Reads RAW format geometry files and creates mesh output.
| Name | Type | Description | UI Control |
| filename | string | Name of RAW file to read. | File Dialog |
| Name | Type | Description | |
| out_fld | Triangle Mesh | Geometry data read from file. | |
| out_obj | DataObject | Directly Renderable Output Object. | |
The read_raw user macro reads RAW format data from a specified file and outputs mesh data. The RAW file format is a very simple ASCII data format that stores triangle data. Each line of a RAW file consists of 9 floating point values. These specify the coordinates of 3 points that make up a triangle. A RAW file does not contain any other data apart from this. RAW format data can be output by the Crossroads 3D conversion program. This program can convert from most of the common 3D data formats into RAW format. Alternatively a simple conversion program could be written to convert the users data into RAW format.
To properly reconstruct the connectivity data that is stored in a mesh field the read_raw macro checks for and removes duplicate points. This enables AVS/Express to properly process and display the geometry. Unfortunately checking for duplicate points is a very computationally intensive process. Therefore it recommended that if the loaded data is to be used regularly it should be saved in a more appropriate format. netCDF and UCD and both appropriate formats for storing this data. The write_netCDF Express module can be used to write a netCDF format file. The IAC write_ucd project can be used to write a UCD format file.
The mesh data output by the read_raw module contains the coordinates of the remaining nodes and a triangle cell-set describing the connectivity of the data. Internally the ReadRawCore low-level module outputs arrays of coordinate and connectivity data. These are converted into a mesh output by using a tri_mesh field mapping module.
filename
String parameter that contains the name of the RAW file that should be read. The filename can either by relative or absolute and it can contain AVS/Express environment variables (i.e. $XP_ROOT, $XP_PATH<1>).
out_fld
Mesh data output that contains the geometry data read from the RAW file. The output consists of the nodal coordinates and a single triangle cell-set that describes the connectivity of the data.
out_obj
The directly renderable output of the read_raw macro. This output contains the geometrye data read from the RAW file in a form that can be rendered by the standard data viewers.
The ReadRawFunc functional macro uses the ReadRawCore low-level module. The read_raw user macro uses this functional macro and the ReadRawUI user interface macro. None of these objects use a parameter block.
Three example applications are provided, ReadRawEg, Raw_2_UCD and ReadUCDEg. The ReadRawEg application reads a RAW file that contains a plane geometry and displays that to the user. The Raw_2_UCD application reads a RAW file and uses the IAC write_ucd macro to write a UCD format file. The ReadUCDEg application reads the UCD file written by the Raw_2_UCD application. This allows the user to quickly check that the Raw_2_UCD application works.
The Raw_2_UCD example application requires the following components to be installed correctly. Without these components the application will not work. The rest of the project will not be affected if these components are not installed.
iac_proj/rd_raw/raw_mods.v contains the V definition of the ReadRawCore module.
iac_proj/rd_raw/raw_macs.v contains the V definitions of the ReadRawUI UI macro, the ReadRawFunc functional macro and the read_raw user macro.
iac_proj/rd_raw/raw_apps.v contains the V definitions of the ReadRawEg and Raw_2_UCD example applications.
The low-level ReadRawMods library containing the low-level ReadRawCore module does not specify a process. By default the express process will be used.
Dr Frederico Gamba, Advanced Visual Systems Italy.
Lars Mueller, Manchester Visualization Centre Andrew Dodd, International AVS Centre
International AVS Centre Manchester Visualization Centre Manchester Computing University of Manchester Oxford Road Manchester United Kingdom M13 9PL