HowTo How To
2011-02-17
: Ensight Howto HowTo EnSight92_Docs
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- Load Spatially Decomposed Case Files
- Read User Defined
- Do Structured Extraction
- Use Block Continuation
- Use Resource Management
- Save or Output
- Manipulate Viewing Parameters
- Rotate, Zoom, Translate, Scale
- Set Drawing Mode (Line, Surface, Hidden Line)
- Set Global Viewing Parameters
- Set Z Clipping
- Set LookFrom / LookAt
- Set Auxiliary Clipping
- Define and Change Viewports
- Control Lighting Attributes
- Display Remotely
- Save and Restore Viewing Parameters
- Create and Manipulate Frames
- Reset Tools and Viewports
- Use the Color Selector
- Enable Stereo Viewing
- Pick Center of Transformation
- Set Model Axis/Extent Bounds
- Do Viewport Tracking
- View a Viewport Through a Camera
- Manage Views
- Manipulate Tools
- Visualize Data
- Introduction to Part Creation
- Create Contours
- Create Isosurfaces
- Create Particle Traces
- Create Clips
- Create Clip Lines
- Create Clip Planes
- Create Box Clips
- Create Quadric Clips
- Create IJK Clips
- Create XYZ Clips
- Create RTZ Clips
- Create Revolution Tool Clips
- Create Revolution of 1D Part Clips
- Create General Quadric Clips
- Create Clip Splines
- Create Vector Arrows
- Create Elevated Surfaces
- Extrude Parts
- Create Profile Plots
- Create Developed (Unrolled) Surfaces
- Create Subset Parts
- Create Tensor Glyphs
- Display Displacements
- Display Discrete or Experimental Data
- Change Time Steps
- Extract Vortex Cores
- Extract Separation and Attachment Lines
- Extract Shock Surfaces
- Create Material Parts
- Remove Failed Elements
- Do Element Blanking
- Use Point Parts
- Create and Manipulate Variables
- Query, Probe, Plot
- Manipulate Parts
- Animate
- Annotate
- Configure EnSight
- Setup For Parallel Computation
- Setup For Parallel Rendering
- Miscellaneous

Page 1
Introduction
Use the Online Documentation
Using The How To Manual
EnSight Overview
Connect EnSight Client and Server
Command Line Start-up Options
Use Environment Variables
Use MPI
Read and Load Data
Read Data
Use ens_checker
Load Multiple Datasets (Cases)
Load Transient Data
Use Server of Servers
Load Spatially Decomposed Case Files
Read User Defined
Do Structured Extraction
Use Block Continuation
Use Resource Management
Save or Output
Save or Restore an Archive
Record and Play Command Files
Print/Save an Image
Save Geometric Entities
Save/Restore Context
Save Scenario
Save/Restore Session
Output for Povray
Manipulate Viewing Parameters
Rotate, Zoom, Translate, Scale
Set Drawing Mode (Line, Surface, Hidden Line)
Set Global Viewing Parameters
Set Z Clipping
Set LookFrom / LookAt
Set Auxiliary Clipping
Define and Change Viewports
Control Lighting Attributes
Display Remotely
Save and Restore Viewing Parameters
Create and Manipulate Frames
Reset Tools and Viewports
Use the Color Selector
Enable Stereo Viewing
Pick Center of Transformation
Set Model Axis/Extent Bounds
Do Viewport Tracking
View a Viewport Through a Camera
Manage Views
Manipulate Tools
Use the Cursor (Point) Tool
Use the Line Tool
Use the Plane Tool
Use the Box Tool
Use the Cylinder Tool
Use the Sphere Tool
Use the Cone Tool
Use the Surface of Revolution Tool
Use the Selection Tool
Use the Spline Tool
Visualize Data
Introduction to Part Creation
Create Contours
Create Isosurfaces
Create Particle Traces
Create Clips
Create Clip Lines
Create Clip Planes
Create Box Clips
Create Quadric Clips
Create IJK Clips
Create XYZ Clips
Create RTZ Clips
Create Revolution Tool Clips
Create Revolution of 1D Part Clips
Create General Quadric Clips
Create Clip Splines
Create Vector Arrows
Create Elevated Surfaces
Extrude Parts
Create Profile Plots
Create Developed (Unrolled) Surfaces
Create Subset Parts
Create Tensor Glyphs
Display Displacements
Display Discrete or Experimental Data
Change Time Steps
Extract Vortex Cores
Extract Separation and Attachment Lines
Extract Shock Surfaces
Create Material Parts
Remove Failed Elements
Do Element Blanking
Use Point Parts
Create and Manipulate Variables
Activate Variables
Create New Variables
Extract Boundary Layer Variables
Edit Color Palettes
Use Volume Rendering
Query, Probe, Plot
Get Point, Node, Element, and Part Information
Probe Interactively
Query/Plot
Table of Contents
Index Alphabetical Listing

