Proposal: Exports Inspector 2.0
This issue proposes a new design for the Export Inspector panel introduced in ParaView 5.8.
Panel
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Exports Inspector panel is a dock panel that allows users to inspect/add/modify exports defined in the application.
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Similar to the Properties panel, the Exports Inspector panel shows information about exports defined on the active source and active view.
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There are two groups of extracts, Data Extracts and Image Extracts. The Data Extracts reflect the extracts defined on the active source while the Image Extracts reflect the extracts defined on the active view.
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New extracts can be added by clicking on the + button next to the type of extract. The + button will expose a drop-down menu on press to let the user choose which specific type of data or image extract to add. For example Data extracts menu will show all supported writers for the active source, while Image extract menu will show supported image formats, and view export formats such as Cinema database, X3D etc.
Multiple extracts of the same time can be added for the same active source/view. -
Once an extract is added, its properties will be shown in the under the appropriate extract group in the panel. Thus, all data extracts will be shown under Data Extracts group and image extracts under Image Extracts.
Export properties
Now, let’s look at how the properties for individual extracts are structured. The following mockup shows a sample data extract.
- Each extract will have a group header/separator with a delete button to allow the user to delete that extract, if not needed.
- Enable Extract is a checkbox that allows the user to enable/disable the extract. Disabled extracts will be skipped by Export Now or Catalyst runs. They are still saved in state and thus recoverable, just not active.
- Each extract has two groups of parameters. The first group, called the Trigger Parameters helps define when the extract generates output. We can support arbitrary types of triggers, but in the first pass we limit to time or time-step based triggers where the user indicates which timesteps to generate the extract for. The second group is for parameters specific to the chosen extract type. In the above example, the properties for the CSV writer will be shown here.
Export Now
- Export Now from the File menu is used to generate the extracts immediately.
- When the user triggers Export Now, the user will be presented with a dialog where the user configures the “Export Now” properties. These include options like Root Directory i.e the location under which to generate the extracts.
Export Catalyst Script
- Export Catalyst Script from File menu (or Catalyst menu) can be used to generate a Catalyst script.
- When triggered, a dialog with Catalyst specific options is shown. This will include options like Root Directory, Enable Live Connections, etc. Thus, Catalyst specific options are delayed till the user requests a Catalyst script.