VisIt Python Interface Manual

Version 2.3.0
Contents

1 Introduction to VisIt 1
1.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Manual chapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.3 Understanding how VisIt works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 Starting VisIt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.5 Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Python 5
2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Indentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.3 Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.4 Identifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.5 Data types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.5.1 Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.5.2 Tuples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.5.3 Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.5.4 Dictionaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.6 Control flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.6.1 if/elif/else . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.6.2 For loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.6.3 While loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.7 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3 Quick Recipes 10
3.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.2 How to start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.2.1 Using session files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.2.2 Getting something on the screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.3 Saving images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.3.1 Setting the output image characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.3.2 Saving an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.4 Working with databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.4.1 Opening a database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.4.2 Opening a database at late time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.4.3 Opening a virtual database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.4.4 Opening a remote database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.4.5 Opening a compute engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.5 Working with plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.5.1 Creating a plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.5.2 Plotting materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

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3.5.3 Setting plot attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3.5.4 Working with multiple plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.5.5 Plots in the error state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.6 Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.6.1 Adding operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.6.2 Setting operator attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.7 Quantitative operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.7.1 Defining expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.7.2 Pick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.7.3 Lineout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.7.4 Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.7.5 Finding the min and the max . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.8 Subsetting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.8.1 Turning off domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.8.2 Turning off materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.9 View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.9.1 Setting the 2D view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.9.2 Setting the 3D view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.9.3 Flying around plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.10 Working with annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.10.1 Using gradient background colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.10.2 Adding a banner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.10.3 Adding a time slider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.10.4 Adding a logo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4 Functions available before Launch() 26

AddArgument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
GetDebugLevel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Launch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
SetDebugLevel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

5 Functions 31
ActivateDatabase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
AddOperator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
AddPlot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
AddWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
AlterDatabaseCorrelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
ApplyNamedSelection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
ChangeActivePlotsVar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
CheckForNewStates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
ChooseCenterOfRotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
ClearAllWindows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
ClearCache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
ClearCacheForAllEngines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
ClearMacros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
ClearPickPoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
ClearReferenceLines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
ClearViewKeyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
ClearWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
CloneWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
CloseComputeEngine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

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CloseDatabase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
ColorTableNames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
ConstructDataBinning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
CopyAnnotationsToWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
CopyLightingToWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
CopyPlotsToWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
CopyViewToWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
CreateAnnotationObject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
CreateDatabaseCorrelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
CreateNamedSelection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
DeIconifyAllWindows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
DefineArrayExpression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
DefineCurveExpression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
DefineMaterialExpression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
DefineMeshExpression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
DefinePythonExpression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
DefineScalarExpression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
DefineSpeciesExpression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
DefineTensorExpression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
DefineVectorExpression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
DeleteActivePlots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
DeleteAllPlots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
DeleteDatabaseCorrelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
DeleteExpression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
DeleteNamedSelection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
DeletePlotDatabaseKeyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
DeletePlotKeyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
DeleteViewKeyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
DeleteWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
DemoteOperator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
DisableRedraw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
DrawPlots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
EnableTool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
ExecuteMacro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
ExportDatabase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
GetActiveContinuousColorTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
GetActiveDiscreteColorTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
GetActiveTimeSlider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
GetAnimationAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
GetAnimationTimeout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
GetAnnotationAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
GetAnnotationObject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
GetAnnotationObjectNames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
GetCallbackArgumentCount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
GetCallbackNames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
GetDatabaseNStates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
GetDefaultFileOpenOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
GetDomains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
GetEngineList . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
GetGlobalAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
GetGlobalLineoutAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

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GetInteractorAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
GetKeyframeAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
GetLastError . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
GetLight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
GetLocalHostName . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
GetLocalUserName . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
GetMaterialAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
GetMaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
GetMeshManagementAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
GetMetaData . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
GetNumPlots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
GetOperatorOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
GetPickAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
GetPickOutput . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
GetPipelineCachingMode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
GetPlotInformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
GetPlotList . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
GetPlotOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
GetPreferredFileFormats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
GetQueryOutputObject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
GetQueryOutputString . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
GetQueryOutputValue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
GetQueryOutputXML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
GetQueryOverTimeAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
GetRenderingAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
GetSaveWindowAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
GetSelection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
GetSelectionList . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
GetSelectionSummary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
GetTimeSliders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
GetUltraScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
GetView2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
GetView3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
GetViewAxisArray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
GetViewCurve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
GetWindowInformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
HideActivePlots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
HideToolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
IconifyAllWindows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
InitializeNamedSelectionVariables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
InvertBackgroundColor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
LaunchNowin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Lineout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
ListDomains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
ListMaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
ListPlots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
LoadAttribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
LoadNamedSelection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
LoadUltra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
LocalNameSpace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
LongFileName . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
MoveAndResizeWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

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MovePlotDatabaseKeyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
MovePlotKeyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
MovePlotOrderTowardFirst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
MovePlotOrderTowardLast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
MoveViewKeyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
MoveWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
NodePick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
NumColorTableNames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
NumOperatorPlugins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
NumPlotPlugins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
OpenComputeEngine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
OpenDatabase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
OpenMDServer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
OperatorPlugins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
OverlayDatabase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Pick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
PickByGlobalNode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
PickByGlobalZone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
PickByNode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
PickByZone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
PlotPlugins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
PointPick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
PrintWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
PromoteOperator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
PythonQuery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
QueriesOverTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
QueryOverTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
ReOpenDatabase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
RecenterView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
RedoView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
RedrawWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
RegisterCallback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
RegisterMacro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
RemoveAllOperators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
RemoveLastOperator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
RemoveOperator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
RenamePickLabel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
ReplaceDatabase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
ResetLineoutColor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
ResetOperatorOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
ResetPickLetter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
ResetPlotOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
ResetView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
ResizeWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
RestoreSession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
RestoreSessionWithDifferentSources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
SaveAttribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
SaveNamedSelection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
SaveSession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
SaveWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

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SendSimulationCommand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
SetActiveContinuousColorTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
SetActiveDiscreteColorTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
SetActivePlots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
SetActiveTimeSlider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
SetActiveWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
SetAnimationTimeout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
SetAnnotationAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
SetCenterOfRotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
SetColorTexturingEnabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
SetCreateMeshQualityExpressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
SetCreateTimeDerivativeExpressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
SetCreateVectorMagnitudeExpressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
SetDatabaseCorrelationOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
SetDefaultAnnotationAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
SetDefaultFileOpenOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
SetDefaultInteractorAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
SetDefaultMaterialAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
SetDefaultMeshManagementAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
SetDefaultOperatorOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
SetDefaultPickAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
SetDefaultPlotOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
SetGlobalLineoutAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
SetInteractorAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
SetKeyframeAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
SetLight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
SetMaterialAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
SetMeshManagementAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
SetNamedSelectionAutoApply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
SetOperatorOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
SetPickAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
SetPipelineCachingMode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
SetPlotDatabaseState . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
SetPlotDescription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
SetPlotFollowsTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
SetPlotFrameRange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
SetPlotOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
SetPlotOrderToFirst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
SetPlotOrderToLast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
SetPlotSILRestriction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
SetPreferredFileFormats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
SetPrinterAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
SetQueryFloatFormat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
SetQueryOverTimeAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
SetRenderingAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
SetSaveWindowAttributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
SetTimeSliderState . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
SetTreatAllDBsAsTimeVarying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
SetTryHarderCyclesTimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
SetUltraScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
SetView2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
SetView3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

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SetViewAxisArray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
SetViewCurve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
SetViewExtentsType . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
SetViewKeyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
SetWindowArea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
SetWindowLayout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
SetWindowMode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
ShowAllWindows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
ShowToolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
SuppressMessages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
SuppressQueryOutputOff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
SuppressQueryOutputOn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
TimeSliderGetNStates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
TimeSliderNextState . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
TimeSliderPreviousState . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
TimeSliderSetState . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
ToggleBoundingBoxMode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
ToggleCameraViewMode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
ToggleFullFrameMode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
ToggleLockTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
ToggleLockTools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
ToggleLockViewMode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
ToggleMaintainViewMode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
ToggleSpinMode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
TurnDomainsOff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
TurnDomainsOn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
TurnMaterialsOff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
TurnMaterialsOn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
UndoView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
UpdateNamedSelection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
WriteConfigFile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
ZonePick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

6 Attribute References 294

Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Annotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Boundary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
BoundaryOp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Cone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
ConnectedComponents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
ConstructDataBinning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Contour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
CoordSwap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
CreateBonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Cylinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
DataBinning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

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DeferExpression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Displace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
DualMesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Elevate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
ExportDB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
ExternalSurface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
FilledBoundary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Flux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Font . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Histogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
IndexSelect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
InverseGhostZone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Isosurface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
Isovolume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Lineout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
MeshManagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Molecule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
MultiCurve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
MultiresControl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
OnionPeel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
ParallelCoordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
PersistentParticles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Poincare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Pseudocolor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Reflect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
Replicate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Resample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Revolve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
SaveWindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
Scatter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
Slice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
SmoothOperator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
SphereSlice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
Spreadsheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
Streamline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
Subset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
SurfaceNormal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
Tensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
ThreeSlice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
Threshold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
TriangulateRegularPoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

viii
CONTENTS CONTENTS

Truecolor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Tube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
Vector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
View2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
View3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
ViewAxisArray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
ViewCurve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

7 VisIt CLI Events 391

8 Acknowledgments 398

ix
Chapter 1

Introduction to VisIt

1.1 Overview
VisIt is a distributed, parallel, visualization tool for visualizing data defined on two and three-dimensional
structured and unstructured meshes. VisIt’s distributed architecture allows it to leverage both the com-
pute power of a large parallel computer and the graphics acceleration hardware of a local workstation.
Another benefit of the distributed architecture is that VisIt can visualize the data where it is generated,
eliminating the need to move data. VisIt can be controlled by a Graphical User Interface (GUI) or
through the Python scripting language. More information about VisIt’s Graphical User Interface can
be found in the VisIt User’s Manual.

1.2 Manual chapters

This manual is broken down into the following chapters:

Chapter title Chapter description

Introduction to VisIt This chapter.
Python Describes the basic features of the
Python programming language.
Quick Recipes Describes common patterns for scripting
using the VisIt Python Interface.
Pre-Launch Functions Describes the functions available
before you call Launch
(only applies when importing VisIt)
Functions Describes functions in the VisIt Python
Interface.
Attributes References Describes attributes for setting common
operations, as well as for VisIt’s plugins
CLI Events Describes possible events for callbacks.

1
1.3. UNDERSTANDING HOW VISIT WORKS CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO VISIT

1.3 Understanding how VisIt works

VisIt visualizes data by creating one or more plots in a visualization window, also known as a vis window.
Examples of plots include Mesh plots, Contour plots and Pseudocolor plots. Plots take as input one or
more mesh, material, scalar, or tensor variables. It is possible to modify the variables by applying one or
more operators to the variables before passing them to a plot. Examples of operators include arithmetic
operations or taking slices through the mesh. It is also possible to restrict the visualization of the data
to subsets of the mesh. VisIt provides Python bindings to all of its plots and operators so they may be
controlled through scripting. Each plot or operator plugin provides a function, which is added to the
VisIt namespace, to create the right type of plot or operator attributes. The attribute object can then
be modified by setting its fields and then it can be passed to a general-purpose function to set the plot
or operator attributes. To display a complete list of functions in the VisIt Python Interface, you can
type dir() at the Python prompt. Similarly, to inspect the contents of any object, you can type its name
at the Python prompt. VisIt supports up to 16 visualization windows, also called vis windows. Each
vis window is independent of the other vis windows and VisIt Python functions generally apply only to
the currently active vis window. This manual explains how to use the VisIt Python Interface which is
a Python extension module that controls VisIt’s viewer. In that way, the VisIt Python Interface fulfills
the same role as VisIt’s GUI. The difference is that the viewer is totally controlled through Python
scripting, which makes it easy to write scripts to create visualizations and even movies. Since the VisIt
module controls VisIt’s viewer, the Python interpreter currently has no direct mechanism for passing
data to the compute engine (see Figure 1.1). If you want to write a script that generates simulation
data and have that script pass data to the compute engine, you must pass the data through a file
on disk. The VisIt Python Interface comes packaged in two varieties: the extension module and the
Command Line Interface (CLI). The extension module version of the VisIt Python Interface is imported
into a standard Python interpreter using the import directive. VisIt’s command line interface (CLI) is
essentially a Python interpreter where the VisIt Python Interface is built-in. The CLI is provided to
simplify the process of running VisIt Python scripts.

1.4 Starting VisIt

You can invoke VisIt’s command line interface from the command line by typing:
visit -cli
VisIt provides a separate Python module if you instead wish to include VisIt functions in an existing
Python script. In that case, you must first import the VisIt module into Python and then call the
Launch() function to make VisIt launch and dynamically load the rest of the VisIt functions into
the Python namespace. VisIt adopts this somewhat unusual approach to module loading since the
lightweight “visit” front-end module can be installed as one of your Python’s site packages yet still
dynamically load the real control functions from different versions of VisIt selected by the user.
If you do not install the visit.so module as a Python site package, you can tell the Python interpreter
where it is located by appending a new path to the sys.path variable. Be sure to substitute the correct
path to visit.so on your system.
import sys
sys.path.append("/path/to/visit/<version>/<architecture>/lib")
Here is how to import all functions into the global Python namespace:
from visit import *
Launch()
Here is how to import all functions into a “visit” module namespace:

2
1.5. GETTING STARTED CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO VISIT

Figure 1.1: VisIt’s architecture

import visit
visit.Launch()

1.5 Getting started

VisIt is a tool for visualizing 2D and 3D scientific databases. The first thing to do when running
VisIt is select databases to visualize. To select a database, you must first open the database using the
OpenDatabase function. After a window has an open database, any number of plots and operators can
be added. To create a plot, use the AddPlot function. After adding a plot, call the DrawPlots function
to make sure that all of the new plots are drawn.
Example:
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/multi_curv3d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
To see a list of the available plots and operators when you use the VisIt Python Interface, use the
Operator Plugins and Plot Plugins functions. Each of those functions returns a tuple of strings that
contain the names of the currently loaded plot or operator plugins. Each plot and operator plugin
provides a function for creating an attributes object to set the plot or operator attributes. The name
of the function is the name of the plugin in the tuple returned by the OperatorPlugins or PlotPlugins
functions plus the word “Attributes”. For example, the “Pseudocolor” plot provides a function called
PseudocolorAttributes. To set the plot attributes or the operator attributes, first use the attributes

3
1.5. GETTING STARTED CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO VISIT

creation function to create an attributes object. Assign the newly created object to a variable name
and set the fields in the object. Each object has its own set of fields. To see the available fields in
an object, print the name of the variable at the Python prompt and press the Enter key. This will
print the contents of the object so you can see the fields contained by the object. After setting the
appropriate fields, pass the object to either the SetPlotOptions function or the SetOperatorAttributes
function.
Example:
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
AddOperator("Slice")
p = PseudocolorAttributes()
p.colorTableName = "rainbow"
p.opacity = 0.5
SetPlotOptions(p)
a = SliceAttributes()
a.originType = a.Point
a.normal, a.upAxis = (1,1,1), (-1,1,-1)
SetOperatorOptions(a)
DrawPlots()
That’s all there is to creating a plot using VisIt’s Python Interface. For more information on creating
plots and performing specific actions in VisIt, refer to the documentation for each function later in this
manual.

4
Chapter 2

Python

2.1 Overview
Python is a general purpose, interpreted, extensible, object-oriented scripting language that was chosen
for VisIt’s scripting language due to its ease of use and flexibility. VisIt’s Python interface was im-
plemented as Python module and it allows you to enhance your Python scripts with coding to control
VisIt. This chapter explains some of Python’s syntax so it will be more familiar when you examine
the examples found in this document. For more information on programming in Python, there are a
number of good references, including on the Internet at http://www.python.org.

2.2 Indentation
One of the most obvious features of Python is its use of indentation for new scopes. You must take
special care to indent all program logic consistently or else the Python interpreter may halt with an
error, or worse, not do what you intended. You must increase indentation levels when you define a
function, use an if/elif/else statement, or use any loop construct.
Note the different levels of indentation:
def example_function(n):
v = 0
if n > 2:
print "n greater than 2."
else:
v = n * n
return v

2.3 Comments
Like all good programming languages, Python supports the addition of comments in the code. Comments
begin with a pound character (#) and continue to the end of the line.
# This is a comment
a = 5 * 5

5
2.4. IDENTIFIERS CHAPTER 2. PYTHON

2.4 Identifiers
The Python interpreter accepts any identifier that contains letters ’A’-’Z’, ’a’-’z’ and numbers ’0’-’9’ as
long as the identifier does not begin with a number. The Python interpreter is case-sensitive so the
identifier “case” would not be the same identifier as “CASE”. Be sure to case consistently throughout
your Python code since the Python interpreter will instantiate any identifier that it has not seen before
and mixing case would cause the interpreter to use multiple identifiers and cause problems that you
might not expect. Identifiers can be used to refer to any type of object since Python is flexible in its
treatment of types.

2.5 Data types

Python supports a wide variety of data types and allows you to define your own data types readily.
Most types are created from a handful of building-block types such as integers, floats, strings, tuples,
lists, and dictionaries.

2.5.1 Strings

Python has built-in support for strings and you can create them using single quotes or double quotes.
You can even use both types of quotes so you can create strings that include quotes in case quotes are
desired in the output. Strings are sequence objects and support operations that can break them down
into characters.
s = ’using single quotes’
s2 = "using double quotes"
s3 = ’nesting the "spiffy" double quotes’

2.5.2 Tuples

Python supports tuples, which can be thought of as a read-only set of objects. The members of a tuple
can be of different types. Tuples are commonly used to group multiple related items into a single object
that can be passed around more easily. Tuples support a number of operations. You can subscript a
tuple like an array to access its individual members. You can easily determine whether an object is a
member of a tuple. You can iterate over a tuple. There are many more uses for tuples. You can create
tuples by enclosing a comma-separated list of objects in parenthesis.
# Create a tuple
a = (1,2,3,4,5)
print "The first value in a is:", a[0]
# See if 3 is in a using the "in" operator.
print "3 is in a:", 3 in a
# Create another tuple and add it to the first one to create c.
b = (6,7,8,9)
c = a + b
# Iterate over the items in the tuple
for value in c:
print "value is: ", value

6
2.6. CONTROL FLOW CHAPTER 2. PYTHON

2.5.3 Lists

Lists are just like tuples except they are not read-only and they use square brackets [] to enclose the
items in the list instead of using parenthesis.
# Start with an empty list.
L = []
for i in range(10):
# Add i to the list L
L = L + [i]
print L
# Assign a value into element 6
L[5] = 1000
print L

2.5.4 Dictionaries

Dictionaries are Python containers that allow you to store a value that is associated with a key. Dictio-
naries are convenient for mapping 1 set to another set since they allow you to perform easy lookups of
values. Dictionaries are declared using curly braces and each item in the dictionary consists of a key:
value pair with the key and values being separated by a colon. To perform a lookup using a dictionary,
provide the key whose value you want to look up to the subscript [] operator.
colors = {"red" : "rouge", "orange" : "orange", \
"yellow" : "jaune", "green" : "vert", "blue" : "bleu"}
# Perform lookups using the keys.
for c in colors.keys():
print "%s in French is: %s" % (c, colors[c])

2.6 Control flow

Python, like other general-purpose programming languages provides keywords that implement control
flow. Control flow is an important feature to have in a programming language because it allows complex
behavior to be created using a minimum amount of scripting.

2.6.1 if/elif/else

Python provides if/elif/else for conditional branching. The if statement takes any expression that
evaluates to an integer and it takes the if branch if the integer value is 1 other wise it takes the else
branch if it is present.
# Example 1
if condition:
do_something()

# Example 2
if condition:
do_something()
else:
do_something_else()

7
2.7. FUNCTIONS CHAPTER 2. PYTHON

# Example 3
if condition:
do_domething()
elif conditionn:
do_something_n()
...
else:
do_something_else()

2.6.2 For loop

Python provides a for loop that allows you to iterate over all items stored in a sequence object (tuples,
lists, strings). The body of the for loop executes once for each item in the sequence object and allows
you to specify the name of an identifier to use in order to reference the current item.
# Iterating through the characters of a string
for c in "characters":
print c

# Iterating through a tuple

for value in ("VisIt", "is", "coolness", "times", 100):
print value

# Iterating through a list

for value in ["VisIt", "is", "coolness", "times", 100]:
print value

# Iterating through a range of numbers [0,N) created with range(N).

N = 100
for i in range(N):
print i, i*i

2.6.3 While loop

Python provides a while loop that allows you to execute a loop body indefinitely based on some condi-
tion. The while loop can be used for iteration but can also be used to execute more complex types of
loops.
token = get_next_token()
while token != "":
do_something(token)
token = get_next_token()

2.7 Functions
Python comes with many built-in functions and modules that implement additional functions. Functions
can be used to execute bodies of code that are meant to be re-used. Functions can optionally take
arguments and can optionally return values. Python provides the def keyword, which allows you to

8
2.7. FUNCTIONS CHAPTER 2. PYTHON

define a function. The def keyword is followed by the name of the function and its arguments, which
should appear as a tuple next to the name of the function.
# Define a function with no arguments and no return value.
def my_function():
print "my function prints this..."

# Define a function with arguments and a return value.

def n_to_the_d_power(n, d):
value = 1
if d > 0:
for i in range(d):
value = value * n
elif d < 0:
value = 1. / float(n_to_the_d_power(n, -d))

return value

9
Chapter 3

Quick Recipes

3.1 Overview
This manual contains documentation for over two hundred functions and several dozen extension object
types. Learning to combine the right functions in order to accomplish a visualization task without guid-
ance would involve hours of trial and error. To maximize productivity and start creating visualizations
using Visit’s Python Interface as fast as possible, this chapter provides some common patterns, or ”quick
recipes” that you can combine to quickly create complex scripts.

3.2 How to start

The most important question when developing a script is: ”Where do I start?”. You can either use
session files that you used to save the state of your visualization to initialize the plots before you start
scripting or you can script every aspect of plot initialization.

3.2.1 Using session files

VisIt’s session files contain all of the information required to recreate plots that have been set up in
previous interactive VisIt sessions. Since session files contain all of the information about plots, etc.,
they are natural candidates to make scripting easier since they can be used to do the hard part of setting
up the complex visualization, leaving the bulk of the script to animate through time or alter the plots
in some way. To use session files within a script, use the RestoreSession function.
# Import a session file from the current working directory.
RestoreSesssion("my_visualization.session", 0)
# Now that VisIt has restored the session, animate through time.
for states in range(TimeSliderGetNStates()):
SetTimeSliderState(state)
SaveWindow()

10
3.3. SAVING IMAGES CHAPTER 3. QUICK RECIPES

3.2.2 Getting something on the screen

If you don’t want to use a session file to begin the setup for your visualization then you will have to
dive into opening databases, creating plots, and animating through time. This is where all of hand-
crafted scripts begin. The first step in creating a visualization is opening a database. VisIt provides the
OpenDatabase function to open a database. Once a database has been opened, you can create plots
from its variables using the AddPlot function. The AddPlot function takes a plot plugin name and the
name of a variable from the open database. Once you’ve added a plot, it is in the new state, which
means that it has not yet been submitted to the compute engine for processing. To make sure that the
plot gets drawn, call the DrawPlots function.
# Step 1: Open a database
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/wave.visit")

# Step 2: Add plots

AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
AddPlot("Mesh", "quadmesh")

# Step 3: Draw the plots

DrawPlots()

# Step 4: Animate through time and save images

for states in range(TimeSliderGetNStates()):
SetTimeSliderState(state)
SaveWindow()

3.3 Saving images

Much of the time, the entire purpose of using VisIt’s Python Interface is to create a script that can save
out images of a time-varying database for the purpose of making movies. Saving images using VisIt’s
Python Interface is a straight-forward process, involving just a few functions.

3.3.1 Setting the output image characteristics

VisIt provides a number of options for saving files, including: fileformat, filename, and image size, to
name a few. These attributes are grouped into the SaveWindowAttributes object. To set the options
that VisIt uses to save files, you must create a SaveWindowAttributes object, change the necessary
attributes, and call the SetSaveWindowAttributes function. Note that if you want to create images
using a specific image resolution, the best way is to use the -geometry command line argument with
VisIt’s Command Line Interface and tell VisIt to use screen capture. If you instead require your script
to be capable of saving everal different image sizes then you can turn off screen capture and set the
image resolution in the SaveWindowAttributes object.
# Save a BMP file at 1024x768 resolution
s = SaveWindowAttributes()
s.format = s.BMP
s.fileName = "mybmpfile"
s.width, s.height = 1024,768
s.screenCapture = 0
SetSaveWindowAttributes(s)

11
3.4. WORKING WITH DATABASES CHAPTER 3. QUICK RECIPES

3.3.2 Saving an image

Once you have set the SaveWindowAttributes to your liking, you can call the SaveWindow function to
save an image. The SaveWindow function returns the name of the image that is saved so you can use
that for other purposes in your script.
# Save images of all timesteps and add each image filename to a list.
names = []
for state in range(TimeSliderGetNStates()):
SetTimeSliderState(state)
# Save the image
n = SaveWindow()
names = names + [n]
print names

3.4 Working with databases

VisIt allows you to open a wide array of databases both in terms of supported file formats and in terms
how databases treat time. Databases can have a single time state or can have multiple time states.
Databases can natively support multiple time states or sets of single time states files can be grouped
into time-varying databases using .visit files or using virtual databases. Working with databases gets
even trickier if you are using VisIt to visualize a database that is still being generated by a simulation.
This section describes how to interact with databases.

3.4.1 Opening a database

Opening a database is a relatively simple operation - most complexities arise in how the database treats
time. If you only want to visualize a single time state or if your database format natively supports
multiple timestates per file then opening a database requires just a single call to the OpenDatabase
function.
# Open a database at time state 0
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/allinone00.pdb")

3.4.2 Opening a database at late time

Opening a database at a later timestate is done just the same as opening a database at time state
zero except that you must specify the time state at which you want to open the database. There are
a number of reasons for opening a database at a later time state. The most common reason for doing
so, as opposed to just changing time states later, is that VisIt uses the metadata from the first opened
time state to describe the contents of the database for all timestates (except for certain file formats that
don’t do this, i.e. SAMRAI). This means that the list of variables found for the first time state that
you open is used for all timestates. If your database contains a variable at a later timestate that does
not exist at earlier time states, you must open the database at a later time state to gain access to the
transient variable.
# Open a database at a later time state to pick up transient variables
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/wave.visit", 17)

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3.5. WORKING WITH PLOTS CHAPTER 3. QUICK RECIPES

3.4.3 Opening a virtual database

VisIt provides two ways for accessing a set of single time-state files as a single time- varying database.
The first method is a .visit file, which is a simple text file that contains the names of each file to be used
as a time state in the time-varying database. The second method uses ”virtual databases”, which allow
VisIt to exploit the file naming conventions that are often employed by simulation codes when they
create their dumps. In many cases, VisIt can scan a specified directory and determine which filenames
look related. Filenames with close matches are grouped as individual time states into a virtual database
whose name is based on the more abstract pattern used to create the filenames.
# Opening first file in series wave0000.silo, wave0010.silo, ...
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/wave0000.silo")

# Opening a virtual database representing all wave*.silo files.

OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/wave*.silo database.)

3.4.4 Opening a remote database

VisIt supports running the client on a local computer while also allowing you to process data in parallel
on a remote computer. If you want to access databases on a remote computer using VisIt’s Python
Interface, the only difference to accessing a database on a local computer is that you must specify a host
name as part of the database name.
# Opening a file on a remote computer by giving a host name
# Also, open the database to a later time slice (17)
OpenDatabase("thunder:/usr/local/visit/data/wave.visit", 17)

3.4.5 Opening a compute engine

Sometimes it is advantageous to open a compute engine before opening a database. When you tell
VisIt to open a database using the OpenDatabase function, VisIt also launches a compute engine and
tells the compute engine to open the specified database. When the VisIt Python Interface is run with a
visible window, the Engine Chooser Window will present itself so you can select a host profile. If you
want to design a script that must specify parallel options, etc in batch mode where there is no Engine
ChooserWindow then you have few options other than to open a compute engine before opening a
database. To open a compute engine, use the OpenComputeEngine function. You can pass the name
of the host on which to run the compute engine and any arguments that must be used to launch the
engine such as the number of processors.
# Open a remote, parallel compute engine before opening a database
OpenComputeEngine("mcr", ("-np", "4", "-nn", "2"))
OpenDatabase("mcr:/usr/local/visit/data/multi_ucd3d.silo")

3.5 Working with plots

Plots are viewable objects, created from a database, that can be displayed in a visualization window.
VisIt provides several types of plots and each plot allows you to view data using different visualization
techniques. For example, the Pseudocolor plot allows you to see the general shape of a simulated object
while painting colors on it according to the values stored in a variable’s scalar field. The most important
functions for interacting with plots are covered in this section.

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3.5. WORKING WITH PLOTS CHAPTER 3. QUICK RECIPES

3.5.1 Creating a plot

The function for adding a plot in VisIt is: AddPlot. The AddPlot function takes the name of a plot
type and the name of a variable that is to be plotted and creates a new plot and adds it to the plot list.
The name of the plot to be created corresponds to the name of one of VisIt’s plot plugins, which can
be queried using the PlotPlugins function. The variable that you pass to the AddPlot function must
be a valid variable for the opend atabase. New plots are not realized, meaning that they have not been
submitted to the compute engine for processing. If you want to force VisIt to process the new plot you
must call the DrawPlots function.
# Names of all available plot plugins
print PlotPlugins()
# Create plots
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
AddPlot("Mesh", "quadmesh")
# Draw the plots
DrawPlots()

3.5.2 Plotting materials

Plotting materials is a common operation in VisIt. The Boundary and FilledBoundary plots enable you
to plot material boundaries and materials, respectively.
# Plot material boundaries
AddPlot("Boundary", "mat1")
# Plot materials
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "mat1")

3.5.3 Setting plot attributes

Each plot type has an attributes object that controls how the plot generates its data or how it looks
in the visualization window. The attributes object for each plot contains different fields. You can view
the individual object fields by printing the object to the console. Each plot type provides a function
that creates a new instance of one of its attribute objects. The function name is always of the form:
plotname + ”Attributes”. For example, the attributes object creation function for the Pseudocolor plot
would be: PseudocolorAttributes. To change the attributes for a plot, you create an attributes object
using the appropriate function, set the properties in the returned object, and tell VisIt to use the new
plot attributes by passing the object to the SetPlotOptions function. Note that you should set a plot’s
attributes before calling the DrawPlots method to realize the plot since setting a plot’s attributes can
cause the compute engine to recalculate the plot.
# Creating a Pseudocolor plot and setting min/max values.
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
p = PseudocolorAttributes()
# Look in the object
print p
# Set the min/max values
p.min, p.minFlag = 1, 0.0
p.max, p.maxFlag = 1, 10.0
SetPlotOptions(p)

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3.5. WORKING WITH PLOTS CHAPTER 3. QUICK RECIPES

3.5.4 Working with multiple plots

When you work with more than one plot, it is sometimes necessary to set the active plots because some
of VisIt’s functions apply to all of the active plots. The active plot is usually the last plot that was
created unless you’ve changed the list of active plots. Changing which plots are active is useful when
you want to delete or hide certain plots or set their plot attributes independently. When you want to
set which plots are active, use the SetActivePlots function. If you want to list the plots that you’ve
created, call the ListPlots function.
# Create more than 1 plot of the same type
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "density")

# List the plots. The second plot should be active.

ListPlots()

# Draw the plots

DrawPlots()

# Hide the first plot

SetActivePlots(0)
HideActivePlots()

# Set both plots’ color table to "hot"

p = PseudocolorAttributes()
p.colorTableName = "hot"
SetActivePlots((0,1))
SetPlotOptions(p)

# Show the first plot again.

SetActivePlots(0)
HideActivePlots()

# Delete the second plot

SetActivePlots(1)
DeleteActivePlots()
ListPlots()

3.5.5 Plots in the error state

When VisIt’s compute engine cannot process a plot, the plot is put into the error state. Once a plot is
in the error state, it no longer is displayed in the visualization window. If you are generating a movie,
plots entering the error state can be a serious problem because you most often want all of the plots
that you have created to animate through time and not disappear in the middle of the animation. You
can add extra code to your script to prevent plots from disappearing (most of the time) due to error
conditions by adding a call to the DrawPlots function.
# Save an image and take care of plots that entered the error state.
drawThePlots = 0
for state in range(TimeSliderGetNStates()):
if SetTimeSliderState(state) == 0:
drawThePlots = 1

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3.6. OPERATORS CHAPTER 3. QUICK RECIPES

if drawThePlots == 1:
if DrawPlots() == 0:
print "VisIt could not draw plots for state: %d" % state
else:
drawThePlots = 0
SaveWindow()

3.6 Operators
Operators are filters that are applied to database variables before the compute engine uses them to
create plots. Operators can be linked one after the other to form chains of operators that can drastically
transform the data before plotting it.

3.6.1 Adding operators

Adding an operator is similar to adding a plot in that you call a function with the name of the operator to
be added. The list of available operators is returned by the OperatorPlugins function. Any of the names
returned in that plugin can be used to add an operator using the AddOperator function. Operators are
added to the active plots by default but you can also force VisIt to add them to all plots in the plot
list.
# Print available operators
print OperatorPlugins()
# Create a plot
AddPlot("Pseudocolor")
# Add an Isovolume operator and a Slice operator
AddOperator("Isovolume")
AddOperator("Slice")
DrawPlots()

3.6.2 Setting operator attributes

Each plot gets its own instance of an operator which means that you can set each plot’s operator
attributes independently. Like plots, operators use objects to set their attributes. These objects are
returned by functions whose names are of the form: operatorname + ”Attributes”. Once you have
created an operator attributes object, you can pass it to the SetOperatorOptions to set the options
for an operator. Note that setting the attributes for an operator nearly always causes the compute
engine to recalculate the operator. You can use the power of VisIt’s Python Interface to create complex
operator behavior such as in the following code example, which moves slice planes through a Pseudocolor
plot.
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hardyglobal")
AddOperator("Slice")
s = SliceAttributes()
s.originType = s.Percent
s.project2d = 0
SetOperatorOptions(s)
DrawPlots()

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3.7. QUANTITATIVE OPERATIONS CHAPTER 3. QUICK RECIPES

nSteps = 20
for axis in (0,1,2):
s.axisType = axis
for step in range(nSteps):
t = float(step) / float(nSteps - 1)
s.originPercent = t * 100.
SetOperatorOptions(s)
SaveWindow()

3.7 Quantitative operations

This section focuses on some of the operations that allow you to examine your data more quantita-
tively.

3.7.1 Defining expressions

VisIt allows you to create derived variables using its powerful expressions language. You can plot or query
variables created using expressions just as you would if they were read from a database. VisIt’s Python
Interface allows you to create new scalar, vector, tensor variables using the DefineScalarExpression,
DefineVectorExpression, and DefineTensorExpression functions.
# Creating a new expression
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hardyglobal")
DrawPlots()
DefineScalarExpression("newvar", "sin(hardyglobal) + cos(shepardglobal")
ChangeActivePlotsVar("newvar")

3.7.2 Pick

VisIt allows you to pick on cells, nodes, and points within a database and reutrn information for the
item of interest. To that end, VisIt provides several pick functions. Once a pick function has been
called, you can call the GetPickOutput function to get a string that contains the pick information.
The information in the string could be used for a multitude of uses such as building a test suite for a
simulation code.
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
s = []
# Pick by a node id
PickbyNode(300)
s = s + [GetPickOutput()]
# Pick by a cell id
PickByZone(250)
s = s + [GetPickOutput()]
# Pick on a cell using a 3d point
Pick((-2., 2., 0.))
s = s + [GetPickOutput()]
# Pick on the node closest to (-2,2,0)

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3.7. QUANTITATIVE OPERATIONS CHAPTER 3. QUICK RECIPES

NodePick((-2,2,0))
s = s + [GetPickOutput()]
# Print all pick results
print s

3.7.3 Lineout

VisIt allows you to extract data along a line, called a lineout, and plot the data using a Curve plot.
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
Lineout((-5,-3), (5,8))
# Specify a number of sample points
Lineout((-5,-4), (5,7))

3.7.4 Query

VisIt can perform a number of different queries based on values calculated about plots or their originating
database.
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hardyglobal")
DrawPlots()
Query("NumNodes")
print "The float value is: %g" % GetQueryOutputValue()
Query("NumNodes")

3.7.5 Finding the min and the max

A common operation in debugging a simulation code is examining the min and max values. Here is a
pattern that allows you to print out the min and the max values and their locations in the database
and also see them visually.
# Define a helper function to get the id’s of the MinMax query.
def GetMinMaxIds():
Query("MinMax")
import string
s = string.split(GetQueryOutputString(), " ")
retval = []
nextGood = 0
idType = 0
for token in s:
if token == "(zone" or token == "(cell":
idType = 1
nextGood = 1
continue
elif token == "(node":
idType = 0
nextGood = 1
continue

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3.8. SUBSETTING CHAPTER 3. QUICK RECIPES

if nextGood == 1:
nextGood = 0
retval = retval + [(idType, int(token))]
return retval

# Set up a plot
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()

# Do picks on the ids that were returned by MinMax.

for ids in GetMinMaxIds():
idType = ids[0]
id = ids[1]
if idType == 0:
PickByNode(id)
else:
PickByZone(id)

3.8 Subsetting
VisIt allows the user to turn off subsets of the visualization using a number of different methods.
Databases can be divided up any number of ways: domains, materials, etc. This section provides some
details on how to remove materials and domains from your visualization.

3.8.1 Turning off domains

VisIt’s Python Interface provides the TurnDomainsOn and TurnDomainsOff functions to make it easy
to turn domains on and off.
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/multi_rect2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
# Turning off all but the last domain
d = GetDomains()
for dom in d[:-1]:
TurnDomainsOff(dom)
# Turn all domains off
TurnDomainsOff()
# Turn on domains 3,5,7
TurnDomainsOn((d[3], d[5], d[7]))

3.8.2 Turning off materials

VisIt’s Python Interface provides the TurnMaterialsOn and TurnMaterialsOff functions to make it easy
to turn materials on and off.
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/multi_rect2d.silo")
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "mat1")
DrawPlots()

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3.9. VIEW CHAPTER 3. QUICK RECIPES

# Print the materials are:

GetMaterials()
# Turn off material 2
TurnMaterialsOff("2")

3.9 View
Setting up the view in your Python script is one of the most important things you can do to ensure
the quality of your visualization because the view concentrates attention on an object or inferest. VisIt
provides different methods for setting the view, depending on the dimensionality of the plots in the
visualization window but despite differences in how the view is set, the general procedure is basically
the same.

3.9.1 Setting the 2D view

The 2D view consists of a rectangular window in 2D space and a 2D viewport in the visualization
window. The window in 2D space determines what parts of the visualization you will look at while the
viewport determines where the images will appear in the visualization window. It is not necessary to
change the viewport most of the time.
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hgslice")
AddPlot("Mesh", "Mesh2D")
AddPlot("Label", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
print "The current view is:", GetView2D()
# Get an initialized 2D view object.
v = GetView2D()
v.windowCoords = (-7.67964, -3.21856, 2.66766, 7.87724)
SetView2D(v)

3.9.2 Setting the 3D view

The 3D view is much more complex than the 2D view. For information on the actual meaning of the
fields in the View3DAttributes object, refer to page 214 or the VisIt User’s Manual. VisIt automatically
computes a suitable view for 3D objects and it is best to initialize new View3DAttributes objects using
the GetView3D function so most of the fields will already be initialized. The best way to get new views
to use in a script is to interactively create the plot and repeatedly call GetView3D() after you finish
rotating the plots with the mouse. You can paste the printed view information into your script and
modify it slightly to create sophisticated view transitions.
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hardyglobal")
AddPlot("Mesh", "Mesh")
DrawPlots()
v = GetView3D()
print "The view is: ", v
v.viewNormal = (-0.571619, 0.405393, 0.713378)
v.viewUp = (0.308049, 0.911853, -0.271346)
SetView3D(v)

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3.9. VIEW CHAPTER 3. QUICK RECIPES

3.9.3 Flying around plots

Flying around plots is a commonly requested feature when making movies. Fortunately, this is easy to
script. The basic method used for flying around plots is interpolating the view. VisIt provides a number
of functions that can interpolate View2DAttributes and View3DAttributes objects. The most useful of
these functions is the EvalCubicSpline function. The EvalCubicSpline function uses piece-wise cubic
polynomials to smoothly interpolate between a tuple of N like items. Scripting smooth view changes
using EvalCubicSpline is rather like keyframing in that you have a set of views that are mapped to some
distance along the parameterized space [0., 1.]. When the parameterized space is sampled with some
number of samples, VisIt calculates the view for the specified parameter value and returns a smoothly
interpolated view. One benefit over keyframing, in this case, is that you can use cubic interpolation
whereas VisIt’s keyframing mode currently uses linear interpolation.
# Do a pseudocolor plot of u.
OpenDatabase("/usr/local/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()

# Create the control points for the views.

c0 = View3DAttributes()
c0.viewNormal = (0, 0, 1)
c0.focus = (0, 0, 0)
c0.viewUp = (0, 1, 0)
c0.viewAngle = 30
c0.parallelScale = 17.3205
c0.nearPlane = 17.3205
c0.farPlane = 81.9615
c0.perspective = 1

c1 = View3DAttributes()
c1.viewNormal = (-0.499159, 0.475135, 0.724629)
c1.focus = (0, 0, 0)
c1.viewUp = (0.196284, 0.876524, -0.439521)
c1.viewAngle = 30
c1.parallelScale = 14.0932
c1.nearPlane = 15.276
c1.farPlane = 69.917
c1.perspective = 1

c2 = View3DAttributes()
c2.viewNormal = (-0.522881, 0.831168, -0.189092)
c2.focus = (0, 0, 0)
c2.viewUp = (0.783763, 0.556011, 0.27671)
c2.viewAngle = 30
c2.parallelScale = 11.3107
c2.nearPlane = 14.8914
c2.farPlane = 59.5324
c2.perspective = 1

c3 = View3DAttributes()
c3.viewNormal = (-0.438771, 0.523661, -0.730246)
c3.focus = (0, 0, 0)
c3.viewUp = (-0.0199911, 0.80676, 0.590541)

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3.10. WORKING WITH ANNOTATIONS CHAPTER 3. QUICK RECIPES

c3.viewAngle = 30
c3.parallelScale = 8.28257
c3.nearPlane = 3.5905
c3.farPlane = 48.2315
c3.perspective = 1

c4 = View3DAttributes()
c4.viewNormal = (0.286142, -0.342802, -0.894768)
c4.focus = (0, 0, 0)
c4.viewUp = (-0.0382056, 0.928989, -0.36813)
c4.viewAngle = 30
c4.parallelScale = 10.4152
c4.nearPlane = 1.5495
c4.farPlane = 56.1905
c4.perspective = 1

c5 = View3DAttributes()
c5.viewNormal = (0.974296, -0.223599, -0.0274086)
c5.focus = (0, 0, 0)
c5.viewUp = (0.222245, 0.97394, -0.0452541)
c5.viewAngle = 30
c5.parallelScale = 1.1052
c5.nearPlane = 24.1248
c5.farPlane = 58.7658
c5.perspective = 1

c6 = c0

# Create a tuple of camera values and x values. The x values

# determine where in [0,1] the control points occur.
cpts = (c0, c1, c2, c3, c4, c5, c6)
x=[]
for i in range(7):
x = x + [float(i) / float(6.)]

# Animate the view using EvalCubicSpline.

nsteps = 100
for i in range(nsteps):
t = float(i) / float(nsteps - 1)
c = EvalCubicSpline(t, x, cpts)
c.nearPlane = -34.461
c.farPlane = 34.461
SetView3D(c)

3.10 Working with annotations

Adding annotations to your visualization improve the quality of the final visualization in that you can
refine the colors that you use, add logos, or highlight features of interest in your plots. This section
provides some recipes for creating annotations using scripting.

