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# ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile

VTKEx/Cxx/IO/ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile

### Description

This examples reads either a vtu (unstructured grid) or vtp (polydata) file and displays it to the screen.

Other languages

See (CSharp)

Question

If you have a simple question about this example contact us at VTKExProject If your question is more complex and may require extended discussion, please use the VTK Discourse Forum

### Code

ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile.cxx

    #include <vtkSmartPointer.h>
    #include <vtkXMLGenericDataObjectReader.h>

    #include <vtkPolyData.h>
    #include <vtkUnstructuredGrid.h>
    #include <vtkDataSetMapper.h>
    #include <vtkActor.h>
    #include <vtkProperty.h>
    #include <vtkRenderWindow.h>
    #include <vtkRenderer.h>
    #include <vtkRenderWindowInteractor.h>
    #include <vtkNamedColors.h>

    int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    {
      // Ensure a filename was specified
      if(argc < 2)
      {
        std::cout << "Usage: " << argv[0] << " InputFilename" << std::endl;
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
      }

      // Get all data from the file
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkXMLGenericDataObjectReader> reader =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkXMLGenericDataObjectReader>::New();
      reader->SetFileName(argv[1]);
      reader->Update();

      // All of the standard data types can be checked and obtained like this:
      if(dynamic_cast<vtkPolyData*>(reader->GetOutput()))
      {
        std::cout << "File is a polydata" << std::endl;
      }
      else if(dynamic_cast<vtkUnstructuredGrid*>(reader->GetOutput()))
      {
        std::cout << "File is an unstructured grid" << std::endl;
      }

      // Visualize
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkNamedColors> colors =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkNamedColors>::New();
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkDataSetMapper> mapper =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkDataSetMapper>::New();
      mapper->SetInputConnection(reader->GetOutputPort());

      vtkSmartPointer<vtkActor> actor =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkActor>::New();
      actor->SetMapper(mapper);
      actor->GetProperty()->SetColor(colors->GetColor3d("Moccasin").GetData());

      vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderer> renderer =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderer>::New();
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindow> renderWindow =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindow>::New();
      renderWindow->AddRenderer(renderer);
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindowInteractor> renderWindowInteractor =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindowInteractor>::New();
      renderWindowInteractor->SetRenderWindow(renderWindow);

      renderer->AddActor(actor);
      renderer->SetBackground(colors->GetColor3d("SlateGray").GetData());

      renderWindow->SetSize(640, 480);
      renderWindow->Render();
      renderWindowInteractor->Start();

      return EXIT_SUCCESS;
    }

### CMakeLists.txt

    cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.3 FATAL_ERROR)

    project(ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile)

    find_package(VTK COMPONENTS
      vtkvtkCommonColor
      vtkvtkCommonCore
      vtkvtkCommonDataModel
      vtkvtkIOXML
      vtkvtkInteractionStyle
      vtkvtkRenderingContextOpenGL2
      vtkvtkRenderingCore
      vtkvtkRenderingFreeType
      vtkvtkRenderingGL2PSOpenGL2
      vtkvtkRenderingOpenGL2 QUIET)
    if (NOT VTK_FOUND)
      message("Skipping ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile: ${VTK_NOT_FOUND_MESSAGE}")
      return ()
    endif()
    message (STATUS "VTK_VERSION: ${VTK_VERSION}")
    if (VTK_VERSION VERSION_LESS "8.90.0")
      # old system
      include(${VTK_USE_FILE})
      add_executable(ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile MACOSX_BUNDLE ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile.cxx )
      target_link_libraries(ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile PRIVATE ${VTK_LIBRARIES})
    else ()
      # include all components
      add_executable(ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile MACOSX_BUNDLE ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile.cxx )
      target_link_libraries(ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile PRIVATE ${VTK_LIBRARIES})
      # vtk_module_autoinit is needed
      vtk_module_autoinit(
        TARGETS ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile
        MODULES ${VTK_LIBRARIES}
        )
    endif ()

### Download and Build ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile

Click here to download ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile and its CMakeLists.txt file. Once the tarball ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile.tar has been downloaded and extracted,

    cd ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile/build

If VTK is installed:

    cmake ..

If VTK is not installed but compiled on your system, you will need to specify the path to your VTK build:

    cmake -DVTK_DIR:PATH=/home/me/vtk_build ..

Build the project:

    make

and run it:

    ./ReadUnknownTypeXMLFile

WINDOWS USERS

Be sure to add the VTK bin directory to your path. This will resolve the VTK dll's at run time.