.. _Getting Started:

Getting Started
---------------

The rest of this manual details the ins and outs to using VisIt_, but you can
also very quickly visualize your data by opening a database and creating
plots. You must first select databases to visualize. Sample data files are
usually installed with VisIt_ in a data directory in the directory in which
VisIt_ was installed. If you are running VisIt_ on the Windows platform, you
can double-click on one of the sample Silo data files to open it in VisIt_
or you can run VisIt_ and open the **File open** window from the
**Main** window's **File** menu. Using the **File open** window, navigate to
the appropriate directory, highlight a file, and click the **Ok** button.
If the database was successfully opened, the **Add** menu will be enabled.

Once you have opened a database, you can use it to create a plot by selecting
a plot type and database variable from the **Add** menu. Once a plot is
created, the **Active plot** list will show that the new plot has been added
by displaying a description of the plot drawn in green text. The color green
indicates that the plot is in the new state and has not been drawn yet. To
draw the plot, click the **Draw** button in the middle of the **Main** window.
That's all there is to creating a plot using VisIt_. For more detailed
information on creating plots and performing specific actions in VisIt_,
refer to the other chapters in this book.