22
3.10. WORKING WITH ANNOTATIONS CHAPTER 3. QUICK RECIPES

3.10.1 Using gradient background colors

VisIt’s default white background is not necessarily the best looking background color for presentations.
Adding a gradient background under your plots is an easy way to add a small professional touch to
your visualizations. VisIt provides a few different styles of gradient background: radial, top to bottom,
bottom to top, left to right, and right to left. The gradient style is set using the gradientBackgroundStyle
member of the AnnotationAttributes object. The before and after results are shown in Figure 3.1.
# Set a blue/black, radial, gradient background.
a = AnnotationAttributes()
a.backgroundMode = a.Gradient
a.gradientBackgroundStyle = a.Radial
a.gradientColor1 = (0,0,255,255) # Blue
a.gradientColor2 = (0,0,0,255) # Black
SetAnnotationAttributes(a)

Figure 3.1: Before and after image of adding a gradient background.

3.10.2 Adding a banner

Banners are useful for providing titles for a visualization or for marking its content (see Figure 3.2). To
add an ”Unclassified” banner to a visualization, use the following bit of Python code:
# Create a text object that we’ll use to indicate that our
# visualization is unclassified.
banner = CreateAnnotationObject("Text2D")
banner.text = "Unclassified"
banner.position = (0.37, 0.95)
banner.fontBold = 1
# print the attributes that you can set in the banner object.
print banner

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3.10. WORKING WITH ANNOTATIONS CHAPTER 3. QUICK RECIPES

Figure 3.2: Adding a banner

3.10.3 Adding a time slider

Time sliders are important annotations for movies since they convey how much progress an animation
has made as well as how many more frames have yet to be seen. The time slider is also important
for showing the simulation time as the animation progresses so users can get a sense of when in the
simulation important events occur. VisIt’s time slider annotation object is shown in Figure 3.3.
# Add a time slider in the lower left corner
slider = CreateAnnotationObject("TimeSlider")
slider.height = 0.07
# Print the options that are available in the time slider object
print slider

3.10.4 Adding a logo

Adding a logo to a visualization is an important part of project identification for movies and other
visualizations created with VisIt. If you have a logo image file stored in TIFF, JPEG, BMP, or PPM
format then you can use it with VisIt as an image annotation (see Figure 3.4). Note that this approach
can also be used to insert images of graphs, plots, portraits, diagrams, or any other form of image data
into a visualization.
# Incorporate LLNL logo image (llnl.jpeg) as an annotation
image = CreateAnnotationObject("Image")
image.image = "llnl.jpeg"
image.position = (0.02, 0.02)
# Print the other image annotation options
print image

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3.10. WORKING WITH ANNOTATIONS CHAPTER 3. QUICK RECIPES

Figure 3.3: Time slider annotation in the lower left corner

Figure 3.4: Image annotation used to incorporate LLNL logo

25
Chapter 4

Functions available before

Launch()

Most users launch VisIt as:

% visit -cli
In this case, all functions are immediately available.
However, some users launch a standard Python interpreter and then import VisIt, like:
% python
>>> from visit import * # either this way
>>> import visit # or this way
In this case, most of VisIt’s functions are not loaded, since VisIt itself has not been launched. (When
Launch is called, then all of the functions will be available. They are described in chapter 5).
This chapter documents the functions available before Launch() is called when importing VisIt from a
Python interpreter.

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 CHAPTER 4. FUNCTIONS AVAILABLE BEFORE LAUNCH()

AddArgument: add an argument to the viewer’s command line argument list.

Synopsis:
AddArgument(argument)

Arguments:
argument A string object that is added to the viewer’s command line
argument list.
Returns:
AddArgument does not return a value.

Description:
The AddArgument function is used to add extra command line arguments to VisIt’s viewer. This is
only useful when VisIt’s Python interface is imported into a stand−alone Python interpreter because
the AddArgument function must be called before the viewer is launched. The AddArgument function
has no effect when used in VisIt’s cli program because the viewer is automatically launched before any
commands are processed.

Example:
import visit
visit.AddArgument("-nowin") # Add the -nowin argument to the viewer.

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 CHAPTER 4. FUNCTIONS AVAILABLE BEFORE LAUNCH()

GetDebugLevel: set or Get the VisIt module’s debug level.

Synopsis:
GetDebugLevel() -> integer
SetDebugLevel(level)

Arguments:
level A string ’1’, ’2’, ’3’, ’4’, ’5’ with an optional ’b’ suffix to
indicatewhether the output should be buffered. A value of
’1’ is a low debug level, which should be used to produce
little output while a value of 5 should produce a lot of debug
output.
Returns:
The GetDebugLevel function returns the debug level of the VisIt module.

Description:
The GetDebugLevel and SetDebugLevel functions are used when debugging VisIt Python scripts. The
SetDebugLevel function sets the debug level for VisIt’s viewer thus it must be called before a Launch
method. The debug level determines how much detail is written to VisIt’s execution logs when it exe-
cutes. The GetDebugLevel function can be used in Python scripts to alter the behavior of the script.
For instance, the debug level can be used to selectively print values to the console.

Example:
% visit -cli -debug 2
print "VisIt’s debug level is: %d" % GetDebugLevel()

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 CHAPTER 4. FUNCTIONS AVAILABLE BEFORE LAUNCH()

Launch: launches VisIt’s viewer

Synopsis:
Launch() -> integer
Launch(program) -> integer
LaunchNowin() -> integer
LaunchNowin(program) -> integer

Arguments:
program The complete path to the top level ’visit’ script.

Returns:
The Launch functions return 1 for success and 0 for failure

Description:
The Launch function is used to launch VisIt’s viewer when the VisIt module is imported into a
stand−alone Python interpreter. The Launch function has no effect when a viewer already exists.
The difference between Launch and LaunchNowin is that LaunchNowin prevents the viewer from ever
creating onscreen visualization windows. The LaunchNowin function is primarily used in Python scripts
that want to generate visualizations using VisIt without the use of a display such as when generating
movies.

Example 1:
import visit
visit.AddArgument("-geometry")
visit.AddArgument("1024x1024")
visit.LaunchNowin()
Example 2:
import visit
visit.AddArgument("-nowin")
visit.Launch()

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 CHAPTER 4. FUNCTIONS AVAILABLE BEFORE LAUNCH()

SetDebugLevel: set or Get the VisIt module’s debug level.

Synopsis:
GetDebugLevel() -> integer
SetDebugLevel(level)

Arguments:
level A string ’1’, ’2’, ’3’, ’4’, ’5’ with an optional ’b’ suffix to
indicatewhether the output should be buffered. A value of
’1’ is a low debug level, which should be used to produce
little output while a value of 5 should produce a lot of debug
output.
Returns:
The GetDebugLevel function returns the debug level of the VisIt module.

Description:
The GetDebugLevel and SetDebugLevel functions are used when debugging VisIt Python scripts. The
SetDebugLevel function sets the debug level for VisIt’s viewer thus it must be called before a Launch
method. The debug level determines how much detail is written to VisIt’s execution logs when it exe-
cutes. The GetDebugLevel function can be used in Python scripts to alter the behavior of the script.
For instance, the debug level can be used to selectively print values to the console.

Example:
% visit -cli -debug 2
print "VisIt’s debug level is: %d" % GetDebugLevel()

30
Chapter 5

Functions

ActivateDatabase: activates a database that has been previously opened.

Synopsis:
ActivateDatabase(argument) -> integer

Arguments:
argument A string object containing the name of the database to be
activated.
Returns:
ActivateDatabase returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The ActivateDatabase function is used to set the active database to a database that has been previously
opened. The ActivateDatabase function only works when you are using it to activate a database that
you have previously opened. You do not need to use this function unless you frequently toggle between
more than one database when making plots or changing time states. While the OpenDatabase function
can also be used to set the active database, the ActivateDatabase function does not have any side effects
that would cause the time state for the new active database to be changed.

Example:
% visit -cli
dbs = ("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit", \
"/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv3d.silo")
OpenDatabase(dbs[0], 17)
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
OpenDatabase(dbs[1])
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# Let’s add another plot from the first database.
ActivateDatabase(dbs[0])
AddPlot("Mesh", "quadmesh")
DrawPlots()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

AddOperator: adds the named operator to the active plots.

Synopsis:
AddOperator(operator) -> integer
AddOperator(operator, all) -> integer

Arguments:
operator This is a string containing the name of the operator to be
applied.
all This is an optional integer argument that applies the oper-
ator to allplots if the value of the argument is not zero.
Returns:
The AddOperator function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The AddOperator function adds a VisIt operator to the active plots. The operator argument is a string
containing the name of the operator to be added to the active plots. The operatore name must be a
valid operator plugin name that is a member of the tuple returned by the OperatorPlugins function.
The all argument is an integer that determines whether or not the operator is applied to all plots. If the
all argument is not provided, the operator is only added to active plots. Once the AddOperator function
is called, the desired operator is added to all active plots unless the all argument is a non−zero value.
When the all argument is a non−zero value, the operator is applied to all plots regardless of whether
or not they are selected. Operator attributes are set through the SetOperatorOptions function.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
AddPlot("Mesh", "mesh1")
AddOperator("Slice", 1) # Slice both plots
DrawPlots()

32
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

AddPlot: creates a new plot.

Synopsis:
AddPlot(plotType, variableName) -> integer
AddPlot(plotType, variableName, inheritSIL) -> integer
AddPlot(plotType, variableName, inheritSIL,\
applyOperators) -> integer

Arguments:
plotType This is a string containing the name of a valid plot plugin
type.
variableName This is a string containing a valid variable name for the
open database.
inheritSIL This is an integer flag indicating whether the plot should
inherit theactive plot’s SIL restriction.
applyOperators This is an integer flag indicating whether the operators from
the activeplot should be applied to the new plot.
Returns:
The AddPlot function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The AddPlot function creates a new plot of the specified type using a variable from the open database.
The plotType argument is a string that contains the name of a valid plot plugin type which must be a
member of the string tuple that is returned by the PlotPlugins function. The variableName argument
is a string that contains the name of a variable in the open database. After the AddPlot function is
called, a new plot is created and it is made the sole active plot.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Subset", "mat1") # Create a subset plot
DrawPlots()

33
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

AddWindow: creates a new visualization window.

Synopsis:
AddWindow()

Returns:
The AddWindow function does not a return value.

Description:
The AddWindow function creates a new visualization window and makes it the active window. This
function can be used to create up to 16 visualization windows. After that, the AddWindow function
has no effect.

Example:
import visit
visit.Launch()
visit.AddWindow() # Create window #2
visit.AddWindow() # Create window #3

34
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

AlterDatabaseCorrelation: alters a specific database correlation.

Synopsis:
AlterDatabaseCorrelation(name, databases, method) -> integer

Arguments:
name The name argument must be a string object containing the
name of thedatabase correlation to be altered.
databases The databases argument must be a tuple or list of strings
containing thefully qualified database names to be used in
the database correlation.
method The method argument must be an integer in the range [0,3].
Returns:
The AlterDatabaseCorrelation function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The AlterDatabaseCorrelation method alters an existing database correlation. A database correlation is
a VisIt construct that relates the time states for two or more databases in some way. You would use the
AlterDatabaseCorrelation function if you wanted to change the list of databases used in a database cor-
relation or if you wanted to change how the databases are related − the correlation method. The name
argument is a string that is the name of the database correlation to be altered. If the name that you
pass is not a valid database correlation then the AlterDatabaseCorrelation function fails. The databases
argument is a list or tuple of string objects containing the fully−qualified (host:/path/filename) names
of the databases to be involved in the database query. The method argument allows you to specify a
database correlation method.

Correlation method Value

IndexForIndexCorrelation 0
StretchedIndexCorrelation 1
TimeCorrelation 2
CycleCorrelation 3

Example:
dbs = ("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit", \
"/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave*.silo database")
OpenDatabase(dbs[0])
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
OpenDatabase(dbs[1])
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
# VisIt created an index for index database correlation but we
# want a cycle correlation.
AlterDatabaseCorrelation("Correlation01", dbs, 3)

35
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ApplyNamedSelection: applies a named selection to the active plot.

Synopsis:
ApplyNamedSelection(name) -> integer

Arguments:
name The name of a named selection. (This should have been
previously createdwith a CreateNamedSelection call.)
Returns:
The ApplyNamedSelection function returns 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
Named Selections allow you to select a group of elements (or particles). One typically creates a named
selection from a group of elements and then later applies the named selection to another plot (thus
reducing the set of elements displayed to the ones from when the named selection was created).

Example:
% visit -cli
db = "/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave*.silo database"
OpenDatabase(db)
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
AddOperator("Clip")
c = ClipAttributes()
c.plane1Origin = (0,0.6,0)
c.plane1Normal = (0,-1,0)
SetOperatorOption(c)
DrawPlots()
CreateNamedSelection("els_above_at_time_0")
SetTimeSliderState(40)
RemoveLastOperator()
ApplyNamedSelection("els_above_at_time_0")

36
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ChangeActivePlotsVar: changes the variable for the active plots

Synopsis:
ChangeActivePlotsVar(variableName) -> integer

Arguments:
variableName The name of the new plot variable.

Returns:
The ChangeActivePlotsVar function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The ChangeActivePlotsVar function changes the plotted variable for the active plots. This is a useful
way to change what is being visualized without having to delete and recreate the current plots. The
variableName argument is a string that contains the name of a variable in the open database.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
SaveWindow()
ChangeActivePlotsVar("v")

37
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

CheckForNewStates: checks the specified database for new time states.

Synopsis:
CheckForNewStates(name) -> integer

Arguments:
name The name argument must be a string that contains the
name of a databasethat has been opened previously.
Returns:
The CheckForNewStates function returns 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
Calculations are often run at the same time as some of the preliminary visualization work is being
performed. That said, you might be visualizing the leading time states of a database that is still being
created. If you want to force VisIt to add any new time states that were added since you opened the
database, you can use the CheckForNewStates function. The name argument must contain the name of
a database that has been opened before.

Example:
% visit -cli
db = "/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave*.silo database"
OpenDatabase(db)
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
DrawPlots()
SetTimeSliderState(TimeSliderGetNStates() - 1)
# More files appear on disk
CheckForNewStates(db)
SetTimeSliderState(TimeSliderGetNStates() - 1)

38
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ChooseCenterOfRotation: allows you to interactively pick a new center of rotation.

Synopsis:
ChooseCenterOfRotation() -> integer
ChooseCenterOfRotation(screenX, screenY) -> integer

Arguments:
screenX The X coordinate of the pick point in normalized [0,1]
screen space.
screenY The Y cooridinate of the pick point in normalized [0,1]
screen space.
Returns:
The ChooseCenterOfRotation function returns 1 if successful and 0 if it fails.

Description:
The ChooseCenterOfRotation function allows you to pick a new center of rotation, which is the point
about which plots are rotated when you interactively rotate plots. The function can either take zero
arguments, in which case you must interactively pick on plots, or it can take two arguments that cor-
respond to the X and Y coordinates of the desired pick point in normalized screen space. When using
the two argument version of the ChooseCenterOfRotation function, the X and Y values are floating
point values in the range [0,1]. If the ChooseCenterOfRotation function is able to actually pick on plots,
yes there must be plots in the vis window, then the center of rotation is updated and the new value is
printed to the console.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlots("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# Interactively choose the center of rotation
ChooseCenterOfRotation()
# Choose a center of rotation using normalized screen
# coordinates and print the value.
ResetView()
ChooseCenterOfRotation(0.5, 0.3)
print "The new center of rotation is:", GetView3D().centerOfRotation

39
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ClearAllWindows: clears visualization windows of plots.

Synopsis:
ClearAllWindows() -> integer
ClearWindow() -> integer

Returns:
1 on success, 0 on failure.

Description:
The ClearWindow function is used to clear out the plots from the active visualization window. The
plots are removed from the visualization window but are left in the plot list so that subsequent calls to
the DrawPlots function regenerate the plots in the plot list. The ClearAllWindows function preforms
the same work as the ClearWindow function except that all windows are cleared of their plots.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
AddWindow()
SetActiveWindow(2) # Make window 2 active
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Subset", "mat1")
DrawPlots()
ClearWindow() # Clear the plots in window 2.
DrawPlots() # Redraw the plots in window 2.
ClearAllWindows() # Clear the plots from all windows.

40
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ClearCache: clears the compute engine’s network cache.

Synopsis:
ClearCache(host) -> integer
ClearCache(host, simulation) -> integer
ClearCacheForAllEngines() -> integer

Arguments:
host The name of the computer where the compute engine is
running.
simulation The name of the simulation being processed by the compute
engine.
Returns:
The ClearCache and ClearCacheForAllEngines functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
Sometimes during extended VisIt runs, you might want to periodically clear the compute engine’s net-
work cache to reduce the amount of memory being used by the compute engine. Clearing the network
cache is also useful when you want to change what the compute engine is working on. For example,
you might process a large database and then decide to process another large database. Clearing the
network cache beforehand will free up more resources for the compute engine so it can more efficiently
process the new database. The host argument is a string object containing the name of the computer
on which the compute engine is running. The simulation argument is optional and only applies to when
you want to instruct a simulation that is acting as a VisIt compute engine to clear its network cache.
If you want to tell more than one compute engine to clear its cache without having to call ClearCache
multiple times, you can use the ClearCacheForAllEngines function.

Example:
%visit -cli
OpenDatabase("localhost:very_large_database")
# Do a lot of work
ClearCache("localhost")
OpenDatabase(localhost:another_large_database")
# Do more work
OpenDatabase("remotehost:yet_another_database")
# Do more work
ClearCacheForAllEngines()

41
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ClearCacheForAllEngines: clears the compute engine’s network cache.

Synopsis:
ClearCache(host) -> integer
ClearCache(host, simulation) -> integer
ClearCacheForAllEngines() -> integer

Arguments:
host The name of the computer where the compute engine is
running.
simulation The name of the simulation being processed by the compute
engine.
Returns:
The ClearCache and ClearCacheForAllEngines functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
Sometimes during extended VisIt runs, you might want to periodically clear the compute engine’s net-
work cache to reduce the amount of memory being used by the compute engine. Clearing the network
cache is also useful when you want to change what the compute engine is working on. For example,
you might process a large database and then decide to process another large database. Clearing the
network cache beforehand will free up more resources for the compute engine so it can more efficiently
process the new database. The host argument is a string object containing the name of the computer
on which the compute engine is running. The simulation argument is optional and only applies to when
you want to instruct a simulation that is acting as a VisIt compute engine to clear its network cache.
If you want to tell more than one compute engine to clear its cache without having to call ClearCache
multiple times, you can use the ClearCacheForAllEngines function.

Example:
%visit -cli
OpenDatabase("localhost:very_large_database")
# Do a lot of work
ClearCache("localhost")
OpenDatabase(localhost:another_large_database")
# Do more work
OpenDatabase("remotehost:yet_another_database")
# Do more work
ClearCacheForAllEngines()

42
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ClearMacros: clear the macros that have been registered using RegisterMacros.

Synopsis:
ClearMacros()

Arguments:
none

Returns:
The ClearMacros function does not return a value.

Description:
The ClearMacros function clears out the list of registered macros and sends a message to the gui to
clear the buttons from the Macros window.

Example:
ClearMacros()

43
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ClearPickPoints: clears pick points from the visualization window

Synopsis:
ClearPickPoints()

Returns:
The ClearPickPoints function does not return a value.

Description:
The ClearPickPoints function removes pick points from the active visualization window. Pick points are
the letters that are added to the visualization window where the mouse is clicked when the visualization
window is in pick mode.

Example:
% visit -cli
# Put the visualization window into pick mode using the popup
# menu and add some pick points.
# Clear the pick points.
ClearPickPoints()

44
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ClearReferenceLines: clears reference lines from the visualization window.

Synopsis:
ClearReferenceLines()

Returns:
The ClearReferenceLines function does not return a value.

Description:
The ClearReferenceLines function removes reference lines from the active visualization window. Refer-
ence lines are the lines that are drawn on a plot to show where you have performed lineouts.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
Lineout((-3.0, 2.0), (2.0, 4.0), ("default", "u", "v"))
ClearReferenceLines()

45
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ClearViewKeyframes: clears any view keyframes that have been set.

Synopsis:
ClearViewKeyframes() -> integer

Returns:
The ClearViewKeyframes function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The ClearViewKeyframes function clears any view keyframes that may have been set. View keyframes
are used to create complex view behavior such as fly−throughs when VisIt is in keyframing mode.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
k = KeyframeAttributes()
k.enabled, k.nFrames, k.nFramesWasUserSet = 1,10,1
SetKeyframeAttributes(k)
DrawPlots()
SetViewKeyframe()
v1 = GetView3D()
v1.viewNormal = (-0.66609, 0.337227, 0.665283)
v1.viewUp = (0.157431, 0.935425, -0.316537)
SetView3D(v1)
SetTimeSliderState(9)
SetViewKeyframe()
ToggleCameraViewMode()
for i in range(10):
SetTimeSliderState(i)
ClearViewKeyframes()

46
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ClearWindow: clears visualization windows of plots.

Synopsis:
ClearAllWindows() -> integer
ClearWindow() -> integer

Returns:
1 on success, 0 on failure.

Description:
The ClearWindow function is used to clear out the plots from the active visualization window. The
plots are removed from the visualization window but are left in the plot list so that subsequent calls to
the DrawPlots function regenerate the plots in the plot list. The ClearAllWindows function preforms
the same work as the ClearWindow function except that all windows are cleared of their plots.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
AddWindow()
SetActiveWindow(2) # Make window 2 active
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Subset", "mat1")
DrawPlots()
ClearWindow() # Clear the plots in window 2.
DrawPlots() # Redraw the plots in window 2.
ClearAllWindows() # Clear the plots from all windows.

47
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

CloneWindow: creates a new window that has the same plots, annotations, lights, and

Synopsis:
CloneWindow() -> integer

Returns:
The CloneWindow function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The CloneWindow function tells the viewer to create a new window, based on the active window, that
contains the same plots, annotations, lights, and view as the active window. This function is useful for
when you have a window set up like you want and then want to do the same thing in another window
using a different database. You can first clone the window and then replace the database.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
v = ViewAttributes()
v.camera = (-0.505893, 0.32034, 0.800909)
v.viewUp = (0.1314, 0.946269, -0.295482)
v.parallelScale = 14.5472
v.nearPlane = -34.641
v.farPlane = 34.641
v.perspective = 1
SetView3D() # Set the view
a = AnnotationAttributes()
a.backgroundColor = (0, 0, 255, 255)
SetAnnotationAttributes(a) # Set the annotation properties
CloneWindow() # Create a clone of the active window
DrawPlots() # Make the new window draw its plots

48
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

Close: closes the viewer.

Synopsis:
Close()

Arguments:
none

Returns:
The Close function does not return a value.

Description:
The Close function terminates VisIt’s viewer. This is useful for Python scripts that only need access to
VisIt’s capabilties for a short time before closing VisIt.

Example:
import visit
visit.Launch()
visit.Close() # Close the viewer

49
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

CloseComputeEngine: closes the compute engine running on a specified host.

Synopsis:
CloseComputeEngine() -> integer
CloseComputeEngine(hostName) -> integer
CloseComputeEngine(hostName, simulation) -> integer

Arguments:
hostName Optional name of the computer on which the compute en-
gine is running.
simulation Optional name of a simulation.
Returns:
The CloseComputeEngine function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The CloseComputeEngine function tells the viewer to close the compute engine running a specified host.
The hostName argument is a string that contains the name of the computer where the compute engine
is running. The hostName argument can also be the name ”localhost” if you want to close the compute
engine on the local machine without having to specify its name. It is not necessary to provide the
hostName argument. If the argument is omitted, the first compute engine in the engine list will be
closed. The simulation argument can be provided if you want to close a connection to a simulation that
is acting as a VisIt compute engine. A compute engine can be launched again by creating a plot or by
calling the OpenComputeEngine function.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo") # Launches an engine
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
CloseComputeEngine() # Close the compute engine

50
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

CloseDatabase: closes the specified database and frees up resources associated with it.

Synopsis:
CloseDatabase(name) -> integer

Arguments:
name A string object containing the name of the database to
close.
Returns:
The CloseDatabase function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The CloseDatabase function is used to close a specified database and free all resources that were devoted
to keeping the database open. This function has an effect similar to ClearCache but it does more in
that in addition to clearing the compute engine’s cache, which it only does for the specified database, it
also removes all references to the specified database from tables of cached metadata, etc. Note that the
CloseDatabase function will fail and the database will not be closed if any plots reference the specified
database.

Example:
% visit -cli
db = "/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo"
OpenDatabase(db)
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
print "This won’t work: retval = %d" % CloseDatabase(db)
DeleteAllPlots()
print "Now it works: retval = %d" % CloseDatabase(db)

51
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ColorTableNames: returns a tuple of color table names.

Synopsis:
ColorTableNames() -> tuple

Returns:
The ColorTableNames function returns a tuple of strings containing the names of the color tables that
have been defined.

Description:
The ColorTableNames function returns a tuple of strings containing the names of the color tables that
have been defined. This method can be used in case you want to iterate over several color tables.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
for ct in ColorTableNames():
p = PseudocolorAttributes()
p.colorTableName = ct
SetPlotOptions(p)

52
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ConstructDataBinning: constructs a data binning

Synopsis:
ConstructDataBinning(i) -> integer

Arguments:
i An object of type ConstructDataBinningAttributes. This
object specifies the optionsfor constructing a data binning.
Returns:
Returns 1 on success, 0 on failure.

Description:
The ConstructDataBinning function creates a data binning function for the active plot. Data Binnings
place data from a data set into bins and reduce that data. They are used to either be incorporated with
expressions to make new derived quantities or to be directly visualized.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv3d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
# Set the construct data binning attributes.
i = ConstructDataBinningAttributes()
i.name = "db1"
i.binningScheme = i.Uniform
i.varnames = ("u", "w")
i.binBoundaries = (-1, 1, -1, 1) # minu, maxu, minw, maxw
i.numSamples = (25, 25)
i.reductionOperator = i.Average
i.varForReductionOperator = "v"
ConstructDataBinning(i)

53
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

CopyAnnotationsToWindow: copies attributes from one visualization window to another visualiza-

tion

Synopsis:
CopyAnnotationsToWindow(source, dest) -> integer
CopyLightingToWindow(source, dest) -> integer
CopyViewTowindow(source, dest) -> integer
CopyPlotsToWindow(source, dest) -> integer

Arguments:
source The index (an integer from 1 to 16) of the source window.
dest The index (an integer from 1 to 16) of the destination win-
dow.
Returns:
The Copy functions return an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The Copy functions copy attributes from one visualization window to another visualization window.
The CopyAnnotationsToWindow function copies the annotations from a source visualization window to
a destination visualization window while the CopyLightingAttributes function copies lighting and the
CopyViewToWindow function copies the view. The CopyPlotsToWindow function copies the plots from
one visualization window to another visualization window but does not also force plots to generate so
after copying plots with the CopyPlotsToWindow function, you should also call the DrawPlots function.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
AddWindow()
SetActiveWindow(2)
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Mesh", "mesh1")
# Copy window 1’s Pseudocolor plot to window 2.
CopyPlotsToWindow(1, 2)
DrawPlots() # Window 2 will have 2 plots
# Spin the plots around in window 2 using the mouse.
CopyViewToWindow(2, 1) # Copy window 2’s view to window 1.

54
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

CopyLightingToWindow: copies attributes from one visualization window to another visualization

Synopsis:
CopyAnnotationsToWindow(source, dest) -> integer
CopyLightingToWindow(source, dest) -> integer
CopyViewTowindow(source, dest) -> integer
CopyPlotsToWindow(source, dest) -> integer

Arguments:
source The index (an integer from 1 to 16) of the source window.
dest The index (an integer from 1 to 16) of the destination win-
dow.
Returns:
The Copy functions return an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The Copy functions copy attributes from one visualization window to another visualization window.
The CopyAnnotationsToWindow function copies the annotations from a source visualization window to
a destination visualization window while the CopyLightingAttributes function copies lighting and the
CopyViewToWindow function copies the view. The CopyPlotsToWindow function copies the plots from
one visualization window to another visualization window but does not also force plots to generate so
after copying plots with the CopyPlotsToWindow function, you should also call the DrawPlots function.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
AddWindow()
SetActiveWindow(2)
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Mesh", "mesh1")
# Copy window 1’s Pseudocolor plot to window 2.
CopyPlotsToWindow(1, 2)
DrawPlots() # Window 2 will have 2 plots
# Spin the plots around in window 2 using the mouse.
CopyViewToWindow(2, 1) # Copy window 2’s view to window 1.

55
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

CopyPlotsToWindow: copies attributes from one visualization window to another visualization

Synopsis:
CopyAnnotationsToWindow(source, dest) -> integer
CopyLightingToWindow(source, dest) -> integer
CopyViewTowindow(source, dest) -> integer
CopyPlotsToWindow(source, dest) -> integer

Arguments:
source The index (an integer from 1 to 16) of the source window.
dest The index (an integer from 1 to 16) of the destination win-
dow.
Returns:
The Copy functions return an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The Copy functions copy attributes from one visualization window to another visualization window.
The CopyAnnotationsToWindow function copies the annotations from a source visualization window to
a destination visualization window while the CopyLightingAttributes function copies lighting and the
CopyViewToWindow function copies the view. The CopyPlotsToWindow function copies the plots from
one visualization window to another visualization window but does not also force plots to generate so
after copying plots with the CopyPlotsToWindow function, you should also call the DrawPlots function.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
AddWindow()
SetActiveWindow(2)
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Mesh", "mesh1")
# Copy window 1’s Pseudocolor plot to window 2.
CopyPlotsToWindow(1, 2)
DrawPlots() # Window 2 will have 2 plots
# Spin the plots around in window 2 using the mouse.
CopyViewToWindow(2, 1) # Copy window 2’s view to window 1.

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

CopyViewToWindow: copies attributes from one visualization window to another visualization

Synopsis:
CopyAnnotationsToWindow(source, dest) -> integer
CopyLightingToWindow(source, dest) -> integer
CopyViewTowindow(source, dest) -> integer
CopyPlotsToWindow(source, dest) -> integer

Arguments:
source The index (an integer from 1 to 16) of the source window.
dest The index (an integer from 1 to 16) of the destination win-
dow.
Returns:
The Copy functions return an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The Copy functions copy attributes from one visualization window to another visualization window.
The CopyAnnotationsToWindow function copies the annotations from a source visualization window to
a destination visualization window while the CopyLightingAttributes function copies lighting and the
CopyViewToWindow function copies the view. The CopyPlotsToWindow function copies the plots from
one visualization window to another visualization window but does not also force plots to generate so
after copying plots with the CopyPlotsToWindow function, you should also call the DrawPlots function.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
AddWindow()
SetActiveWindow(2)
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Mesh", "mesh1")
# Copy window 1’s Pseudocolor plot to window 2.
CopyPlotsToWindow(1, 2)
DrawPlots() # Window 2 will have 2 plots
# Spin the plots around in window 2 using the mouse.
CopyViewToWindow(2, 1) # Copy window 2’s view to window 1.

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

CreateAnnotationObject: creates an annotation object that can directly manipulate annotations in

Synopsis:
CreateAnnotationObject(annotType) -> annotation object

Arguments:
annotType A string containing the name of the type of annotation
object to create.
Returns:
CreateAnnotationObject is a factory function that creates annotation objects of different types. The
return value, if a valid annotation type is provided, is an annotation object. If the function fails, VisI-
tException is raised.

Description:
CreateAnnotationObject is a factory function that creates different kinds of annotation objects. The
annotType argument is a string containing the name of the type of annotation object to create. Each
type of annotation object has different properties that can be set. Setting the different properties of
an Annotation objects directly modifes annotations in the vis window. Currently there are 5 types of
annotation objects:

Annotation type String

2D text annotation ”Text2D”
3D text annotation ”Text3D”
Time slider annotation ”TimeSlider”
Image annotation ”Image”
Line/arrow annotation ”Line2D”

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit", 17)
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
DrawPlots()
slider = CreateAnnotationObject("TimeSlider")
print slider
slider.startColor = (255,0,0,255)
slider.endColor = (255,255,0,255)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

CreateDatabaseCorrelation: creates a database correlation.

Synopsis:
CreateDatabaseCorrelation(name, databases, method) -> integer

Arguments:
name String object containing the name of the database correla-
tion to becreated.
databases Tuple or list of string objects containing the names of the
databases toinvolve in the database correlation.
method An integer in the range [0,3] that determines the correlation
method.
Returns:
The CreateDatabaseCorrelation function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The CreateDatabaseCorrelation function creates a database correlation, which is a VisIt construct that
relates the time states for two or more databases in some way. You would use the CreateDatabaseC-
orrelation function if you wanted to put plots from more than one time−varying database in the same
vis window and then move them both through time in some synchronized way. The name argument
is a string that is the name of the database correlation to be created. You will use the name of the
database correlation to set the active time slider later so that you can change time states. The databases
argument is a list or tuple of string objects containing the fully−qualified (host:/path/filename) names
of the databases to be involved in the database query. The method argument allows you to specify a
database correlation method.

Correlation method Value

IndexForIndexCorrelation 0
StretchedIndexCorrelation 1
TimeCorrelation 2
CycleCorrelation 3

Each database correlation has its own time slider that can be used to set the time state of databases that
are part of a database correlation. Individual time−varying databases have their own trivial database
correlation, consisting of only 1 database. When you call the CreateDatabaseCorrelation function, VisIt
creates a new time slider with the same name as the database correlation and makes it be the active
time slider.

Example:
% visit -cli
dbs = ("/usr/gapps/visit/data/dbA00.pdb",
"/usr/gapps/visit/data/dbB00.pdb")
OpenDatabase(dbs[0])
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "material(mesh)")
OpenDatabase(dbs[1])
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "material(mesh)")
DrawPlots()
CreateDatabaseCorrelation("common", dbs, 1)
# Creating a new database correlation also creates a new time
# slider and makes it be active.
w = GetWindowInformation()
print "Active time slider: %s" % w.timeSliders[w.activeTimeSlider]

59
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

# Animate through time using the "common" database correlation’s

# time slider.
for i in range(TimeSliderGetNStates()):
SetTimeSliderState(i)

60
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

CreateNamedSelection: creates a named selection.

Synopsis:
CreateNamedSelection(name) -> integer
CreateNamedSelection(name, properties) -> integer

Arguments:
name The name of a named selection.
properties This optional argument lets you pass a SelectionProper-
ties object containingthe properties that will be used to
create the named selection. When thisargument is omit-
ted, the named selection will always be associated withthe
active plot. You can use this argument to set up more com-
plex namedselections that may be associated with plots or
databases.
Returns:
The CreateNamedSelection function returns 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
Named Selections allow you to select a group of elements (or particles). One typically creates a named
selection from a group of elements and then later applies the named selection to another plot (thus
reducing the set of elements displayed to the ones from when the named selection was created).

Example:
% visit -cli
db = "/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave*.silo database"
OpenDatabase(db)
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
AddOperator("Clip")
c = ClipAttributes()
c.plane1Origin = (0,0.6,0)
c.plane1Normal = (0,-1,0)
SetOperatorOption(c)
DrawPlots()
CreateNamedSelection("els_above_at_time_0")
SetTimeSliderState(40)
RemoveLastOperator()
ApplyNamedSelection("els_above_at_time_0")

61
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DeIconifyAllWindows: unhides all of the hidden visualization windows.

Synopsis:
DeIconifyAllWindows()

Returns:
The DeIconifyAllWindows function does not return a value.

Description:
The DeIconifyAllWindows function unhides all of the hidden visualization windows. This function is
usually called after IconifyAllWindows as a way of making all of the hidden visualization windows visible.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetWindowLayout(4) # Have 4 windows
IconifyAllWindows()
DeIconifyAllWindows()

62
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DefineArrayExpression: creates a expression variable.

Synopsis:
DefineMaterialExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineMeshExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineScalarExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineSpeciesExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineTensorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineVectorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineArrayExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineCurveExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer

Arguments:
variableName The name of the variable to be created.
expression The expression definition.
Returns:
The DefineExpression functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The DefineScalarExpression function creates a new scalar variable based on other variables from the
open database. Likewise, the DefineMaterialExpression function creates new material variables, De-
fineMeshExpression creates new mesh variables, DefineSpeciesExpression creates new species variables,
DefineVectorExpression creates new vector variables, DefineTensorExpression creates new tensor vari-
ables, and DefineArrayExpression creates new array variables. Expression variables can be plotted
like any other variable. The variableName argument is a string that contains the name of the new
variable. You can pass the name of an existing expression if you want to provide a new expression
definition. The expression argument is a string that contains the definition of the new variable in terms
of math operators and pre−existing variable names Reference the VisIt User’s Manual if you want more
information on creating expressions, such as expression syntax, or a list of built−in expression functions.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
DefineScalarExpression("myvar", "sin(u) + cos(w)")
# Plot the scalar expression variable.
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "myvar")
DrawPlots()
# Plot a vector expression variable.
DefineVectorExpression("myvec", "{u,v,w}")
AddPlot("Vector", "myvec")
DrawPlots()

63
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DefineCurveExpression: creates a expression variable.

Synopsis:
DefineMaterialExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineMeshExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineScalarExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineSpeciesExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineTensorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineVectorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineArrayExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineCurveExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer

Arguments:
variableName The name of the variable to be created.
expression The expression definition.
Returns:
The DefineExpression functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The DefineScalarExpression function creates a new scalar variable based on other variables from the
open database. Likewise, the DefineMaterialExpression function creates new material variables, De-
fineMeshExpression creates new mesh variables, DefineSpeciesExpression creates new species variables,
DefineVectorExpression creates new vector variables, DefineTensorExpression creates new tensor vari-
ables, and DefineArrayExpression creates new array variables. Expression variables can be plotted
like any other variable. The variableName argument is a string that contains the name of the new
variable. You can pass the name of an existing expression if you want to provide a new expression
definition. The expression argument is a string that contains the definition of the new variable in terms
of math operators and pre−existing variable names Reference the VisIt User’s Manual if you want more
information on creating expressions, such as expression syntax, or a list of built−in expression functions.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
DefineScalarExpression("myvar", "sin(u) + cos(w)")
# Plot the scalar expression variable.
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "myvar")
DrawPlots()
# Plot a vector expression variable.
DefineVectorExpression("myvec", "{u,v,w}")
AddPlot("Vector", "myvec")
DrawPlots()

64
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DefineMaterialExpression: creates a expression variable.

Synopsis:
DefineMaterialExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineMeshExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineScalarExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineSpeciesExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineTensorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineVectorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineArrayExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineCurveExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer

Arguments:
variableName The name of the variable to be created.
expression The expression definition.
Returns:
The DefineExpression functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The DefineScalarExpression function creates a new scalar variable based on other variables from the
open database. Likewise, the DefineMaterialExpression function creates new material variables, De-
fineMeshExpression creates new mesh variables, DefineSpeciesExpression creates new species variables,
DefineVectorExpression creates new vector variables, DefineTensorExpression creates new tensor vari-
ables, and DefineArrayExpression creates new array variables. Expression variables can be plotted
like any other variable. The variableName argument is a string that contains the name of the new
variable. You can pass the name of an existing expression if you want to provide a new expression
definition. The expression argument is a string that contains the definition of the new variable in terms
of math operators and pre−existing variable names Reference the VisIt User’s Manual if you want more
information on creating expressions, such as expression syntax, or a list of built−in expression functions.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
DefineScalarExpression("myvar", "sin(u) + cos(w)")
# Plot the scalar expression variable.
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "myvar")
DrawPlots()
# Plot a vector expression variable.
DefineVectorExpression("myvec", "{u,v,w}")
AddPlot("Vector", "myvec")
DrawPlots()

65
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DefineMeshExpression: creates a expression variable.

Synopsis:
DefineMaterialExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineMeshExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineScalarExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineSpeciesExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineTensorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineVectorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineArrayExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineCurveExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer

Arguments:
variableName The name of the variable to be created.
expression The expression definition.
Returns:
The DefineExpression functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The DefineScalarExpression function creates a new scalar variable based on other variables from the
open database. Likewise, the DefineMaterialExpression function creates new material variables, De-
fineMeshExpression creates new mesh variables, DefineSpeciesExpression creates new species variables,
DefineVectorExpression creates new vector variables, DefineTensorExpression creates new tensor vari-
ables, and DefineArrayExpression creates new array variables. Expression variables can be plotted
like any other variable. The variableName argument is a string that contains the name of the new
variable. You can pass the name of an existing expression if you want to provide a new expression
definition. The expression argument is a string that contains the definition of the new variable in terms
of math operators and pre−existing variable names Reference the VisIt User’s Manual if you want more
information on creating expressions, such as expression syntax, or a list of built−in expression functions.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
DefineScalarExpression("myvar", "sin(u) + cos(w)")
# Plot the scalar expression variable.
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "myvar")
DrawPlots()
# Plot a vector expression variable.
DefineVectorExpression("myvec", "{u,v,w}")
AddPlot("Vector", "myvec")
DrawPlots()

66
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DefinePythonExpression: defines a new Python Filter Expression.

Synopsis:
DefinePythonExpression("myvar",[args],\
source=’python filter source ...’)
DefinePythonExpression("myvar",[args],\
source=’python filter source ...’,type=’scalar’)
DefinePythonExpression("myvar",[args],\
file=’path/to/python_filter_script.py’)

Arguments:
name The name of the variable to be created.
args A tuple (or list) of strings providing the variable names of
thearguments to the Python Expression.
source A string containing the source code for a Python Expression
Filter .
file A string containing the path to a Python Expression Filter
script file.
type An optional string defining the output type of the
expression.Default type: ’scalar’Avalaible types:
’scalar’,’vector’,’tensor’,’array’,’curve’Note: Use only
one of the ’source’ or ’file’ arguments.If both are used the
’source’ argument overrides ’file’.
Returns:
The DefineExpression functions do not return a value.

Description:
Used to define a Python Filter Expression.

67
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DefineScalarExpression: creates a expression variable.

Synopsis:
DefineMaterialExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineMeshExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineScalarExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineSpeciesExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineTensorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineVectorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineArrayExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineCurveExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer

Arguments:
variableName The name of the variable to be created.
expression The expression definition.
Returns:
The DefineExpression functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The DefineScalarExpression function creates a new scalar variable based on other variables from the
open database. Likewise, the DefineMaterialExpression function creates new material variables, De-
fineMeshExpression creates new mesh variables, DefineSpeciesExpression creates new species variables,
DefineVectorExpression creates new vector variables, DefineTensorExpression creates new tensor vari-
ables, and DefineArrayExpression creates new array variables. Expression variables can be plotted
like any other variable. The variableName argument is a string that contains the name of the new
variable. You can pass the name of an existing expression if you want to provide a new expression
definition. The expression argument is a string that contains the definition of the new variable in terms
of math operators and pre−existing variable names Reference the VisIt User’s Manual if you want more
information on creating expressions, such as expression syntax, or a list of built−in expression functions.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
DefineScalarExpression("myvar", "sin(u) + cos(w)")
# Plot the scalar expression variable.
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "myvar")
DrawPlots()
# Plot a vector expression variable.
DefineVectorExpression("myvec", "{u,v,w}")
AddPlot("Vector", "myvec")
DrawPlots()

68
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DefineSpeciesExpression: creates a expression variable.

