ParaViewAndOthersExternalTools

BasicTools offer some capabilities to communicate with external mesh dedicated tools.

Vtk [1]

If you have a working VTK installation, you can set the module BasicTools.Bridges.vtkBridge to convert meshes back and forth BasicTools meshes.

from BasicTools.Bridges.vtkBridge import MeshToVtk, VtkToMesh
BTMesh =  #<-- this is my BasicTools Mesh
vtkMesh = MeshToVtk(BTMesh,TagsAsFields=True)
# do some work with VTK
vtk MeshII = #<- create a new vtk mesh from the output of a filter
BTMeshII = VtkToMesh(vtkMeshII,FieldsAsTags=True)

ParaView [2]

Conda/Mamba Users Installation

For the moment this functionality is not available on conda environments installation even if the plugin is installed in the path /conda_env_path/ParaViewPlugins/BasicToolsParaViewBridge.py The reason is the incompatibility of the ParaView python with the conda python. We are working on a solution for this problem

Developer Installation

Some functionalities (like readers, writers) can be added to ParaView as a plugin. The configuration consists in setting the PYTHONPATH environment variable to your BasicTools installation

PYTHONPATH=/path/to/BasicTools/src

Then you can load the plugin /path/to/BasicTools/extras/BasicToolsParaViewBridge.py using the Tools->Manage Plugins… menu. Also, you can set the PV_PLUGIN_PATH environment variable to indicate ParaView to load automatically the plugin at start up.

PV_PLUGIN_PATH=/path/to/BasicTools/extras

Three type of object are added to ParaView by the plugin:

  • Readers: The BasicTools capabilities to reading data from different file formats.

  • Writers: The BasicTools capabilities to export data to different file formats.

  • Filters: Some of the mesh treatment functionalities of BasicTools are exposed as vtk filters.

Be aware that the use of this functionalities involve a format conversion between the vtk and the BasicTools internal format. Be aware that your Python installation version may not be compatible with Python version of ParaView.

MeshIO [3]

MeshIO is a library capable of reading and writing to various mesh file formats.

If you have a working MeshIO installation, you can set the module BasicTools.Bridges.MeshIOBridge to convert meshes back and forth BasicTools meshes. MeshIO offer some reading and writing capabilities. More information in BasicTools.Bridges.MeshIOBridge.

PyVista [4]

If you have a working PyVista installation, you can set the module BasicTools.Bridges.PyVistaBridge to convert meshes back and forth BasicTools meshes.

PyVista offer a very simple interface for the visualisation of 3D meshes. More information in BasicTools.Bridges.PyVistaBridge

Footnotes