, but the files
>>> still aren't recognized as a series.
>>>
>>> Is this because run-time loading of a FileSeriesReaderProxy isn't
>>> supported?  Has anyone else tried it this way (as opposed to adding it
>>> to the readers.xml file and recompiling)?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Sean
>>>
>>> Sean Ziegeler wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Ken,
>>>> Yes, that's correct.  The "Meta" (.mha, .mhd) reader exists in ParaView
>>>> (actually in VTK) and I want to load in a file series.  And that 
>>>> answers my
>>>> question, i.e., ParaView will load files of the same extension using 
>>>> the new
>>>> plugin reader instead of the original one.
>>>>
>>>> The reason I asked was that I seem to recall earlier versions of 
>>>> ParaView
>>>> always using the _first_ reader for a given file extension if the 
>>>> extension
>>>> conflicted with another reader.  I assume that has been changed 
>>>> recently.
>>>>  Anyway, thanks for the answer.  I didn't want to spend time on this if
>>>> there was no hope of it working.
>>>>
>>>> -Sean
>>>>
>>>> Moreland, Kenneth wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Sean,
>>>>>
>>>>> I am a little confused.  Are you saying that there exists a reader in
>>>>> ParaView that you want to use to load in a file series?  And the 
>>>>> issue is
>>>>> that because the reader already exists in ParaView in the "sources" 
>>>>> group
>>>>> and you cannot move it to "internal_sources" or some other naming 
>>>>> conflict?
>>>>>
>>>>> If this is the case, I don't think there is anything special you 
>>>>> have to
>>>>> do.  Just make a new <FileSeriesReaderProxy> tag in the "sources" 
>>>>> group.
>>>>>  The Reader subproxy can be in any group; it does not mater if it 
>>>>> also came
>>>>> from "sources".  The FileSeriesReaderProxy can also co-exist with 
>>>>> the single
>>>>> file reader so long as they have unique names.  You can also make your
>>>>> reader read files with the same file extension; ParaView will use 
>>>>> the plugin
>>>>> reader instead of the one defined in ParaView.
>>>>>
>>>>> -Ken
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 1/8/09 12:19 PM, "Sean Ziegeler" <sean.ziegeler at nrlssc.navy.mil>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>    I'd like to write a plugin that makes the Meta format time-aware.
>>>>>  I've
>>>>>    looked at: 
>>>>> http://www.vtk.org/Wiki/Animating_legacy_VTK_file_series .
>>>>>
>>>>>     From that, I see that I can modify
>>>>>    VTK/Servers/ServerManager/Resources/reader.xml, but I'd prefer 
>>>>> it to
>>>>> be
>>>>>    plugin that I can send to someone else with requiring a complete
>>>>> rebuild
>>>>>    of Paraview/VTK.  It should be possible to write a .xml file 
>>>>> that gets
>>>>>    loaded as a plugin and that wraps the Meta reader in a
>>>>>    vtkFileSeriesReader.
>>>>>
>>>>>    However, if I do it without modifying readers.xml, the original 
>>>>> Meta
>>>>>    reader does not get moved to a different ProxyGroup.  Does that 
>>>>> mean
>>>>> my
>>>>>    new Meta Series reader won't ever be used?  Is there some other 
>>>>> way to
>>>>>    do it that doesn't require a rebuild of Paraview?
>>>>>
>>>>>    Thanks,
>>>>>    Sean
>>>>>
>>>>>    _______________________________________________
>>>>>    ParaView mailing list
>>>>>    ParaView at paraview.org
>>>>>    http://www.paraview.org/mailman/listinfo/paraview
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>   ****      Kenneth Moreland
>>>>>    ***      Sandia National Laboratories
>>>>> ***********  *** *** ***  email: kmorel at sandia.gov
>>>>> **  ***  **  phone: (505) 844-8919
>>>>>    ***      web:   http://www.cs.unm.edu/~kmorel
>>>>>
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