Synopsis:
DefineMaterialExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineMeshExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineScalarExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineSpeciesExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineTensorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineVectorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineArrayExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineCurveExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer

Arguments:
variableName The name of the variable to be created.
expression The expression definition.
Returns:
The DefineExpression functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The DefineScalarExpression function creates a new scalar variable based on other variables from the
open database. Likewise, the DefineMaterialExpression function creates new material variables, De-
fineMeshExpression creates new mesh variables, DefineSpeciesExpression creates new species variables,
DefineVectorExpression creates new vector variables, DefineTensorExpression creates new tensor vari-
ables, and DefineArrayExpression creates new array variables. Expression variables can be plotted
like any other variable. The variableName argument is a string that contains the name of the new
variable. You can pass the name of an existing expression if you want to provide a new expression
definition. The expression argument is a string that contains the definition of the new variable in terms
of math operators and pre−existing variable names Reference the VisIt User’s Manual if you want more
information on creating expressions, such as expression syntax, or a list of built−in expression functions.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
DefineScalarExpression("myvar", "sin(u) + cos(w)")
# Plot the scalar expression variable.
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "myvar")
DrawPlots()
# Plot a vector expression variable.
DefineVectorExpression("myvec", "{u,v,w}")
AddPlot("Vector", "myvec")
DrawPlots()

69
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DefineTensorExpression: creates a expression variable.

Synopsis:
DefineMaterialExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineMeshExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineScalarExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineSpeciesExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineTensorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineVectorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineArrayExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineCurveExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer

Arguments:
variableName The name of the variable to be created.
expression The expression definition.
Returns:
The DefineExpression functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The DefineScalarExpression function creates a new scalar variable based on other variables from the
open database. Likewise, the DefineMaterialExpression function creates new material variables, De-
fineMeshExpression creates new mesh variables, DefineSpeciesExpression creates new species variables,
DefineVectorExpression creates new vector variables, DefineTensorExpression creates new tensor vari-
ables, and DefineArrayExpression creates new array variables. Expression variables can be plotted
like any other variable. The variableName argument is a string that contains the name of the new
variable. You can pass the name of an existing expression if you want to provide a new expression
definition. The expression argument is a string that contains the definition of the new variable in terms
of math operators and pre−existing variable names Reference the VisIt User’s Manual if you want more
information on creating expressions, such as expression syntax, or a list of built−in expression functions.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
DefineScalarExpression("myvar", "sin(u) + cos(w)")
# Plot the scalar expression variable.
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "myvar")
DrawPlots()
# Plot a vector expression variable.
DefineVectorExpression("myvec", "{u,v,w}")
AddPlot("Vector", "myvec")
DrawPlots()

70
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DefineVectorExpression: creates a expression variable.

Synopsis:
DefineMaterialExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineMeshExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineScalarExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineSpeciesExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineTensorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineVectorExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineArrayExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer
DefineCurveExpression(variableName, expression) -> integer

Arguments:
variableName The name of the variable to be created.
expression The expression definition.
Returns:
The DefineExpression functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The DefineScalarExpression function creates a new scalar variable based on other variables from the
open database. Likewise, the DefineMaterialExpression function creates new material variables, De-
fineMeshExpression creates new mesh variables, DefineSpeciesExpression creates new species variables,
DefineVectorExpression creates new vector variables, DefineTensorExpression creates new tensor vari-
ables, and DefineArrayExpression creates new array variables. Expression variables can be plotted
like any other variable. The variableName argument is a string that contains the name of the new
variable. You can pass the name of an existing expression if you want to provide a new expression
definition. The expression argument is a string that contains the definition of the new variable in terms
of math operators and pre−existing variable names Reference the VisIt User’s Manual if you want more
information on creating expressions, such as expression syntax, or a list of built−in expression functions.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
DefineScalarExpression("myvar", "sin(u) + cos(w)")
# Plot the scalar expression variable.
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "myvar")
DrawPlots()
# Plot a vector expression variable.
DefineVectorExpression("myvec", "{u,v,w}")
AddPlot("Vector", "myvec")
DrawPlots()

71
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DeleteActivePlots: deletes plots from the active window’s plot list.

Synopsis:
DeleteActivePlots() -> integer
DeleteAllPlots() -> integer

Returns:
The Delete functions return an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The Delete functions delete plots from the active window’s plot list. The DeleteActivePlots function
deletes all of the active plots from the plot list. There is no way to retrieve a plot once it has been
deleted from the plot list. The active plots are set using the SetActivePlots function. The DeleteAllPlots
function deletes all plots from the active window’s plot list regardless of whether or not they are active.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
AddPlot("Contour", "u")
AddPlot("Mesh", "curvmesh2d")
DrawPlots()
DeleteActivePlots() # Delete the mesh plot
DeleteAllPlots() # Delete the pseudocolor and contour plots.

72
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DeleteAllPlots: deletes plots from the active window’s plot list.

Synopsis:
DeleteActivePlots() -> integer
DeleteAllPlots() -> integer

Returns:
The Delete functions return an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The Delete functions delete plots from the active window’s plot list. The DeleteActivePlots function
deletes all of the active plots from the plot list. There is no way to retrieve a plot once it has been
deleted from the plot list. The active plots are set using the SetActivePlots function. The DeleteAllPlots
function deletes all plots from the active window’s plot list regardless of whether or not they are active.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
AddPlot("Contour", "u")
AddPlot("Mesh", "curvmesh2d")
DrawPlots()
DeleteActivePlots() # Delete the mesh plot
DeleteAllPlots() # Delete the pseudocolor and contour plots.

73
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DeleteDatabaseCorrelation: deletes a database correlation.

Synopsis:
DeleteDatabaseCorrelation(name) -> integer

Arguments:
name A string object containing the name of the database corre-
lation to delete.
Returns:
The DeleteDatabaseCorrelation function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The DeleteDatabaseCorrelation function deletes a specific database correlation and its associated time
slider. If you delete a database correlation whose time slider is being used for the current time slider,
the time slider will be reset to the time slider of the next best suited database correlation. You can use
the DeleteDatabaseCorrelation function to remove database correlations that you no longer need such
as when you choose to examine databases that have nothing to do with your current databases.

Example:
% visit -cli
dbs = ("dbA00.pdb", "dbB00.pdb")
OpenDatabase(dbs[0])
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "material(mesh)")
OpenDatabase(dbs[1])
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "material(mesh)")
DrawPlots()
CreateDatabaseCorrelation("common", dbs, 1)
SetTimeSliderState(10)
DeleteAllPlots()
DeleteDatabaseCorrelation("common")
CloseDatabase(dbs[0])
CloseDatabase(dbs[1])

74
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DeleteExpression: deletes an expression variable from the expression list.

Synopsis:
DeleteExpression(variableName) -> integer

Arguments:
variableName The name of the expression variable to be deleted.

Returns:
The DeleteExpression function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The DeleteExpression function deletes the definition of an expression. The variableName argument is
a string containing the name of the variable expression to be deleted. Any plot that uses an expression
that has been deleted will fail to regenerate if its attributes are changed.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
DefineScalarExpression("myvar", "sin(u) + cos(w)")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "myvar") # Plot the expression variable.
DrawPlots()
DeleteExpression("myvar") # Delete the expression variable myvar.

75
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DeleteNamedSelection: deletes knowledge of a named selection.

Synopsis:
DeleteNamedSelection(name) -> integer

Arguments:
name The name of a named selection.

Returns:
The DeleteNamedSelection function returns 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
Named Selections allow you to select a group of elements (or particles). One typically creates a named
selection from a group of elements and then later applies the named selection to another plot (thus
reducing the set of elements displayed to the ones from when the named selection was created). If
you have created a named selection that you are no longer interested in, you can delete it with the
DeleteNamedSelection function.

Example:
% visit -cli
db = "/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave*.silo database"
OpenDatabase(db)
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
AddOperator("Clip")
c = ClipAttributes()
c.plane1Origin = (0,0.6,0)
c.plane1Normal = (0,-1,0)
SetOperatorOption(c)
DrawPlots()
CreateNamedSelection("els_above_y")
SetTimeSliderState(40)
DeleteNamedSelection("els_above_y")
CreateNamedSelection("els_above_y")

76
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DeletePlotDatabaseKeyframe: deletes a database keyframe for a plot.

Synopsis:
DeletePlotDatabaseKeyframe(plotIndex, frame)

Arguments:
plotIndex A zero−based integer value corresponding to a plot’s index
in the plotlist.
frame A zero−based integer value corresponding to a database
keyframe at aparticular animation frame.
Returns:
DeletePlotDatabaseKeyframe does not return a value.

Description:
The DeletePlotDatabaseKeyframe function removes a database keyframe from a specific plot. A database
keyframe represents the database time state that will be used at a given animation frame when VisIt’s
keyframing mode is enabled. The plotIndex argument is a zero−based integer that is used to identify a
plot in the plot list. The frame argument is a zero−based integer that is used to identify the frame at
which a database keyframe is to be removed for the specified plot.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit")
k = GetKeyframeAttributes()
k.enabled,k.nFrames,k.nFramesWasUserSet = 1,20,1
SetKeyframeAttributes(k)
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
SetPlotDatabaseState(0, 0, 60)
# Repeat time state 60 for the first few animation frames by adding a
keyframe at frame 3.
SetPlotDatabaseState(0, 3, 60)
SetPlotDatabaseState(0, 19, 0)
DrawPlots()
ListPlots()
# Delete the database keyframe at frame 3.
DeletePlotDatabaseKeyframe(0, 3)
ListPlots()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DeletePlotKeyframe: deletes a plot keyframe at a specified frame.

Synopsis:
DeletePlotKeyframe(plotIndex, frame)

Arguments:
plotIndex A zero−based integer value corresponding to a plot’s index
in the plotlist.
frame A zero−based integer value corresponding to a plot
keyframe at aparticular animation frame.
Returns:
DeletePlotKeyframe does not return a value.

Description:
The DeletePlotKeyframe function removes a plot keyframe from a specific plot. A plot keyframe is the
set of plot attributes at a specified frame. Plot keyframes are used to determine what plot attributes
will be used at a given animation frame when VisIt’s keyframing mode is enabled. The plotIndex argu-
ment is a zero−based integer that is used to identify a plot in the plot list. The frame argument is a
zero−based integer that is used to identify the frame at which a keyframe is to be removed.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit")
k = GetKeyframeAttributes()
k.enabled,k.nFrames,k.nFramesWasUserSet = 1,20,1
SetKeyframeAttributes(k)
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
# Set up plot keyframes so the Pseudocolor plot’s min will change
# over time.
p0 = PseudocolorAttributes()
p0.minFlag,p0.min = 1,0.0
p1 = PseudocolorAttributes()
p1.minFlag,p1.min = 1, 0.5
SetPlotOptions(p0)
SetTimeSliderState(19)
SetPlotOptions(p1)
SetTimeSliderState(0)
DrawPlots()
ListPlots()
# Iterate over all animation frames and wrap around to the first one.
for i in list(range(TimeSliderGetNStates())) + [0]:
SetTimeSliderState(i)
# Delete the plot keyframe at frame 19 so the min won’t
# change anymore.
DeletePlotKeyframe(19)
ListPlots()
SetTimeSliderState(10)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DeleteViewKeyframe: deletes a view keyframe at a specified frame.

Synopsis:
DeleteViewKeyframe(frame)

Arguments:
frame A zero−based integer value corresponding to a view
keyframe at aparticular animation frame.
Returns:
DeleteViewKeyframe returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The DeleteViewKeyframe function removes a view keyframe at a specified frame. View keyframes are
used to determine what view will be used at a given animation frame when VisIt’s keyframing mode
is enabled. The frame argument is a zero−based integer that is used to identify the frame at which a
keyframe is to be removed.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
k = KeyframeAttributes()
k.enabled, k.nFrames, k.nFramesWasUserSet = 1,10,1
SetKeyframeAttributes(k)
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# Set some view keyframes
SetViewKeyframe()
v1 = GetView3D()
v1.viewNormal = (-0.66609, 0.337227, 0.665283)
v1.viewUp = (0.157431, 0.935425, -0.316537)
SetView3D(v1)
SetTimeSliderState(9)
SetViewKeyframe()
ToggleCameraViewMode()
# Iterate over the animation frames to watch the view change.
for i in list(range(10)) + [0]:
SetTimeSliderState(i)
# Delete the last view keyframe, which is on frame 9.
DeleteViewKeyframe(9)
# Iterate over the animation frames again. The view should stay
# the same.
for i in range(10):
SetTimeSliderState(i)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DeleteWindow: deletes the active visualization window.

Synopsis:
DeleteWindow() -> integer

Returns:
The DeleteWindow function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The DeleteWindow function deletes the active visualization window and makes the visualization window
with the smallest window index the new active window. This function has no effect when there is only
one remaining visualization window.

Example:
% visit -cli
DeleteWindow() # Does nothing since there is only one window
AddWindow()
DeleteWindow() # Deletes the new window.

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DemoteOperator: moves an operator closer to the database in the visualization pipeline.

Synopsis:
DemoteOperator(opIndex) -> integer
DemoteOperator(opIndex, applyToAllPlots) -> integer

Arguments:
opIndex A zero−based integer corresponding to the operator that
should be demoted.
applyAll An integer flag that causes all plots in the plot list to be
affected whenit is non−zero.
Returns:
DemoteOperator returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The DemoteOperator function moves an operator closer to the database in the visualization pipeline.
This allows you to change the order of operators that have been applied to a plot without having to
remove them from the plot. For example, consider moving a Slice to before a Reflect operator when it
had been the other way around. Changing the order of operators can result in vastly different results
for a plot. The opposite function is PromoteOperator.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hardyglobal")
AddOperator("Slice")
s = SliceAttributes()
s.project2d = 0
s.originPoint = (0,5,0)
s.originType=s.Point
s.normal = (0,1,0)
s.upAxis = (-1,0,0)
SetOperatorOptions(s)
AddOperator("Reflect")
DrawPlots()
# Now reflect before slicing. We’ll only get 1 slice plane
# instead of 2.
DemoteOperator(1)
DrawPlots()

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DisableRedraw: prevents the active visualization window from redrawing itself.

Synopsis:
DisableRedraw()

Returns:
The DisableRedraw function does not return a value.

Description:
The DisableRedraw function prevents the active visualization window from ever redrawing itself. This
is a useful function to call when performing many operations that would cause unnecessary redraws in
the visualization window. The effects of this function are undone by calling the RedrawWindow function.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Contour", "u")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "w")
DrawPlots()
DisableRedraw()
AddOperator("Slice")
# Set the slice operator attributes
# Redraw now that th operator attributes are set. This will
# prevent 1 redraw.
RedrawWindow()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

DrawPlots: draws any new plots

Synopsis:
DrawPlots() -> integer

Returns:
The DrawPlots function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The DrawPlots function forces all new plots in the plot list to be drawn. Plots are added and then their
attributes are modified. Finally, the DrawPlots function is called to make sure all of the new plots draw
themselves in the visualization window. This function has no effect if all of the plots in the plot list are
already drawn.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots() # Draw the new pseudocolor plot.

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

EnableTool: sets the enabled state of an interactive tool in the active visualization

Synopsis:
EnabledTool(toolIndex, activeFlag)

Arguments:
toolIndex This is an integer that corresponds to an interactive tool.
(Plane tool = 0, Line tool = 1, Plane tool = 2, Box tool =
3, Sphere tool = 4, Axis Restriction tool = 5)
activeFlag A value of 1 enables the tool while a value of 0 disables the
tool.
Returns:
The EnableTool function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The EnableTool function is used to set the enabled state of an interactive tool in the active visualization
window. The toolIndex argument is an integer index that corresponds to a certain tool. The activeFlag
argument is an integer value (0 or 1) that indicates whether to turn the tool on or off.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
EnableTool(0, 1) # Turn on the line tool.
EnableTool(1,1) # Turn on the plane tool.
EnableTool(2,1) # Turn on the sphere tool.
EnableTool(2,0) # Turn off the sphere tool.

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ExecuteMacro: execute a macro that has been registered using RegisterMacro.

Synopsis:
ExecuteMacro(name) -> value

Arguments:
name The name of the macro to execute.

Returns:
The ExecuteMacro function returns the value returned from the user’s macro function.

Description:
The ExecuteMacro function lets you call a macro function that was previously registered using the
RegisterMacro method. Once macros are registered with a name, this function can be called whenever
the macro function associated with that name needs to be called. The VisIt gui uses this function to
tell the Python interface when macros need to be executed in response to user button clicks.

Example:
def SetupMyPlots():
OpenDatabase(’noise.silo’)
AddPlot(’Pseudocolor’, ’hardyglobal’)
DrawPlots()
RegisterMacro(’Setup My Plots’, SetupMyPlots)
ExecuteMacro(’Setup My Plots’)

85
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ExportDatabase: export a database

Synopsis:
ExportDatabase(e) -> integer
ExportDatabase(e, o) -> integer

Arguments:
e An object of type ExportDBAttributes. This object speci-
fies the optionsfor exporting the database.
o (optional) A dictionary containing a key/value mapping to set op-
tions needed by thedatabase exporter. The default values
can be obtained in the appropriateformat using GetExpor-
tOptions(’plugin’).
Returns:
Returns 1 on success, 0 on failure.

Description:
The ExportDatabase function exports the active plot for the current window to a file. The format of
the file, name, and variables to be saved are specified using the ExportDBAttributes argument. Note
that this functionality is distinct from the geometric formats of SaveWindow, such as STL. SaveWindow
can only save surfaces (triangle meshes), while ExportDatabase can export an entire three dimensional
data set.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv3d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
# Set the export database attributes.
e = ExportDBAttributes()
e.db_type = "Silo"
e.variables = ("u", "v")
e.filename = "test_ex_db"
ExportDatabase(e)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

Expressions: returns a tuple of expression names and definitions.

Synopsis:
Expressions() -> tuple of expression tuples

Returns:
The Expressions function returns a tuple of tuples that contain two strings that give the expression
name and definition.

Description:
The Expressions function returns a tuple of tuples that contain two strings that give the expression
name and definition. This function is useful for listing the available expressions or for iterating through
a list of expressions in order to create plots.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetWindowLayout(4)
DefineScalarExpression("sin_u", "sin(u)")
DefineScalarExpression("cos_u", "cos(u)")
DefineScalarExpression("neg_u", "-u")
DefineScalarExpression("bob", "sin_u + cos_u")
for i in range(1,5):
SetActiveWindow(i)
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
exprName = Expressions()[i-1][0]
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", exprName)
DrawPlots()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetActiveContinuousColorTable: returns the name of the active color table.

Synopsis:
GetActiveContinuousColorTable() -> string
GetActiveDiscreteColorTable() -> string

Returns:
Both functions return a string object containing the name of a color table.

Description:
A color table is a set of color values that are used as the colors for plots. VisIt supports two flavors of
color table: continuous and discrete. A continuous color table is defined by a small set of color control
points and the colors specified by the color control points are interpolated smoothly to fill in any gaps.
Continuous color tables are used for plots that need to be colored smoothly by a variable (e.g. Pseudo-
color plot). A discrete color table is a set of color control points that are used to color distinct regions
of a plot (e.g. Subset plot). VisIt supports the notion of default continuous and default discrete color
tables so plots can just use the ”default” color table. This lets you change the color table used by many
plots by just changing the ”default” color table. The GetActiveContinuousColorTable function returns
the name of the default continuous color table. The GetActiveDiscreteColorTable function returns the
name of the default discrete color table.

Example:
% visit -cli
print "Default continuous color table: %s" % \
GetActiveContinuousColorTable()
print "Default discrete color table: %s" % \
GetActiveDiscreteColorTable()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetActiveDiscreteColorTable: returns the name of the active color table.

Synopsis:
GetActiveContinuousColorTable() -> string
GetActiveDiscreteColorTable() -> string

Returns:
Both functions return a string object containing the name of a color table.

Description:
A color table is a set of color values that are used as the colors for plots. VisIt supports two flavors of
color table: continuous and discrete. A continuous color table is defined by a small set of color control
points and the colors specified by the color control points are interpolated smoothly to fill in any gaps.
Continuous color tables are used for plots that need to be colored smoothly by a variable (e.g. Pseudo-
color plot). A discrete color table is a set of color control points that are used to color distinct regions
of a plot (e.g. Subset plot). VisIt supports the notion of default continuous and default discrete color
tables so plots can just use the ”default” color table. This lets you change the color table used by many
plots by just changing the ”default” color table. The GetActiveContinuousColorTable function returns
the name of the default continuous color table. The GetActiveDiscreteColorTable function returns the
name of the default discrete color table.

Example:
% visit -cli
print "Default continuous color table: %s" % \
GetActiveContinuousColorTable()
print "Default discrete color table: %s" % \
GetActiveDiscreteColorTable()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetActiveTimeSlider: returns the name of the active time slider.

Synopsis:
GetActiveTimeSlider() -> string

Returns:
The GetActiveTimeSlider function returns a string containing the name of the active time slider.

Description:
VisIt can support having multiple time sliders when you have opened more than one time−varying
database. You can then use each time slider to independently change time states for each database
or you can use a database correlation to change time states for all databases simultaneously. Every
time−varying database has a database correlation and every database correlation has its own time
slider. If you want to query to determine which time slider is currently the active time slider, you can
use the GetActiveTimeSlider function.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("dbA00.pdb")
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "material(mesh)")
OpenDatabase("dbB00.pdb")
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "materials(mesh)")
print "Active time slider: %s" % GetActiveTimeSlider()
CreateDatabaseCorrelation("common", ("dbA00.pdb", "dbB00.pdb"), 2)
print "Active time slider: %s" % GetActiveTimeSlider()

90
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetAnimationAttributes: return a copy of the current animation attributes.

Synopsis:
GetAnimationAttributes() -> AnimationAttributes object

Arguments:
none

Returns:
The GetAnimationAttributes function returns an AnimationAttributes object.

Description:
This function returns the current animation attributes, which contain the animation mode, increment,
and playback speed.

Example:
a = GetAnimationAttributes()
print a

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetAnimationTimeout: returns the animation timeout in milliseconds.

Synopsis:
GetAnimationTimeout() -> integer

Returns:
The GetAnimationTimeout function returns an integer that contains the time interval, measured in
milliseconds, between the rendering of animation frames.

Description:
The GetAnimationTimeout returns an integer that contains the time interval, measured in milliseconds,
between the rendering of animation frames.

Example:
% visit -cli
print "Animation timeout = %d" % GetAnimationTimeout()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetAnnotationAttributes: returns an object containing the active visualization window’s annotation

Synopsis:
GetAnnotationAttributes() -> AnnotationAttributes object

Returns:
The GetAnnotationAttributes function returns an AnnotationAttributes object that contains the anno-
tation settings for the active visualization window.

Description:
The GetAnnotationAttributes function returns an AnnotationAttributes object that contains the anno-
tation settings for the active visualization window. It is often useful to retrieve the annotation settings
and modify them to suit the visualization.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
a = GetAnnotationAttributes()
print a
a.backgroundMode = a.BACKGROUNDMODE_GRADIENT
a.gradientColor1 = (0, 0, 255)
SetAnnotationAttributes(a)

93
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetAnnotationObject: returns a reference to the annotation object at the specified index in

Synopsis:
GetAnnotationObject(string) -> Annotation object

Arguments:
string The name of the annotation object as returned by GetAn-
notationObjectNames.
Returns:
GetAnnotationObject returns a reference to an annotation object that was created using the CreateAn-
notationObject function.

Description:
GetAnnotationObject returns a reference to an annotation object that was created using the CreateAn-
notationObject function. The string argument specifies the name of the desired annotation object. It
must be one of the names returned by GetAnnotationObjectNames. This function is not currently
necessary unless the annotation object that you used to create an annotation has gone out of scope and
you need to create another reference to the object to set its properties. Also note that although this
function will apparently also accept an integer index, that mode of access is not reliably and should be
avoided.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
DrawPlots()
a = CreateAnnotationObject("TimeSlider")
GetAnnotationObjectNames()
["plot0000", "TimeSlider1"]
ref = GetAnnotationObject("TimeSlider1")
print ref

94
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetAnnotationObjectNames: returns a tuple of names of all currently defined annotation objects

Synopsis:
GetAnnotationObjectNames() -> tuple of strings

Returns:
GetAnnotationObjectNames returns a tuple of strings of the names of all annotation objects defined for
the currently active window.

Example:
names = GetAnnotationObjectNames()
names
["plot0000", "Line2D1", "TimeSlider1"]

95
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetCallbackArgumentCount: ¡description¿

Synopsis:
GetCallbackArgumentCount(callbackName) -> integer

Arguments:
callbackName The name of a callback function. This name is a member
of the tuple returnedby GetCallbackNames().
Returns:
The GetCallbackArgumentCount function returns the number of arguments associated with a particular
callback function.

Description:
None

Example:
cbName = ’OpenDatabaseRPC’
count = GetCallbackArgumentCount(cbName)
print ’The number of arguments for %s is: %d
’ % (cbName, count)

96
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetCallbackNames: returns a list of allowable callback names for use with RegisterCallback().

Synopsis:
GetCallbackNames() -> tuple of string objects

Returns:
GetCallbackNames returns a tuple containing the names of valid callback function identifiers for use in
RegisterCallback().

Description:
The GetCallbackNames function returns a tuple containing the names of valid callback function identi-
fiers for use in RegisterCallback().

Example:
import visit
print visit.GetCallbackNames()

97
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetDatabaseNStates: returns the number of time states in the active database.

Synopsis:
GetDatabaseNStates() -> integer

Returns:
Returns the number of time states in the active database or 0 if there is no active database.

Description:
GetDatabaseNStates returns the number of time states in the active database, which is not the same as
the number of states in the active time slider. Time sliders can have different lengths due to database
correlations and keyframing. Use this function when you need the actual number of time states in the
active database.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave*.silo database")
print "Number of time states: %d" % GetDatabaseNStates()

98
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetDefaultFileOpenOptions: returns the current default options used when opening files for a

Synopsis:
GetDefaultFileOpenOptions(pluginName) -> Dictionary

Arguments:
pluginName The name of a plugin.

Returns:
Returns a dictionary containing the options.

Description:
GetDefaultFileOpenOptions returns the current options used to open new files when a specific plugin is
triggered.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenMDServer()
opts = GetDefaultFileOpenOptions("VASP")
opts["Allow multiple timesteps"] = 1
SetDefaultFileOpenOptions("VASP", opts)
OpenDatabase("CHGCAR")

99
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetDomains: returns a tuple containing the names of all of the domain subsets for the

Synopsis:
GetDomains() -> tuple of strings

Returns:
GetDomains returns a tuple of strings.

Description:
GetDomains returns a tuple containing the names of all of the domain subsets for a plot that was created
using a database with multiple domains. This function can be used in specialized logic that iterates
over domains to turn them on or off in some programmed way.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/multi_ucd3d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
doms = GetDomains()
print doms
# Turn off all but the last domain, one after the other.
for d in doms[:-1]:
TurnDomainsOff(d)

100
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetEngineList: returns a tuple containing the names of the compute engines.

Synopsis:
GetEngineList() -> tuple of strings

Returns:
GetEngineList returns a tuple of strings that contain the names of the computers on which compute
engines are running.

Description:
The GetEngineList function returns a tuple of strings containing the names of the computers on which
compute engines are running. This function can be useful if engines are going to be closed and opened
explicitly in the Python script. The contents of the tuple can be used to help determine which compute
engines should be closed or they can be used to determine if a compute engine was successfully launched.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
OpenDatabase("mcr:/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Mesh", "mesh1")
DrawPlots()
for name in GetEngineList():
print "VisIt has a compute engine running on %s" % name
CloseComputeEngine(GetEngineList()[1])

101
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetGlobalAttributes: returns a GlobalAttributes object.

Synopsis:
GetGlobalAttributes() -> GlobalAttributes object

Returns:
Returns a GlobalAttributes object that has been initialized.

Description:
The GetGlobalAttributes function returns a GlobalAttributes object that has been initialized with
the current state of the viewer proxy’s GlobalAttributes object. The GlobalAttributes object contains
read−only information about the list of sources, the list of windows, and various flags that can be queried.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
g = GetGlobalAttributes()
print g

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetGlobalLineoutAttributes: returns a GlobalLineoutAttributes object.

Synopsis:
GetGlobalLineoutAttributes() -> GlobalLineoutAttributes object

Returns:
Returns an initialized GlobalLineoutAttributes object.

Description:
The GetGlobalLineoutAttributes function returns an initialized GlobalLineoutAttributes object. The
GlobalLineoutAttributes, as suggested by its name, contains global properties that apply to all lineouts.
You can use the GlobalLineoutAttributes object to turn on lineout sampling, specify the destination
window, etc. for curve plots created as a result of performing lineouts. Once you make changes to
the object by setting its properties, use the SetGlobalLineoutAttributes function to make VisIt use the
modified global lineout attributes.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetWindowLayout(4)
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
g = GetGlobalLineoutAttributes()
print g
g.samplingOn = 1
g.windowId = 4
g.createWindow = 0
g.numSamples = 100
SetGlobalLineoutAttributes(g)
Lineout((-3,2),(3,3),("default"))

103
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetInteractorAttributes: returns an InteractorAttributes object.

Synopsis:
GetInteractorAttributes() -> InteractorAttributes object

Returns:
Returns an initialized InteractorAttributes object.

Description:
The GetInteractorAttributes function returns an initialized InteractorAttributes object. The Interac-
torAttributes object can be used to set certain interactor properties. Interactors, can be thought of as
how mouse clicks and movements are translated into actions in the vis window. To set the interactor
attributes, first get the interactor attributes using the GetInteractorAttributes function. Once you’ve
set the object’s properties, call the SetInteractorAttributes function to make VisIt use the new interactor
attributes.

Example:
% visit -cli
ia = GetInteractorAttributes()
print ia
ia.showGuidelines = 0
SetInteractorAttributes(ia)

104
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetKeyframeAttributes: returns an initialized KeyframeAttributes object.

Synopsis:
GetKeyframeAttributes() -> KeyframeAttributes object

Returns:
GetKeyframeAttributes returns an initialized KeyframeAttributes object.

Description:
Use the GetKeyframeAttributes function when you want to examine a KeyframeAttributes object so
you can determine VisIt’s state when it is in keyframing mode. The KeyframeAttributes object allows
you to see whether VisIt is in keyframing mode and, if so, how many animation frames are in the current
keyframe animation.

Example:
% visit -cli
k = GetKeyframeAttributes()
print k
k.enabled,k.nFrames,k.nFramesWasUserSet = 1, 100, 1
SetKeyframeAttributes(k)

105
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetLastError: returns a string containing the last error message that VisIt issued.

Synopsis:
GetLastError() -> string

Returns:
GetLastError returns a string containing the last error message that VisIt issued.

Description:
The GetLastError function returns a string containing the last error message that VisIt issued.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/this/database/does/not/exist")
print "VisIt Error: %s" % GetLastError()

106
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetLight: returns a light object containing the attributes for a specified light.

Synopsis:
GetLight(index) -> LightAttributes object

Arguments:
index A zero−based integer index into the light list. Index can
be in the range[0,7].
Returns:
GetLight returns a LightAttributes object.

Description:
The GetLight function returns a LightAttributes object containing the attributes for a specific light.
You can use the LightAttributes object that GetLight returns to set light properties and then you can
pass the object to SetLight to make VisIt use the light properties that you’ve set.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "w")
p = PseudocolorAttributes()
p.colorTableName = "xray"
SetPlotOptions(p)
DrawPlots()
InvertBackgroundColor()
light = GetLight(0)
print light
light.enabledFlag = 1
light.direction = (0,-1,0)
light.color = (255,0,0,255)
SetLight(0, light)
light.color,light.direction = (0,255,0,255), (-1,0,0)
SetLight(1, light)

107
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetLocalHostName: gets the local user or host name.

Synopsis:
GetLocalHostName() -> string
GetLocalUserName() -> string

Returns:
Both functions return a string.

Description:
These functions are useful for determining the name of the local computer or the account name of the
user running VisIt. The GetLocalHostName function returns a string that contains the name of the local
computer. The GetLocalUserName function returns a string containing the name of the user running
VisIt.

Example:
% visit -cli
print "Local machine name is: %s" % GetLocalHostName()
print "My username: %s" % GetLocalUserName()

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GetLocalUserName: gets the local user or host name.

Synopsis:
GetLocalHostName() -> string
GetLocalUserName() -> string

Returns:
Both functions return a string.

Description:
These functions are useful for determining the name of the local computer or the account name of the
user running VisIt. The GetLocalHostName function returns a string that contains the name of the local
computer. The GetLocalUserName function returns a string containing the name of the user running
VisIt.

Example:
% visit -cli
print "Local machine name is: %s" % GetLocalHostName()
print "My username: %s" % GetLocalUserName()

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GetMaterialAttributes: returns a MaterialAttributes object containing VisIt’s current material

Synopsis:
GetMaterialAttributes() -> MaterialAttributes object

Returns:
Returns a MaterialAttributes object.

Description:
The GetMaterialAttributes function returns a MaterialAttributes object that contains VisIt’s current
material interface reconstruction settings. You can set properties on the MaterialAttributes object and
then pass it to SetMaterialAttributes to make VisIt use the new material attributes that you’ve specified:

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/allinone00.pdb")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "mesh/mixvar")
p = PseudocolorAttributes()
p.min,p.minFlag = 4.0, 1
p.max,p.maxFlag = 13.0, 1
SetPlotOptions(p)
DrawPlots()
# Tell VisIt to always do material interface reconstruction.
m = GetMaterialAttributes()
m.forceMIR = 1
SetMaterialAttributes(m)
ClearWindow()
# Redraw the plot forcing VisIt to use the mixed variable information.
DrawPlots()

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GetMaterials: returns a string tuple of material names for the current plot’s database.

Synopsis:
GetMaterials() -> tuple of strings

Returns:
The GetMaterials function returns a tuple of strings.

Description:
The GetMaterials function returns a tuple of strings containing the names of the available materials for
the current plot’s database. Note that the active plot’s database must have materials for this function to
return a tuple that has any string objects in it. Also, you must have at least one plot. You can use the
materials returned by the GetMaterials function for a variety of purposes including turning materials
on or off.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/allinone00.pdb")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "mesh/mixvar")
DrawPlots()
mats = GetMaterials()
for m in mats[:-1]:
TurnMaterialOff(m)

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GetMeshManagementAttributes: returns a MeshManagementAttributes object containing VisIt’s

current mesh

Synopsis:
GetMeshmanagementAttributes() -> MeshmanagementAttributes object

Returns:
Returns a MeshmanagementAttributes object.

Description:
The GetMeshmanagementAttributes function returns a MeshmanagementAttributes object that con-
tains VisIt’s current mesh discretization settings. You can set properties on the MeshManagementAt-
tributes object and then pass it to SetMeshManagementAttributes to make VisIt use the new material
attributes that you’ve specified:

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/csg.silo")
AddPlot("Mesh", "csgmesh")
DrawPlots()
# Tell VisIt to always do material interface reconstruction.
mma = GetMeshManagementAttributes()
mma.discretizationTolernace = (0.01, 0.025)
SetMeshManagementAttributes(mma)
ClearWindow()
# Redraw the plot forcing VisIt to use the mixed variable information.
DrawPlots()

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GetMetaData: return a metadata object for the specified database without making it be the active
database.

Synopsis:
GetMetaData(db) -> avtDatabaseMetaData object
GetMetaData(db, ts) -> avtDatabaseMetaData object

Arguments:
db The name of the database for which to return metadata.
ts An optional integer indicating the time state at which to
open the database.
Returns:
The GetMetaData function returns an avtDatabaseMetaData object.

Description:
VisIt relies on metadata to populate its variable menus and make important decisions. Metadata can
be used to create complex scripts whose behavior adapts based on the contents of the database.

Example:
md = GetMetaData(’noise.silo’)
for i in xrange(md.GetNumScalars()):
AddPlot(’Pseudocolor’, md.GetScalars(i).name)
DrawPlots()

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GetNumPlots: returns the number of plots in the active window.

Synopsis:
GetNumPlots() -> integer

Returns:
Returns the number of plots in the active window.

Description:
The GetNumPlots function returns the number of plots in the active window.

Example:
% visit -cli
print "Number of plots", GetNumPlots()
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
print "Number of plots", GetNumPlots()
AddPlot("Mesh", "curvmesh2d")
DrawPlots()
print "Number of plots", GetNumPlots()

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GetOperatorOptions: return a copy of the operator attributes for the i’th operator in the first

Synopsis:
GetOperatorOptions(index) -> operator attributes object

Arguments:
index The index of the operator within the plot’s list of operators.

Returns:
The GetOperatorOptions function returns an operator attributes object.

Description:
This function is provided to make it easy to probe the current attributes for a specific operator on the
active plot.

Example:
AddPlot(’Pseudocolor’, ’temperature’)
AddOperator(’Transform’)
AddOperator(’Transform’)
t = GetOperatorOptions(1)
print ’Attributes for the 2nd Transform operator:’, t

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GetPickAttributes: returns the current pick attributes.

Synopsis:
GetPickAttributes() -> PickAttributes object

Returns:
GetPickAttributes returns a PickAttributes object.

Description:
The GetPickAttributes object returns the pick settings that VisIt is currently using when it performs
picks. These settings mainly determine which pick information is displayed when pick results are printed
out but they can also be used to select auxiliary variables and generate time curves. You can examing
the settings and you can set properties on the returned object. Once you’ve changed pick settings by
setting properties on the object, you can pass the altered object to the SetPickAttributes function to
force VisIt to use the new pick settings.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/allinone00.pdb")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "mesh/ireg")
DrawPlots()
p = GetPickAttributes()
print p
p.variables = ("default", "mesh/a", "mesh/mixvar")
SetPickAttributes(p)
# Now do some interactive picks and you’ll see pick information
# for more than 1 variable.
p.doTimeCurve = 1
SetPickAttributes(p)
# Now do some interactive picks and you’ll get time-curves in
# a new window.

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GetPickOutput: returns a string containing the output from the last pick.

Synopsis:
GetPickOutput() -> string

Returns:
Returns a string containing the output from the last pick.

Description:
The GetPickOutput returns a string object that contains the output from the last pick.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/rect2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
ZonePick((0.4, 0.6), ("default", "u", "v"))
s = GetPickOutput()
print s

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GetPipelineCachingMode: returns if pipelines are cached in the viewer.

Synopsis:
GetPipelineCachingMode() -> integer

Returns:
The GetPipelineCachingMode function returns 1 if pipelines are being cached and 0 otherwise.

Description:
The GetPipelineCachingMode function returns whether or not pipelines are being cached in the viewer.
For animations of long time sequences, it is often useful to turn off pipeline caching so the viewer does
not run out of memory.

Example:
%visit -cli
offon = ("off", "on")
print "Pipeline caching is %s" % offon[GetPipelineCachingMode()]

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GetPlotInformation: returns a dictionary of plot information for the active plot.

Synopsis:
GetPlotInformation() -> dictionary

Returns:
GetPlotInformation returns a dictionary.

Description:
The GetPlotInformation function returns information about the active plot. For example, a Curve plot
will return the xy pairs that comprise the curve. The tuple is arranged <x1, y1, x2, y2, ..., xn, yn>.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/rect2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
Lineout((0, 0), (1, 1))
SetActiveWindow(2)
info = GetPlotInformation()
lineout = info["Curve"]
print "The first lineout point is: [%g, %g] " % lineout[0], lineout[1]

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GetPlotList: return a copy of the plot list object.

Synopsis:
GetPlotList() -> PlotList object

Arguments:
none

Returns:
The GetPlotList function returns a PlotList object.

Description:
The GetPlotList function returns a copy of the plot list that gets exchanged between VisIt’s viewer and
its clients. The plot list object contains the list of plots, along with the databases, and any operators
that are applied to each plot. Changing this object has NO EFFECT but it can be useful when writing
complex functions that need to know about the plots and operators that exist within a visualization
window

Example:
# Copy plots (without operators to window 2)
pL = GetPlotList()
AddWindow()
for i in xrange(pL.GetNumPlots()):
AddPlot(PlotPlugins()[pL.GetPlots(i).plotType], pL.GetPlots(i).plotVar)
DrawPlots()

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GetPlotOptions: return a copy of the plot options for the first active plot of the first plot

Synopsis:
GetPlotOptions() -> plot attributes object

Arguments:
none

Returns:
The GetPlotOptions function returns a plot attributes object whose type varies depending the selected
plots.

Description:
This function is provided to make it easy to probe the current attributes for the selected plot.

Example:
pc = GetPlotOptions()
pc.legend = 0
SetPlotOptions(pc)

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GetPreferredFileFormats: gets the list of preferred file format IDs.

Synopsis:
GetPreferredFileFormats() -> tuple of strings
Arguments: none

Returns:
The GetPreferredFileFormats returns the current list of preferred plugins.

Description:
The GetPreferredFileFormats method is a way to get the list of file format reader plugins which are
tried before any others. These IDs are full IDs, not just names, and are tried in order.

Example:
GetPreferredFileFormats()
# returns (’Silo_1.0’,)

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GetQueryOutputObject: returns information about the last query.

Synopsis:
GetQueryOutputString() -> string
GetQueryOutputValue() -> double, tuple of doubles
GetQueryOutputXML() -> string
GetQueryOutputObject() -> dictonary or value

Returns:
GetQueryOutputString returns a string. GetQueryOutputValue returns a single double precision num-
ber or a tuple of double precision numbers. GetQueryOutputXML returns an xml string produced by
the last query. GetQueryOutputObject returns an xml string produced by the last query.

Description:
Both the GetQueryOutputString and GetQueryOutputValue functions return information about the
last query to be executed but the type of information returns differs. GetQueryOutputString returns
a string containing the output of the last query. GetQueryOutputValue returns a single number or
tuple of numbers, depending on the nature of the last query to be executed. GetQueryOutputXML and
GetQueryOutputObject expose more complex query output.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/rect2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
Query("MinMax")
print GetQueryOutputString()
print "The min is: %g and the max is: %g" % GetQueryOutputValue()

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GetQueryOutputString: returns information about the last query.

Synopsis:
GetQueryOutputString() -> string
GetQueryOutputValue() -> double, tuple of doubles
GetQueryOutputXML() -> string
GetQueryOutputObject() -> dictonary or value

Returns:
GetQueryOutputString returns a string. GetQueryOutputValue returns a single double precision num-
ber or a tuple of double precision numbers. GetQueryOutputXML returns an xml string produced by
the last query. GetQueryOutputObject returns an xml string produced by the last query.

Description:
Both the GetQueryOutputString and GetQueryOutputValue functions return information about the
last query to be executed but the type of information returns differs. GetQueryOutputString returns
a string containing the output of the last query. GetQueryOutputValue returns a single number or
tuple of numbers, depending on the nature of the last query to be executed. GetQueryOutputXML and
GetQueryOutputObject expose more complex query output.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/rect2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
Query("MinMax")
print GetQueryOutputString()
print "The min is: %g and the max is: %g" % GetQueryOutputValue()

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GetQueryOutputValue: returns information about the last query.

Synopsis:
GetQueryOutputString() -> string
GetQueryOutputValue() -> double, tuple of doubles
GetQueryOutputXML() -> string
GetQueryOutputObject() -> dictonary or value

Returns:
GetQueryOutputString returns a string. GetQueryOutputValue returns a single double precision num-
ber or a tuple of double precision numbers. GetQueryOutputXML returns an xml string produced by
the last query. GetQueryOutputObject returns an xml string produced by the last query.

Description:
Both the GetQueryOutputString and GetQueryOutputValue functions return information about the
last query to be executed but the type of information returns differs. GetQueryOutputString returns
a string containing the output of the last query. GetQueryOutputValue returns a single number or
tuple of numbers, depending on the nature of the last query to be executed. GetQueryOutputXML and
GetQueryOutputObject expose more complex query output.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/rect2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
Query("MinMax")
print GetQueryOutputString()
print "The min is: %g and the max is: %g" % GetQueryOutputValue()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

GetQueryOutputXML: returns information about the last query.

Synopsis:
GetQueryOutputString() -> string
GetQueryOutputValue() -> double, tuple of doubles
GetQueryOutputXML() -> string
GetQueryOutputObject() -> dictonary or value

Returns:
GetQueryOutputString returns a string. GetQueryOutputValue returns a single double precision num-
ber or a tuple of double precision numbers. GetQueryOutputXML returns an xml string produced by
the last query. GetQueryOutputObject returns an xml string produced by the last query.

Description:
Both the GetQueryOutputString and GetQueryOutputValue functions return information about the
last query to be executed but the type of information returns differs. GetQueryOutputString returns
a string containing the output of the last query. GetQueryOutputValue returns a single number or
tuple of numbers, depending on the nature of the last query to be executed. GetQueryOutputXML and
GetQueryOutputObject expose more complex query output.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/rect2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
Query("MinMax")
print GetQueryOutputString()
print "The min is: %g and the max is: %g" % GetQueryOutputValue()

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GetQueryOverTimeAttributes: returns a QueryOverTimeAttributes object containing the settings

that

Synopsis:
GetQueryOverTimeAttributes() -> QueryOverTimeAttributes object

Returns:
GetQueryOverTimeAttributes returns a QueryOverTimeAttributes object.

Description:
The GetQueryOverTimeAttributes function returns a QueryOverTimeAttributes object containing the
settings that VisIt currently uses for query over time. You can use the returned object to change those
settings by first setting object properties and then by passing the modified object to the SetQueryOver-
TimeAttributes function.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetWindowLayout(4)
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/allinone00.pdb")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "mesh/mixvar")
DrawPlots()
qot = GetQueryOverTimeAttributes()
print qot
# Make queries over time go to window 4.
qot.createWindow,q.windowId = 0, 4
SetQueryOverTimeAttributes(qot)
QueryOverTime("Min")
# Make queries over time only use half of the number of time states.
qot.endTimeFlag,qot.endTime = 1, GetDatabaseNStates() / 2
SetQueryOverTimeAttributes(qot)
QueryOverTime("Min")
ResetView()

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GetRenderingAttributes: returns a RenderingAttributes object containing VisIt’s current rendering

Synopsis:
GetRenderingAttributes() -> RenderingAttributes object

Returns:
Returns a RenderingAttributes object.

Description:
The GetRenderingAttributes function returns a RenderingAttributes object that contains the render-
ing settings that VisIt currently uses. The RenderingAttributes object contains information related to
rendering such as whether or not specular highlights or shadows are enabled. The RenderingAttributes
object also contains information scalable rendering such as whether or not it is currently in use and the
scalable rendering threshold.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Surface", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
v = GetView3D()
v.viewNormal = (-0.215934, -0.454611, 0.864119)
v.viewUp = (0.973938, -0.163188, 0.157523)
v.imageZoom = 1.64765
SetView3D(v)
light = GetLight(0)
light.direction = (0,1,-1)
SetLight(0, light)
r = GetRenderingAttributes()
r.scalableActivationMode = r.Always
r.doShadowing = 1
SetRenderingAttributes(r)

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GetSaveWindowAttributes: returns an object that contains the attributes used to save windows.

Synopsis:
GetSaveWindowAttributes() -> SaveWindowAttributes object

Returns:
This function returns a VisIt SaveWindowAttributes object that contains the attributes used in saving
windows.

Description:
The GetSaveWindowAttributes function returns a SaveWindowAttributes object that is a structure
containing several fields which determine how windows are saved to files. The object that us returned
can be modified and used to set the save window attributes.

Example:
% visit -cli
s = GetSaveWindowAttributes()
print s
s.width = 600
s.height = 600
s.format = s.RGB
print s

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GetSelection: return the selection properties for the specified selection name.

Synopsis:
GetSelection(name) -> SelectionProperties object

Arguments:
name The name of the selection whose properties we want to
retrieve.
Returns:
The GetSelection function returns a SelectionProperties object.

Description:
Named selections have properties that describe how the selection is defined. This function lets you query
those selection properties.

Example:
CreateNamedSelection(’selection1’)
s = GetSelection(’selection1’)
s.selectionType = s.CumulativeQuerySelection
s.histogramType = s.HistogramMatches
s.combineRule = s.CombineOr
s.variables = (’temperature’,)
s.variableMins = (2.9,)
s.variableMaxs = (3.1,)
UpdateNamedSelection(’selection1’, s)

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GetSelectionList: return a copy of the selection list.

Synopsis:
GetSelectionList() -> SelectionList object

Arguments:
none

Returns:
The GetSelectionList function returns a SelectionList object.

Description:
VisIt maintains a list of named selections, which are sets of cells that are used to restrict the cells
processed by other plots. This function returns a list of the selections that VisIt knows about, including
their properties.

Example:
s = GetSelectionList()

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GetSelectionSummary: return the selection summary for the specified selection name.

Synopsis:
GetSelectionSummary(name) -> SelectionSummary object

Arguments:
name The name of the selection whose summary we want to re-
trieve.
Returns:
The GetSelectionSummary function returns a SelectionSummary object.

Description:
Named selections have both properties, which describe how the selection is defined, and a summary
that desribes the data that was processed while creating the selection. The selection summary object
contains some statistics about the selection such as how many cells it contains and histograms of the
various variables that were used in creating the selection.

Example:
print GetSelectionSummary(’selection1’)

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GetTimeSliders: returns a tuple containing the names of all of the available time sliders.

Synopsis:
GetTimeSliders() -> tuple of strings

Returns:
GetTimeSliders returns a tuple of strings.

Description:
The GetTimeSliders function returns a tuple of strings containing the names of each of the available
time sliders. The list of time sliders contains the names of any open time−varying database, all database
correlations, and the keyframing time slider if VisIt is in keyframing mode.

Example:
% visit -cli
path = "/usr/gapps/visit/data/"
dbs = (path + "/dbA00.pdb", path + "dbB00.pdb", path + "dbC00.pdb")
for db in dbs:
OpenDatabase(db)
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "material(mesh)")
DrawPlots()
CreateDatabaseCorrelation("common", dbs, 1)
print "The list of time sliders is: ", GetTimeSliders()

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GetUltraScript: return the file to be used by the LoadUltra function.

Synopsis:
GetUltraScript() -> string

Arguments:
none

Returns:
The GetUltraScript function returns a filename.

Description:
Return the name of the file in use by the LoadUltra function. Normal users do not need to use this
function.

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GetView2D: return an object containing the current view.

Synopsis:
GetViewCurve() -> ViewCurveAttributes object
GetView2D() -> View2DAttributes object
GetView3D() -> View3DAttributes object
GetViewAxisArray() -> ViewAxisArrayAttributes object

Returns:
Both functions return objects that represent the curve, 2D, or 3D view information.

Description:
The GetView functions return ViewAttributes objects which describe the current camera location.
The GetView2D function should be called if the active visualization window contains 2D plots. The
GetView3D function should be called to get the view if the active visualization window contains 3D plots.
The GetViewCurve function should be called if the active visualization window contains 1D curve plots.
The GetViewAxisArray function should be called if the active visualization window contains axis−array
plots.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# Change the view interactively using the mouse.
v0 = GetView3D()
# Change the view again using the mouse
v1 = GetView3D()
print v0
for i in range(0,20):
t = float(i) / 19.
v2 = (1. - t) * v1 + t * v0
SetView3D(v2) # Animate the view back to the first view.

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GetView3D: return an object containing the current view.

Synopsis:
GetViewCurve() -> ViewCurveAttributes object
GetView2D() -> View2DAttributes object
GetView3D() -> View3DAttributes object
GetViewAxisArray() -> ViewAxisArrayAttributes object

Returns:
Both functions return objects that represent the curve, 2D, or 3D view information.

Description:
The GetView functions return ViewAttributes objects which describe the current camera location.
The GetView2D function should be called if the active visualization window contains 2D plots. The
GetView3D function should be called to get the view if the active visualization window contains 3D plots.
The GetViewCurve function should be called if the active visualization window contains 1D curve plots.
The GetViewAxisArray function should be called if the active visualization window contains axis−array
plots.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# Change the view interactively using the mouse.
v0 = GetView3D()
# Change the view again using the mouse
v1 = GetView3D()
print v0
for i in range(0,20):
t = float(i) / 19.
v2 = (1. - t) * v1 + t * v0
SetView3D(v2) # Animate the view back to the first view.

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GetViewAxisArray: return an object containing the current view.

Synopsis:
GetViewCurve() -> ViewCurveAttributes object
GetView2D() -> View2DAttributes object
GetView3D() -> View3DAttributes object
GetViewAxisArray() -> ViewAxisArrayAttributes object

Returns:
Both functions return objects that represent the curve, 2D, or 3D view information.

Description:
The GetView functions return ViewAttributes objects which describe the current camera location.
The GetView2D function should be called if the active visualization window contains 2D plots. The
GetView3D function should be called to get the view if the active visualization window contains 3D plots.
The GetViewCurve function should be called if the active visualization window contains 1D curve plots.
The GetViewAxisArray function should be called if the active visualization window contains axis−array
plots.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# Change the view interactively using the mouse.
v0 = GetView3D()
# Change the view again using the mouse
v1 = GetView3D()
print v0
for i in range(0,20):
t = float(i) / 19.
v2 = (1. - t) * v1 + t * v0
SetView3D(v2) # Animate the view back to the first view.

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GetViewCurve: return an object containing the current view.

Synopsis:
GetViewCurve() -> ViewCurveAttributes object
GetView2D() -> View2DAttributes object
GetView3D() -> View3DAttributes object
GetViewAxisArray() -> ViewAxisArrayAttributes object

Returns:
Both functions return objects that represent the curve, 2D, or 3D view information.

Description:
The GetView functions return ViewAttributes objects which describe the current camera location.
The GetView2D function should be called if the active visualization window contains 2D plots. The
GetView3D function should be called to get the view if the active visualization window contains 3D plots.
The GetViewCurve function should be called if the active visualization window contains 1D curve plots.
The GetViewAxisArray function should be called if the active visualization window contains axis−array
plots.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# Change the view interactively using the mouse.
v0 = GetView3D()
# Change the view again using the mouse
v1 = GetView3D()
print v0
for i in range(0,20):
t = float(i) / 19.
v2 = (1. - t) * v1 + t * v0
SetView3D(v2) # Animate the view back to the first view.

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GetWindowInformation: returns a WindowInformation object that contains information about the

Synopsis:
GetWindowInformation() -> WindowInformation object

Returns:
The GetWindowInformation object returns a WindowInformation object.

Description:
The GetWindowInformation object returns a WindowInformation object that contains information
about the active visualization window. The WindowInformation object contains the name of the active
source, the active time slider index, the list of available time sliders and their current states, as well
as certain window flags that determine whether a window’s view is locked, etc. Use the WindowInfor-
mation object if you need to query any of these types of information in your script to influence how it
behaves.

Example:
path = "/usr/gapps/visit/data/"
dbs = (path + "dbA00.pdb", path + "dbB00.pdb", path + "dbC00.pdb")
for db in dbs:
OpenDatabase(db)
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "material(mesh)")
DrawPlots()
CreateDatabaseCorrelation("common", dbs, 1)
# Get the list of available time sliders.
tsList = GetWindowInformation().timeSliders
# Iterate through "time" on each time slider.
for ts in tsList:
SetActiveTimeSlider(ts)
for state in range(TimeSliderGetNStates()):
SetTimeSliderState(state)
# Print the window information to examine the other attributes
# that are available.
GetWindowInformation()

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HideActivePlots: hides the active plots in the active visualization window.

Synopsis:
HideActivePlots() -> integer

Returns:
The HideActivePlots function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The HideActivePlots function tells the viewer to hide the active plots in the active visualization window.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
AddPlot("Mesh", "mesh1")
DrawPlots()
SetActivePlots(0)
HideActivePlots()
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "mat1")
DrawPlots()

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HideToolbars: hides the visualization window’s toolbars.

Synopsis:
HideToolbars() -> integer
HideToolbars(allWindows) ->integer

Arguments:
allWindows An optional integer value that tells VisIt to hide the tool-
bars for allwindows when it is non−zero.
Returns:
The HideToolbars function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The HideToolbars function tells VisIt to hide the toolbars for the active visualization window or for all vi-
sualization windows when the optional allWindows argument is provided and is set to a non−zero value.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetWindowLayout(4)
HideToolbars()
ShowToolbars()
# Hide the toolbars for all windows.
HideToolbars(1)

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IconifyAllWindows: minimizes all of the visualization windows.

Synopsis:
IconifyAllWindows()

Returns:
The IconifyAllWindows function does not return a value.

Description:
The IconifyAllWindows function minimizes all of the hidden visualization windows to get them out of
the way.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetWindowLayout(4) # Have 4 windows
IconifyAllWindows()
DeIconifyAllWindows()

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InitializeNamedSelectionVariables: initialize a named selection’s properties with variables from

compatible plots and operators.

Synopsis:
InitializeNamedSelectionVariables(name) -> integer

Arguments:
name The name of the named selection to initialize.

Returns:
The InitializeNamedSelectionVariables function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
Complex thresholds are often defined using the Parallel Coordinates plot or the Threshold operator.
This function can copy variable ranges from compatible plots and operators into the specified named
selection’s properties. This can be useful when setting up Cumulative Query selections.

Example:
InitializeNamedSelectionVariables(’selection1’)

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InvertBackgroundColor: swaps the background and foreground colors in the active visualization

Synopsis:
InvertBackgroundColor()

Returns:
The InvertBackgroundColor function does not return a value.

Description:
The InvertBackgroundColor function swaps the background and foreground colors in the active visual-
ization window. This function is a cheap alternative to setting the foreground and background colors
though the AnnotationAttributes in that it is a simple no−argument function call. It is not adequate
to set new colors for the background and foreground, but in the event where the two colors can be
exchanged favorably, it is a good function to use. An example of when this function is used is after the
creation of a Volume plot.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Volume", "u")
DrawPlots()
InvertBackgroundColor()

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LaunchNowin: launches VisIt’s viewer

Synopsis:
Launch() -> integer
Launch(program) -> integer
LaunchNowin() -> integer
LaunchNowin(program) -> integer

Arguments:
program The complete path to the top level ’visit’ script.

Returns:
The Launch functions return 1 for success and 0 for failure

Description:
The Launch function is used to launch VisIt’s viewer when the VisIt module is imported into a
stand−alone Python interpreter. The Launch function has no effect when a viewer already exists.
The difference between Launch and LaunchNowin is that LaunchNowin prevents the viewer from ever
creating onscreen visualization windows. The LaunchNowin function is primarily used in Python scripts
that want to generate visualizations using VisIt without the use of a display such as when generating
movies.

Example 1:
import visit
visit.AddArgument("-geometry")
visit.AddArgument("1024x1024")
visit.LaunchNowin()
Example 2:
import visit
visit.AddArgument("-nowin")
visit.Launch()

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Lineout: performs a lineout.

Synopsis:
Lineout(start, end) -> integer
Lineout(start, end, variables) -> integer
Lineout(start, end, samples) -> integer
Lineout(start, end, variables, samples) -> integer

Arguments:
start A 2 or 3 item tuple containing the coordinates of the start-
ing point.
end A 2 or 3 item tuple containing the coordinates of the end
point.
variables A tuple of strings containing the names of the variables for
whichlineouts should be created.
samples An integer value containing the number of sample points
along the lineout.
Returns:
The Lineout function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The Lineout function extracts data along a given line segment and creates curves from it in a new visu-
alization window. The start argument is a tuple of numbers that make up the coordinate of the lineout’s
starting location. The end argument is a tuple of numbers that make up the coordinate of the lineout’s
ending location. The optional variables argument is a tuple of strings that contain the variables that
should be sampled to create lineouts. The optional samples argument is used to determine the number
of sample points that should be taken along the specified line. If the samples argument is not provided
then VisIt will sample the mesh where it intersects the specified line instead of using the number of
samples to compute a list of points to sample.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/rect2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "ascii")
DrawPlots()
Lineout((0.2,0.2), (0.8,1.2))
Lineout((0.2,1.2), (0.8,0.2), ("default", "d", "u"))
Lineout((0.6, 0.1), (0.6, 1.2), 100)

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ListDomains: lists the members of a SIL restriction category.

Synopsis:
ListDomains()
ListMaterials()

Returns:
The List functions do not return a value.

Description:
The List functions: ListDomains, and List Materials prints a list of the domains and the materials for
the active plots, which indicates which domains or materials are on and off. The list functions are used
mostly to print the results of restricting the SIL.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
TurnMaterialsOff("4") # Turn off material 4
ListMaterials() # List the materials in the SIL restriction

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ListMaterials: lists the members of a SIL restriction category.

Synopsis:
ListDomains()
ListMaterials()

Returns:
The List functions do not return a value.

Description:
The List functions: ListDomains, and List Materials prints a list of the domains and the materials for
the active plots, which indicates which domains or materials are on and off. The list functions are used
mostly to print the results of restricting the SIL.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
TurnMaterialsOff("4") # Turn off material 4
ListMaterials() # List the materials in the SIL restriction

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ListPlots: lists the plots in the active visualization window’s plot list.

Synopsis:
ListPlots() -> string
ListPlots(stringOnly) -> string

Returns:
The ListPlots function returns a string containing a representation of the. plot list.

Description:
Sometimes it is difficult to remember the order of the plots in the active visualization window’s plot list.
The ListPlots function prints the contents of the plot list to the output console and returns that string
as well.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
AddPlot("Contour", "d")
DrawPlots()
ListPlots()

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LoadAttribute: loads or saves a single attribute to/from an XML file.

Synopsis:
LoadAttribute(filename, object)
SaveAttribute(filename, object)

Returns:
success or failure

Description:
The LoadAttribute and SaveAttribute methods save a single attribute, such as a current plot or operator
python object, to a standalone XML file. Note that LoadAttribute requires that the target attribute
already be created by other means; it fills, but does not create, the attribute.

Example:
% visit -cli
a = MeshPlotAttributes()
SaveAttribute(’mesh.xml’, a)
b = MeshPlotAttributes()
LoadAttribute(’mesh.xml’, b)

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LoadNamedSelection: loads a named selection from a file.

Synopsis:
LoadNamedSelection(name) -> integer
LoadNamedSelection(name, engineName) -> integer
LoadNamedSelection(name, engineName, simName) -> integer

Arguments:
name The name of a named selection.
engineName (optional) The name of the engine where the selection was
saved.
simName (optional) The name of the simulation that saved the selec-
tion.
Returns:
The LoadNamedSelection function returns 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
Named Selections allow you to select a group of elements (or particles). One typically creates a named
selection from a group of elements and then later applies the named selection to another plot (thus
reducing the set of elements displayed to the ones from when the named selection was created). Named
selections only last for the current session. However, if you find a named selection that is particularly
interesting, you can save it to a file for use in later sessions. You would use LoadNamedSelection to do
the loading.

Example:
% visit -cli
db = "/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave*.silo database"
OpenDatabase(db)
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
LoadNamedSelection("selection_from_previous_session")
ApplyNamedSelection("selection_from_previous_session")

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

LoadUltra: loads the Ultra command parser.

Synopsis:
LoadUltra()

Arguments:
none

Returns:
LoadUltra does not return a value.

Description:
LoadUltra launches the Ultra command parser, allowing you to enter Ultra commands and have VisIt
process them. A new command prompt is presented, and only Ultra commands will be allowed until
’end’ or ’quit’ is entered, at which time, you will be returned to VisIt’s cli prompt. For information on
currently supported commands, type ’help’ at the Ultra prompt Please note that filenames/paths must
be surrounded by quotes, unlike with Ultra.

Example:
% visit -cli
>>> LoadUltra()
U-> rd "../../data/distribution.ultra"
U-> select 1
U-> end
>>>

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LocalNameSpace: tells the VisIt module to import plugins into the global namespace.

Synopsis:
LocalNamespace()

Arguments:
none

Returns:
The LocalNamespace function does not return a value.

Description:
The LocalNamespace function tells the VisIt module to add plugin functions to the global namespace
when the VisIt module is imported into a stand−alone Python interpreter. This is the default behavior
when using VisIt’s cli program.

Example:
import visit
visit.LocalNamespace()
visit.Launch()

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LongFileName: returns the long filename for a short WIN32 filename.

Synopsis:
LongFileName(filename) -> string

Arguments:
filename A string object containing the short filename to expand.

Returns:
The LongFileName function returns a string. Notes: This function returns the input argument unless
you are on the Windows platform.

Description:
On Windows, filenames can have two different sizes: traditional 8.3 format, and long format. The long
format, which lets you name files whatever you want, is implemented using the traditional 8.3 format
under the covers. Sometimes filenames are given to VisIt in the traditional 8.3 format and must be
expanded to long format before it is possible to open them. If you ever find that you need to do this
conversion, such as when you process command line arguments, then you can use the LongFileName
function to return the longer filename.

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

MoveAndResizeWindow: moves and resizes a vis window.

Synopsis:
MoveAndResizeWindow(win, x, y, w, h) -> integer

Arguments:
win The id of the window to be moved [1..16].
x The new x location for the window being moved.
y The new y location for the window being moved.
w The new width for the window being moved.
h The new height for the window being moved.
Returns:
MoveAndResizeWindow returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
MoveAndResizeWindow moves and resizes a visualization window.

Example:
% visit -cli
MoveAndResizeWindow(1, 100, 100, 300, 600)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

MovePlotDatabaseKeyframe: moves a database keyframe for a plot.

Synopsis:
MovePlotDatabaseKeyframe(index, oldFrame, newFrame)

Arguments:
index An integer representing the index of the plof in the plot list.
oldFrame The old animation frame where the keyframe is located.
newFrame The new animation frame where the keyframe will be
moved.
Returns:
MovePlotDatabaseKeyframe does not return a value.

Description:
MovePlotDatabaseKeyframe moves a database keyframe for a specified plot to a new animation frame,
which changes the list of database time states that are used for each animation frame when VisIt is in
keyframing mode.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit")
k = GetKeyframeAttributes()
nFrames = 20
k.enabled, k.nFrames, k.nFramesWasUserSet = 1, nFrames, 1
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
SetPlotFrameRange(0, 0, nFrames-1)
SetPlotDatabaseKeyframe(0, 0, 70)
SetPlotDatabaseKeyframe(0, nFrames/2, 35)
SetPlotDatabaseKeyframe(0, nFrames-1, 0)
DrawPlots()
for state in list(range(TimeSliderGetNStates())) + [0]:
SetTimeSliderState(state)
MovePlotDatabaseKeyframe(0, nFrames/2, nFrames/4)
for state in list(range(TimeSliderGetNStates())) + [0]:
SetTimeSliderState(state)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

MovePlotKeyframe: moves a keyframe for a plot.

Synopsis:
MovePlotKeyframe(index, oldFrame, newFrame)

Arguments:
index An integer representing the index of the plof in the plot list.
oldFrame The old animation frame where the keyframe is located.
newFrame The new animation frame where the keyframe will be
moved.
Returns:
MovePlotKeyframe does not return a value.

Description:
MovePlotKeyframe moves a keyframe for a specified plot to a new animation frame, which changes the
plot attributes that are used for each animation frame when VisIt is in keyframing mode.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Contour", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
k = GetKeyframeAttributes()
nFrames = 20
k.enabled, k.nFrames, k.nFramesWasUserSet = 1, nFrames, 1
SetKeyframeAttributes(k)
SetPlotFrameRange(0, 0, nFrames-1)
c = ContourAttributes()
c.contourNLevels = 5
SetPlotOptions(c)
SetTimeSliderState(nFrames/2)
c.contourNLevels = 10
SetPlotOptions(c)
c.contourLevels = 25
SetTimeSliderState(nFrames-1)
SetPlotOptions(c)
for state in range(TimeSliderGetNStates()):
SetTimeSliderState(state)
SaveWindow()
temp = nFrames-2
MovePlotKeyframe(0, nFrames/2, temp)
MovePlotKeyframe(0, nFrames-1, nFrames/2)
MovePlotKeyframe(0, temp, nFrames-1)
for state in range(TimeSliderGetNStates()):
SetTimeSliderState(state)
SaveWindow()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

MovePlotOrderTowardFirst: movethe i’th plot towards the start of the plot list.

Synopsis:
MovePlotOrderTowardFirst(index) -> integer

Arguments:
index The index of the plot that will be moved within the plot
list.
Returns:
The MovePlotOrderTowardFirst function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
This function shifts the specified plot one slot towards the start of the plot list.

Example:
MovePlotOrderTowardFirst(2)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

MovePlotOrderTowardLast: move the i’th plot towards the end of the plot list.

Synopsis:
MovePlotOrderTowardLast(index) -> integer

Arguments:
index The index of the plot that will be moved within the plot
list.
Returns:
The MovePlotOrderTowardLast function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
This function shifts the specified plot one slot towards the end of the plot list.

Example:
MovePlotOrderTowardLast(0)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

MoveViewKeyframe: moves a view keyframe.

Synopsis:
MoveViewKeyframe(oldFrame, newFrame) -> integer

Arguments:
oldFrame The old animation frame where the keyframe is located.
newFrame The new animation frame where the keyframe will be
moved.
Returns:
MoveViewKeyframe returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
MoveViewKeyframe moves a view keyframe to a new animation frame, which changes the view that is
used for each animation frame when VisIt is in keyframing mode.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Contour", "hardyglobal")
DrawPlots()
k = GetKeyframeAttributes()
nFrames = 20
k.enabled, k.nFrames, k.nFramesWasUserSet = 1, nFrames, 1
SetKeyframeAttributes(k)
SetViewKeyframe()
SetTimeSliderState(nFrames/2)
v = GetView3d()
v.viewNormal = (-0.616518, 0.676972, 0.402014)
v.viewUp = (0.49808, 0.730785, -0.466764)
SetViewKeyframe()
SetTimeSliderState(0)
# Move the view keyframe to the last animation frame.
MoveViewKeyframe(nFrames/2, nFrames-1)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

MoveWindow: moves a vis window.

Synopsis:
MoveWindow(win, x, y) -> integer

Arguments:
win The id of the window to be moved [1..16].
x The new x location for the window being moved.
y The new y location for the window being moved.
Returns:
MoveWindow returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
MoveWindow moves a visualization window.

Example:
% visit -cli
MoveWindow(1, 100, 100)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

NodePick: performs a nodal pick on a plot.

Synopsis:
NodePick(point) -> integer
NodePick(point, variables) -> integer
NodePick(sx, sy) -> integer
NodePick(sx, sy, variables) -> integer

Arguments:
point A tuple of values that describe the coordinate of where we
want to performthe nodal pick.
variables An optional tuple of strings containing the names of the
variables forwhich we want information. The tuple can
contain the name ”default” ifyou want information for the
plotted variable.
sx A screen X location (in pixels) offset from the left side of
thevisualization window.
sy A screen Y location (in pixels) offset from the bottom of
thevisualization window.
Returns:
The NodePick function prints pick information for the node closest to the specified point. The point can
be specified as a 2D or 3D point in world space or it can be specified as a pixel location in screen space.
If the point is specified as a pixel location then VisIt finds the node closest to a ray that is projected
into the mesh. Once the nodal pick has been calculated, you can use the GetPickOutput function to
retrieve the printed pick output as a string which can be used for other purposes.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
# Perform node pick in screen space
NodePick(300,300)
# Perform node pick in world space.
NodePick((-5.0, 5.0))

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

NumColorTableNames: returns the number of color tables that have been defined.

Synopsis:
NumColorTableNames() -> integer

Returns:
The NumColorTableNames function return an integer.

Description:
The NumColorTableNames function returns the number of color tables that have been defined.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
p = PseudocolorAttributes()
p.colorTableName = "default"
SetPlotOptions(p)
DrawPlots()
print "There are %d color tables." % NumColorTableNames()
for ct in ColorTableNames():
SetActiveContinuousColorTable(ct)
SaveWindow()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

NumOperatorPlugins: returns the number of available operator plugins.

Synopsis:
NumOperatorPlugins() -> integer

Returns:
The NumOperatorPlugins function returns an integer.

Description:
The NumOperatorPlugins function returns the number of available operator plugins.

Example:
% visit -cli
print "The number of operator plugins is: ", NumOperatorPlugins()
print "The names of the plugins are: ", OperatorPlugins()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

NumPlotPlugins: returns the number of available plot plugins.

Synopsis:
NumPlotPlugins() -> integer

Returns:
The NumPlotPlugins function returns an integer.

Description:
The NumPlotPlugins function returns the number of available plot plugins.

Example:
% visit -cli
print "The number of plot plugins is: ", NumPlotPlugins()
print "The names of the plugins are: ", PlotPlugins()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

OpenComputeEngine: opens a compute engine on the specified computer

Synopsis:
OpenComputeEngine() -> integer
OpenComputeEngine(hostName) -> integer
OpenComputeEngine(hostName, simulation) -> integer
OpenComputeEngine(hostName, args) -> integer

Arguments:
hostName The name of the computer on which to start the engine.
args Optional tuple of command line arguments for the engine.
Returns:
The OpenComputeEngine function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The OpenComputeEngine function is used to explicitly open a compute engine with certain properties.
When a compute engine is opened implicitly, the viewer relies on sets of attributes called host profiles.
Host profiles determine how compute engines are launched. This allows compute engines to be easily
launched in parallel. Since the VisIt Python Interface does not expose VisIt’s host profiles, it provides
the OpenComputeEngine function to allow users to launch compute engines. The OpenComputeEngine
function must be called before opening a database in order to prevent any latent host profiles from
taking precedence.

Example:
% visit -cli
# Launch parallel compute engine remotely.
args = ("-np", "16", "-nn", "4")
OpenComputeEngine("thunder", args)
OpenDatabase("thunder:/usr/gapps/visit/data/multi_ucd3d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

OpenDatabase: opens a database for plotting.

Synopsis:
OpenDatabase(databaseName) -> integer
OpenDatabase(databaseName, timeIndex) -> integer
OpenDatabase(databaseName, timeIndex, dbPluginName) -> integer

Arguments:
databaseName A string containing the name of the database to open.
timeIndex This is an optional integer argument indicating the time
index at which toopen the database. If it is not specified,
a time index of zero is assumed.
dbPluginIndex An optional string containing the name of the plugin
to use. Note that thisstring must also include the plu-
gin’s version number (with few exceptions,almost all plu-
gins’ version numbers are 1.0). Note also that you
mustcapitalize the spelling identically to what the plu-
gin’sGeneralPluginInfo::GetName() method returns. For
example, ”XYZ 1.0”is the string you would use for the XYZ
plugin.
Returns:
The OpenDatabase function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The OpenDatabase function is one of the most important functions in the VisIt Python Interface because
it opens a database so it can be plotted. The databaseName argument is a string containing the full
name of the database to be opened. The database name is of the form: computer:/path/filename. The
computer part of the filename can be omitted if the database to be opened resides on the local computer.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
OpenDatabase("mcr:/usr/gapps/visit/data/multi_ucd3d.silo")
OpenDatabase("file.visit")
OpenDatabase("file.visit", 4)
OpenDatabase("mcr:/usr/gapps/visit/data/multi_ucd3d.silo",0,"Silo_1.0")

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

OpenMDServer: explicitly opens a metadata server.

Synopsis:
OpenMDServer() -> integer
OpenMDServer(host) -> integer
OpenMDServer(host, args) -> integer

Arguments:
host The optional host argument determines the host on which
the metadataserver is to be launched. If this argument is
not provided, ”localhost”is assumed.
args A tuple of strings containing command line flags for the
metadata server.
Returns:
The OpenMDServer function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The OpenMDServer explicitly launches a metadata server on a specified host. This allows you to provide
command line options that influence how the metadata server will run.

Argument Description
-debug # The −debug argument allows you to specify a debug level
in therange [1,5] that VisIt uses to write debug logs to disk.
-dir visitdir The −dir argument allows you to specify where VisIt islo-
cated on a remote computer. This allows you to success-
fully connect to a remote computer in the absence of host
profiles. It also allows you to debug VisIt in distributed
mode.
-fallback_format <format> The −fallback format argument allows you to specify the-
database plugin that will be used to open files if allother
guessing failed. This is useful when the filesthat you want
to open do not have file extensions.
-assume_format <format> The −assume format argument allows you to specify the-
database plugin that will be used FIRST when attempt-
ingto open files. This is useful when the files that you want
to open have a file extension which may matchmultiple file
format readers.

Example:
-assume_format PDB
Example:
% visit -cli
args = ("-dir", "/my/private/visit/version/", "-assume_format", \
"PDB", "-debug", "4")
# Open a metadata server before the call to OpenDatabase so we
# can launch it how we want.
OpenMDServer("thunder", args)
OpenDatabase("thunder:/usr/gapps/visit/data/allinone00.pdb")
# Open a metadata server on localhost too.
OpenMDServer()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

OperatorPlugins: returns a tuple of operator plugin names.

Synopsis:
OperatorPlugins() -> tuple of strings

Returns:
The OperatorPlugins function returns a tuple of strings.

Description:
The OperatorPlugins function returns a tuple of strings that contain the names of the loaded operator
plugins. This can be useful for the creation of scripts that alter their behavior based on the available
operator plugins.

Example:
% visit -cli
for plugin in OperatorPlugins():
print "The %s operator plugin is loaded." % plugin

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

OverlayDatabase: creates new plots based on current plots but with a new database.

Synopsis:
OverlayDatabase(databaseName) -> integer
OverlayDatabase(databaseName, state) -> integer

Arguments:
databaseName A string containing the name of the new plot database.
state The time state at which to open the database.
Returns:
The OverlayDatabase function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
VisIt has the concept of overlaying plots which, in the nutshell, means that the entire plot list is copied
and a new set of plots with exactly the same attributes but a different database is appended to the plot
list of the active window. The OverlayDatabase function allows the VisIt Python Interface to overlay
plots. OverlayDatabase takes a single string argument which contains the name of the database. After
calling the OverlayDatabase function, the plot list is larger and contains plots of the specified overlay
database.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
OverlayDatabase("riptide:/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv3d.silo")

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

Pick: performs a zonal pick on a plot.

Synopsis:
ZonePick(point) -> integer
ZonePick(point, variables) -> integer
ZonePick(sx, sy) -> integer
ZonePick(sx, sy, variables) -> integer

Arguments:
point A tuple of values that describe the coordinate of where we
want to performthe zonal pick.
variables An optional tuple of strings containing the names of the
variables forwhich we want information. The tuple can
contain the name ”default” ifyou want information for the
plotted variable.
sx A screen X location (in pixels) offset from the left side of
thevisualization window.
sy A screen Y location (in pixels) offset from the bottom of
thevisualization window.
Returns:
The ZonePick function prints pick information for the cell (a.k.a zone) that contains the specified point.
The point can be specified as a 2D or 3D point in world space or it can be specified as a pixel location
in screen space. If the point is specified as a pixel location then VisIt finds the zone that contains the
intersection of a cell and a ray that is projected into the mesh. Once the zonal pick has been calculated,
you can use the GetPickOutput function to retrieve the printed pick output as a string which can be
used for other purposes.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
# Perform zone pick in screen space
ZonePick(300,300)
# Perform zone pick in world space.
ZonePick((-5.0, 5.0))

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

PickByGlobalNode: performs pick operation for a specific node using a global node id.

Synopsis:
PickByGlobalNode(node) -> integer
PickByGlobalNode(node, variables) -> integer

Arguments:
node Integer index of the global node for which we want pick
information.
variables A tuple of strings containing the names of the variables for
which we wantpick information.
Returns:
PickByGlobalNode returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The PickByGlobalNode function tells VisIt to perform pick using a specific global node index for the
entire problem. Some meshes are broken up into smaller ”domains” and then these smaller domains can
employ a global indexing scheme to make it appear as though the mesh was still one large mesh. Not
all meshes that have been decomposed into domains provide sufficient information to allow global node
indexing. You can use the GetPickOutput function to retrieve a string containing the pick information
once you’ve called PickByGlobalNode.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/multi_curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
# Pick on node 200 in the first domain.
PickByGlobalNode(200)
print "Last pick = ", GetPickOutput()

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PickByGlobalZone: performs pick operation for a specific cell using a global cell id.

Synopsis:
PickByGlobalZone(id) -> integer
PickByGlobalZone(id, variables) -> integer

Arguments:
id Integer index of the global cell for which we want pick in-
formation.
variables A tuple of strings containing the names of the variables for
which we wantpick information.
Returns:
PickByGlobalZone returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The PickByGlobalZone function tells VisIt to perform pick using a specific global cell index for the
entire problem. Some meshes are broken up into smaller ”domains” and then these smaller domains can
employ a global indexing scheme to make it appear as though the mesh was still one large mesh. Not
all meshes that have been decomposed into domains provide sufficient information to allow global cell
indexing. You can use the GetPickOutput function to retrieve a string containing the pick information
once you’ve called PickByGlobalZone.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/multi_curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
# Pick on cell 200 in the first domain.
PickByGlobalZone(200)
print "Last pick = ", GetPickOutput()

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PickByNode: performs pick operation for a specific node in a given domain.

Synopsis:
PickByNode(node) -> integer
PickByNode(node, variables) -> integer
PickByNode(node, domain) -> integer
PickByNode(node, domain, variables) -> integer

Arguments:
node Integer index of the node for which we want pick informa-
tion.
domain An integer representing the index of the domain that con-
tains the node forwhich we want pick information. Note
that if the first domain is”domain1” then the first valid
index is 1.
variables A tuple of strings containing the names of the variables for
which we wantpick information.
Returns:
PickByNode returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The PickByNode function tells VisIt to perform pick using a specific node index in a given domain.
Other pick by node variants first determine the node that is closest to some user−specified 3D point
but the PickByNode functions cuts out this step and allows you to directly pick on the node of your
choice. You can use the GetPickOutput function to retrieve a string containing the pick information
once you’ve called PickByNode.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/multi_curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
# Pick on node 200 in the first domain.
PickByNode(200)
# Pick on node 200 in the second domain.
PickByNode(200, 2)
# Pick on node 100 in domain 5 and return information for two additional
variables.
PickByNode(100, 5, ("default", "u", "v"))
print "Last pick = ", GetPickOutput()

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PickByZone: performs pick operation for a specific cell in a given domain.

Synopsis:
PickByZone(cell) -> integer
PickByZone(cell, variables) -> integer
PickByZone(cell, domain) -> integer
PickByZone(cell, domain, variables) -> integer

Arguments:
cell Integer index of the cell for which we want pick information.
domain An integer representing the index of the domain that con-
tains the cell forwhich we want pick information. Note that
if the first domain is”domain1” then the first valid index is
1.
variables A tuple of strings containing the names of the variables for
which we wantpick information.
Returns:
PickByZone returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The PickByZone function tells VisIt to perform pick using a specific cell index in a given domain. Other
pick by zone variants first determine the cell that contains some user−specified 3D point but the Pick-
ByZone functions cuts out this step and allows you to directly pick on the cell of your choice. You can
use the GetPickOutput function to retrieve a string containing the pick information once you’ve called
PickByZone.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/multi_curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
# Pick on cell 200 in the first domain.
PickByZone(200)
# Pick on cell 200 in the second domain.
PickByZone(200, 2)
# Pick on cell 100 in domain 5 and return information for two additional
variables.
PickByZone(100, 5, ("default", "u", "v"))
print "Last pick = ", GetPickOutput()

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PlotPlugins: returns a tuple of plot plugin names.

Synopsis:
PlotPlugins() -> tuple of strings

Returns:
The PlotPlugins function returns a tuple of strings.

Description:
The PlotPlugins function returns a tuple of strings that contain the names of the loaded plot plugins.
This can be useful for the creation of scripts that alter their behavior based on the available plot plugins.

Example:
% visit -cli
for plugin in PluginPlugins():
print "The %s plot plugin is loaded." % plugin

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PointPick: performs a nodal pick on a plot.

Synopsis:
NodePick(point) -> integer
NodePick(point, variables) -> integer
NodePick(sx, sy) -> integer
NodePick(sx, sy, variables) -> integer

Arguments:
point A tuple of values that describe the coordinate of where we
want to performthe nodal pick.
variables An optional tuple of strings containing the names of the
variables forwhich we want information. The tuple can
contain the name ”default” ifyou want information for the
plotted variable.
sx A screen X location (in pixels) offset from the left side of
thevisualization window.
sy A screen Y location (in pixels) offset from the bottom of
thevisualization window.
Returns:
The NodePick function prints pick information for the node closest to the specified point. The point can
be specified as a 2D or 3D point in world space or it can be specified as a pixel location in screen space.
If the point is specified as a pixel location then VisIt finds the node closest to a ray that is projected
into the mesh. Once the nodal pick has been calculated, you can use the GetPickOutput function to
retrieve the printed pick output as a string which can be used for other purposes.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
# Perform node pick in screen space
NodePick(300,300)
# Perform node pick in world space.
NodePick((-5.0, 5.0))

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PrintWindow: prints the active visualization window.

Synopsis:
PrintWindow() -> integer

Returns:
The PrintWindow function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The PrintWindow function tells the viewer to print the image in the active visualization window using
the current printer settings.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
AddPlot("Contour", "u")
DrawPlots()
PrintWindow()

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PromoteOperator: moves an operator closer to the end of the visualization pipeline.

Synopsis:
PromoteOperator(opIndex) -> integer
PromoteOperator(opIndex, applyToAllPlots) -> integer

Arguments:
opIndex A zero−based integer corresponding to the operator that
should be promoted.
applyAll An integer flag that causes all plots in the plot list to be
affected whenit is non−zero.
Returns:
PromoteOperator returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The PromoteOperator function moves an operator closer to the end of the visualization pipeline. This
allows you to change the order of operators that have been applied to a plot without having to remove
them from the plot. For example, consider moving a Slice to after a Reflect operator when it had been
the other way around. Changing the order of operators can result in vastly different results for a plot.
The opposite function is DemoteOperator.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hardyglobal")
AddOperator("Slice")
s = SliceAttributes()
s.project2d = 0
s.originPoint = (0,5,0)
s.originType=s.Point
s.normal = (0,1,0)
s.upAxis = (-1,0,0)
SetOperatorOptions(s)
AddOperator("Reflect")
DrawPlots()
# Now slice after reflect. We’ll only get 1 slice plane instead of 2.
PromoteOperator(0)
DrawPlots()

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PythonQuery: executes a Python Filter Query.

Synopsis:
PythonQuery(source=’python filter source ...’) -> integer
PythonQuery(file=’path/to/python_filter_script.py’) -> integer

Arguments:
source A string containing the source code for a Python Query
Filter .
file A string containing the path to a Python Query Filter script
file.Note: Use only one of the ’source’ or ’file’ arguments.If
both are used the ’source’ argument overrides ’file’.
Returns:
The PythonQuery function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
Used to execute a Python Filter Query.

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Queries: returns a tuple containing the names of all supported queries.

Synopsis:
Queries() -> tuple of strings

Returns:
The Queries function returns a tuple of strings.

Description:
The Queries function returns a tuple of strings that contain the names of all of VisIt’s supported queries.

Example:
% visit -cli
print "supported queries: ", Queries()

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QueriesOverTime: returns a tuple of containing the names of all supported queries that can

Synopsis:
QueriesOverTime() -> tuple of strings

Returns:
Returns a tuple of strings.

Description:
The QueriesOverTime function returns a tuple of strings that contains the names of all of the VisIt
queries that can be executed over time.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/allineone00.pdb")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "mesh/mixvar")
DrawPlots()
# Execute each of the queries over time on the plots.
for q in QueriesOverTime():
QueryOverTime(q)

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Query: executes one of VisIt’s queries.

Synopsis:
Query(name) -> integer
Query(name, variables) -> integer
Query(name, arg1) -> integer
Query(name, arg1, variables) -> integer
Query(name, arg1, arg2) -> integer
Query(name, arg1, arg2, variables) -> integer
Query(name, arg1, arg2, arg3, arg4, variables) -> integer
Query("Hohlraum Flux", numLines, x, y, z, radius, theta, phi,\
("var1", "var2")) -> integer
Query("Hohlraum Flux", numLines, divideEmisByAbsorb, x, y, z,\
radius, theta, phi, ("var1", "var2")) -> integer

Arguments:
name A string containing the name of the query to execute.
variables An optional tuple of strings containing the names of addi-
tional queryvariables.
arg1 An optional general purpose integer argument.
arg2 An optional general purpose integer argument.
arg3 An optional general purpose double precision argument.
arg4 An optional general purpose double precision argument.
Returns:
The Query function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The Query function is used to execute any of VisIt’s predefined queries. Since queries can take a wide
array of arguments, the Query function has a wide variety of possible arguments. The list of queries can
be found in the VisIt User’s Manual in the Quantitative Analysis chapter.You can get also get a list of
queries that can be executed over time using the Queries function.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
DrawPlots()
Query("Volume")

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QueryOverTime: executes one of VisIt’s queries over time to produce a curve.

Synopsis:
QueryOverTime(name) -> integer
QueryOverTime(name, variables) -> integer
QueryOverTime(name, arg1) -> integer
QueryOverTime(name, arg1, variables) -> integer
QueryOverTime(name, arg1, arg2) -> integer
QueryOverTime(name, arg1, arg2, variables) -> integer

Arguments:
name A string containing the name of the query to execute.
variables An optional tuple of strings containing the names of addi-
tional queryvariables.
arg1 An optional general purpose integer argument.
arg2 An optional general purpose integer argument.
Returns:
The QueryOverTime function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The QueryOverTime function is used to execute any of VisIt’s predefined queries. Since queries can
take a wide array of arguments, the QueryOverTime function has a wide variety of possible arguments.
The list of queries can be found in the VisIt User’s Manual in the Quantitative Analysis chapter. You
can get also get a list of queries that can be executed over time using the QueriesOverTime function.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
DrawPlots()
for q in QueriesOverTime():
QueryOverTime(q)
ResetView()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ReOpenDatabase: reopens a database for plotting.

Synopsis:
ReOpenDatabase(databaseName) -> integer

Arguments:
databaseName A string containing the name of the database to open.

Returns:
The ReOpenDatabase function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The ReOpenDatabase function reopens a database that has been opened previously with the Open-
Database function. The ReOpenDatabase function is primarily used for regenerating plots whose
database has been rewritten on disk. ReOpenDatabase allows VisIt to access new variables and new
time states that have been added since the database was opened using the OpenDatabase function.
Note that ReOpenDatabase is expensive since it causes all plots that use the specified database to be
regenerated. If you want to ensure that a time−varying database has all of its time states as they
are being created by a simulation, try the CheckForNewStates function instead. The databaseName
argument is a string containing the full name of the database to be opened. The database name is of the
form: host:/path/filename. The host part of the filename can be omitted if the database to be reopened
resides on the local computer.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("edge:/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave*.silo database")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
DrawPlots()
last = TimeSliderGetNStates()
for state in range(last):
SetTimeSliderState(state)
SaveWindow()
ReOpenDatabase("edge:/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave*.silo database")
for state in range(last, TimeSliderGetNStates()):
SetTimeSliderState(state)
SaveWindow()

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RecenterView: recalculates the view for the active visualization window so that its

Synopsis:
RecenterView() -> integer

Returns:
The RecenterView function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
After adding plots to a visualization window or applying operators to those plots, it is sometimes nec-
essary to recenter the view. When the view is recentered, the orientation does not change but the view
is shifted to make better use of the screen.

Example:
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv3d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
RecenterView()

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RedoView: restores a view that has been undone with UndoView.

Synopsis:
RedoView() -> integer

Returns:
The RedoView function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
When the view changes in the visualization window, it puts the old view on a stack of views. VisIt
provides the UndoView function that lets you undo view changes. The RedoView function re−applies
any views that have been undone by the UndoView function.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Subset", "mat1")
DrawPlots()
v = GetView2D()
v.windowCoords = (-2.3,2.4,0.2,4.9)
SetView2D(v)
UndoView()
RedoView()

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RedrawWindow: enables redraws and forces the active visualization window to redraw.

Synopsis:
RedrawWindow() -> integer

Returns:
The RedrawWindow function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The RedrawWindow function allows a visualization window to redraw itself and then forces the window
to redraw. This function does the opposite of the DisableRedraw function and is used to recover from it.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Contour", "u")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "w")
DrawPlots()
DisableRedraw()
AddOperator("Slice")
# Set the slice operator attributes
# Redraw now that the operator attributes are set. This will
# prevent 1 redraw.
RedrawWindow()

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RegisterCallback: register a user-defined callback function that gets called when a state object changes
or when an rpc is called.

Synopsis:
RegisterCallback(callbackname, callback) --> integer

Arguments:
callbackname A string object designating the callback that we’re in-
stalling. Allowable values are returned by the GetCallback-
Names() function.
callback A Python function, typically with one argument by which
VisIt passes the object that caused the callback to be called.
Returns:
RegisterCallback returns 1 on success.

Description:
The RegisterCallback function is used to associate a user−defined callback function with the updating
of a state object or execution of a particular rpc

Example:
import visit
def print_sliceatts(atts):
print "SLICEATTS=", atts
visit.RegisterCallback("SliceAttributes", print_sliceatts)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

RegisterMacro: associates a user-defined Python function with a macro name.

Synopsis:
RegisterMacro(name, callable)

Arguments:
name A string containing the name of the macro.
callable A Python function that will be associated with the macro
name.
Returns:
The RegisterMacro function does not return a value.

Description:
The RegisterMacro function lets you associate a Python function with a name so when VisIt’s gui calls
down into Python to execute a macro, it ends up executing the registered Python function. Macros
let users define complex new behaviors using Python functions yet still call them simply by clicking a
button within VisIt’s gui. When a new macro function is registered, a message is sent to the gui that
adds the known macros as buttons in the Macros window.

Example:
def SetupMyPlots():
OpenDatabase(’noise.silo’)
AddPlot(’Pseudocolor’, ’hardyglobal’)
DrawPlots()
RegisterMacro(’Setup My Plots’, SetupMyPlots)

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RemoveAllOperators: removes operators from plots.

Synopsis:
RemoveAllOperators() -> integer
RemoveAllOperators(all) -> integer
RemoveLastOperator() -> integer
RemoveLastOperator(all) -> integer
RemoveOperator(index) -> integer
RemoveOperator(index, all) -> integer

Arguments:
all An optional integer argument that tells the function to ig-
nore theactive plots and use all plots in the plot list if the
value of theargument is non−zero.
index The zero−based integer index into a plot’s operator list that
specifieswhich operator is to be deleted.
Returns:
All functions return an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The RemoveOperator functions allow operators to be removed from plots. The RemoveLastOperator
function removes the operator that was last applied to the active plots. The RemoveAllOperators func-
tion removes all operators from the active plots in the active visualization window. If the all argument
is provided and contains a non−zero value, all plots in the active visualization window are affected. If
the value is zero or if the argument is not provided, only the active plots are affected.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
AddOperator("Threshold")
AddOperator("Slice")
AddOperator("SphereSlice")
DrawPlots()
RemoveLastOperator() # Remove SphereSlice
RemoveOperator(0) # Remove Threshold
RemoveAllOperators() # Remove the rest of the operators

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RemoveLastOperator: removes operators from plots.

Synopsis:
RemoveAllOperators() -> integer
RemoveAllOperators(all) -> integer
RemoveLastOperator() -> integer
RemoveLastOperator(all) -> integer
RemoveOperator(index) -> integer
RemoveOperator(index, all) -> integer

Arguments:
all An optional integer argument that tells the function to ig-
nore theactive plots and use all plots in the plot list if the
value of theargument is non−zero.
index The zero−based integer index into a plot’s operator list that
specifieswhich operator is to be deleted.
Returns:
All functions return an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The RemoveOperator functions allow operators to be removed from plots. The RemoveLastOperator
function removes the operator that was last applied to the active plots. The RemoveAllOperators func-
tion removes all operators from the active plots in the active visualization window. If the all argument
is provided and contains a non−zero value, all plots in the active visualization window are affected. If
the value is zero or if the argument is not provided, only the active plots are affected.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
AddOperator("Threshold")
AddOperator("Slice")
AddOperator("SphereSlice")
DrawPlots()
RemoveLastOperator() # Remove SphereSlice
RemoveOperator(0) # Remove Threshold
RemoveAllOperators() # Remove the rest of the operators

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

RemoveOperator: removes operators from plots.

Synopsis:
RemoveAllOperators() -> integer
RemoveAllOperators(all) -> integer
RemoveLastOperator() -> integer
RemoveLastOperator(all) -> integer
RemoveOperator(index) -> integer
RemoveOperator(index, all) -> integer

Arguments:
all An optional integer argument that tells the function to ig-
nore theactive plots and use all plots in the plot list if the
value of theargument is non−zero.
index The zero−based integer index into a plot’s operator list that
specifieswhich operator is to be deleted.
Returns:
All functions return an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The RemoveOperator functions allow operators to be removed from plots. The RemoveLastOperator
function removes the operator that was last applied to the active plots. The RemoveAllOperators func-
tion removes all operators from the active plots in the active visualization window. If the all argument
is provided and contains a non−zero value, all plots in the active visualization window are affected. If
the value is zero or if the argument is not provided, only the active plots are affected.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
AddOperator("Threshold")
AddOperator("Slice")
AddOperator("SphereSlice")
DrawPlots()
RemoveLastOperator() # Remove SphereSlice
RemoveOperator(0) # Remove Threshold
RemoveAllOperators() # Remove the rest of the operators

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RenamePickLabel: let the user rename the pick label to provide a more descriptive string.

Synopsis:
RenamePickLabel(oldLabel, newLabel) -> integer

Arguments:
oldLabel The old pick label to replace. (e.g. ’A’, ’B’).
newLabel A new label to display in place of the old label.
Returns:
The RenamePickLabel function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The RenamePickLabel function can be used to replace an automatically generated pick label such as
’A’ with a user−defined string.

Example:
RenamePickLabel(’A’, ’Point of interest’)

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ReplaceDatabase: replaces the database in the current plots with a new database.

Synopsis:
ReplaceDatabase(databaseName) -> integer
ReplaceDatabase(databaseName, timeState) -> integer

Arguments:
databaseName A string containing the name of the new database.
timeState A zero−based integer containing the time state that should
be made activeonce the database has been replaced.
Returns:
The ReplaceDatabase function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The ReplaceDatabase function replaces the database in the current plots with a new database. This
is one way of switching timesteps if no ”.visit” file was ever created. If two databases have the same
variable name then replace is usually a success. In the case where the new database does not have the
desired variable, the plot with the variable not contained in the new database does not get regenerated
with the new database.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo)
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
ReplaceDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv3d.silo")
SaveWindow()
# Replace with a time-varying database and change the time
# state to 17.
ReplaceDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit", 17)

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ResetLineoutColor: resets the color used by lineout to the first color.

Synopsis:
ResetLineoutColor() -> integer

Returns:
ResetLineoutColor returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
Lineouts on VisIt cause reference lines to be drawn over the plot where the lineout was being extracted.
Each reference line uses a different color in a discrete color table. Once the colors in the discrete color
table are used up, the reference lines start using the color from the start of the discrete color table and
so on. ResetLineoutColor forces reference lines to start using the color at the start of the discrete color
table again thus resetting the lineout color.

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ResetOperatorOptions: resets operator attributes back to the default values.

Synopsis:
ResetOperatorOptions(operatorType) -> integer
ResetOperatorOptions(operatorType, all) -> integer

Arguments:
operatorType A string containing the name of a valid operator type.
all An optional integer argument that tells the function to reset
the operatoroptions for all plots regardless of whether or not
they are active.
Returns:
The ResetOperatorOptions function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The ResetOperatorOptions function resets the operator attributes of the specified operator type for
the active plots back to the default values. The operatorType argument is a string containing the
name of the type of operator whose attributes are to be reset. The all argument is an optional flag
that tells the function to reset the operator attributes for the indicated operator in all plots regard-
less of whether the plots are active. When non−zero values are passed for the all argument, all plots
are reset. When the all argument is zero or not provided, only the operators on active plots are modified.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
AddOperator("Slice")
a = SliceAttributes()
a.normal,a.upAxis = (0,0,1),(0,1,0)
SetOperatorOptions(a)
ResetOperatorOptions("Slice")

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ResetPickLetter: resets the pick marker letter back to ”A”.

Synopsis:
ResetPickLetter() -> integer

Returns:
ResetPickLetter returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The ResetPickLetter function resets the pick marker back to ”A” so that the next pick will use ”A” as
the pick letter and then ”B” and so on.

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ResetPlotOptions: resets plot attributes back to the default values.

Synopsis:
ResetPlotOptions(plotType) -> integer

Arguments:
plotType A string containing the name of the plot type.

Returns:
The ResetPlotOptions function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The ResetPlotOptions function resets the plot attributes of the specified plot type for the active plots
back to the default values. The plotType argument is a string containing the name of the type of plot
whose attributes are to be reset.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
p = PseudocolorAttributes()
p.colorTableName = "calewhite"
p.minFlag,p.maxFlag = 1,1
p.min,p.max = -5.0, 8.0
SetPlotOptions(p)
ResetPlotOptions("Pseudocolor")

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ResetView: resets the view to the initial view

Synopsis:
ResetView() -> integer

Returns:
The ResetView function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The ResetView function resets the camera to the initial view.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv3d.silo")
AddPlot("Mesh", "curvmesh3d")
v = ViewAttributes()
v.camera = (-0.45396, 0.401908, 0.79523)
v.focus = (0, 2.5, 15)
v.viewUp = (0.109387, 0.910879, -0.397913)
v.viewAngle = 30
v.setScale = 1
v.parallelScale = 16.0078
v.nearPlane = -32.0156
v.farPlane = 32.0156
v.perspective = 1
SetView3D(v) # Set the 3D view
DrawPlots()
ResetView()

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ResizeWindow: resizes a vis window.

Synopsis:
ResizeWindow(win, w, h) -> integer

Arguments:
win The id of the window to be moved [1..16].
w The new width for the window.
h The new height for the window.
Returns:
ResizeWindow returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
ResizeWindow resizes a visualization window.

Example:
% visit -cli
ResizeWindow(1, 300, 600)

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RestoreSession: restores a VisIt session.

Synopsis:
RestoreSession(filename, visitDir) -> integer
RestoreSessionWithDifferentSources(filename, visitDir,\
tuple of strings) -> integer

Arguments:
filename The name of the session file to restore.
visitDir An integer flag that indicates whether the filename to be
restored islocated in the user’s VisIt directory. If the flag is
set to 1 then thesession file is assumed to be located in the
user’s VisIt directoryotherwise the filename must contain an
absolute path.tuple of stringsA tuple of strings representing
the maping from sources as specifiedin the original session
file to new sources. Sources in the originalsession file are
numbered starting from 0. So, this tuple of stringssimply
contains the new names for each of the sources, in order.
Returns:
RestoreSession returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The RestoreSession function is important for setting up complex visualizations because you can design
a VisIt session file, which is an XML file that describes exactly how plots are set up, using the VisIt
GUI and then use that same session file in the CLI to generate movies in batch. The RestoreSession
function takes 2 arguments. The first argument specifies the filename that contains the VisIt session to
be restored. The second argument determines whether the session file is assumed to be in the user’s
VisIt directory. If the visitDir argument is set to 0 then the filename argument must contain the absolute
path to the session file.

Example:
% visit -cli
# Restore my session file for a time-varying database from
# my .visit directory.
RestoreSessionFile("visit.session", 1)
for state in range(TimeSliderGetNStates()):
SetTimeSliderState(state)
SaveWindow()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

RestoreSessionWithDifferentSources: restores a VisIt session.

Synopsis:
RestoreSession(filename, visitDir) -> integer
RestoreSessionWithDifferentSources(filename, visitDir,\
tuple of strings) -> integer

Arguments:
filename The name of the session file to restore.
visitDir An integer flag that indicates whether the filename to be
restored islocated in the user’s VisIt directory. If the flag is
set to 1 then thesession file is assumed to be located in the
user’s VisIt directoryotherwise the filename must contain an
absolute path.tuple of stringsA tuple of strings representing
the maping from sources as specifiedin the original session
file to new sources. Sources in the originalsession file are
numbered starting from 0. So, this tuple of stringssimply
contains the new names for each of the sources, in order.
Returns:
RestoreSession returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The RestoreSession function is important for setting up complex visualizations because you can design
a VisIt session file, which is an XML file that describes exactly how plots are set up, using the VisIt
GUI and then use that same session file in the CLI to generate movies in batch. The RestoreSession
function takes 2 arguments. The first argument specifies the filename that contains the VisIt session to
be restored. The second argument determines whether the session file is assumed to be in the user’s
VisIt directory. If the visitDir argument is set to 0 then the filename argument must contain the absolute
path to the session file.

Example:
% visit -cli
# Restore my session file for a time-varying database from
# my .visit directory.
RestoreSessionFile("visit.session", 1)
for state in range(TimeSliderGetNStates()):
SetTimeSliderState(state)
SaveWindow()

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SaveAttribute: loads or saves a single attribute to/from an XML file.

Synopsis:
LoadAttribute(filename, object)
SaveAttribute(filename, object)

Returns:
success or failure

Description:
The LoadAttribute and SaveAttribute methods save a single attribute, such as a current plot or operator
python object, to a standalone XML file. Note that LoadAttribute requires that the target attribute
already be created by other means; it fills, but does not create, the attribute.

Example:
% visit -cli
a = MeshPlotAttributes()
SaveAttribute(’mesh.xml’, a)
b = MeshPlotAttributes()
LoadAttribute(’mesh.xml’, b)

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SaveNamedSelection: saves a named selection from the active plot to a file.

Synopsis:
SaveNamedSelection(name) -> integer

Arguments:
name The name of a named selection.

Returns:
The SaveNamedSelection function returns 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
Named Selections allow you to select a group of elements (or particles). One typically creates a named
selection from a group of elements and then later applies the named selection to another plot (thus
reducing the set of elements displayed to the ones from when the named selection was created). Named
selections only last for the current session. If you create a named selection that you want to use over
and over, you can save it to a file with the SaveNamedSelection function.

Example:
% visit -cli
db = "/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave*.silo database"
OpenDatabase(db)
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
AddOperator("Clip")
c = ClipAttributes()
c.plane1Origin = (0,0.6,0)
c.plane1Normal = (0,-1,0)
SetOperatorOption(c)
DrawPlots()
CreateNamedSelection("els_above_at_time_0")
SaveNamedSelection("els_above_at_time_0")

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SaveSession: tells VisIt to save a session file describing the current visualization.

Synopsis:
SaveSession(filename) -> integer

Arguments:
filename The filename argument is the filename that is used to save
the sessionfile. The filename is relative to the current work-
ing directory.
Returns:
The SaveSession function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SaveSession function tells VisIt to save an XML session file that describes everything about the
current visualization. Session files are very useful for creating movies and also as shortcuts for setting
up complex visualizations.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
# Set up a keyframe animation of view and save a session file of it.
k = GetKeyframeAttributes()
k.enabled,k.nFrames,k.nFramesWasUserSet = 1,20,1
SetKeyframeAttributes(k)
AddPlot("Surface", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
v = GetView3D()
v.viewNormal = (0.40823, -0.826468, 0.387684)
v.viewUp, v.imageZoom = (-0.261942, 0.300775, 0.917017), 1.60684
SetView3D(v)
SetViewKeyframe()
SetTimeSliderState(TimeSliderGetNStates() - 1)
v.viewNormal = (-0.291901, -0.435608, 0.851492)
v.viewUp = (0.516969, 0.677156, 0.523644)
SetView3D(v)
SetViewKeyframe()
ToggleCameraViewMode()
SaveSession("~/.visit/keyframe.session")

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SaveWindow: save the contents of the active window

Synopsis:
SaveWindow() -> string

Returns:
The SaveWindow function returns a string containing the name of the file that was saved.

Description:
The SaveWindow function saves the contents of the active visualization window. The format of the saved
window is dictated by the SaveWindowAttributes which can be set using the SetSaveWindowAttributes
function. The contents of the active visualization window can be saved as TIFF, JPEG, RGB, PPM,
PNG images or they can be saved as curve, Alias Wavefront Obj, or VTK geometry files.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv3d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
# Set the save window attributes.
s = SaveWindowAttributes()
s.fileName = "test"
s.format = s.JPEG
s.progressive = 1
s.fileName = "test"
SetSaveWindowAttributes(s)
name = SaveWindow()
print "name = %s" % name

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SendSimulationCommand: sends a command to an active simulation.

Synopsis:
SendSimulationCommand(host, simulation, command)
SendSimulationCommand(host, simulation, command, argument)

Arguments:
host The name of the computer where the simulation is running.
simulation The name of the simulation being processed at the specified
host.
command The command to send to the simulation.
argument An argument to the command.
Returns:
The SendSimulationCommand method does not return a value.

Description:
The SendSimulationCommand method tells the viewer to send a command to a simulation that is run-
ning on the specified host. The host argument is a string that contains the name of the computer where
the simulation is running. The simulation argument is a string that contains the name of the simulation
to send the command to.

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetActiveContinuousColorTable: sets the color table that is used by plots that use a ”default” color

Synopsis:
SetActiveContinuousColorTable(name) -> integer
SetActiveDiscreteColorTable(name) -> integer

Arguments:
name The name of the color table to use for the active color ta-
ble. The namemust be present in the tuple returned by the
ColorTableNames function.
Returns:
Both functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
VisIt supports two flavors of color tables: continuous and discrete. Both types of color tables have the
same underlying representation but each type of color table is used a slightly different way. Continuous
color tables are made of a small number of color control points and the gaps in the color table between
two color control points are filled by interpolating the colors of the color control points. Discrete color
tables do not use any kind of interpolation and like continuous color tables, they are made up of control
points. The color control points in a discrete color table repeat infinitely such that if we have 4 color
control points: A, B, C, D then the pattern of repetition is: ABCDABCDABCD... Discrete color tables
are mainly used for plots that have a discrete set of items to display (e.g. Subset plot). Continuous
color tables are used in plots that display a continuous range of values (e.g. Pseudocolor).

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Contour", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
SetActiveDiscreteColorTable("levels")

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetActiveDiscreteColorTable: sets the color table that is used by plots that use a ”default” color

Synopsis:
SetActiveContinuousColorTable(name) -> integer
SetActiveDiscreteColorTable(name) -> integer

Arguments:
name The name of the color table to use for the active color ta-
ble. The namemust be present in the tuple returned by the
ColorTableNames function.
Returns:
Both functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
VisIt supports two flavors of color tables: continuous and discrete. Both types of color tables have the
same underlying representation but each type of color table is used a slightly different way. Continuous
color tables are made of a small number of color control points and the gaps in the color table between
two color control points are filled by interpolating the colors of the color control points. Discrete color
tables do not use any kind of interpolation and like continuous color tables, they are made up of control
points. The color control points in a discrete color table repeat infinitely such that if we have 4 color
control points: A, B, C, D then the pattern of repetition is: ABCDABCDABCD... Discrete color tables
are mainly used for plots that have a discrete set of items to display (e.g. Subset plot). Continuous
color tables are used in plots that display a continuous range of values (e.g. Pseudocolor).

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Contour", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
SetActiveDiscreteColorTable("levels")

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetActivePlots: sets the active plots in the plot list.

Synopsis:
SetActivePlots(plots) -> integer

Arguments:
plots A tuple of integer plot indices starting at zero. A single
integer is also accepted
Returns:
The SetActivePlots function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
Any time VisIt sets the attributes for a plot, it only sets the attributes for plots which are active. The
SetActivePlots function must be called to set the active plots. The function takes one argument which
is a tuple of integer plot indices that start at zero. If only one plot is being selected, the plots argument
can be an integer instead of a tuple.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Subset", "mat1")
AddPlot("Mesh", "mesh1")
AddPlot("Contour", "u")
DrawPlots()
SetActivePlots((0,1,2)) # Make all plots active
SetActivePlots(0) # Make only the Subset plot active

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetActiveTimeSlider: sets the active time slider.

Synopsis:
SetActiveTimeSlider(tsName) -> integer

Arguments:
tsName A string containing the name of the time slider that should
be made active.
Returns:
SetActiveTimeSlider returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
Sets the active time slider, which is the time slider that is used to change time states.

Example:
% visit -cli
path = "/usr/gapps/visit/data/"
dbs = (path + "dbA00.pdb", path + "dbB00.pdb", path + "dbC00.pdb")
for db in dbs:
OpenDatabase(db)
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "material(mesh)")
DrawPlots()
CreateDatabaseCorrelation("common", dbs, 1)
tsNames = GetWindowInformation().timeSliders
for ts in tsNames:
SetActiveTimeSlider(ts)
for state in list(range(TimeSliderGetNStates())) + [0]:
SetTimeSliderState(state)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetActiveWindow: sets the active visualization window.

Synopsis:
SetActiveWindow(windowIndex) -> integer

Arguments:
windowIndex An integer window index starting at 1.

Returns:
The SetActiveWindow function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
Most of the functions in the VisIt Python Interface operate on the contents of the active window. If
there is more than one window, it is very important to be able to set the active window. To set the
active window, use the SetActiveWindow function. The SetActiveWindow function takes a single inte-
ger argument which is the index of the new active window. The new window index must be an integer
greater than zero and less than or equal to the number of open windows.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetWindowLayout(2)
SetActiveWindow(2)
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Mesh", "mesh1")
DrawPlots()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetAnimationTimeout: sets the speed at which animations play.

Synopsis:
SetAnimationTimeout(milliseconds) -> integer

Returns:
The SetAnimationTimeout function returns 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The SetAnimationTimeout function sets the animation timeout which is a value that governs how fast
animations play. The timeout is specified in milliseconds and has a default value of 1 millisecond. Larger
timeout values decrease the speed at which animations play.

Example:
%visit -cli
# Play a new frame every 5 seconds.
SetAnimationTimeout(5000)
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
DrawPlots()
# Click the play button in the toolbar

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetAnnotationAttributes: sets the annotation attributes for the active window.

Synopsis:
SetAnnotationAttributes(atts) -> integer
SetDefaultAnnotationAttributes(atts) -> integer

Arguments:
atts An AnnotationAttributes object containing the annotation
settings.
Returns:
Both functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The annotation settings control what bits of text are drawn in the visualization window. Among the
annotations are the plot legends, database information, user information, plot axes, triad, and the
background style and colors. Setting the annotation attributes is important for producing quality visu-
alizations. The annotation settings are stored in AnnotationAttributes objects. To set the annotation
attributes, first create an AnnotationAttributes object using the AnnotationAttributes function and
then pass the object to the SetAnnotationAttributes function. To set the default annotation attributes,
also pass the object to the SetDefaultAnnotationAttributes function.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
DrawPlots()
a = AnnotationAttributes()
a.gradientBackgroundStyle = a.GRADIENTSTYLE_RADIAL
a.gradientColor1 = (0,255,255)
a.gradientColor2 = (0,0,0)
a.backgroundMode = a.BACKGROUNDMODE_GRADIENT
SetAnnotationAttributes(a)

215
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetCenterOfRotation: sets the center of rotation for plots in a 3D vis window.

Synopsis:
SetCenterOfRotation(x,y,z) -> integer

Arguments:
x The x component of the center of rotation.
y The y component of the center of rotation.
z The z component of the center of rotation.
Returns:
The SetCenterOfRotation function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetCenterOfRotation function sets the center of rotation for plots in a 3D visualization window.
The center of rotation, is the point about which plots are rotated when you interactively spin the plots
using the mouse. It is useful to set the center of rotation if you’ve zoomed in on any 3D plots so in the
event that you rotate the plots, the point of interest remains fixed on the screen.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
AddPlot("Mesh", "mesh1")
DrawPlots()
v = GetView3D()
v.viewNormal = (-0.409139, 0.631025, 0.6591)
v.viewUp = (0.320232, 0.775678, -0.543851)
v.imageZoom = 4.8006
SetCenterOfRotation(-4.755280, 6.545080, 5.877850)
# Rotate the plots interactively.

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SetColorTexturingEnabled: sets whether nodal values will be drawn using hardware texturing in-
stead of

Synopsis:
SetColorTexturingEnabled(enabled) -> integer

Arguments:
enabled A integer value. Non−zero values enable color texturing
and zero disables it.
Returns:
The SetColorTexturingEnabled function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
Node−centered variables are drawn on plots such as the Pseudocolor plot such that the nodal value
looks interpolated throughout the zone. This can be done by interpolating colors, which can produce
some colors that do not appear in a color table. Alternatively, the nodal values can be mapped to a
texture coordinate in a 1D texture and those values can be interpolated, with colors being selected after
interpolating the texture coordinate. This method always uses colors that are defined in the color table.

Example:
SetColorTexturingEnabled(1)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetCreateMeshQualityExpressions: sets global attribute boolean to automatically create Mesh

Quality

Synopsis:
SetCreateMeshQualityExpressions(val) -> integer

Arguments:
val Either a zero (false) or non−zero (true) integer value to in-
dicate ifMesh Quality expressions should be automatically
created when a database is opened.
Returns:
The SetCreateMeshQualityExpressions function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetCreateMeshQualityExpressions function sets a boolean in the global attributes indicating whether
or not Mesh Quality expressions should be automatically created. The default behavior is for the expres-
sions to be created, which may slow down VisIt’s performance if there is an extraordinary large number
of meshes. Turning this feature off tells VisIt to skip automatic creation of the Mesh Quality expressions.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetCreateMeshQualityExpressions(1) # turn this feature on
SetCreateMeshQualityExpressions(0) # turn this feature off

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SetCreateTimeDerivativeExpressions: sets global attribute boolean to automatically create Time

Derivative

Synopsis:
SetCreateTimeDerivativeExpressions(val) -> integer

Arguments:
val Either a zero (false) or non−zero (true) integer value to
indicate ifTime Derivative expressions should be automat-
ically created when a database is opened.
Returns:
The SetCreateTimeDerivativeExpressions function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetCreateTimeDerivativeExpressions function sets a boolean in the global attributes indicating
whether or not Time Derivative expressions should be automatically created. The default behavior is
for the expressions to be created, which may slow down VisIt’s performance if there is an extraordinary
large number of variables. Turning this feature off tells VisIt to skip automatic creation of the Time
Derivative expressions.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetCreateTimeDerivativeExpressions(1) # turn this feature on
SetCreateTimeDerivativeExpressions(0) # turn this feature off

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetCreateVectorMagnitudeExpressions: sets global attribute boolean to automatically create Vec-

tor Magnitude

Synopsis:
SetCreateVectorMagnitudeExpressions(val) -> integer

Arguments:
val Either a zero (false) or non−zero (true) integer value to in-
dicate ifVector magnitude expressions should be automati-
cally created when a database is opened.
Returns:
The SetCreateVectorMagnitudeExpressions function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetCreateVectorMagnitudeExpressions function sets a boolean in the global attributes indicating
whether or not vector magnitude expressions should be automatically created. The default behavior is
for the expressions to be created, which may slow down VisIt’s performance if there is an extraordinary
large number of vector variables. Turning this feature off tells VisIt to skip automatic creation of the
vecotr magnitude expressions. expressions.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetCreateVectorMagnitudeExpressions(1) # turn this feature on
SetCreateVectorMagnitudeExpressions(0) # turn this feature off

220
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetDatabaseCorrelationOptions: sets the global options for database correlations.

Synopsis:
SetDatabaseCorrelationOptions(method, whenToCreate) -> integer

Arguments:
method An integer that tells VisIt what default method to use when
automaticallycreating a database correlation. The value
must be in the range [0,3].
whenToCreate An integer that tells VisIt when to automatically create
databasecorrelations.
Returns:
SetDatabaseCorrelationOptions returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
VisIt provides functions to explicitly create and alter database correlations but there are also a number
of occasions where VisIt can automatically create a database correlation. The SetDatabaseCorrela-
tionOptions function allows you to tell VisIt the default correlation method to use when automatically
creating a new database correlation and it also allows you to tell VisIt when database correlations can
be automatically created.

method Description
0 IndexForIndexCorrelation
1 StretchedIndexCorrelation
2 TimeCorrelation
3 CycleCorrelation

whenToCreate Description
0 Always create database correlation
1 Never create database correlation
2 Create database correlation only if the new time−varying
database hasthe same length as another time−varying
database already being used in aplot.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/dbA00.pdb")
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "material(mesh)")
DrawPlots()
# Always create a stretched index correlation.
SetDatabaseCorrelationOptions(1, 0)
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/dbB00.pdb")
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "material(mesh)")
# The AddPlot caused a database correlation to be created.
DrawPlots()
wi = GetWindowInformation()
print "Active time slider: " % wi.timeSliders[wi.activeTimeSlider]
# This will set time for both databases since the database correlation is
the active time slider.
SetTimeSliderState(5)

221
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetDefaultAnnotationAttributes: sets the annotation attributes for the active window.

Synopsis:
SetAnnotationAttributes(atts) -> integer
SetDefaultAnnotationAttributes(atts) -> integer

Arguments:
atts An AnnotationAttributes object containing the annotation
settings.
Returns:
Both functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The annotation settings control what bits of text are drawn in the visualization window. Among the
annotations are the plot legends, database information, user information, plot axes, triad, and the
background style and colors. Setting the annotation attributes is important for producing quality visu-
alizations. The annotation settings are stored in AnnotationAttributes objects. To set the annotation
attributes, first create an AnnotationAttributes object using the AnnotationAttributes function and
then pass the object to the SetAnnotationAttributes function. To set the default annotation attributes,
also pass the object to the SetDefaultAnnotationAttributes function.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
DrawPlots()
a = AnnotationAttributes()
a.gradientBackgroundStyle = a.GRADIENTSTYLE_RADIAL
a.gradientColor1 = (0,255,255)
a.gradientColor2 = (0,0,0)
a.backgroundMode = a.BACKGROUNDMODE_GRADIENT
SetAnnotationAttributes(a)

222
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetDefaultFileOpenOptions: sets the current default options used when opening files for a

Synopsis:
GetDefaultFileOpenOptions(pluginName, options) -> integer

Arguments:
pluginName The name of a plugin.
options A dictionary containing the new default options for that
plugin.
Returns:
The SetDefaultFileOpenOptions function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
SetDefaultFileOpenOptions sets the current options used to open new files when a specific plugin is
triggered.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenMDServer()
opts = GetDefaultFileOpenOptions("VASP")
opts["Allow multiple timesteps"] = 1
SetDefaultFileOpenOptions("VASP", opts)
OpenDatabase("CHGCAR")

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetDefaultInteractorAttributes: sets VisIt’s interactor attributes.

Synopsis:
SetInteractorAttributes(atts) -> integer
SetDefaultInteractorAttributes(atts) -> integer

Arguments:
atts An InteractorAttributes object that contains the new inter-
actor attributesthat you want to use.
Returns:
SetInteractorAttributes returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetInteractorAttributes function is used to set certain interactor properties. Interactors, can be
thought of as how mouse clicks and movements are translated into actions in the vis window. To set the
interactor attributes, first get the interactor attributes using the GetInteractorAttributes function. Once
you’ve set the object’s properties, call the SetInteractorAttributes function to make VisIt use the new
interactor attributes. The SetDefaultInteractorAttributes function sets the default interactor attributes,
which are used for new visualization windows. The default interactor attributes can also be saved to
the VisIt configuration file to ensure that future VisIt sessions have the right default interactor attributes.

Example:
% visit -cli
ia = GetInteractorAttributes()
print ia
ia.showGuidelines = 0
SetInteractorAttributes(ia)

224
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetDefaultMaterialAttributes: sets VisIts material interface reconstruction options.

Synopsis:
SetMaterialAttributes(atts) -> integer
SetDefaultMaterialAttributes(atts) -> integer

Arguments:
atts A MaterialAttributes object containing the new settings.

Returns:
Both functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetMaterialAttributes function takes a MaterialAttributes object and makes VisIt use the material
settings that it contains. You use the SetMaterialAttributes function when you want to change how
VisIt performs material interface reconstruction. The SetDefaultMaterialAttributes function sets the
default material attributes, which are saved to the config file and are also used by new visualization
windows.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/allinone00.pdb")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "mesh/mixvar")
p = PseudocolorAttributes()
p.min,p.minFlag = 4.0, 1
p.max,p.maxFlag = 13.0, 1
SetPlotOptions(p)
DrawPlots()
# Tell VisIt to always do material interface reconstruction.
m = GetMaterialAttributes()
m.forceMIR = 1
SetMaterialAttributes(m)
ClearWindow()
# Redraw the plot forcing VisIt to use the mixed variable information.
DrawPlots()

225
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetDefaultMeshManagementAttributes: returns a MeshManagementAttributes object containing

VisIt’s current mesh

Synopsis:
GetMeshmanagementAttributes() -> MeshmanagementAttributes object

Returns:
Returns a MeshmanagementAttributes object.

Description:
The GetMeshmanagementAttributes function returns a MeshmanagementAttributes object that con-
tains VisIt’s current mesh discretization settings. You can set properties on the MeshManagementAt-
tributes object and then pass it to SetMeshManagementAttributes to make VisIt use the new material
attributes that you’ve specified:

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/csg.silo")
AddPlot("Mesh", "csgmesh")
DrawPlots()
# Tell VisIt to always do material interface reconstruction.
mma = GetMeshManagementAttributes()
mma.discretizationTolernace = (0.01, 0.025)
SetMeshManagementAttributes(mma)
ClearWindow()
# Redraw the plot forcing VisIt to use the mixed variable information.
DrawPlots()

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SetDefaultOperatorOptions: sets the attributes for an operator.

Synopsis:
SetOperatorOptions(atts) -> integer
SetOperatorOptions(atts, operatorIndex) -> integer
SetOperatorOptions(atts, operatorIndex, all) -> integer
SetDefaultOperatorOptions(atts) -> integer

Arguments:
atts Any type of operator attributes object.
operatorIndex An optional zero−based integer that serves as an index into
the activeplot’s operator list. Use this argument if you want
to set the operatorattributes for a plot that has multiple
instances of the same type ofoperator. For example, if the
active plot had a Transform operatorfollowed by a Slice
operator followed by another Transform operator andyou
wanted to adjust the attributes of the second Transform
operator,you would pass an operatorIndex value of 2.
all An optional integer argument that tells the function to ap-
ply the operatorattributes to all plots containing the spec-
ified operator if the value ofthe argument is non−zero.
Returns:
All functions return an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
Each operator in VisIt has a group of attributes that controls the operator. To set the attributes for an
operator, first create an operator attributes object. This is done by calling a function which is the name
of the operator plus the word ”Attributes”. For example, a Slice operator’s operator attributes object
is created and returned by the SliceAttributes function. Assign the new operator attributes object into
a variable and set its fields. After setting the desired fields in the operator attributes object, pass the
object to the SetOperatorOptions function. The SetOperatorOptions function determines the type of
operator to which the operator attributes object applies and sets the attributes for that operator type.
To set the default plot attributes, use the SetDefaultOperatorOptions function. Setting the default
attributes ensures that all future instances of a certain operator are initialized with the new default
values. Note that there is no SetOperatorOptions(atts, all) variant of this call. To set operator options
for all plots that have a an instance of the associated operator, you must first make all plots active with
SetActivePlots() and then use the SetOperatorOptions(atts) variant.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
AddPlot("Mesh", "mesh1")
AddOperator("Slice", 1) # Add the operator to both plots
a = SliceAttributes()
a.normal, a.upAxis = (0,0,1), (0,1,0)
# Only set the attributes for the active plot.
SetOperatorOptions(a)
DrawPlots()

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SetDefaultPickAttributes: changes the pick settings that VisIt uses when picking on plots.

Synopsis:
SetPickAttributes(atts) -> integer
SetDefaultPickAttributes(atts) -> integer
ResetPickAttributes() -> integer

Arguments:
atts A PickAttributes object containing the new pick settings.

Returns:
All functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetPickAttributes function changes the pick attributes that are used when VisIt picks on plots.
The pick attributes allow you to format your pick output in various ways and also allows you to select
auxiliary pick variables.

Example:
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
ZonePick((-5,5))
p = GetPickAttributes()
p.showTimeStep = 0
p.showMeshName = 0
p.showZoneId = 0
SetPickAttributes(p)
ZonePick((0,5))

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SetDefaultPlotOptions: sets plot attributes for the active plots.

Synopsis:
SetPlotOptions(atts) -> integer
SetDefaultPlotOptions(atts) -> integer

Arguments:
atts Any type of plot attributes object.

Returns:
All functions return an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
Each plot in VisIt has a group of attributes that controls the appearance of the plot. To set the at-
tributes for a plot, first create a plot attributes object. This is done by calling a function which is the
name of the plot plus the word ”Attributes”. For example, a Pseudocolor plot’s plotattributes object
is created and returned by the PseudocolorAttributes function. Assign the new plot attributes object
into a variable and set its fields. After setting the desired fields in the plot attributes object, pass the
object to the SetPlotOptions function. The SetPlotOptions function determines the type of plot to
which the plot attributes object applies and sets the attributes for that plot type. To set the default
plot attributes, use the SetDefaultPlotOptions function. Setting the default attributes ensures that all
future instances of a certain plot are initialized with the new default values.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
p = PseudocolorAttributes()
p.colorTableName = "calewhite"
p.minFlag,p.maxFlag = 1,1
p.min,p.max = -5.0, 8.0
SetPlotOptions(p)
DrawPlots()

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SetGlobalLineoutAttributes: sets global lineout attributes that are used for all lineouts.

Synopsis:
SetGlobalLineoutAttributes(atts) -> integer

Arguments:
atts A GlobalLineoutAttributes object that contains the new
settings.
Returns:
The SetGlobalLineoutAttributes function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetGlobalLineoutAttributes function allows you to set global lineout options that are used in the
creation of all lineouts. You can, for example, specify the destination window and the number of sample
points for lineouts.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetWindowLayout(4)
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
gla = GetGlobalLineoutAttributes()
gla.createWindow = 0
gla.windowId = 4
gla.samplingOn = 1
gla.numSamples = 150
SetGlobalLineoutAttributes(gla)
Lineout((-5,-8), (-3.5, 8))

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SetInteractorAttributes: sets VisIt’s interactor attributes.

Synopsis:
SetInteractorAttributes(atts) -> integer
SetDefaultInteractorAttributes(atts) -> integer

Arguments:
atts An InteractorAttributes object that contains the new inter-
actor attributesthat you want to use.
Returns:
SetInteractorAttributes returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetInteractorAttributes function is used to set certain interactor properties. Interactors, can be
thought of as how mouse clicks and movements are translated into actions in the vis window. To set the
interactor attributes, first get the interactor attributes using the GetInteractorAttributes function. Once
you’ve set the object’s properties, call the SetInteractorAttributes function to make VisIt use the new
interactor attributes. The SetDefaultInteractorAttributes function sets the default interactor attributes,
which are used for new visualization windows. The default interactor attributes can also be saved to
the VisIt configuration file to ensure that future VisIt sessions have the right default interactor attributes.

Example:
% visit -cli
ia = GetInteractorAttributes()
print ia
ia.showGuidelines = 0
SetInteractorAttributes(ia)

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SetKeyframeAttributes: sets VisIt’s keyframing attributes.

Synopsis:
SetKeyframeAttributes(kfAtts) -> integer

Arguments:
kfAtts A KeyframeAttributes object that contains the new
keyframing attributes touse.
Returns:
SetKeyframeAttributes returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
Use the SetKeyframeAttributes function when you want to change VisIt’s keyframing settings. You
must pass a KeyframeAttributes object, which you can create using the GetKeyframeAttributes func-
tion. The KeyframeAttributes object must contain the keyframing settings that you want VisIt to use.
For example, you would use the SetKeyframeAttributes function if you wanted to turn on keyframing
mode and set the number of animation frames.

Example:
% visit -cli
k = GetKeyframeAttributes()
print k
k.enabled,k.nFrames,k.nFramesWasUserSet = 1, 100, 1
SetKeyframeAttributes(k)

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SetLight: returns a light object containing the attributes for a specified light.

Synopsis:
SetLight(index, light) -> integer

Arguments:
index A zero−based integer index into the light list. Index can
be in the range[0,7].
light A LightAttributes object containing the properties to use
for thespecified light.
Returns:
SetLight returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetLight function sets the attributes for a specific light.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "w")
p = PseudocolorAttributes()
p.colorTableName = "xray"
SetPlotOptions(p)
DrawPlots()
InvertBackgroundColor()
light = GetLight(0)
print light
light.enabledFlag = 1
light.direction = (0,-1,0)
light.color = (255,0,0,255)
SetLight(0, light)
light.color,light.direction = (0,255,0,255), (-1,0,0)
SetLight(1, light)

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SetMaterialAttributes: sets VisIts material interface reconstruction options.

Synopsis:
SetMaterialAttributes(atts) -> integer
SetDefaultMaterialAttributes(atts) -> integer

Arguments:
atts A MaterialAttributes object containing the new settings.

Returns:
Both functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetMaterialAttributes function takes a MaterialAttributes object and makes VisIt use the material
settings that it contains. You use the SetMaterialAttributes function when you want to change how
VisIt performs material interface reconstruction. The SetDefaultMaterialAttributes function sets the
default material attributes, which are saved to the config file and are also used by new visualization
windows.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/allinone00.pdb")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "mesh/mixvar")
p = PseudocolorAttributes()
p.min,p.minFlag = 4.0, 1
p.max,p.maxFlag = 13.0, 1
SetPlotOptions(p)
DrawPlots()
# Tell VisIt to always do material interface reconstruction.
m = GetMaterialAttributes()
m.forceMIR = 1
SetMaterialAttributes(m)
ClearWindow()
# Redraw the plot forcing VisIt to use the mixed variable information.
DrawPlots()

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SetMeshManagementAttributes: returns a MeshManagementAttributes object containing VisIt’s

current mesh

Synopsis:
GetMeshmanagementAttributes() -> MeshmanagementAttributes object

Returns:
Returns a MeshmanagementAttributes object.

Description:
The GetMeshmanagementAttributes function returns a MeshmanagementAttributes object that con-
tains VisIt’s current mesh discretization settings. You can set properties on the MeshManagementAt-
tributes object and then pass it to SetMeshManagementAttributes to make VisIt use the new material
attributes that you’ve specified:

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/csg.silo")
AddPlot("Mesh", "csgmesh")
DrawPlots()
# Tell VisIt to always do material interface reconstruction.
mma = GetMeshManagementAttributes()
mma.discretizationTolernace = (0.01, 0.025)
SetMeshManagementAttributes(mma)
ClearWindow()
# Redraw the plot forcing VisIt to use the mixed variable information.
DrawPlots()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetNamedSelectionAutoApply: set whether plots that create named selections should cause their
named

Synopsis:
SetNamedSelectionAutoApply(flag) -> integer

Arguments:
flag Non−zero values turn on selection auto apply mode.

Returns:
The SetNamedSelectionAutoApply function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
Named selections are often associated with plots for their data source. When those plots update, their
named selections can be updated, which in turn will update any plots that use the named selection.
When this mode is enabled, changes to a named selection’s originating plot will cause the selection to
be updated automatically.

Example:
SetNamedSelectionAutoApply(1)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetOperatorOptions: sets the attributes for an operator.

Synopsis:
SetOperatorOptions(atts) -> integer
SetOperatorOptions(atts, operatorIndex) -> integer
SetOperatorOptions(atts, operatorIndex, all) -> integer
SetDefaultOperatorOptions(atts) -> integer

Arguments:
atts Any type of operator attributes object.
operatorIndex An optional zero−based integer that serves as an index into
the activeplot’s operator list. Use this argument if you want
to set the operatorattributes for a plot that has multiple
instances of the same type ofoperator. For example, if the
active plot had a Transform operatorfollowed by a Slice
operator followed by another Transform operator andyou
wanted to adjust the attributes of the second Transform
operator,you would pass an operatorIndex value of 2.
all An optional integer argument that tells the function to ap-
ply the operatorattributes to all plots containing the spec-
ified operator if the value ofthe argument is non−zero.
Returns:
All functions return an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
Each operator in VisIt has a group of attributes that controls the operator. To set the attributes for an
operator, first create an operator attributes object. This is done by calling a function which is the name
of the operator plus the word ”Attributes”. For example, a Slice operator’s operator attributes object
is created and returned by the SliceAttributes function. Assign the new operator attributes object into
a variable and set its fields. After setting the desired fields in the operator attributes object, pass the
object to the SetOperatorOptions function. The SetOperatorOptions function determines the type of
operator to which the operator attributes object applies and sets the attributes for that operator type.
To set the default plot attributes, use the SetDefaultOperatorOptions function. Setting the default
attributes ensures that all future instances of a certain operator are initialized with the new default
values. Note that there is no SetOperatorOptions(atts, all) variant of this call. To set operator options
for all plots that have a an instance of the associated operator, you must first make all plots active with
SetActivePlots() and then use the SetOperatorOptions(atts) variant.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
AddPlot("Mesh", "mesh1")
AddOperator("Slice", 1) # Add the operator to both plots
a = SliceAttributes()
a.normal, a.upAxis = (0,0,1), (0,1,0)
# Only set the attributes for the active plot.
SetOperatorOptions(a)
DrawPlots()

237
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetPickAttributes: changes the pick settings that VisIt uses when picking on plots.

Synopsis:
SetPickAttributes(atts) -> integer
SetDefaultPickAttributes(atts) -> integer
ResetPickAttributes() -> integer

Arguments:
atts A PickAttributes object containing the new pick settings.

Returns:
All functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetPickAttributes function changes the pick attributes that are used when VisIt picks on plots.
The pick attributes allow you to format your pick output in various ways and also allows you to select
auxiliary pick variables.

Example:
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
ZonePick((-5,5))
p = GetPickAttributes()
p.showTimeStep = 0
p.showMeshName = 0
p.showZoneId = 0
SetPickAttributes(p)
ZonePick((0,5))

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetPipelineCachingMode: sets the pipeline caching mode.

Synopsis:
SetPipelineCachingMode(mode) -> integer

Returns:
The SetPipelineCachingMode function returns 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
The SetPipelineCachingMode function turns pipeline caching on or off in the viewer. When pipeline
caching is enabled, animation timesteps are cached for fast playback. This can be a disadvantage for
large databases or for plots with many timesteps because it increases memory consumption. In those
cases, it is often useful to disable pipeline caching so the viewer does not use as much memory. When
the viewer does not cache pipelines, each plot for a timestep must be recalculated each time the timestep
is visited.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetPipelineCachingMode(0) # Disable caching
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
AddPlot("Mesh", "quadmesh")
DrawPlots()
for state in range(TimeSliderGetNStates()):
SetTimeSliderState(state)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetPlotDatabaseState: sets a database keyframe for a specific plot.

Synopsis:
SetPlotDatabaseState(index, frame, state)

Arguments:
index A zero−based integer index that is the plot’s location in
the plot list.
frame A zero−baed integer index representing the animation
frame for which we’regoing to add a database keyframe.
state A zero−based integer index representating the database
time state thatwe’re going to use at the specified anima-
tion frame.
Returns:
The SetPlotDatabaseState function does not return a value.

Description:
The SetPlotDatabaseState function is used when VisIt is in keyframing mode to add a database keyframe
for a specific plot. VisIt uses database keyframes to determine which database state is to be used for
a given animation frame. Database keyframes can be used to stop ”database time” while ”animation
time” continues forward and they can also be used to make ”database time” go in reverse, etc.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit")
k = GetKeyframeAttributes()
nFrames = 20
k.enabled, k.nFrames, k.nFramesWasUserSet = 1, nFrames, 1
SetKeyframeAttributes(k)
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
AddPlot("Mesh", "quadmesh")
DrawPlots()
# Make "database time" for the Pseudocolor plot go in reverse
SetPlotDatabaseState(0, 0, 70)
SetPlotDatabaseState(0, nFrames-1, 0)
# Animate through the animation frames since the "Keyframe animation"
time slider is active.
for state in range(TimeSliderGetNStates()):
SetTimeSliderState(state)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetPlotDescription: provide text that will be shown in the plot list instead of a plot’s usual

Synopsis:
SetPlotDescription(index, description) -> integer

Arguments:
index The index of the plot within the plot list.
description A new description that will be shown in the plot list so the
plot canbe identified readily.
Returns:
The SetPlotDescription function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
Managing many related plots can be a complex task. This function lets users provide meaningful de-
scriptions for each plot so they can more easily be identified in the plot list.

Example:
SetPlotDescription(0, ’Mesh for reflected pressure plot’)

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SetPlotFollowsTime: set whether the active plots follow their time slider.

Synopsis:
SetPlotFollowsTime(val) -> integer

Arguments:
val An optional flag indicating whether the plot should follow
the time slider.The default behavior is for the plot to follow
the time slider.
Returns:
The function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
SetPlotFollowsTime can let you set whether the active plot follows the time slider.

Example:
SetPlotFollowsTime()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetPlotFrameRange: sets the range of animation frames over which a plot is valid.

Synopsis:
SetPlotFrameRange(index, start, end)

Arguments:
index A zero−based integer representing an index into the plot
list.
start A zero−based integer representing the animation frame
where the plot firstappears in the visualization.
end A zero−based integer representing the animation frame
where the plotdisappears from the visualization.
Returns:
The SetPlotFrameRange function does not return a value.

Description:
The SetPlotFrameRange function sets the start and end frames for a plot when VisIt is in keyframing
mode. Outside of this frame range, the plot does not appear in the visualization. By default, plots are
valid over the entire range of animation frames when they are first created. Frame ranges allow you to
construct complex animations where plots appear and disappear dynamically.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit")
k = GetKeyframeAttributes()
nFrames = 20
k.enabled, k.nFrames, k.nFramesWasUserSet = 1, nFrames, 1
SetKeyframeAttributes(k)
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
AddPlot("Mesh", "quadmesh")
DrawPlots()
# Make the Pseudocolor plot take up the first half of the animation frames
before it disappears.
SetPlotFrameRange(0, 0, nFrames/2-1)
# Make the Mesh plot take up the second half of the animation frames.
SetPlotFrameRange(1, nFrames/2, nFrames-1)
for state in range(TimeSliderGetNStates())
SetTimeSliderState(state)
SaveWindow()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetPlotOptions: sets plot attributes for the active plots.

Synopsis:
SetPlotOptions(atts) -> integer
SetDefaultPlotOptions(atts) -> integer

Arguments:
atts Any type of plot attributes object.

Returns:
All functions return an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
Each plot in VisIt has a group of attributes that controls the appearance of the plot. To set the at-
tributes for a plot, first create a plot attributes object. This is done by calling a function which is the
name of the plot plus the word ”Attributes”. For example, a Pseudocolor plot’s plotattributes object
is created and returned by the PseudocolorAttributes function. Assign the new plot attributes object
into a variable and set its fields. After setting the desired fields in the plot attributes object, pass the
object to the SetPlotOptions function. The SetPlotOptions function determines the type of plot to
which the plot attributes object applies and sets the attributes for that plot type. To set the default
plot attributes, use the SetDefaultPlotOptions function. Setting the default attributes ensures that all
future instances of a certain plot are initialized with the new default values.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
p = PseudocolorAttributes()
p.colorTableName = "calewhite"
p.minFlag,p.maxFlag = 1,1
p.min,p.max = -5.0, 8.0
SetPlotOptions(p)
DrawPlots()

244
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetPlotOrderToFirst: move the i’th plot in the plot list to the start of the plot list.

Synopsis:
SetPlotOrderToFirst(index) -> integer

Arguments:
index The index of the plot within the plot list.

Returns:
The SetPlotOrderToFirst function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
Move the i’th plot in the plot list to the start of the plot list.

Example:
AddPlot(’Mesh’, ’mesh’)
AddPlot(’Pseudocolor’, ’pressure’)
# Make the Pseudocolor plot first in the plot list
SetPlotOrderToFirst(1)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetPlotOrderToLast: move the i’th plot in the plot list to the end of the plot list.

Synopsis:
SetPlotOrderToLast(index) -> integer

Arguments:
index The index of the plot within the plot list.

Returns:
The SetPlotOrderToLast function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
Move the i’th plot in the plot list to the end of the plot list.

Example:
AddPlot(’Mesh’, ’mesh’)
AddPlot(’Pseudocolor’, ’pressure’)
# Make the Mesh plot last in the plot list
SetPlotOrderToLast(0)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetPlotSILRestriction: set the SIL restriction for the active plots.

Synopsis:
SetPlotSILRestriction(silr) -> integer
SetPlotSILRestriction(silr, all) -> integer

Arguments:
silr A SIL restriction object.
all An optional argument that tells the function if the SIL
restriction shouldbe applied to all plots in the plot list.
Returns:
The SetPlotSILRestriction function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
VisIt allows the user to select subsets of databases. The description of the subset is called a Subset
Inclusion Lattice Restriction, or SIL restriction. The SIL restriction allows databases to be subselected
in several different ways. The VisIt Python Interface provides the SetPlotSILRestriction function to
allow Python scripts to turn off portions of the plotted database. The SetPlotSILRestriction function
accepts a SILRestriction object that contains the SIL restriction for the active plots. The optional all
argument is an integer that tells the function to apply the SIL restriction to all plots when the value of
the argument is non−zero. If the all argument is not supplied, then the SIL restriction is only applied
to the active plots.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/multi_curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Subset", "mat1")
silr = SILRestriction()
silr.TurnOffSet(silr.SetsInCategory(’mat1’)[1])
SetPlotSILRestriction(silr)
DrawPlots()

247
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetPreferredFileFormats: sets the list of preferred file format IDs.

Synopsis:
SetPreferredFileFormats(pluginIDs) -> integer

Arguments:
pluginIDs A tuple of plugin IDs to be attempted first when opening
files.
Returns:
The SetPreferredFileFormats method does not return a value.

Description:
The SetPreferredFileFormats method is a way to set the list of file format reader plugins which are tried
before any others. These IDs must be full IDs, not just names, and are tried in order.

Example:
SetPreferredFileFormats(’Silo_1.0’)
SetPreferredFileFormats((’Silo_1.0’,’PDB_1.0’))

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetPrinterAttributes: sets the printer attributes.

Synopsis:
SetPrinterAttributes(atts)

Arguments:
atts A PrinterAttributes object.

Returns:
The SetPrinterAttributes function does not return a value.

Description:
The SetPrinterAttributes function sets the printer attributes. VisIt uses the printer attributes to deter-
mine how the active visualization window should be printed. The function accepts a single argument
which is a PrinterAttributes object containing the printer attributes to use for future printing. VisIt
allows images to be printed to a network printer or to a PostScript file that can be printed later by
other applications.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Surface", "v")
DrawPlots()
# Make it print to a file.
p = PrinterAttributes()
p.outputToFile = 1
p.outputToFileName = "printfile"
SetPrinterAttributes(p)
PrintWindow()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetQueryFloatFormat: sets the floating point format string used to generate query output.

Synopsis:
SetQueryFloatFormat(format_string)

Arguments:
format_string A string object that provides a printf style floating point
format.
Returns:
The SetQueryFloatFormat does not return a value.

Description:
The SetQueryFloatFormat method sets a printf style format string that isused by VisIt’s querys to
produce textual output.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/rect2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
# Set floating point format string.
SetQueryFloatFormat("%.1f")
Query("MinMax")
# Set format back to default "%g".
SetQueryFloatFormat("%g")
Query("MinMax")

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetQueryOverTimeAttributes: changes the settings that VisIt uses for queries over time.

Synopsis:
SetQueryOverTimeAttributes(atts) -> integer
SetDefaultQueryOverTimeAttributes(atts) -> integer
ResetQueryOverTimeAttributes() -> integer

Arguments:
atts A QueryOverTimeAttributes object containing the new set-
tings to use forqueries over time.
Returns:
All functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetQueryOverTimeAttributes function changes the settings that VisIt uses for query over time.
The SetDefaultQueryOverTimeAttributes function changes the settings that new visualization windows
inherit for doing query over time. Finally, the ResetQueryOverTimeAttributes function forces VisIt to
use the stored default query over time attributes instead of the previous settings.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetWindowLayout(4)
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/allinone00.pdb")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "mesh/mixvar")
DrawPlots()
qot = GetQueryOverTimeAttributes()
# Make queries over time go to window 4.
qot.createWindow,q.windowId = 0, 4
SetQueryOverTimeAttributes(qot)
QueryOverTime("Min")
# Make queries over time only use half of the number of time states.
qot.endTimeFlag,qot.endTime = 1, GetDatabaseNStates() / 2
SetQueryOverTimeAttributes(qot)
QueryOverTime("Min")
ResetView()

251
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetRenderingAttributes: sets global rendering attributes that control the look and feel of the

Synopsis:
SetRenderingAttributes(atts) -> integer

Arguments:
atts A RenderingAttributes object that contains the rendering
attributes thatwe want to make VisIt use.
Returns:
The SetRenderingAttributes function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetRenderingAttributes makes VisIt use the rendering attributes stored in the specified Ren-
deringAttributes object. The RenderingAttributes object stores rendering attributes such as: scalable
rendering options, shadows, specular highlights, display lists, etc.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Surface", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
v = GetView2D()
v.viewNormal = (-0.215934, -0.454611, 0.864119)
v.viewUp = (0.973938, -0.163188, 0.157523)
v.imageZoom = 1.64765
SetView3D(v)
light = GetLight(0)
light.direction = (0,1,-1)
SetLight(0, light)
r = GetRenderingAttributes()
print r
r.scalableActivationMode = r.Always
r.doShadowing = 1
SetRenderingAttributes(r)

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SetSaveWindowAttributes: set the attributes used to save windows.

Synopsis:
SetSaveWindowAttributes(atts)

Arguments:
atts A SaveWindowAttributes object.

Returns:
The SetSaveWindowAttributes object does not return a value.

Description:
The SetSaveWindowAttributes function sets the format and filename that are used to save windows
when the SaveWindow function is called. The contents of the active visualization window can be saved
as TIFF, JPEG, RGB, PPM, PNG images or they can be saved as curve, Alias Wavefront Obj, or
VTK geometry files. To set the SaveWindowAttributes, create a SaveWindowAttributes object using
the SaveWindowAttributes function and assign it into a variable. Set the fields in the object and pass
it to the SetSaveWindowAttributes function.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv3d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
# Set the save window attributes
s = SaveWindowAttributes()
s.fileName = "test"
s.format = s.JPEG
s.progressive = 1
s.fileName = "test"
SetSaveWindowAttributes(s)
# Save the window
SaveWindow()

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SetTimeSliderState: sets the time state for the active time slider.

Synopsis:
SetTimeSliderState(state) -> integer

Arguments:
state A zero−based integer containing the time state that we
want to make active.
Returns:
The SetTimeSliderState function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetTimeSliderState function sets the time state for the active time slider. This is the function to
use if you want to animate through time or change the current keyframe frame.

Example:
% visit -cli
path = "/usr/gapps/visit/data/"
dbs = (path + "dbA00.pdb", path + "dbB00.pdb", path + "dbC00.pdb")
for db in dbs:
OpenDatabase(db)
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "material(mesh)")
DrawPlots()
CreateDatabaseCorrelation("common", dbs, 1)
tsNames = GetWindowInformation().timeSliders
for ts in tsNames:
SetActiveTimeSlider(ts)
for state in list(range(TimeSliderGetNStates())) + [0]:
SetTimeSliderState(state)

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SetTreatAllDBsAsTimeVarying: sets global attribute boolean to treat all databases as time varying.

Synopsis:
SetTreatAllDBsAsTimeVarying(val) -> integer

Arguments:
val Either a zero (false) or non−zero (true) integer value to
indicate ifall databases should be treated as time varying
(true) or not (false).
Returns:
The SetTreatAllDBsAsTimeVarying function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetTreatAllDBsAsTimeVarying function sets a boolean in the global attributes indicating if all
databases should be treated as time varying or not. Ordinarily, VisIt tries to minimize file I/O and
database interaction by avoiding re−reading metadata that is ’time−invariant’ and, therefore, assumed
to be the same in a database from one time step to the next. However, sometimes, portions of the
metadata, such as the list of variable names and/or number of domains, does in fact vary. In this case,
VisIt can actually fail to acknowledge the existence of new variables in the file. Turning this feature on
forces VisIt to re−read metadata each time the time−state is changed.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetTreatAllDBsAsTimeVarying(1) # turn this feature on
SetTreatAllDBsAsTimeVarying(0) # turn this feature off

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SetTryHarderCyclesTimes: sets global attribute boolean to force VisIt to read all cycles/times.

Synopsis:
SetTryHarderCyclesTimes(val) -> integer

Arguments:
val Either a zero (false) or non−zero (true) integer value to in-
dicate ifVisIt read cycle/time information for all timestates
when opening a database.
Returns:
The SetTryHarderCyclesTimes function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
For certain classes of databases, obtaining cycle/time information for all time states in the database is
an expensive operation, requiring each file to be opened and queried. The cost of the operation gets
worse the more time states there are in the database. Ordinarily, VisIt does not bother to query each
time state for precise cycle/time information. In fact, often VisIt can guess this information from the
filename(s) comprising the databse. However, turning this feature on will force VisIt to obtain accurate
cycle/time information for all time states by opening and querying all file(s) in the database.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetTryHarderCyclesTimes(1) # Turn this feature on
SetTryHarderCyclesTimes(0) # Turn this feature off

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SetUltraScript: set the path to the script to be used by the LoadUltra command.

Synopsis:
SetUltraScript(filename) -> integer

Arguments:
filename The name of the file to be used as the ultra script when
LoadUltra is called.
Returns:
The SetUltraScript function returns 1.

Description:
Set the path to the script to be used by the LoadUltra command. Normal users do not need to use this
function.

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SetView2D: sets the view for the active visualization window.

Synopsis:
SetViewCurve(ViewCurveAttributes) -> integer
SetView2D(View2DAttributes) -> integer
SetView3D(View3DAttributes) -> integer
SetViewAxisArray(ViewAxisArrayAttributes) -> integer

Arguments:
view A ViewAttributes object containing the view.

Returns:
All functions returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The view is a crucial part of a visualization since it determines which parts of the database are exam-
ined. The VisIt Python Interface provides four functions for setting the view: SetView2D, SetView3D,
SetViewCurve, and SetViewAxisArray. If the visualization window contains 2D plots, use the SetView2D
function. Use the SetView3D function when the visualization window contains 3D plots. Similarly for
windows containing curve or axis−array based plots. To set the view, first create the appropriate
ViewAttributes object and set the object’s fields to set a new view. After setting the fields, pass the
object to the matching SetView function. A common use of the SetView functions is to animate the
view to produce simple animations where the camera appears to fly around the plots in the visualization
window. A View3D object also supports the RotateAxis(int axis, double deg) method which mimics the
’rotx’, ’roty’ and ’rotz’ view commands in the GUI.

Examples:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "v")
DrawPlots()
va = GetView3D()
va.RotateAxis(1,30.0) # rotate around the y axis 30 degrees.
SetView3D(va)
v0 = GetView3D()
v1 = GetView3D()
v1.camera,v1.viewUp = (1,1,1),(-1,1,-1)
v1.parallelScale = 10.
for i in range(0,20):
t = float(i) / 19.
v2 = (1. - t) * v0 + t * v1
SetView3D(v2) # Animate the view.

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SetView3D: sets the view for the active visualization window.

Synopsis:
SetViewCurve(ViewCurveAttributes) -> integer
SetView2D(View2DAttributes) -> integer
SetView3D(View3DAttributes) -> integer
SetViewAxisArray(ViewAxisArrayAttributes) -> integer

Arguments:
view A ViewAttributes object containing the view.

Returns:
All functions returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The view is a crucial part of a visualization since it determines which parts of the database are exam-
ined. The VisIt Python Interface provides four functions for setting the view: SetView2D, SetView3D,
SetViewCurve, and SetViewAxisArray. If the visualization window contains 2D plots, use the SetView2D
function. Use the SetView3D function when the visualization window contains 3D plots. Similarly for
windows containing curve or axis−array based plots. To set the view, first create the appropriate
ViewAttributes object and set the object’s fields to set a new view. After setting the fields, pass the
object to the matching SetView function. A common use of the SetView functions is to animate the
view to produce simple animations where the camera appears to fly around the plots in the visualization
window. A View3D object also supports the RotateAxis(int axis, double deg) method which mimics the
’rotx’, ’roty’ and ’rotz’ view commands in the GUI.

Examples:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "v")
DrawPlots()
va = GetView3D()
va.RotateAxis(1,30.0) # rotate around the y axis 30 degrees.
SetView3D(va)
v0 = GetView3D()
v1 = GetView3D()
v1.camera,v1.viewUp = (1,1,1),(-1,1,-1)
v1.parallelScale = 10.
for i in range(0,20):
t = float(i) / 19.
v2 = (1. - t) * v0 + t * v1
SetView3D(v2) # Animate the view.

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SetViewAxisArray: sets the view for the active visualization window.

Synopsis:
SetViewCurve(ViewCurveAttributes) -> integer
SetView2D(View2DAttributes) -> integer
SetView3D(View3DAttributes) -> integer
SetViewAxisArray(ViewAxisArrayAttributes) -> integer

Arguments:
view A ViewAttributes object containing the view.

Returns:
All functions returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The view is a crucial part of a visualization since it determines which parts of the database are exam-
ined. The VisIt Python Interface provides four functions for setting the view: SetView2D, SetView3D,
SetViewCurve, and SetViewAxisArray. If the visualization window contains 2D plots, use the SetView2D
function. Use the SetView3D function when the visualization window contains 3D plots. Similarly for
windows containing curve or axis−array based plots. To set the view, first create the appropriate
ViewAttributes object and set the object’s fields to set a new view. After setting the fields, pass the
object to the matching SetView function. A common use of the SetView functions is to animate the
view to produce simple animations where the camera appears to fly around the plots in the visualization
window. A View3D object also supports the RotateAxis(int axis, double deg) method which mimics the
’rotx’, ’roty’ and ’rotz’ view commands in the GUI.

Examples:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "v")
DrawPlots()
va = GetView3D()
va.RotateAxis(1,30.0) # rotate around the y axis 30 degrees.
SetView3D(va)
v0 = GetView3D()
v1 = GetView3D()
v1.camera,v1.viewUp = (1,1,1),(-1,1,-1)
v1.parallelScale = 10.
for i in range(0,20):
t = float(i) / 19.
v2 = (1. - t) * v0 + t * v1
SetView3D(v2) # Animate the view.

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SetViewCurve: sets the view for the active visualization window.

Synopsis:
SetViewCurve(ViewCurveAttributes) -> integer
SetView2D(View2DAttributes) -> integer
SetView3D(View3DAttributes) -> integer
SetViewAxisArray(ViewAxisArrayAttributes) -> integer

Arguments:
view A ViewAttributes object containing the view.

Returns:
All functions returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The view is a crucial part of a visualization since it determines which parts of the database are exam-
ined. The VisIt Python Interface provides four functions for setting the view: SetView2D, SetView3D,
SetViewCurve, and SetViewAxisArray. If the visualization window contains 2D plots, use the SetView2D
function. Use the SetView3D function when the visualization window contains 3D plots. Similarly for
windows containing curve or axis−array based plots. To set the view, first create the appropriate
ViewAttributes object and set the object’s fields to set a new view. After setting the fields, pass the
object to the matching SetView function. A common use of the SetView functions is to animate the
view to produce simple animations where the camera appears to fly around the plots in the visualization
window. A View3D object also supports the RotateAxis(int axis, double deg) method which mimics the
’rotx’, ’roty’ and ’rotz’ view commands in the GUI.

Examples:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "v")
DrawPlots()
va = GetView3D()
va.RotateAxis(1,30.0) # rotate around the y axis 30 degrees.
SetView3D(va)
v0 = GetView3D()
v1 = GetView3D()
v1.camera,v1.viewUp = (1,1,1),(-1,1,-1)
v1.parallelScale = 10.
for i in range(0,20):
t = float(i) / 19.
v2 = (1. - t) * v0 + t * v1
SetView3D(v2) # Animate the view.

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SetViewExtentsType: tells VisIt how to use extents when computing the view.

Synopsis:
SetViewExtentsType(type) -> integer

Arguments:
type An integer 0, 1 or one of the strings: ”original”, ”actual”.

Returns:
SetViewExtentsType returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
VisIt can use a plot’s spatial extents in two ways when computing the view. The first way of using the
extents is to use the ”original” extents, which are the spatial extents before any modifications, such as
subset selection, have been made to the plot. This ensures that the view will remain relatively constant
for a plot. Alternatively, you can use the ”actual” extents, which are the spatial extents of the pieces of
the plot that remain after operations such as subset selection.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
SetViewExtentsType("actual")
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "mat1")
DrawPlots()
v = GetView3D()
v.viewNormal = (-0.618945, 0.450655, 0.643286)
v.viewUp = (0.276106, 0.891586, -0.358943)
SetView3D(v)
mats = GetMaterials()
nmats = len(mats):
# Turn off all but the last material in sequence and watch
# the view update each time.
for i in range(nmats-1):
index = nmats-1-i
TurnMaterialsOff(mats[index])
SaveWindow()
SetViewExtentsType("original")

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SetViewKeyframe: adds a view keyframe.

Synopsis:
SetViewKeyframe() -> integer

Returns:
The SetViewKeyframe function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetViewKeyframe function adds a view keyframe when VisIt is in keyframing mode. View keyframes
are used to set the view at crucial points during an animation. Frames that lie between view keyframes
have an interpolated view that is based on the view keyframes. You can use the SetViewKeyframe func-
tion to create complex camera animations that allow you to fly around (or through) your visualization.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Contour", "hardyglobal")
DrawPlots()
k = GetKeyframeAttributes()
nFrames = 20
k.enabled, k.nFrames, k.nFramesWasUserSet = 1, nFrames, 1
SetKeyframeAttributes(k)
SetPlotFrameRange(0, 0, nFrames-1)
SetViewKeyframe()
SetTimeSliderState(10)
v = GetView3D()
v.viewNormal = (-0.721721, 0.40829, 0.558944)
v.viewUp = (0.294696, 0.911913, -0.285604)
SetView3D(v)
SetViewKeyframe()
SetTimeSliderState(nFrames-1)
v.viewNormal = (-0.74872, 0.423588, -0.509894)
v.viewUp = (0.369095, 0.905328, 0.210117)
SetView3D()
SetViewKeyframe()
ToggleCameraViewMode()
for state in range(TimeSliderGetNStates()):
SetTimeSliderState(state)
SaveWindow()

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SetWindowArea: set the screen area devoted to visualization windows.

Synopsis:
SetWindowArea(x, y, width, height) -> integer

Arguments:
x Left X coordinate in screen pixels.
y Top Y coordinate in screen pixels.
width Width of the window area in pixels.
height Height of the window area in pixels.
Returns:
The SetWindowArea function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetWindowArea method sets the area of the screen that can be used by VisIt’s visualization win-
dows. This is useful for making sure windows are a certain size when running a Python script.

Example:
import visit
visit.Launch()
visit.SetWindowArea(0, 0, 600, 600)
visit.SetWindowLayout(4)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SetWindowLayout: sets the window layout

Synopsis:
SetWindowLayout(layout) -> integer

Arguments:
layout An integer that specifies the window layout. (1,2,4,8,9,16
are valid)
Returns:
The SetWindowLayout function returns an integer value of 1 for success and 0 for failure.

Description:
VisIt’s visualization windows can be arranged in various tiled patterns that allow VisIt to make good
use of the screen while displaying several visualization windows. The window layout determines how
windows are shown on the screen. The SetWindowLayout function sets the window layout. The layout
argument is an integer value equal to 1,2,4,8,9, or 16.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetWindowLayout(2) # switch to 1x2 layout
SetWindowLayout(4) # switch to 2x2 layout
SetWindowLayout(8) # switch to 2x4 layout

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SetWindowMode: sets the window mode of the active visualization window.

Synopsis:
SetWindowMode(mode) -> integer

Arguments:
mode A string containing the new mode: ’navigate’, ’zoom’, ’li-
neout’, ’pick’,’zone pick’, ’node pick’, ’spreadsheet pick’.
Returns:
The SetWindowMode function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
VisIt’s visualization windows have various window modes that alter their behavior. Most of the time
a visualization window is in ”navigate” mode which changes the view when the mouse is moved in the
window. The ”zoom” mode allows a zoom rectangle to be drawn in the window for changing the view.
The ”pick” mode retrieves information about the plots when the mouse is clicked in the window. The
”lineout” mode allows the user to draw lines which produce curve plots.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
SetWindowMode("zoom")
# Draw a rectangle in the visualization window to zoom the plots

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ShowAllWindows: tells VisIt to show its visualization windows.

Synopsis:
ShowAllWindows() -> integer

Returns:
The ShowAllWindows function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The ShowAllWindows function tells VisIt’s viewer to show all of its visualization windows. The com-
mand line interface calls ShowAllWindows before giving control to any user−supplied script to ensure
that the visualization windows appear as expected. Call the ShowAllWindows function when using the
VisIt module inside another Python interpreter so the visualization windows are made visible.

Example:
% python
import visit
visit.Launch()
visit.ShowAllWindows()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ShowToolbars: shows the visualization window’s toolbars.

Synopsis:
ShowToolbars() -> integer
ShowToolbars(allWindows) ->integer

Arguments:
allWindows An integer value that tells VisIt to show the toolbars for all
windowswhen it is non−zero.
Returns:
The ShowToolbars function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The ShowToolbars function tells VisIt to show the toolbars for the active visualization window or for
all visualization windows when the optional allWindows argument is provided and is set to a non−zero
value.

Example:
% visit -cli
SetWindowLayout(4)
HideToolbars(1)
ShowToolbars()
# Show the toolbars for all windows.
ShowToolbars(1)

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Source: executes the specified Python script

Synopsis:
Source(filename)

Returns:
The Source function does not return a value.

Description:
The Source function reads in the contents of a text file and interprets it with the Python interpreter.
This is a simple mechanism that allows simple scripts to be included in larger scripts. The Source
function takes a single string argument that contains the name of the script to execute.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# include another script that does some animation.
Source("Animate.py")

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

SuppressMessages: suppresses the printing of Error, Warning, Message messages

Synopsis:
SuppressMessages(int level) ->integer

Arguments:
int level An integer value of 1,2,3 or 4

Returns:
The SuppressMessages function returns the previous suppression level on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SuppressMessage function sets the supression level for status messages generated by VisIt. A value
of 1 suppresses all types of messages. A value of 2 suppresses Warnings and Messages but does NOT
suppress Errors. A value of 3 suppresses Messages but does not suppress Warnings or Errors. A value
of 4 does not suppress any messages. The default setting is 4.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/rect2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
# Turn off Warning and Message messages.
SuppressMessages(2)
SaveWindow()

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SuppressQueryOutputOff: suppresses the printing of QueryOutput

Synopsis:
SuppressQueryOutputOn() ->integer
SuppressQueryOutputOff() ->integer

Arguments:
None
Returns:
The SuppressQueryOutput function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SuppressQueryOutput function tells VisIt to turn on/off the automatic printing of query output.
Query output will still be available via GetQueryOutputString and GetQueryOutputValue.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/rect2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
# Turn off automatic printing of Query output.
SuppressQueryOutputOn()
Query("MinMax")
print "The min is: %g and the max is: %g" % GetQueryOutputValue()
# Turn on automatic printing of Query output.
SuppressQueryOutputOff()
Query("MinMax")

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SuppressQueryOutputOn: suppresses the printing of QueryOutput

Synopsis:
SuppressQueryOutputOn() ->integer
SuppressQueryOutputOff() ->integer

Arguments:
None
Returns:
The SuppressQueryOutput function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SuppressQueryOutput function tells VisIt to turn on/off the automatic printing of query output.
Query output will still be available via GetQueryOutputString and GetQueryOutputValue.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/rect2d.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "d")
DrawPlots()
# Turn off automatic printing of Query output.
SuppressQueryOutputOn()
Query("MinMax")
print "The min is: %g and the max is: %g" % GetQueryOutputValue()
# Turn on automatic printing of Query output.
SuppressQueryOutputOff()
Query("MinMax")

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TimeSliderGetNStates: returns the number of time states for the active time slider.

Synopsis:
TimeSliderGetNStates() -> integer

Returns:
Returns an integer containing the number of time states for the current time slider.

Description:
The TimeSliderGetNStates function returns the number of time states for the active time slider. Re-
member that the length of the time slider does not have to be equal to the number of time states in a
time−varying database because of database correlations and keyframing. If you want to iterate through
time, use this function to determine the number of iterations that are required to reach the end of the
active time slider.

Example:
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/wave.visit")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "pressure")
DrawPlots()
for state in range(TimeSliderGetNStates()):
SetTimeSliderState(state)
SaveWindow()

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TimeSliderNextState: advances the active time slider to the next state.

Synopsis:
TimeSliderNextState() -> integer

Returns:
The TimeSliderNextState function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The TimeSliderNextState function advances the active time slider to the next time slider state.

Example:
# Assume that files are being written to the disk.
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("dynamic*.silo database")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "var")
AddPlot("Mesh", "mesh")
DrawPlots()
SetTimeSliderState(TimeSliderGetNStates() - 1)
while 1:
SaveWindow()
TimeSliderPreviousState()

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

TimeSliderPreviousState: moves the active time slider to the previous time state.

Synopsis:
TimeSliderPreviousState() -> integer

Returns:
The TimeSliderPreviousState function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The TimeSliderPreviousState function moves the active time slider to the previous time slider state.

Example:
# Assume that files are being written to the disk.
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("dynamic*.silo database")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "var")
AddPlot("Mesh", "mesh")
DrawPlots()
while 1:
TimeSliderNextState()
SaveWindow()

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TimeSliderSetState: sets the time state for the active time slider.

Synopsis:
SetTimeSliderState(state) -> integer

Arguments:
state A zero−based integer containing the time state that we
want to make active.
Returns:
The SetTimeSliderState function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The SetTimeSliderState function sets the time state for the active time slider. This is the function to
use if you want to animate through time or change the current keyframe frame.

Example:
% visit -cli
path = "/usr/gapps/visit/data/"
dbs = (path + "dbA00.pdb", path + "dbB00.pdb", path + "dbC00.pdb")
for db in dbs:
OpenDatabase(db)
AddPlot("FilledBoundary", "material(mesh)")
DrawPlots()
CreateDatabaseCorrelation("common", dbs, 1)
tsNames = GetWindowInformation().timeSliders
for ts in tsNames:
SetActiveTimeSlider(ts)
for state in list(range(TimeSliderGetNStates())) + [0]:
SetTimeSliderState(state)

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 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ToggleBoundingBoxMode: toggle a visualization window mode

Synopsis:
ToggleBoundingBoxMode() -> integer
ToggleCameraViewMode() -> integer
ToggleFullFrameMode() -> integer
ToggleLockTime() -> integer
ToggleLockViewMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainDataMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainViewMode() -> integer
ToggleSpinMode() -> integer

Returns:
All functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The visualization window has various modes that affect its behavior and the VisIt Python Interface
provides a few functions to toggle some of those modes. The ToggleBoundingBoxMode function toggles
bounding box mode on and off. When the visualization window is in bounding box mode, any plots it
contains are hidden while the view is being changed so the window redraws faster. The ToggleCam-
eraViewMode function toggles camera view mode on and off. When the visualization window is in
camera view mode, the view is updated using any view keyframes that have been defined when VisIt is
in keyframing mode. The ToggleFullFrameMode function toggles fullframe mode on and off. When the
visualization window is in fullframe mode, the viewport is stretched non−uniformly so that it covers
most of the visualization window. While not maintaining a 1:1 aspect ratio, it does make better use of
the visualization window. The ToggleLockTime function turns time locking on and off in a visualiza-
tion window. When time locking is on in a visualization window, VisIt creates a database correlation
that works for the databases in all visualization windows that are time−locked. When you change the
time state using the time slider for the the afore−mentioned database correlation, it has the effect of
updating time in all time−locked visualization windows. The ToggleLockViewMode function turns lock
view mode on and off. When windows are in lock view mode, each view change is broadcast to other
windows that are also in lock view mode. This allows windows containing similar plots to be compared
easily. The ToggleMaintainDataMode and ToggleMaintainViewMode functions force the data range
and the view, respectively, that was in effect when the mode was toggled to be used for all subsequent
time states. The ToggleSpinMode function turns spin mode on and off. When the visualization win-
dow is in spin mode, it continues to spin along the axis of rotation when the view is changed interactively.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# Turn on spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()
# Rotate the plot interactively using the mouse and watch it keep spinning
after the mouse release.
# Turn off spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()

277
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ToggleCameraViewMode: toggle a visualization window mode

Synopsis:
ToggleBoundingBoxMode() -> integer
ToggleCameraViewMode() -> integer
ToggleFullFrameMode() -> integer
ToggleLockTime() -> integer
ToggleLockViewMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainDataMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainViewMode() -> integer
ToggleSpinMode() -> integer

Returns:
All functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The visualization window has various modes that affect its behavior and the VisIt Python Interface
provides a few functions to toggle some of those modes. The ToggleBoundingBoxMode function toggles
bounding box mode on and off. When the visualization window is in bounding box mode, any plots it
contains are hidden while the view is being changed so the window redraws faster. The ToggleCam-
eraViewMode function toggles camera view mode on and off. When the visualization window is in
camera view mode, the view is updated using any view keyframes that have been defined when VisIt is
in keyframing mode. The ToggleFullFrameMode function toggles fullframe mode on and off. When the
visualization window is in fullframe mode, the viewport is stretched non−uniformly so that it covers
most of the visualization window. While not maintaining a 1:1 aspect ratio, it does make better use of
the visualization window. The ToggleLockTime function turns time locking on and off in a visualiza-
tion window. When time locking is on in a visualization window, VisIt creates a database correlation
that works for the databases in all visualization windows that are time−locked. When you change the
time state using the time slider for the the afore−mentioned database correlation, it has the effect of
updating time in all time−locked visualization windows. The ToggleLockViewMode function turns lock
view mode on and off. When windows are in lock view mode, each view change is broadcast to other
windows that are also in lock view mode. This allows windows containing similar plots to be compared
easily. The ToggleMaintainDataMode and ToggleMaintainViewMode functions force the data range
and the view, respectively, that was in effect when the mode was toggled to be used for all subsequent
time states. The ToggleSpinMode function turns spin mode on and off. When the visualization win-
dow is in spin mode, it continues to spin along the axis of rotation when the view is changed interactively.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# Turn on spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()
# Rotate the plot interactively using the mouse and watch it keep spinning
after the mouse release.
# Turn off spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()

278
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ToggleFullFrameMode: toggle a visualization window mode

Synopsis:
ToggleBoundingBoxMode() -> integer
ToggleCameraViewMode() -> integer
ToggleFullFrameMode() -> integer
ToggleLockTime() -> integer
ToggleLockViewMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainDataMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainViewMode() -> integer
ToggleSpinMode() -> integer

Returns:
All functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The visualization window has various modes that affect its behavior and the VisIt Python Interface
provides a few functions to toggle some of those modes. The ToggleBoundingBoxMode function toggles
bounding box mode on and off. When the visualization window is in bounding box mode, any plots it
contains are hidden while the view is being changed so the window redraws faster. The ToggleCam-
eraViewMode function toggles camera view mode on and off. When the visualization window is in
camera view mode, the view is updated using any view keyframes that have been defined when VisIt is
in keyframing mode. The ToggleFullFrameMode function toggles fullframe mode on and off. When the
visualization window is in fullframe mode, the viewport is stretched non−uniformly so that it covers
most of the visualization window. While not maintaining a 1:1 aspect ratio, it does make better use of
the visualization window. The ToggleLockTime function turns time locking on and off in a visualiza-
tion window. When time locking is on in a visualization window, VisIt creates a database correlation
that works for the databases in all visualization windows that are time−locked. When you change the
time state using the time slider for the the afore−mentioned database correlation, it has the effect of
updating time in all time−locked visualization windows. The ToggleLockViewMode function turns lock
view mode on and off. When windows are in lock view mode, each view change is broadcast to other
windows that are also in lock view mode. This allows windows containing similar plots to be compared
easily. The ToggleMaintainDataMode and ToggleMaintainViewMode functions force the data range
and the view, respectively, that was in effect when the mode was toggled to be used for all subsequent
time states. The ToggleSpinMode function turns spin mode on and off. When the visualization win-
dow is in spin mode, it continues to spin along the axis of rotation when the view is changed interactively.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# Turn on spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()
# Rotate the plot interactively using the mouse and watch it keep spinning
after the mouse release.
# Turn off spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()

279
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ToggleLockTime: toggle a visualization window mode

Synopsis:
ToggleBoundingBoxMode() -> integer
ToggleCameraViewMode() -> integer
ToggleFullFrameMode() -> integer
ToggleLockTime() -> integer
ToggleLockViewMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainDataMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainViewMode() -> integer
ToggleSpinMode() -> integer

Returns:
All functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The visualization window has various modes that affect its behavior and the VisIt Python Interface
provides a few functions to toggle some of those modes. The ToggleBoundingBoxMode function toggles
bounding box mode on and off. When the visualization window is in bounding box mode, any plots it
contains are hidden while the view is being changed so the window redraws faster. The ToggleCam-
eraViewMode function toggles camera view mode on and off. When the visualization window is in
camera view mode, the view is updated using any view keyframes that have been defined when VisIt is
in keyframing mode. The ToggleFullFrameMode function toggles fullframe mode on and off. When the
visualization window is in fullframe mode, the viewport is stretched non−uniformly so that it covers
most of the visualization window. While not maintaining a 1:1 aspect ratio, it does make better use of
the visualization window. The ToggleLockTime function turns time locking on and off in a visualiza-
tion window. When time locking is on in a visualization window, VisIt creates a database correlation
that works for the databases in all visualization windows that are time−locked. When you change the
time state using the time slider for the the afore−mentioned database correlation, it has the effect of
updating time in all time−locked visualization windows. The ToggleLockViewMode function turns lock
view mode on and off. When windows are in lock view mode, each view change is broadcast to other
windows that are also in lock view mode. This allows windows containing similar plots to be compared
easily. The ToggleMaintainDataMode and ToggleMaintainViewMode functions force the data range
and the view, respectively, that was in effect when the mode was toggled to be used for all subsequent
time states. The ToggleSpinMode function turns spin mode on and off. When the visualization win-
dow is in spin mode, it continues to spin along the axis of rotation when the view is changed interactively.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# Turn on spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()
# Rotate the plot interactively using the mouse and watch it keep spinning
after the mouse release.
# Turn off spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()

280
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ToggleLockTools: toggle a visualization window mode

Synopsis:
ToggleBoundingBoxMode() -> integer
ToggleCameraViewMode() -> integer
ToggleFullFrameMode() -> integer
ToggleLockTime() -> integer
ToggleLockViewMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainDataMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainViewMode() -> integer
ToggleSpinMode() -> integer

Returns:
All functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The visualization window has various modes that affect its behavior and the VisIt Python Interface
provides a few functions to toggle some of those modes. The ToggleBoundingBoxMode function toggles
bounding box mode on and off. When the visualization window is in bounding box mode, any plots it
contains are hidden while the view is being changed so the window redraws faster. The ToggleCam-
eraViewMode function toggles camera view mode on and off. When the visualization window is in
camera view mode, the view is updated using any view keyframes that have been defined when VisIt is
in keyframing mode. The ToggleFullFrameMode function toggles fullframe mode on and off. When the
visualization window is in fullframe mode, the viewport is stretched non−uniformly so that it covers
most of the visualization window. While not maintaining a 1:1 aspect ratio, it does make better use of
the visualization window. The ToggleLockTime function turns time locking on and off in a visualiza-
tion window. When time locking is on in a visualization window, VisIt creates a database correlation
that works for the databases in all visualization windows that are time−locked. When you change the
time state using the time slider for the the afore−mentioned database correlation, it has the effect of
updating time in all time−locked visualization windows. The ToggleLockViewMode function turns lock
view mode on and off. When windows are in lock view mode, each view change is broadcast to other
windows that are also in lock view mode. This allows windows containing similar plots to be compared
easily. The ToggleMaintainDataMode and ToggleMaintainViewMode functions force the data range
and the view, respectively, that was in effect when the mode was toggled to be used for all subsequent
time states. The ToggleSpinMode function turns spin mode on and off. When the visualization win-
dow is in spin mode, it continues to spin along the axis of rotation when the view is changed interactively.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# Turn on spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()
# Rotate the plot interactively using the mouse and watch it keep spinning
after the mouse release.
# Turn off spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()

281
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ToggleLockViewMode: toggle a visualization window mode

Synopsis:
ToggleBoundingBoxMode() -> integer
ToggleCameraViewMode() -> integer
ToggleFullFrameMode() -> integer
ToggleLockTime() -> integer
ToggleLockViewMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainDataMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainViewMode() -> integer
ToggleSpinMode() -> integer

Returns:
All functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The visualization window has various modes that affect its behavior and the VisIt Python Interface
provides a few functions to toggle some of those modes. The ToggleBoundingBoxMode function toggles
bounding box mode on and off. When the visualization window is in bounding box mode, any plots it
contains are hidden while the view is being changed so the window redraws faster. The ToggleCam-
eraViewMode function toggles camera view mode on and off. When the visualization window is in
camera view mode, the view is updated using any view keyframes that have been defined when VisIt is
in keyframing mode. The ToggleFullFrameMode function toggles fullframe mode on and off. When the
visualization window is in fullframe mode, the viewport is stretched non−uniformly so that it covers
most of the visualization window. While not maintaining a 1:1 aspect ratio, it does make better use of
the visualization window. The ToggleLockTime function turns time locking on and off in a visualiza-
tion window. When time locking is on in a visualization window, VisIt creates a database correlation
that works for the databases in all visualization windows that are time−locked. When you change the
time state using the time slider for the the afore−mentioned database correlation, it has the effect of
updating time in all time−locked visualization windows. The ToggleLockViewMode function turns lock
view mode on and off. When windows are in lock view mode, each view change is broadcast to other
windows that are also in lock view mode. This allows windows containing similar plots to be compared
easily. The ToggleMaintainDataMode and ToggleMaintainViewMode functions force the data range
and the view, respectively, that was in effect when the mode was toggled to be used for all subsequent
time states. The ToggleSpinMode function turns spin mode on and off. When the visualization win-
dow is in spin mode, it continues to spin along the axis of rotation when the view is changed interactively.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# Turn on spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()
# Rotate the plot interactively using the mouse and watch it keep spinning
after the mouse release.
# Turn off spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()

282
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ToggleMaintainViewMode: toggle a visualization window mode

Synopsis:
ToggleBoundingBoxMode() -> integer
ToggleCameraViewMode() -> integer
ToggleFullFrameMode() -> integer
ToggleLockTime() -> integer
ToggleLockViewMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainDataMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainViewMode() -> integer
ToggleSpinMode() -> integer

Returns:
All functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The visualization window has various modes that affect its behavior and the VisIt Python Interface
provides a few functions to toggle some of those modes. The ToggleBoundingBoxMode function toggles
bounding box mode on and off. When the visualization window is in bounding box mode, any plots it
contains are hidden while the view is being changed so the window redraws faster. The ToggleCam-
eraViewMode function toggles camera view mode on and off. When the visualization window is in
camera view mode, the view is updated using any view keyframes that have been defined when VisIt is
in keyframing mode. The ToggleFullFrameMode function toggles fullframe mode on and off. When the
visualization window is in fullframe mode, the viewport is stretched non−uniformly so that it covers
most of the visualization window. While not maintaining a 1:1 aspect ratio, it does make better use of
the visualization window. The ToggleLockTime function turns time locking on and off in a visualiza-
tion window. When time locking is on in a visualization window, VisIt creates a database correlation
that works for the databases in all visualization windows that are time−locked. When you change the
time state using the time slider for the the afore−mentioned database correlation, it has the effect of
updating time in all time−locked visualization windows. The ToggleLockViewMode function turns lock
view mode on and off. When windows are in lock view mode, each view change is broadcast to other
windows that are also in lock view mode. This allows windows containing similar plots to be compared
easily. The ToggleMaintainDataMode and ToggleMaintainViewMode functions force the data range
and the view, respectively, that was in effect when the mode was toggled to be used for all subsequent
time states. The ToggleSpinMode function turns spin mode on and off. When the visualization win-
dow is in spin mode, it continues to spin along the axis of rotation when the view is changed interactively.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# Turn on spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()
# Rotate the plot interactively using the mouse and watch it keep spinning
after the mouse release.
# Turn off spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()

283
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ToggleSpinMode: toggle a visualization window mode

Synopsis:
ToggleBoundingBoxMode() -> integer
ToggleCameraViewMode() -> integer
ToggleFullFrameMode() -> integer
ToggleLockTime() -> integer
ToggleLockViewMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainDataMode() -> integer
ToggleMaintainViewMode() -> integer
ToggleSpinMode() -> integer

Returns:
All functions return 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
The visualization window has various modes that affect its behavior and the VisIt Python Interface
provides a few functions to toggle some of those modes. The ToggleBoundingBoxMode function toggles
bounding box mode on and off. When the visualization window is in bounding box mode, any plots it
contains are hidden while the view is being changed so the window redraws faster. The ToggleCam-
eraViewMode function toggles camera view mode on and off. When the visualization window is in
camera view mode, the view is updated using any view keyframes that have been defined when VisIt is
in keyframing mode. The ToggleFullFrameMode function toggles fullframe mode on and off. When the
visualization window is in fullframe mode, the viewport is stretched non−uniformly so that it covers
most of the visualization window. While not maintaining a 1:1 aspect ratio, it does make better use of
the visualization window. The ToggleLockTime function turns time locking on and off in a visualiza-
tion window. When time locking is on in a visualization window, VisIt creates a database correlation
that works for the databases in all visualization windows that are time−locked. When you change the
time state using the time slider for the the afore−mentioned database correlation, it has the effect of
updating time in all time−locked visualization windows. The ToggleLockViewMode function turns lock
view mode on and off. When windows are in lock view mode, each view change is broadcast to other
windows that are also in lock view mode. This allows windows containing similar plots to be compared
easily. The ToggleMaintainDataMode and ToggleMaintainViewMode functions force the data range
and the view, respectively, that was in effect when the mode was toggled to be used for all subsequent
time states. The ToggleSpinMode function turns spin mode on and off. When the visualization win-
dow is in spin mode, it continues to spin along the axis of rotation when the view is changed interactively.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
# Turn on spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()
# Rotate the plot interactively using the mouse and watch it keep spinning
after the mouse release.
# Turn off spin mode.
ToggleSpinMode()

284
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

TurnDomainsOff: turns materials or domains on or off.

Synopsis:
TurnMaterialsOn() -> integer
TurnMaterialsOn(string) -> integer
TurnMaterialsOn(tuple of strings) -> integer
TurnMaterialsOff() -> integer
TurnMaterialsOff(string) -> integer
TurnMaterialsOff(tuple of strings) -> integer
TurnDomainsOn() -> integer
TurnDomainsOn(string) -> integer
TurnDomainsOn(tuple of strings) -> integer
TurnDomainsOff() -> integer
TurnDomainsOff(string) -> integer
TurnDomainsOff(tuple of strings) -> integer

Returns:
The Turn functions return an integer with a value of 1 for success or 0 for failure.

Description:
The Turn functions are provided to simplify the removal of material or domain subsets. Instead of
creating a SILRestriction object, you can use the Turn functions to turn materials or domains on or
off. The TurnMaterialsOn function turns materials on and the TurnMaterialsOff function turns them
off. The TurnDomainsOn function turns domains on and the TurnDomainsOff function turns them off.
All of the Turn functions have three possible argument lists. When you do not provide any arguments,
the function applies to all subsets in the SIL so if you called the TurnMaterialsOff function with no
arguments, all materials would be turned off. Calling TurnMaterialsOn with no arguments would turn
all materials on. All functions can also take a string argument, which is the name of the set to modify.
For example, you could turn off domain 0 by calling the TurnDomainsOff with a single argument of
”domain0” (or the appropriate set name). All of the Turn functions can also be used to modify more
than one set if you provide a tuple of set names. After you use the Turn functions to change the SIL
restriction, you might want to call the ListMaterials or ListDomains functions to make sure that the
SIL restriction was actually modified.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
TurnMaterialsOff("4") # Turn off material 4
TurnMaterialsOff(("1", "2")) # Turn off materials 1 and 2
TurnMaterialsOn() # Turn on all materials

285
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

TurnDomainsOn: turns materials or domains on or off.

Synopsis:
TurnMaterialsOn() -> integer
TurnMaterialsOn(string) -> integer
TurnMaterialsOn(tuple of strings) -> integer
TurnMaterialsOff() -> integer
TurnMaterialsOff(string) -> integer
TurnMaterialsOff(tuple of strings) -> integer
TurnDomainsOn() -> integer
TurnDomainsOn(string) -> integer
TurnDomainsOn(tuple of strings) -> integer
TurnDomainsOff() -> integer
TurnDomainsOff(string) -> integer
TurnDomainsOff(tuple of strings) -> integer

Returns:
The Turn functions return an integer with a value of 1 for success or 0 for failure.

Description:
The Turn functions are provided to simplify the removal of material or domain subsets. Instead of
creating a SILRestriction object, you can use the Turn functions to turn materials or domains on or
off. The TurnMaterialsOn function turns materials on and the TurnMaterialsOff function turns them
off. The TurnDomainsOn function turns domains on and the TurnDomainsOff function turns them off.
All of the Turn functions have three possible argument lists. When you do not provide any arguments,
the function applies to all subsets in the SIL so if you called the TurnMaterialsOff function with no
arguments, all materials would be turned off. Calling TurnMaterialsOn with no arguments would turn
all materials on. All functions can also take a string argument, which is the name of the set to modify.
For example, you could turn off domain 0 by calling the TurnDomainsOff with a single argument of
”domain0” (or the appropriate set name). All of the Turn functions can also be used to modify more
than one set if you provide a tuple of set names. After you use the Turn functions to change the SIL
restriction, you might want to call the ListMaterials or ListDomains functions to make sure that the
SIL restriction was actually modified.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
TurnMaterialsOff("4") # Turn off material 4
TurnMaterialsOff(("1", "2")) # Turn off materials 1 and 2
TurnMaterialsOn() # Turn on all materials

286
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

TurnMaterialsOff: turns materials or domains on or off.

Synopsis:
TurnMaterialsOn() -> integer
TurnMaterialsOn(string) -> integer
TurnMaterialsOn(tuple of strings) -> integer
TurnMaterialsOff() -> integer
TurnMaterialsOff(string) -> integer
TurnMaterialsOff(tuple of strings) -> integer
TurnDomainsOn() -> integer
TurnDomainsOn(string) -> integer
TurnDomainsOn(tuple of strings) -> integer
TurnDomainsOff() -> integer
TurnDomainsOff(string) -> integer
TurnDomainsOff(tuple of strings) -> integer

Returns:
The Turn functions return an integer with a value of 1 for success or 0 for failure.

Description:
The Turn functions are provided to simplify the removal of material or domain subsets. Instead of
creating a SILRestriction object, you can use the Turn functions to turn materials or domains on or
off. The TurnMaterialsOn function turns materials on and the TurnMaterialsOff function turns them
off. The TurnDomainsOn function turns domains on and the TurnDomainsOff function turns them off.
All of the Turn functions have three possible argument lists. When you do not provide any arguments,
the function applies to all subsets in the SIL so if you called the TurnMaterialsOff function with no
arguments, all materials would be turned off. Calling TurnMaterialsOn with no arguments would turn
all materials on. All functions can also take a string argument, which is the name of the set to modify.
For example, you could turn off domain 0 by calling the TurnDomainsOff with a single argument of
”domain0” (or the appropriate set name). All of the Turn functions can also be used to modify more
than one set if you provide a tuple of set names. After you use the Turn functions to change the SIL
restriction, you might want to call the ListMaterials or ListDomains functions to make sure that the
SIL restriction was actually modified.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
TurnMaterialsOff("4") # Turn off material 4
TurnMaterialsOff(("1", "2")) # Turn off materials 1 and 2
TurnMaterialsOn() # Turn on all materials

287
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

TurnMaterialsOn: turns materials or domains on or off.

Synopsis:
TurnMaterialsOn() -> integer
TurnMaterialsOn(string) -> integer
TurnMaterialsOn(tuple of strings) -> integer
TurnMaterialsOff() -> integer
TurnMaterialsOff(string) -> integer
TurnMaterialsOff(tuple of strings) -> integer
TurnDomainsOn() -> integer
TurnDomainsOn(string) -> integer
TurnDomainsOn(tuple of strings) -> integer
TurnDomainsOff() -> integer
TurnDomainsOff(string) -> integer
TurnDomainsOff(tuple of strings) -> integer

Returns:
The Turn functions return an integer with a value of 1 for success or 0 for failure.

Description:
The Turn functions are provided to simplify the removal of material or domain subsets. Instead of
creating a SILRestriction object, you can use the Turn functions to turn materials or domains on or
off. The TurnMaterialsOn function turns materials on and the TurnMaterialsOff function turns them
off. The TurnDomainsOn function turns domains on and the TurnDomainsOff function turns them off.
All of the Turn functions have three possible argument lists. When you do not provide any arguments,
the function applies to all subsets in the SIL so if you called the TurnMaterialsOff function with no
arguments, all materials would be turned off. Calling TurnMaterialsOn with no arguments would turn
all materials on. All functions can also take a string argument, which is the name of the set to modify.
For example, you could turn off domain 0 by calling the TurnDomainsOff with a single argument of
”domain0” (or the appropriate set name). All of the Turn functions can also be used to modify more
than one set if you provide a tuple of set names. After you use the Turn functions to change the SIL
restriction, you might want to call the ListMaterials or ListDomains functions to make sure that the
SIL restriction was actually modified.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/globe.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "u")
DrawPlots()
TurnMaterialsOff("4") # Turn off material 4
TurnMaterialsOff(("1", "2")) # Turn off materials 1 and 2
TurnMaterialsOn() # Turn on all materials

288
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

UndoView: restores the previous view

Synopsis:
UndoView()

Returns:
The UndoView function does not return a value.

Description:
When the view changes in the visualization window, it puts the old view on a stack of views. The
UndoView function restores the view on top of the stack and removes it. This allows the user to undo
up to ten view changes.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/curv2d.silo")
AddPlot("Subset", "mat1")
DrawPlots()
v = GetView2D()
v.windowCoords = (-2.3,2.4,0.2,4.9)
SetView2D(v)
UndoView()

289
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

UpdateNamedSelection: recalculate a named selection using new selection properties.

Synopsis:
UpdateNamedSelection(name) -> integer
UpdateNamedSelection(name, properties) -> integer

Arguments:
name The name of the selection to update.
properties An optional SelectionProperties object that contains the
selectionproperties to use when reevaluating the selection.
Returns:
The UpdateNamedSelection function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

Description:
This function causes VisIt to reevaluate a named selection using new selection properties. If no selection
properties are provided then the selection will be reevaluated using data for the plot that was associated
with the selection when it was created. This is useful if you want to change a plot in several ways before
causing its associated named selection to update using the changes.

Example:
s = GetSelection(’selection1’)
s.selectionType = s.CumulativeQuerySelection
s.histogramType = s.HistogramMatches
s.combineRule = s.CombineOr
s.variables = (’temperature’,)
s.variableMins = (2.9,)
s.variableMaxs = (3.1,)
UpdateNamedSelection(’selection1’, s)

290
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

Version: returns VisIt’s version string.

Synopsis:
Version() -> string

Returns:
The Version function return a string that represents VisIt’s version.

Description:
The Version function returns a string that represents VisIt’s version. The version string can be used in
Python scripts to make sure that the VisIt module is a certain version before processing the rest of the
Python script.

Example:
% visit -cli
print "We are running VisIt version %s" % Version()

291
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

WriteConfigFile: tells the viewer to write its configuration file.

Synopsis:
WriteConfigFile()

Returns:
The WriteconfigFile function does not return a value.

Description:
The viewer maintains internal settings which determine the default values for objects like plots and
operators. The viewer can save out the default values so they can be used in future VisIt sessions. The
WriteConfig function tells the viewer to write out the settings to the VisIt configuration file.

Example:
% visit -cli
p = PseudocolorAttributes()
p.minFlag, p.min = 1, 5.0
p.maxFlag, p.max = 1, 20.0
SetDefaultPlotOptions(p)
# Save the new default Pseudocolor settings to the config file.
WriteConfig()

292
 CHAPTER 5. FUNCTIONS

ZonePick: performs a zonal pick on a plot.

Synopsis:
ZonePick(point) -> integer
ZonePick(point, variables) -> integer
ZonePick(sx, sy) -> integer
ZonePick(sx, sy, variables) -> integer

Arguments:
point A tuple of values that describe the coordinate of where we
want to performthe zonal pick.
variables An optional tuple of strings containing the names of the
variables forwhich we want information. The tuple can
contain the name ”default” ifyou want information for the
plotted variable.
sx A screen X location (in pixels) offset from the left side of
thevisualization window.
sy A screen Y location (in pixels) offset from the bottom of
thevisualization window.
Returns:
The ZonePick function prints pick information for the cell (a.k.a zone) that contains the specified point.
The point can be specified as a 2D or 3D point in world space or it can be specified as a pixel location
in screen space. If the point is specified as a pixel location then VisIt finds the zone that contains the
intersection of a cell and a ray that is projected into the mesh. Once the zonal pick has been calculated,
you can use the GetPickOutput function to retrieve the printed pick output as a string which can be
used for other purposes.

Example:
% visit -cli
OpenDatabase("/usr/gapps/visit/data/noise.silo")
AddPlot("Pseudocolor", "hgslice")
DrawPlots()
# Perform zone pick in screen space
ZonePick(300,300)
# Perform zone pick in world space.
ZonePick((-5.0, 5.0))

293
Chapter 6

Attribute References

This chapter shows all the attributes that can be set to control the behavior of VisIt. The attributes
themselves are not documented, but their names are usually quite explanatory. When an attribute can
have values from a given list of options, the default option is printed and the other available options are
printed in a column beneath in italic.
The listing is ordered in alphabetical ordering of the name of the attribute set. For each set the function
that will provide you with these attributes is printed in italic.

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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Animation: AnimationAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

animationMode StopMode
ReversePlayMode
StopMode
PlayMode
pipelineCachingMode 0
frameIncrement 1
timeout 1
playbackMode Looping
Looping
PlayOnce
Swing

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Annotation: AnnotationAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

axes2D.visible 1
axes2D.autoSetTicks 1
axes2D.autoSetScaling 1
axes2D.lineWidth 0
axes2D.tickLocation axes2D.Outside
Inside
Outside
Both
axes2D.tickAxes axes2D.BottomLeft
Off
Bottom
Left
BottomLeft
All
axes2D.xAxis.title.visible 1
axes2D.xAxis.title.font.font axes2D.xAxis.title.font.Courier
Arial
Courier
Times
axes2D.xAxis.title.font.scale 1
axes2D.xAxis.title.font.useForegroundColor 1
axes2D.xAxis.title.font.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
axes2D.xAxis.title.font.bold 1
axes2D.xAxis.title.font.italic 1
axes2D.xAxis.title.userTitle 0
axes2D.xAxis.title.userUnits 0
axes2D.xAxis.title.title ”X−Axis”
axes2D.xAxis.title.units ””
axes2D.xAxis.label.visible 1
axes2D.xAxis.label.font.font axes2D.xAxis.label.font.Courier
Arial
Courier
Times
axes2D.xAxis.label.font.scale 1
axes2D.xAxis.label.font.useForegroundColor 1
axes2D.xAxis.label.font.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
axes2D.xAxis.label.font.bold 1
axes2D.xAxis.label.font.italic 1
axes2D.xAxis.label.scaling 0
axes2D.xAxis.tickMarks.visible 1
axes2D.xAxis.tickMarks.majorMinimum 0
axes2D.xAxis.tickMarks.majorMaximum 1
axes2D.xAxis.tickMarks.minorSpacing 0.02
axes2D.xAxis.tickMarks.majorSpacing 0.2
axes2D.xAxis.grid 0
axes2D.yAxis.title.visible 1
axes2D.yAxis.title.font.font axes2D.yAxis.title.font.Courier
Arial
Courier
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Attribute Default/Allowed values
Times
axes2D.yAxis.title.font.scale 1
axes2D.yAxis.title.font.useForegroundColor 1
axes2D.yAxis.title.font.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
axes2D.yAxis.title.font.bold 1
axes2D.yAxis.title.font.italic 1
axes2D.yAxis.title.userTitle 0
axes2D.yAxis.title.userUnits 0
axes2D.yAxis.title.title ”Y−Axis”
axes2D.yAxis.title.units ””
axes2D.yAxis.label.visible 1
axes2D.yAxis.label.font.font axes2D.yAxis.label.font.Courier
Arial
Courier
Times
axes2D.yAxis.label.font.scale 1
axes2D.yAxis.label.font.useForegroundColor 1
axes2D.yAxis.label.font.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
axes2D.yAxis.label.font.bold 1
axes2D.yAxis.label.font.italic 1
axes2D.yAxis.label.scaling 0
axes2D.yAxis.tickMarks.visible 1
axes2D.yAxis.tickMarks.majorMinimum 0
axes2D.yAxis.tickMarks.majorMaximum 1
axes2D.yAxis.tickMarks.minorSpacing 0.02
axes2D.yAxis.tickMarks.majorSpacing 0.2
axes2D.yAxis.grid 0
axes3D.visible 1
axes3D.autoSetTicks 1
axes3D.autoSetScaling 1
axes3D.lineWidth 0
axes3D.tickLocation axes3D.Inside
Inside
Outside
Both
axes3D.axesType axes3D.ClosestTriad
ClosestTriad
FurthestTriad
OutsideEdges
StaticTriad
StaticEdges
axes3D.triadFlag 1
axes3D.bboxFlag 1
axes3D.xAxis.title.visible 1
axes3D.xAxis.title.font.font axes3D.xAxis.title.font.Arial
Arial
Courier
Times
axes3D.xAxis.title.font.scale 1
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Attribute Default/Allowed values
axes3D.xAxis.title.font.useForegroundColor 1
axes3D.xAxis.title.font.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
axes3D.xAxis.title.font.bold 0
axes3D.xAxis.title.font.italic 0
axes3D.xAxis.title.userTitle 0
axes3D.xAxis.title.userUnits 0
axes3D.xAxis.title.title ”X−Axis”
axes3D.xAxis.title.units ””
axes3D.xAxis.label.visible 1
axes3D.xAxis.label.font.font axes3D.xAxis.label.font.Arial
Arial
Courier
Times
axes3D.xAxis.label.font.scale 1
axes3D.xAxis.label.font.useForegroundColor 1
axes3D.xAxis.label.font.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
axes3D.xAxis.label.font.bold 0
axes3D.xAxis.label.font.italic 0
axes3D.xAxis.label.scaling 0
axes3D.xAxis.tickMarks.visible 1
axes3D.xAxis.tickMarks.majorMinimum 0
axes3D.xAxis.tickMarks.majorMaximum 1
axes3D.xAxis.tickMarks.minorSpacing 0.02
axes3D.xAxis.tickMarks.majorSpacing 0.2
axes3D.xAxis.grid 0
axes3D.yAxis.title.visible 1
axes3D.yAxis.title.font.font axes3D.yAxis.title.font.Arial
Arial
Courier
Times
axes3D.yAxis.title.font.scale 1
axes3D.yAxis.title.font.useForegroundColor 1
axes3D.yAxis.title.font.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
axes3D.yAxis.title.font.bold 0
axes3D.yAxis.title.font.italic 0
axes3D.yAxis.title.userTitle 0
axes3D.yAxis.title.userUnits 0
axes3D.yAxis.title.title ”Y−Axis”
axes3D.yAxis.title.units ””
axes3D.yAxis.label.visible 1
axes3D.yAxis.label.font.font axes3D.yAxis.label.font.Arial
Arial
Courier
Times
axes3D.yAxis.label.font.scale 1
axes3D.yAxis.label.font.useForegroundColor 1
axes3D.yAxis.label.font.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
axes3D.yAxis.label.font.bold 0
axes3D.yAxis.label.font.italic 0
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... Annotation attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
axes3D.yAxis.label.scaling 0
axes3D.yAxis.tickMarks.visible 1
axes3D.yAxis.tickMarks.majorMinimum 0
axes3D.yAxis.tickMarks.majorMaximum 1
axes3D.yAxis.tickMarks.minorSpacing 0.02
axes3D.yAxis.tickMarks.majorSpacing 0.2
axes3D.yAxis.grid 0
axes3D.zAxis.title.visible 1
axes3D.zAxis.title.font.font axes3D.zAxis.title.font.Arial
Arial
Courier
Times
axes3D.zAxis.title.font.scale 1
axes3D.zAxis.title.font.useForegroundColor 1
axes3D.zAxis.title.font.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
axes3D.zAxis.title.font.bold 0
axes3D.zAxis.title.font.italic 0
axes3D.zAxis.title.userTitle 0
axes3D.zAxis.title.userUnits 0
axes3D.zAxis.title.title ”Z−Axis”
axes3D.zAxis.title.units ””
axes3D.zAxis.label.visible 1
axes3D.zAxis.label.font.font axes3D.zAxis.label.font.Arial
Arial
Courier
Times
axes3D.zAxis.label.font.scale 1
axes3D.zAxis.label.font.useForegroundColor 1
axes3D.zAxis.label.font.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
axes3D.zAxis.label.font.bold 0
axes3D.zAxis.label.font.italic 0
axes3D.zAxis.label.scaling 0
axes3D.zAxis.tickMarks.visible 1
axes3D.zAxis.tickMarks.majorMinimum 0
axes3D.zAxis.tickMarks.majorMaximum 1
axes3D.zAxis.tickMarks.minorSpacing 0.02
axes3D.zAxis.tickMarks.majorSpacing 0.2
axes3D.zAxis.grid 0
axes3D.setBBoxLocation 0
axes3D.bboxLocation (0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1)
userInfoFlag 1
userInfoFont.font userInfoFont.Arial
Arial
Courier
Times
userInfoFont.scale 1
userInfoFont.useForegroundColor 1
userInfoFont.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
userInfoFont.bold 0
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... Annotation attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
userInfoFont.italic 0
databaseInfoFlag 1
databaseInfoFont.font databaseInfoFont.Arial
Arial
Courier
Times
databaseInfoFont.scale 1
databaseInfoFont.useForegroundColor 1
databaseInfoFont.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
databaseInfoFont.bold 0
databaseInfoFont.italic 0
databaseInfoExpansionMode File
File
Directory
Full
Smart
SmartDirectory
databaseInfoTimeScale 1
databaseInfoTimeOffset 0
legendInfoFlag 1
backgroundColor (255, 255, 255, 255)
foregroundColor (0, 0, 0, 255)
gradientBackgroundStyle Radial
TopToBottom
BottomToTop
LeftToRight
RightToLeft
Radial
gradientColor1 (0, 0, 255, 255)
gradientColor2 (0, 0, 0, 255)
backgroundMode Solid
Solid
Gradient
Image
ImageSphere
backgroundImage ””
imageRepeatX 1
imageRepeatY 1
axesArray.visible 1
axesArray.ticksVisible 1
axesArray.autoSetTicks 1
axesArray.autoSetScaling 1
axesArray.lineWidth 0
axesArray.axes.title.visible 1
axesArray.axes.title.font.font axesArray.axes.title.font.Arial
Arial
Courier
Times
axesArray.axes.title.font.scale 1
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... Annotation attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
axesArray.axes.title.font.useForegroundColor 1
axesArray.axes.title.font.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
axesArray.axes.title.font.bold 0
axesArray.axes.title.font.italic 0
axesArray.axes.title.userTitle 0
axesArray.axes.title.userUnits 0
axesArray.axes.title.title ””
axesArray.axes.title.units ””
axesArray.axes.label.visible 1
axesArray.axes.label.font.font axesArray.axes.label.font.Arial
Arial
Courier
Times
axesArray.axes.label.font.scale 1
axesArray.axes.label.font.useForegroundColor 1
axesArray.axes.label.font.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
axesArray.axes.label.font.bold 0
axesArray.axes.label.font.italic 0
axesArray.axes.label.scaling 0
axesArray.axes.tickMarks.visible 1
axesArray.axes.tickMarks.majorMinimum 0
axesArray.axes.tickMarks.majorMaximum 1
axesArray.axes.tickMarks.minorSpacing 0.02
axesArray.axes.tickMarks.majorSpacing 0.2
axesArray.axes.grid 0

301
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Axis: AxisAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

title.visible 1
title.font.font title.font.Arial
Arial
Courier
Times
title.font.scale 1
title.font.useForegroundColor 1
title.font.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
title.font.bold 0
title.font.italic 0
title.userTitle 0
title.userUnits 0
title.title ””
title.units ””
label.visible 1
label.font.font label.font.Arial
Arial
Courier
Times
label.font.scale 1
label.font.useForegroundColor 1
label.font.color (0, 0, 0, 255)
label.font.bold 0
label.font.italic 0
label.scaling 0
tickMarks.visible 1
tickMarks.majorMinimum 0
tickMarks.majorMaximum 1
tickMarks.minorSpacing 0.02
tickMarks.majorSpacing 0.2
grid 0

302
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Boundary: BoundaryAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

colorType ColorByMultipleColors
ColorBySingleColor
ColorByMultipleColors
ColorByColorTable
colorTableName ”Default”
invertColorTable 0
filledFlag 1
legendFlag 1
lineStyle SOLID
SOLID
DASH
DOT
DOTDASH
lineWidth 0
singleColor (0, 0, 0, 255)
boundaryNames ()
boundaryType Unknown
Domain
Group
Material
Unknown
opacity 1
wireframe 0
smoothingLevel 0
pointSize 0.05
pointType Point
Box
Axis
Icosahedron
Point
Sphere
pointSizeVarEnabled 0
pointSizeVar ”default”
pointSizePixels 2

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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

BoundaryOp: BoundaryOpAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

smoothingLevel 0

304
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Box: BoxAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

amount Some
Some
All
minx 0
maxx 1
miny 0
maxy 1
minz 0
maxz 1

305
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Clip: ClipAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

quality Fast
Fast
Accurate
funcType Plane
Plane
Sphere
plane1Status 1
plane2Status 0
plane3Status 0
plane1Origin (0, 0, 0)
plane2Origin (0, 0, 0)
plane3Origin (0, 0, 0)
plane1Normal (1, 0, 0)
plane2Normal (0, 1, 0)
plane3Normal (0, 0, 1)
planeInverse 0
planeToolControlledClipPlane Plane1
None
Plane1
Plane2
Plane3
center (0, 0, 0)
radius 1
sphereInverse 0

306
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Cone: ConeAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

angle 45
origin (0, 0, 0)
normal (0, 0, 1)
representation Flattened
ThreeD
Flattened
R Theta
upAxis (0, 1, 0)
cutByLength 0
length 1

307
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

ConnectedComponents: ConnectedComponentsAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

EnableGhostNeighborsOptimization 1

308
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

ConstructDataBinning: ConstructDataBinningAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

name ””
varnames ()
binBoundaries ()
reductionOperator Average
Average
Minimum
Maximum
StandardDeviation
Variance
Sum
Count
RMS
PDF
varForReductionOperator ””
undefinedValue 0
binningScheme Uniform
Uniform
Unknown
numBins ()
overTime 0
timeStart 0
timeEnd 1
timeStride 1
outOfBoundsBehavior Clamp
Clamp
Discard

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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Contour: ContourAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(0).colors (255, 0, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(0).position 0
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(1).colors (0, 255, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(1).position 0.034
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(2).colors (0, 0, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(2).position 0.069
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(3).colors (0, 255, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(3).position 0.103
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(4).colors (255, 0, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(4).position 0.138
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(5).colors (255, 255, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(5).position 0.172
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(6).colors (255, 135, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(6).position 0.207
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(7).colors (255, 0, 135, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(7).position 0.241
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(8).colors (168, 168, 168, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(8).position 0.276
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(9).colors (255, 68, 68, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(9).position 0.31
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(10).colors (99, 255, 99, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(10).position 0.345
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(11).colors (99, 99, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(11).position 0.379
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(12).colors (40, 165, 165, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(12).position 0.414
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(13).colors (255, 99, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(13).position 0.448
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(14).colors (255, 255, 99, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(14).position 0.483
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(15).colors (255, 170, 99, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(15).position 0.517
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(16).colors (170, 79, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(16).position 0.552
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(17).colors (150, 0, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(17).position 0.586
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(18).colors (0, 150, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(18).position 0.621
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(19).colors (0, 0, 150, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(19).position 0.655
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(20).colors (0, 109, 109, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(20).position 0.69
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(21).colors (150, 0, 150, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(21).position 0.724
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(22).colors (150, 150, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(22).position 0.759
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(23).colors (150, 84, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(23).position 0.793
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(24).colors (160, 0, 79, 255)
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... Contour attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(24).position 0.828
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(25).colors (255, 104, 28, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(25).position 0.862
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(26).colors (0, 170, 81, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(26).position 0.897
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(27).colors (68, 255, 124, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(27).position 0.931
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(28).colors (0, 130, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(28).position 0.966
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(29).colors (130, 0, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(29).position 1
defaultPalette.smoothingFlag 0
defaultPalette.equalSpacingFlag 1
defaultPalette.discreteFlag 1
defaultPalette.externalFlag 0
changedColors ()
colorType ColorByMultipleColors
ColorBySingleColor
ColorByMultipleColors
ColorByColorTable
colorTableName ”Default”
invertColorTable 0
legendFlag 1
lineStyle SOLID
SOLID
DASH
DOT
DOTDASH
lineWidth 0
singleColor (255, 0, 0, 255)
SetMultiColor(0, (255, 0, 0, 255))
SetMultiColor(1, (0, 255, 0, 255))
SetMultiColor(2, (0, 0, 255, 255))
SetMultiColor(3, (0, 255, 255, 255))
SetMultiColor(4, (255, 0, 255, 255))
SetMultiColor(5, (255, 255, 0, 255))
SetMultiColor(6, (255, 135, 0, 255))
SetMultiColor(7, (255, 0, 135, 255))
SetMultiColor(8, (168, 168, 168, 255))
SetMultiColor(9, (255, 68, 68, 255))
contourNLevels 10
contourValue ()
contourPercent ()
contourMethod Level
Level
Value
Percent
minFlag 0
maxFlag 0
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... Contour attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
min 0
max 1
scaling Linear
Linear
Log
wireframe 0

312
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

CoordSwap: CoordSwapAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

newCoord1 Coord1
Coord1
Coord2
Coord3
newCoord2 Coord2
Coord1
Coord2
Coord3
newCoord3 Coord3
Coord1
Coord2
Coord3

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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

CreateBonds: CreateBondsAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

elementVariable ”element”
atomicNumber1 (1, −1)
atomicNumber2 (−1, −1)
minDist (0.4, 0.4)
maxDist (1.2, 1.9)
maxBondsClamp 10
addPeriodicBonds 0
useUnitCellVectors 1
periodicInX 1
periodicInY 1
periodicInZ 1
xVector (1, 0, 0)
yVector (0, 1, 0)
zVector (0, 0, 1)

314
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Curve: CurveAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

showLines 1
lineStyle SOLID
SOLID
DASH
DOT
DOTDASH
lineWidth 0
showPoints 0
symbol Point
Point
TriangleUp
TriangleDown
Square
Circle
Plus
X
pointSize 5
pointFillMode Static
Static
Dynamic
pointStride 1
symbolDensity 50
curveColorSource Cycle
Cycle
Custom
curveColor (0, 0, 0, 255)
showLegend 1
showLabels 1
designator ””
doBallTimeCue 0
ballTimeCueColor (0, 0, 0, 255)
timeCueBallSize 0.01
doLineTimeCue 0
lineTimeCueColor (0, 0, 0, 255)
lineTimeCueWidth 0
doCropTimeCue 0
timeForTimeCue 0

315
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Cylinder: CylinderAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

point1 (0, 0, 0)
point2 (1, 0, 0)
radius 1

316
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

DataBinning: DataBinningAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

numDimensions One
One
Two
Three
dim1Var ”default”
dim1SpecifyRange 0
dim1MinRange 0
dim1MaxRange 1
dim1NumBins 50
dim2Var ”default”
dim2SpecifyRange 0
dim2MinRange 0
dim2MaxRange 1
dim2NumBins 50
dim3Var ”default”
dim3SpecifyRange 0
dim3MinRange 0
dim3MaxRange 1
dim3NumBins 50
outOfBoundsBehavior Clamp
Clamp
Discard
reductionOperator Average
Average
Minimum
Maximum
StandardDeviation
Variance
Sum
Count
RMS
PDF
varForReduction ”default”
emptyVal 0

317
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

DeferExpression: DeferExpressionAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

exprs ()

318
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Displace: DisplaceAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

factor 1
variable ”default”

319
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

DualMesh: DualMeshAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

mode Auto
Auto
NodesToZones
ZonesToNodes

320
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Edge: EdgeAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

dummy 1

321
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Elevate: ElevateAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

useXYLimits 0
limitsMode OriginalData
OriginalData
CurrentPlot
scaling Linear
Linear
Log
Skew
skewFactor 1
minFlag 0
min 0
maxFlag 0
max 1
zeroFlag 0
variable ”default”

322
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

ExportDB: ExportDBAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

db type ””
filename ”visit ex db”
dirname ”.”
variables ()
opts.types ()

323
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

ExternalSurface: ExternalSurfaceAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

removeGhosts 0
edgesIn2D 1

324
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

FilledBoundary: FilledBoundaryAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

colorType ColorByMultipleColors
ColorBySingleColor
ColorByMultipleColors
ColorByColorTable
colorTableName ”Default”
invertColorTable 0
filledFlag 1
legendFlag 1
lineStyle SOLID
SOLID
DASH
DOT
DOTDASH
lineWidth 0
singleColor (0, 0, 0, 255)
boundaryNames ()
boundaryType Unknown
Domain
Group
Material
Unknown
opacity 1
wireframe 0
drawInternal 0
smoothingLevel 0
cleanZonesOnly 0
mixedColor (255, 255, 255, 255)
pointSize 0.05
pointType Point
Box
Axis
Icosahedron
Point
Sphere
pointSizeVarEnabled 0
pointSizeVar ”default”
pointSizePixels 2

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Flux: FluxAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

flowField ”default”
weight 0
weightField ”default”

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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Font: FontAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

font Arial
Arial
Courier
Times
scale 1
useForegroundColor 1
color (0, 0, 0, 255)
bold 0
italic 0

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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Global: GlobalAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

sources ()
windows (1)
activeWindow 0
iconifiedFlag 0
autoUpdateFlag 0
replacePlots 0
applyOperator 1
executing 0
windowLayout 1
makeDefaultConfirm 1
cloneWindowOnFirstRef 0
automaticallyAddOperator 0
tryHarderCyclesTimes 0
treatAllDBsAsTimeVarying 0
createMeshQualityExpressions 1
createTimeDerivativeExpressions 1
createVectorMagnitudeExpressions 1
newPlotsInheritSILRestriction 1
userDirForSessionFiles 0
saveCrashRecoveryFile 1
applySelection 1
ignoreExtentsFromDbs 0
expandNewPlots 0

328
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Histogram: HistogramAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

basedOn ManyZonesForSingleVar
ManyVarsForSingleZone
ManyZonesForSingleVar
histogramType Frequency
Frequency
Weighted
Variable
weightVariable ”default”
limitsMode OriginalData
OriginalData
CurrentPlot
minFlag 0
maxFlag 0
min 0
max 1
numBins 32
domain 0
zone 0
useBinWidths 1
outputType Block
Curve
Block
lineStyle SOLID
SOLID
DASH
DOT
DOTDASH
lineWidth 0
color (200, 80, 40, 255)
dataScale Linear
Linear
Log
SquareRoot
binScale Linear
Linear
Log
SquareRoot

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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

IndexSelect: IndexSelectAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

maxDim ThreeD
OneD
TwoD
ThreeD
dim TwoD
OneD
TwoD
ThreeD
xAbsMax −1
xMin 0
xMax −1
xIncr 1
xWrap 0
yAbsMax −1
yMin 0
yMax −1
yIncr 1
yWrap 0
zAbsMax −1
zMin 0
zMax −1
zIncr 1
zWrap 0
useWholeCollection 1
categoryName ”Whole”
subsetName ”Whole”

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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

InverseGhostZone: InverseGhostZoneAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

requestGhostZones 1
showDuplicated 1
showEnhancedConnectivity 1
showReducedConnectivity 1
showAMRRefined 1
showExterior 1
showNotApplicable 1

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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Isosurface: IsosurfaceAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

contourNLevels 10
contourValue ()
contourPercent ()
contourMethod Level
Level
Value
Percent
minFlag 0
min 0
maxFlag 0
max 1
scaling Linear
Linear
Log
variable ”default”

332
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Isovolume: IsovolumeAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

lbound −1e+37
ubound 1e+37
variable ”default”

333
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Label: LabelAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

legendFlag 1
showNodes 0
showCells 1
restrictNumberOfLabels 1
drawLabelsFacing Front
Front
Back
FrontAndBack
labelDisplayFormat Natural
Natural
LogicalIndex
Index
numberOfLabels 200
specifyTextColor1 0
textColor1 (255, 0, 0, 0)
textHeight1 0.02
specifyTextColor2 0
textColor2 (0, 0, 255, 0)
textHeight2 0.02
horizontalJustification HCenter
HCenter
Left
Right
verticalJustification VCenter
VCenter
Top
Bottom
depthTestMode LABEL DT AUTO
LABEL DT AUTO
LABEL DT ALWAYS
LABEL DT NEVER
formatTemplate ”%g”

334
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Light: LightAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

enabledFlag 1
type Camera
Ambient
Object
Camera
direction (0, 0, −1)
color (255, 255, 255, 255)
brightness 1

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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Lineout: LineoutAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

point1 (0, 0, 0)
point2 (1, 1, 0)
interactive 0
ignoreGlobal 0
samplingOn 0
numberOfSamplePoints 50
reflineLabels 0

336
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Material: MaterialAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

smoothing 0
forceMIR 0
cleanZonesOnly 0
needValidConnectivity 0
algorithm EquiZ
EquiT
EquiZ
Isovolume
PLIC
Discrete
iterationEnabled 0
numIterations 5
iterationDamping 0.4
simplifyHeavilyMixedZones 0
maxMaterialsPerZone 3
isoVolumeFraction 0.5
annealingTime 10

337
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Mesh: MeshAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

legendFlag 1
lineStyle SOLID
SOLID
DASH
DOT
DOTDASH
lineWidth 0
meshColor (0, 0, 0, 255)
outlineOnlyFlag 0
errorTolerance 0.01
meshColorSource Foreground
Foreground
MeshCustom
opaqueColorSource Background
Background
OpaqueCustom
opaqueMode Auto
Auto
On
Off
pointSize 0.05
opaqueColor (255, 255, 255, 255)
smoothingLevel None
None
Fast
High
pointSizeVarEnabled 0
pointSizeVar ”default”
pointType Point
Box
Axis
Icosahedron
Point
Sphere
showInternal 0
pointSizePixels 2
opacity 1

338
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

MeshManagement: MeshManagementAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

discretizationTolerance (0.02, 0.025, 0.05)
discretizationToleranceX ()
discretizationToleranceY ()
discretizationToleranceZ ()
discretizationMode Uniform
Uniform
Adaptive
MultiPass
discretizeBoundaryOnly 0
passNativeCSG 0

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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Molecule: MoleculeAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

drawAtomsAs SphereAtoms
NoAtoms
SphereAtoms
ImposterAtoms
scaleRadiusBy Fixed
Fixed
Covalent
Atomic
Variable
drawBondsAs CylinderBonds
NoBonds
LineBonds
CylinderBonds
colorBonds ColorByAtom
ColorByAtom
SingleColor
bondSingleColor (128, 128, 128, 255)
radiusVariable ”Default”
radiusScaleFactor 1
radiusFixed 0.3
atomSphereQuality Medium
Low
Medium
High
Super
bondCylinderQuality Medium
Low
Medium
High
Super
bondRadius 0.12
bondLineWidth 0
bondLineStyle SOLID
SOLID
DASH
DOT
DOTDASH
elementColorTable ”cpk jmol”
residueTypeColorTable ”amino shapely”
residueSequenceColorTable ”Default”
continuousColorTable ”Default”
legendFlag 1
minFlag 0
scalarMin 0
maxFlag 0
scalarMax 1

340
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

MultiCurve: MultiCurveAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(0).colors (255, 0, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(0).position 0
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(1).colors (0, 255, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(1).position 0.034
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(2).colors (0, 0, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(2).position 0.069
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(3).colors (0, 255, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(3).position 0.103
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(4).colors (255, 0, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(4).position 0.138
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(5).colors (255, 255, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(5).position 0.172
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(6).colors (255, 135, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(6).position 0.207
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(7).colors (255, 0, 135, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(7).position 0.241
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(8).colors (168, 168, 168, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(8).position 0.276
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(9).colors (255, 68, 68, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(9).position 0.31
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(10).colors (99, 255, 99, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(10).position 0.345
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(11).colors (99, 99, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(11).position 0.379
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(12).colors (40, 165, 165, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(12).position 0.414
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(13).colors (255, 99, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(13).position 0.448
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(14).colors (255, 255, 99, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(14).position 0.483
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(15).colors (255, 170, 99, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(15).position 0.517
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(16).colors (170, 79, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(16).position 0.552
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(17).colors (150, 0, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(17).position 0.586
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(18).colors (0, 150, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(18).position 0.621
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(19).colors (0, 0, 150, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(19).position 0.655
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(20).colors (0, 109, 109, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(20).position 0.69
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(21).colors (150, 0, 150, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(21).position 0.724
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(22).colors (150, 150, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(22).position 0.759
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(23).colors (150, 84, 0, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(23).position 0.793
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(24).colors (160, 0, 79, 255)
Continued on next page...

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... MultiCurve attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(24).position 0.828
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(25).colors (255, 104, 28, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(25).position 0.862
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(26).colors (0, 170, 81, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(26).position 0.897
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(27).colors (68, 255, 124, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(27).position 0.931
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(28).colors (0, 130, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(28).position 0.966
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(29).colors (130, 0, 255, 255)
defaultPalette.GetControlPoints(29).position 1
defaultPalette.smoothingFlag 0
defaultPalette.equalSpacingFlag 1
defaultPalette.discreteFlag 1
defaultPalette.externalFlag 0
changedColors ()
colorType ColorByMultipleColors
ColorBySingleColor
ColorByMultipleColors
singleColor (255, 0, 0, 255)
SetMultiColor(0, (255, 0, 0, 255))
SetMultiColor(1, (0, 255, 0, 255))
SetMultiColor(2, (0, 0, 255, 255))
SetMultiColor(3, (0, 255, 255, 255))
SetMultiColor(4, (255, 0, 255, 255))
SetMultiColor(5, (255, 255, 0, 255))
SetMultiColor(6, (255, 135, 0, 255))
SetMultiColor(7, (255, 0, 135, 255))
SetMultiColor(8, (168, 168, 168, 255))
SetMultiColor(9, (255, 68, 68, 255))
SetMultiColor(10, (99, 255, 99, 255))
SetMultiColor(11, (99, 99, 255, 255))
SetMultiColor(12, (40, 165, 165, 255))
SetMultiColor(13, (255, 99, 255, 255))
SetMultiColor(14, (255, 255, 99, 255))
SetMultiColor(15, (255, 170, 99, 255))
lineStyle SOLID
SOLID
DASH
DOT
DOTDASH
lineWidth 0
yAxisTitleFormat ”%g”
useYAxisTickSpacing 0
yAxisTickSpacing 1
displayMarkers 1
markerVariable ”default”
displayIds 0
idVariable ”default”
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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

... MultiCurve attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
legendFlag 1

343
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

MultiresControl: MultiresControlAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

resolution 0
maxResolution 1
info ””

344
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

OnionPeel: OnionPeelAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

adjacencyType Node
Node
Face
useGlobalId 0
categoryName ”Whole”
subsetName ”Whole”
index (1)
logical 0
requestedLayer 0
seedType SeedCell
SeedCell
SeedNode

345
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

ParallelCoordinates: ParallelCoordinatesAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

scalarAxisNames ()
visualAxisNames ()
extentMinima ()
extentMaxima ()
drawLines 1
linesColor (128, 0, 0, 255)
drawContext 1
contextGamma 2
contextNumPartitions 128
contextColor (0, 220, 0, 255)
drawLinesOnlyIfExtentsOn 1
unifyAxisExtents 0
linesNumPartitions 512
focusGamma 4
drawFocusAs BinsOfConstantColor
IndividualLines
BinsOfConstantColor
BinsColoredByPopulation

346
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

PersistentParticles: PersistentParticlesAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

startIndex 0
stopIndex 1
stride 1
startPathType Absolute
Absolute
Relative
stopPathType Absolute
Absolute
Relative
traceVariableX ”default”
traceVariableY ”default”
traceVariableZ ”default”
connectParticles 0
indexVariable ”default”

347
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Poincare: PoincareAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

opacityType Explicit
Explicit
ColorTable
opacity 1
minPunctures 10
maxPunctures 100
puncturePlane Poloidal
Poloidal
Toroidal
Arbitrary
sourceType SpecifiedPoint
SpecifiedPoint
SpecifiedLine
pointSource (0, 0, 0)
lineStart (0, 0, 0)
lineEnd (1, 0, 0)
pointDensity 1
integrationType AdamsBashforth
DormandPrince
AdamsBashforth
M3DC12DIntegrator
M3DC13DIntegrator
NIMRODIntegrator
coordinateSystem Cartesian
Cartesian
Cylindrical
maxStepLength 0.1
relTol 0.0001
absTol 1e−05
analysis Normal
None
Normal
maximumToroidalWinding 0
overrideToroidalWinding 0
overridePoloidalWinding 0
windingPairConfidence 0.9
rationalTemplateSeedParm 0.9
adjustPlane −1
overlaps Remove
Raw
Remove
Merge
Smooth
meshType Curves
Curves
Surfaces
numberPlanes 1
singlePlane 0
min 0
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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

... Poincare attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
max 0
minFlag 0
maxFlag 0
colorType ColorByColorTable
ColorBySingleColor
ColorByColorTable
singleColor (0, 0, 0, 255)
colorTableName ”Default”
dataValue SafetyFactorQ
Solid
SafetyFactorQ
SafetyFactorP
SafetyFactorQ NotP
SafetyFactorP NotQ
ToroidalWindings
PoloidalWindingsQ
PoloidalWindingsP
FieldlineIndex
PointIndex
PlaneIndex
WindingGroup
WindingPointOrder
WindingPointOrderModulo
showOPoints 0
OPointMaxIterations 2
showXPoints 0
XPointMaxIterations 2
showChaotic 0
showIslands 0
verboseFlag 1
show1DPlots 0
showLines 1
lineWidth 0
lineStyle SOLID
SOLID
DASH
DOT
DOTDASH
showPoints 0
pointSize 1
pointSizePixels 1
pointType Point
Box
Axis
Icosahedron
Point
Sphere
legendFlag 1
lightingFlag 1
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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

... Poincare attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
streamlineAlgorithmType LoadOnDemand
LoadOnDemand
ParallelStaticDomains
MasterSlave
maxStreamlineProcessCount 10
maxDomainCacheSize 3
workGroupSize 32
forceNodeCenteredData 0

350
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Printer: PrinterAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

printerName ””
printProgram ”lpr”
documentName ”untitled”
creator ””
numCopies 1
portrait 1
printColor 1
outputToFile 0
outputToFileName ”untitled”
pageSize 2

351
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Process: ProcessAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

pids ()
ppids ()
hosts ()
isParallel 0

352
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Project: ProjectAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

projectionType XYCartesian
ZYCartesian
XZCartesian
XYCartesian
XRCylindrical
YRCylindrical
ZRCylindrical
vectorTransformMethod AsDirection
None
AsPoint
AsDisplacement
AsDirection

353
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Pseudocolor: PseudocolorAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

legendFlag 1
lightingFlag 1
minFlag 0
maxFlag 0
centering Natural
Natural
Nodal
Zonal
scaling Linear
Linear
Log
Skew
limitsMode OriginalData
OriginalData
CurrentPlot
min 0
max 1
pointSize 0.05
pointType Point
Box
Axis
Icosahedron
Point
Sphere
skewFactor 1
opacity 1
colorTableName ”hot”
invertColorTable 0
smoothingLevel 0
pointSizeVarEnabled 0
pointSizeVar ”default”
pointSizePixels 2
lineStyle SOLID
SOLID
DASH
DOT
DOTDASH
lineWidth 0
opacityType Explicit
Explicit
ColorTable

354
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Reflect: ReflectAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

octant PXPYPZ
PXPYPZ
NXPYPZ
PXNYPZ
NXNYPZ
PXPYNZ
NXPYNZ
PXNYNZ
NXNYNZ
useXBoundary 1
specifiedX 0
useYBoundary 1
specifiedY 0
useZBoundary 1
specifiedZ 0
reflections (1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0)

355
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Rendering: RenderingAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

antialiasing 0
geometryRepresentation Surfaces
Surfaces
Wireframe
Points
displayListMode Auto
Never
Always
Auto
stereoRendering 0
stereoType CrystalEyes
RedBlue
Interlaced
CrystalEyes
RedGreen
notifyForEachRender 0
scalableActivationMode Auto
Never
Always
Auto
scalableAutoThreshold 2000000
specularFlag 0
specularCoeff 0.6
specularPower 10
specularColor (255, 255, 255, 255)
doShadowing 0
shadowStrength 0.5
doDepthCueing 0
depthCueingAutomatic 1
startCuePoint (−10, 0, 0)
endCuePoint (10, 0, 0)
compressionActivationMode Never
Never
Always
Auto
colorTexturingFlag 1
compactDomainsActivationMode Never
Never
Always
Auto
compactDomainsAutoThreshold 256

356
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Replicate: ReplicateAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

useUnitCellVectors 0
xVector (1, 0, 0)
yVector (0, 1, 0)
zVector (0, 0, 1)
xReplications 1
yReplications 1
zReplications 1
mergeResults 1
replicateUnitCellAtoms 0
shiftPeriodicAtomOrigin 0
newPeriodicOrigin (0, 0, 0)

357
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Resample: ResampleAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

useExtents 1
startX 0
endX 1
samplesX 10
startY 0
endY 1
samplesY 10
is3D 1
startZ 0
endZ 1
samplesZ 10
tieResolver random
random
largest
smallest
tieResolverVariable ”default”
defaultValue 0
distributedResample 1

358
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Revolve: RevolveAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

meshType Auto
Auto
XY
RZ
ZR
autoAxis 1
axis (1, 0, 0)
startAngle 0
stopAngle 360
steps 30

359
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

SaveWindow: SaveWindowAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

outputToCurrentDirectory 1
outputDirectory ”.”
fileName ”visit”
family 1
format PNG
BMP
CURVE
JPEG
OBJ
PNG
POSTSCRIPT
POVRAY
PPM
RGB
STL
TIFF
ULTRA
VTK
PLY
width 1024
height 1024
screenCapture 0
saveTiled 0
quality 80
progressive 0
binary 0
stereo 0
compression PackBits
None
PackBits
Jpeg
Deflate
forceMerge 0
resConstraint ScreenProportions
NoConstraint
EqualWidthHeight
ScreenProportions
advancedMultiWindowSave 0
subWindowAtts.win1.position (0, 0)
subWindowAtts.win1.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win1.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win1.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win1.omitWindow 0
subWindowAtts.win2.position (0, 0)
subWindowAtts.win2.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win2.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win2.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win2.omitWindow 0
subWindowAtts.win3.position (0, 0)
Continued on next page...

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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

... SaveWindow attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
subWindowAtts.win3.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win3.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win3.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win3.omitWindow 0
subWindowAtts.win4.position (0, 0)
subWindowAtts.win4.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win4.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win4.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win4.omitWindow 0
subWindowAtts.win5.position (0, 0)
subWindowAtts.win5.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win5.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win5.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win5.omitWindow 0
subWindowAtts.win6.position (0, 0)
subWindowAtts.win6.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win6.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win6.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win6.omitWindow 0
subWindowAtts.win7.position (0, 0)
subWindowAtts.win7.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win7.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win7.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win7.omitWindow 0
subWindowAtts.win8.position (0, 0)
subWindowAtts.win8.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win8.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win8.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win8.omitWindow 0
subWindowAtts.win9.position (0, 0)
subWindowAtts.win9.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win9.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win9.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win9.omitWindow 0
subWindowAtts.win10.position (0, 0)
subWindowAtts.win10.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win10.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win10.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win10.omitWindow 0
subWindowAtts.win11.position (0, 0)
subWindowAtts.win11.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win11.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win11.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win11.omitWindow 0
subWindowAtts.win12.position (0, 0)
subWindowAtts.win12.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win12.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win12.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win12.omitWindow 0
Continued on next page...

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... SaveWindow attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
subWindowAtts.win13.position (0, 0)
subWindowAtts.win13.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win13.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win13.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win13.omitWindow 0
subWindowAtts.win14.position (0, 0)
subWindowAtts.win14.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win14.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win14.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win14.omitWindow 0
subWindowAtts.win15.position (0, 0)
subWindowAtts.win15.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win15.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win15.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win15.omitWindow 0
subWindowAtts.win16.position (0, 0)
subWindowAtts.win16.size (128, 128)
subWindowAtts.win16.layer 0
subWindowAtts.win16.transparency 0
subWindowAtts.win16.omitWindow 0

362
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Scatter: ScatterAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

var1 ”default”
var1Role Coordinate0
Coordinate0
Coordinate1
Coordinate2
Color
None
var1MinFlag 0
var1MaxFlag 0
var1Min 0
var1Max 1
var1Scaling Linear
Linear
Log
Skew
var1SkewFactor 1
var2Role Coordinate1
Coordinate0
Coordinate1
Coordinate2
Color
None
var2 ”default”
var2MinFlag 0
var2MaxFlag 0
var2Min 0
var2Max 1
var2Scaling Linear
Linear
Log
Skew
var2SkewFactor 1
var3Role None
Coordinate0
Coordinate1
Coordinate2
Color
None
var3 ”default”
var3MinFlag 0
var3MaxFlag 0
var3Min 0
var3Max 1
var3Scaling Linear
Linear
Log
Skew
var3SkewFactor 1
var4Role None
Continued on next page...

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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

... Scatter attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
Coordinate0
Coordinate1
Coordinate2
Color
None
var4 ”default”
var4MinFlag 0
var4MaxFlag 0
var4Min 0
var4Max 1
var4Scaling Linear
Linear
Log
Skew
var4SkewFactor 1
pointSize 0.05
pointSizePixels 1
pointType Point
Box
Axis
Icosahedron
Point
Sphere
scaleCube 1
colorType ColorByForegroundColor
ColorByForegroundColor
ColorBySingleColor
ColorByColorTable
singleColor (255, 0, 0, 255)
colorTableName ”Default”
invertColorTable 0
legendFlag 1

364
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Slice: SliceAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

originType Intercept
Point
Intercept
Percent
Zone
Node
originPoint (0, 0, 0)
originIntercept 0
originPercent 0
originZone 0
originNode 0
normal (0, −1, 0)
axisType YAxis
XAxis
YAxis
ZAxis
Arbitrary
ThetaPhi
upAxis (0, 0, 1)
project2d 1
interactive 1
flip 0
originZoneDomain 0
originNodeDomain 0
meshName ”default”
theta 0
phi 0

365
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

SmoothOperator: SmoothOperatorAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

numIterations 20
relaxationFactor 0.01
convergence 0
maintainFeatures 1
featureAngle 45
edgeAngle 15
smoothBoundaries 0

366
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

SphereSlice: SphereSliceAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

origin (0, 0, 0)
radius 1

367
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Spreadsheet: SpreadsheetAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

subsetName ”Whole”
formatString ”%1.6f”
useColorTable 0
colorTableName ”Default”
showTracerPlane 1
tracerColor (255, 0, 0, 150)
normal Z
X
Y
Z
sliceIndex 0
spreadsheetFont ”Courier,12,−1,5,50,0,0,0,0,0”
showPatchOutline 1
showCurrentCellOutline 0
currentPickType 0
currentPickLetter ””
pastPickLetters ()

368
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Streamline: StreamlineAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

sourceType SpecifiedPoint
SpecifiedPoint
SpecifiedPointList
SpecifiedLine
SpecifiedCircle
SpecifiedPlane
SpecifiedSphere
SpecifiedBox
pointSource (0, 0, 0)
lineStart (0, 0, 0)
lineEnd (1, 0, 0)
planeOrigin (0, 0, 0)
planeNormal (0, 0, 1)
planeUpAxis (0, 1, 0)
radius 1
sphereOrigin (0, 0, 0)
boxExtents (0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1)
useWholeBox 1
pointList (0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0)
sampleDensity0 2
sampleDensity1 2
sampleDensity2 2
coloringMethod ColorByTime
Solid
ColorBySpeed
ColorByVorticity
ColorByLength
ColorByTime
ColorBySeedPointID
ColorByVariable
ColorByCorrelationDistance
colorTableName ”Default”
singleColor (0, 0, 0, 255)
legendFlag 1
lightingFlag 1
streamlineDirection Forward
Forward
Backward
Both
maxSteps 1000
terminateByDistance 0
termDistance 10
terminateByTime 0
termTime 10
maxStepLength 0.1
limitMaximumTimestep 0
maxTimeStep 0.1
relTol 0.0001
absTolSizeType FractionOfBBox
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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

... Streamline attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
Absolute
FractionOfBBox
absTolAbsolute 1e−06
absTolBBox 1e−06
integrationType DormandPrince
DormandPrince
AdamsBashforth
M3DC12DIntegrator
M3DC13DIntegrator
NIMRODIntegrator
streamlineAlgorithmType VisItSelects
LoadOnDemand
ParallelStaticDomains
MasterSlave
VisItSelects
maxStreamlineProcessCount 10
maxDomainCacheSize 3
workGroupSize 32
pathlines 0
pathlinesOverrideStartingTimeFlag 0
pathlinesOverrideStartingTime 0
pathlinesCMFE POS CMFE
CONN CMFE
POS CMFE
coordinateSystem AsIs
AsIs
CylindricalToCartesian
CartesianToCylindrical
phiScalingFlag 0
phiScaling 1
coloringVariable ””
legendMinFlag 0
legendMaxFlag 0
legendMin 0
legendMax 1
displayBegin 0
displayEnd 1
displayBeginFlag 0
displayEndFlag 0
referenceTypeForDisplay Distance
Distance
Time
Step
displayMethod Lines
Lines
Tubes
Ribbons
tubeSizeType FractionOfBBox
Absolute
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370
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

... Streamline attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
FractionOfBBox
tubeRadiusAbsolute 0.125
tubeRadiusBBox 0.005
ribbonWidthSizeType FractionOfBBox
Absolute
FractionOfBBox
ribbonWidthAbsolute 0.125
ribbonWidthBBox 0.01
lineWidth 2
showSeeds 1
seedRadiusSizeType FractionOfBBox
Absolute
FractionOfBBox
seedRadiusAbsolute 1
seedRadiusBBox 0.015
showHeads 0
headDisplayType Sphere
Sphere
Cone
headRadiusSizeType FractionOfBBox
Absolute
FractionOfBBox
headRadiusAbsolute 0.25
headRadiusBBox 0.02
headHeightRatio 2
opacityType FullyOpaque
FullyOpaque
Constant
Ramp
VariableRange
opacityVariable ””
opacity 1
opacityVarMin 0
opacityVarMax 1
opacityVarMinFlag 0
opacityVarMaxFlag 0
tubeDisplayDensity 10
geomDisplayQuality Medium
Low
Medium
High
Super
sampleDistance0 10
sampleDistance1 10
sampleDistance2 10
fillInterior 1
randomSamples 0
randomSeed 0
numberOfRandomSamples 1
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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

... Streamline attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
forceNodeCenteredData 0
issueTerminationWarnings 1
issueStiffnessWarnings 1
issueCriticalPointsWarnings 1
criticalPointThreshold 0.001
varyTubeRadius None
None
Scalar
varyTubeRadiusFactor 10
varyTubeRadiusVariable ””
correlationDistanceAngTol 5
correlationDistanceMinDistAbsolute 1
correlationDistanceMinDistBBox 0.005
correlationDistanceMinDistType FractionOfBBox
Absolute
FractionOfBBox

372
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Subset: SubsetAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

colorType ColorByMultipleColors
ColorBySingleColor
ColorByMultipleColors
ColorByColorTable
colorTableName ”Default”
invertColorTable 0
filledFlag 1
legendFlag 1
lineStyle SOLID
SOLID
DASH
DOT
DOTDASH
lineWidth 0
singleColor (0, 0, 0, 255)
subsetNames ()
subsetType Unknown
Domain
Group
Material
EnumScalar
Mesh
Unknown
opacity 1
wireframe 0
drawInternal 0
smoothingLevel 0
pointSize 0.05
pointType Point
Box
Axis
Icosahedron
Point
Sphere
pointSizeVarEnabled 0
pointSizeVar ”default”
pointSizePixels 2

373
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

SurfaceNormal: SurfaceNormalAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

centering Point
Point
Cell

374
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Tensor: TensorAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

useStride 0
stride 1
nTensors 400
scale 0.25
scaleByMagnitude 1
autoScale 1
colorByEigenvalues 1
useLegend 1
tensorColor (0, 0, 0, 255)
colorTableName ”Default”
invertColorTable 0

375
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

ThreeSlice: ThreeSliceAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

x 0
y 0
z 0
interactive 1

376
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Threshold: ThresholdAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

outputMeshType 0
listedVarNames (”default”)
zonePortions ()
lowerBounds ()
upperBounds ()
defaultVarName ”default”
defaultVarIsScalar 0

377
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Transform: TransformAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

doRotate 0
rotateOrigin (0, 0, 0)
rotateAxis (0, 0, 1)
rotateAmount 0
rotateType Deg
Deg
Rad
doScale 0
scaleOrigin (0, 0, 0)
scaleX 1
scaleY 1
scaleZ 1
doTranslate 0
translateX 0
translateY 0
translateZ 0
transformType Similarity
Similarity
Coordinate
Linear
inputCoordSys Cartesian
Cartesian
Cylindrical
Spherical
outputCoordSys Spherical
Cartesian
Cylindrical
Spherical
m00 1
m01 0
m02 0
m03 0
m10 0
m11 1
m12 0
m13 0
m20 0
m21 0
m22 1
m23 0
m30 0
m31 0
m32 0
m33 1
invertLinearTransform 0
vectorTransformMethod AsDirection
None
AsPoint
AsDisplacement
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 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

... Transform attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
AsDirection
transformVectors 1

379
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

TriangulateRegularPoints: TriangulateRegularPointsAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

useXGridSpacing 0
xGridSpacing 1
useYGridSpacing 0
yGridSpacing 1

380
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Truecolor: TruecolorAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

opacity 1
lightingFlag 1

381
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Tube: TubeAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

scaleByVarFlag 0
tubeRadiusType FractionOfBBox
FractionOfBBox
Absolute
radiusFractionBBox 0.01
radiusAbsolute 1
scaleVariable ”default”
fineness 5
capping 0

382
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Vector: VectorAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

glyphLocation AdaptsToMeshResolution
AdaptsToMeshResolution
UniformInSpace
useStride 0
stride 1
nVectors 400
lineStyle SOLID
SOLID
DASH
DOT
DOTDASH
lineWidth 0
scale 0.25
scaleByMagnitude 1
autoScale 1
headSize 0.25
headOn 1
colorByMag 1
useLegend 1
vectorColor (0, 0, 0, 255)
colorTableName ”Default”
invertColorTable 0
vectorOrigin Tail
Head
Middle
Tail
minFlag 0
maxFlag 0
limitsMode OriginalData
OriginalData
CurrentPlot
min 0
max 1
lineStem 1
geometryQuality Fast
Fast
High
stemWidth 0.08
origOnly 1
glyphType Arrow
Arrow
Ellipsoid

383
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

View: ViewAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

viewNormal (0, 0, 1)
focus (0, 0, 0)
viewUp (0, 1, 0)
viewAngle 30
setScale 0
parallelScale 1
nearPlane 0.001
farPlane 100
imagePan (0, 0)
imageZoom 1
perspective 1
windowCoords (0, 0, 1, 1)
viewportCoords (0.1, 0.1, 0.9, 0.9)
eyeAngle 2

384
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

View2D: View2DAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

windowCoords (0, 1, 0, 1)
viewportCoords (0.2, 0.95, 0.15, 0.95)
fullFrameActivationMode Auto
On
Off
Auto
fullFrameAutoThreshold 100
xScale LINEAR
LINEAR
LOG
yScale LINEAR
LINEAR
LOG

385
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

View3D: View3DAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

viewNormal (0, 0, 1)
focus (0, 0, 0)
viewUp (0, 1, 0)
viewAngle 30
parallelScale 0.5
nearPlane −0.5
farPlane 0.5
imagePan (0, 0)
imageZoom 1
perspective 1
eyeAngle 2
centerOfRotationSet 0
centerOfRotation (0, 0, 0)
axis3DScaleFlag 0
axis3DScales (1, 1, 1)
shear (0, 0, 1)

386
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

ViewAxisArray: ViewAxisArrayAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

domainCoords (0, 1)
rangeCoords (0, 1)
viewportCoords (0.15, 0.9, 0.1, 0.85)

387
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

ViewCurve: ViewCurveAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

domainCoords (0, 1)
rangeCoords (0, 1)
viewportCoords (0.2, 0.95, 0.15, 0.95)
domainScale LINEAR
LINEAR
LOG
rangeScale LINEAR
LINEAR
LOG

388
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

Volume: VolumeAttributes()

Attribute Default/Allowed values

legendFlag 1
lightingFlag 1
colorControlPoints.GetControlPoints(0).colors (0, 0, 255, 255)
colorControlPoints.GetControlPoints(0).position 0
colorControlPoints.GetControlPoints(1).colors (0, 255, 255, 255)
colorControlPoints.GetControlPoints(1).position 0.25
colorControlPoints.GetControlPoints(2).colors (0, 255, 0, 255)
colorControlPoints.GetControlPoints(2).position 0.5
colorControlPoints.GetControlPoints(3).colors (255, 255, 0, 255)
colorControlPoints.GetControlPoints(3).position 0.75
colorControlPoints.GetControlPoints(4).colors (255, 0, 0, 255)
colorControlPoints.GetControlPoints(4).position 1
colorControlPoints.smoothingFlag 1
colorControlPoints.equalSpacingFlag 0
colorControlPoints.discreteFlag 0
colorControlPoints.externalFlag 0
opacityAttenuation 1
opacityMode FreeformMode
FreeformMode
GaussianMode
ColorTableMode
controlPoints does not contain any GaussianCon-
trolPoint objects.
resampleTarget 50000
opacityVariable ”default”
freeformOpacity (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,
16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,
29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41,
42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54,
55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67,
68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80,
81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93,
94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105,
106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115,
116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125,
126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135,
136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145,
146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155,
156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165,
166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175,
176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185,
186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195,
196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205,
206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215,
216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225,
226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235,
236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245,
246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255)
useColorVarMin 0
Continued on next page...

389
 CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTE REFERENCES

... Volume attributes continued

Attribute Default/Allowed values
colorVarMin 0
useColorVarMax 0
colorVarMax 0
useOpacityVarMin 0
opacityVarMin 0
useOpacityVarMax 0
opacityVarMax 0
smoothData 0
samplesPerRay 500
rendererType Splatting
Splatting
Texture3D
RayCasting
RayCastingIntegration
SLIVR
Tuvok
gradientType SobelOperator
CenteredDifferences
SobelOperator
num3DSlices 200
scaling Linear
Linear
Log
Skew
skewFactor 1
limitsMode OriginalData
OriginalData
CurrentPlot
sampling Rasterization
KernelBased
Rasterization
rendererSamples 3
transferFunction2DWidgets does not contain any
TransferFunctionWidget objects.
transferFunctionDim 1
lowGradientLightingReduction Lower
Off
Lowest
Lower
Low
Medium
High
Higher
Highest
lowGradientLightingClampFlag 0
lowGradientLightingClampValue 1

390
Chapter 7

VisIt CLI Events

This chapter shows a table with all events that the VisIt GUI could potentially generate. Different
plugins create different events, so the list will depend on the user configuration. The list in this section
is generated from a call to the GetCallbackNames() function and will therefore list just the events that
are applicable to the user that generates this documentation.
The list is alphabetically ordered. The left column, labeled EventName displays each event or call-
back name. The right column, labeled ArgCount displays the result of calling GetCallbackArgument-
Count(EventName) for the corresponding event, which returns the number of arguments a callback
function for that event should accept.

EventName ArgCount
ActivateDatabaseRPC 1
AddAnnotationObjectRPC 2
AddInitializedOperatorRPC 1
AddOperatorRPC 2
AddPlotRPC 2
AddWindowRPC 0
AlterDatabaseCorrelationRPC 4
AnimationAttributes 1
AnimationPlayRPC 0
AnimationReversePlayRPC 0
AnimationSetNFramesRPC 1
AnimationStopRPC 0
AnnotationAttributes 1
ApplyNamedSelectionRPC 1
BoundaryAttributes 1
BoundaryOpAttributes 1
BoxAttributes 1
ChangeActivePlotsVarRPC 1
CheckForNewStatesRPC 1
ChooseCenterOfRotationRPC 2
ClearAllWindowsRPC 0
ClearCacheForAllEnginesRPC 0
ClearCacheRPC 2
ClearPickPointsRPC 0
ClearRefLinesRPC 0
Continued on next page...

391
 CHAPTER 7. VISIT CLI EVENTS

... CLI Events continued

EventName ArgCount
ClearViewKeyframesRPC 0
ClearWindowRPC 1
ClipAttributes 1
CloneWindowRPC 0
CloseComputeEngineRPC 2
CloseDatabaseRPC 1
CloseRPC 0
ColorTableAttributes 1
ConeAttributes 1
ConnectToMetaDataServerRPC 2
ConnectedComponentsAttributes 1
ConstructDataBinningAttributes 1
ConstructDataBinningRPC 0
ContourAttributes 1
CoordSwapAttributes 1
CopyActivePlotsRPC 0
CopyAnnotationsToWindowRPC 2
CopyLightingToWindowRPC 2
CopyPlotsToWindowRPC 2
CopyViewToWindowRPC 2
CreateBondsAttributes 1
CreateDatabaseCorrelationRPC 4
CreateNamedSelectionRPC 1
CurveAttributes 1
CylinderAttributes 1
DataBinningAttributes 1
DatabaseMetaData 1
DatabaseQueryRPC 8
DeIconifyAllWindowsRPC 0
DeferExpressionAttributes 1
DeleteActiveAnnotationObjectsRPC 0
DeleteActivePlotsRPC 0
DeleteDatabaseCorrelationRPC 1
DeleteNamedSelectionRPC 1
DeletePlotDatabaseKeyframeRPC 2
DeletePlotKeyframeRPC 2
DeleteViewKeyframeRPC 1
DeleteWindowRPC 0
DemoteOperatorRPC 1
DetachRPC 0
DisableRedrawRPC 0
DisplaceAttributes 1
DrawPlotsRPC 1
DualMeshAttributes 1
EdgeAttributes 1
ElevateAttributes 1
EnableToolRPC 2
EnableToolbarRPC 2
ExportColorTableRPC 1
Continued on next page...

392
 CHAPTER 7. VISIT CLI EVENTS

... CLI Events continued

EventName ArgCount
ExportDBAttributes 1
ExportDBRPC 0
ExportEntireStateRPC 1
ExpressionList 1
ExternalSurfaceAttributes 1
FileOpenOptions 1
FilledBoundaryAttributes 1
FluxAttributes 1
GetProcInfoRPC 3
GlobalAttributes 1
GlobalLineoutAttributes 1
HideActiveAnnotationObjectsRPC 0
HideActivePlotsRPC 0
HideAllWindowsRPC 0
HideToolbarsForAllWindowsRPC 0
HideToolbarsRPC 0
HistogramAttributes 1
IconifyAllWindowsRPC 0
ImportEntireStateRPC 2
ImportEntireStateWithDifferentSourcesRPC 3
IndexSelectAttributes 1
InitializeNamedSelectionVariablesRPC 1
InteractorAttributes 1
InverseGhostZoneAttributes 1
InvertBackgroundRPC 0
IsosurfaceAttributes 1
IsovolumeAttributes 1
KeyframeAttributes 1
LabelAttributes 1
LineQueryRPC 6
LineoutAttributes 1
LoadNamedSelectionRPC 1
LowerActiveAnnotationObjectsRPC 0
MaterialAttributes 1
MenuQuitRPC 1
MeshAttributes 1
MeshManagementAttributes 1
MoleculeAttributes 1
MoveAndResizeWindowRPC 5
MovePlotDatabaseKeyframeRPC 3
MovePlotKeyframeRPC 3
MovePlotOrderTowardFirstRPC 1
MovePlotOrderTowardLastRPC 1
MoveViewKeyframeRPC 2
MoveWindowRPC 3
MultiCurveAttributes 1
MultiresControlAttributes 1
OnionPeelAttributes 1
OpenCLIClientRPC 1
Continued on next page...

393
 CHAPTER 7. VISIT CLI EVENTS

... CLI Events continued

EventName ArgCount
OpenClientRPC 3
OpenComputeEngineRPC 2
OpenDatabaseRPC 4
OpenGUIClientRPC 1
OpenMDServerRPC 2
OverlayDatabaseRPC 1
ParallelCoordinatesAttributes 1
PersistentParticlesAttributes 1
PickAttributes 1
PlotList 1
PoincareAttributes 1
PointQueryRPC 7
PrintWindowRPC 0
PrinterAttributes 1
ProcessAttributes 1
ProcessExpressionsRPC 0
ProjectAttributes 1
PromoteOperatorRPC 1
PseudocolorAttributes 1
QueryAttributes 1
QueryOverTimeAttributes 1
RaiseActiveAnnotationObjectsRPC 0
ReOpenDatabaseRPC 2
RecenterViewRPC 0
RedoViewRPC 0
RedrawRPC 0
ReflectAttributes 1
RemoveAllOperatorsRPC 0
RemoveLastOperatorRPC 0
RemoveOperatorRPC 1
RenamePickLabelRPC 1
RenderingAttributes 1
ReplaceDatabaseRPC 2
ReplicateAttributes 1
RequestMetaDataRPC 2
ResampleAttributes 1
ResetAnnotationAttributesRPC 0
ResetAnnotationObjectListRPC 0
ResetInteractorAttributesRPC 0
ResetLightListRPC 0
ResetLineoutColorRPC 0
ResetMaterialAttributesRPC 0
ResetMeshManagementAttributesRPC 0
ResetOperatorOptionsRPC 1
ResetPickAttributesRPC 0
ResetPickLetterRPC 0
ResetPlotOptionsRPC 1
ResetQueryOverTimeAttributesRPC 0
ResetViewRPC 0
Continued on next page...

394
 CHAPTER 7. VISIT CLI EVENTS

... CLI Events continued

EventName ArgCount
ResizeWindowRPC 3
RevolveAttributes 1
SaveNamedSelectionRPC 1
SaveViewRPC 0
SaveWindowAttributes 1
SaveWindowRPC 0
ScatterAttributes 1
SendSimulationCommandRPC 4
SetActivePlotsRPC 2
SetActiveTimeSliderRPC 1
SetActiveWindowRPC 1
SetAnimationAttributesRPC 0
SetAnnotationAttributesRPC 0
SetAnnotationObjectOptionsRPC 0
SetAppearanceRPC 0
SetCenterOfRotationRPC 1
SetCreateMeshQualityExpressionsRPC 1
SetCreateTimeDerivativeExpressionsRPC 1
SetCreateVectorMagnitudeExpressionsRPC 1
SetDefaultAnnotationAttributesRPC 0
SetDefaultAnnotationObjectListRPC 0
SetDefaultFileOpenOptionsRPC 0
SetDefaultInteractorAttributesRPC 0
SetDefaultLightListRPC 0
SetDefaultMaterialAttributesRPC 0
SetDefaultMeshManagementAttributesRPC 0
SetDefaultOperatorOptionsRPC 1
SetDefaultPickAttributesRPC 0
SetDefaultPlotOptionsRPC 1
SetDefaultQueryOverTimeAttributesRPC 0
SetGlobalLineoutAttributesRPC 0
SetInteractorAttributesRPC 0
SetKeyframeAttributesRPC 0
SetLightListRPC 0
SetMaterialAttributesRPC 0
SetMeshManagementAttributesRPC 0
SetNamedSelectionAutoApplyRPC 1
SetOperatorOptionsRPC 1
SetPickAttributesRPC 0
SetPlotDatabaseStateRPC 3
SetPlotDescriptionRPC 1
SetPlotFollowsTimeRPC 0
SetPlotFrameRangeRPC 3
SetPlotOptionsRPC 1
SetPlotOrderToFirstRPC 1
SetPlotOrderToLastRPC 1
SetPlotSILRestrictionRPC 0
SetQueryFloatFormatRPC 1
SetQueryOverTimeAttributesRPC 0
Continued on next page...

395
 CHAPTER 7. VISIT CLI EVENTS

... CLI Events continued

EventName ArgCount
SetRenderingAttributesRPC 0
SetStateLoggingRPC 0
SetSuppressMessagesRPC 1
SetTimeSliderStateRPC 1
SetToolUpdateModeRPC 1
SetToolbarIconSizeRPC 0
SetTreatAllDBsAsTimeVaryingRPC 1
SetTryHarderCyclesTimesRPC 1
SetView2DRPC 0
SetView3DRPC 0
SetViewAxisArrayRPC 1
SetViewCurveRPC 0
SetViewExtentsTypeRPC 1
SetViewKeyframeRPC 0
SetWindowAreaRPC 1
SetWindowLayoutRPC 1
SetWindowModeRPC 1
ShowAllWindowsRPC 0
ShowToolbarsForAllWindowsRPC 0
ShowToolbarsRPC 0
SliceAttributes 1
SmoothOperatorAttributes 1
SphereSliceAttributes 1
SpreadsheetAttributes 1
StreamlineAttributes 1
SubsetAttributes 1
SuppressQueryOutputRPC 1
SurfaceNormalAttributes 1
TensorAttributes 1
ThreeSliceAttributes 1
ThresholdAttributes 1
TimeSliderNextStateRPC 0
TimeSliderPreviousStateRPC 0
ToggleBoundingBoxModeRPC 0
ToggleCameraViewModeRPC 0
ToggleFullFrameRPC 0
ToggleLockTimeRPC 0
ToggleLockToolsRPC 0
ToggleLockViewModeRPC 0
ToggleMaintainViewModeRPC 0
TogglePerspectiveViewRPC 0
ToggleSpinModeRPC 0
TransformAttributes 1
TriangulateRegularPointsAttributes 1
TruecolorAttributes 1
TubeAttributes 1
TurnOffAllLocksRPC 0
UndoViewRPC 0
UpdateColorTableRPC 1
Continued on next page...

396
 CHAPTER 7. VISIT CLI EVENTS

... CLI Events continued

EventName ArgCount
UpdateDBPluginInfoRPC 1
UpdateNamedSelectionRPC 1
VectorAttributes 1
View2DAttributes 1
View3DAttributes 1
ViewCurveAttributes 1
VolumeAttributes 1
WindowInformation 1
WriteConfigFileRPC 0

397
Chapter 8

Acknowledgments

This document is primarily based on the excellent manual put together by Brad Whitlock of Lawrence
Livermore in 2005. Several years afterwards, the content from that manual was converted to serve
as online help for the command line interpreter itself. As new routines were added, this online help
was updated. In 2010, Jakob van Bethlehem of the University of Groningen wrote a wonderful script
to convert the online help to manual form. In 2011, Hank Childs of Lawrence Berkeley merged the
descriptions from Brad Whitlock’s original manual with the function definitions produced by Jakob’s
conversion of the online help. The result is this manual.

398