Page 2
Change Plot Attributes
Query Datasets
Manipulate Parts
Change Color
Copy a Part
Group Parts
Merge Parts
Extract Part Representations
Cut Parts
Delete a Part
Change the Visual Representation
Set Attributes
Display Labels
Set Transparency
Select Parts
Set Symmetry
Map Textures
Animate
Animate Transient Data
Create a Flipbook Animation
Create a Keyframe Animation
Animate Particle Traces
Annotate
Create Text Annotation
Create Lines
Create 2D Shapes
Create 3D Arrows
Create Dials
Create Gauges
Load Custom Logos
Create Color Legends
Manipulate Fonts
Configure EnSight
Customize Icon Bars
Customize Mouse Button Actions
Save GUI Settings
Define and Use Macros
Set or Modify Preferences
Enable User Defined Input Devices
Produce Customized Pop-Up Menus
Produce Customized Access to Tools & Fea-
tures
Setup For Parallel Computation
Setup For Parallel Rendering
Miscellaneous
Select Files

Page 3
Print/Save an Image, 98
Activate Variables, 273
Animate Particle Traces, 365
Animate Transient Data, 348
Change Color, 314
Change Plot Attributes, 305
Change the Visual Representation, 322
Change Time Steps, 256
Command Line Start-up Options, 22
Connect EnSight Client and Server, 12
Control Lighting Attributes, 142
Copy a Part, 316
Create 2D Shapes, 373
Create 3D Arrows, 375
Create a Flipbook Animation, 351
Create a Keyframe Animation, 355
Create and Manipulate Frames, 145
Create Box Clips, 222
Create Clip Lines, 214
Create Clip Planes, 217
Create Clip Splines, 236
Create Clips, 213
Create Color Legends, 383
Create Contours, 198
Create Developed (Unrolled) Surfaces, 247
Create Dials, 377
Create Elevated Surfaces, 243
Create Gauges, 380
Create General Quadric Clips, 234
Create IJK Clips, 225
Create Isosurfaces, 200
Create Lines, 371
Create Material Parts, 265
Create New Variables, 275
Create Particle Traces, 204
Create Profile Plots, 246
Create Quadric Clips, 223
Create Revolution of 1D Part Clips, 233
Create Revolution Tool Clips, 232
Create RTZ Clips, 230
Create Subset Parts, 248
Create Tensor Glyphs, 249
Create Text Annotation, 367
Create Vector Arrows, 238
Create XYZ Clips, 228
Customize Icon Bars, 390
Customize Mouse Button Actions, 392
Cut Parts, 320
Define and Change Viewports, 133
Define and Use Macros, 395
Delete a Part, 321
Display Discrete or Experimental Data, 254
Display Displacements, 251
Display Labels, 329
Display Remotely, 143
Do Element Blanking, 269
Do Structured Extraction, 73
Do Viewport Tracking, 159
Edit Color Palettes, 285
Enable Stereo Viewing, 155
Enable User Defined Input Devices, 416
EnSight Overview, 10
Extract Boundary Layer Variables, 283
Extract Part Representations, 319
Extract Separation and Attachment Lines, 261
Extract Shock Surfaces, 263
Extract Vortex Cores, 259
Extrude Parts, 244
Get Point, Node, Element, and Part Information, 291
Group Parts, 317
Introduction to Part Creation, 191
Load Custom Logos, 382
Load Multiple Datasets (Cases), 52
Load Spatially Decomposed Case Files, 66
Load Transient Data, 57
Manage Views, 162
Manipulate Fonts, 386
Map Textures, 338
Merge Parts, 318
Output for Povray, 116
Pick Center of Transformation, 156
Probe Interactively, 294
Produce Customized Access to Tools & Features, 424
Produce Customized Pop-Up Menus, 417
Query Datasets, 313
Query/Plot, 297
Read Data, 36
Read User Defined, 72
Record and Play Command Files, 95
Remove Failed Elements, 267
Reset Tools and Viewports, 152
Rotate, Zoom, Translate, Scale, 120
Save and Restore Viewing Parameters, 144
Save Geometric Entities, 106
Save GUI Settings, 394
Save or Restore an Archive, 92
Save Scenario, 112
Save/Restore Context, 110
Save/Restore Session, 115
Select Files, 434
Select Parts, 332
Set Attributes, 324
Set Auxiliary Clipping, 132
Set Drawing Mode (Line, Surface, Hidden Line), 123
Set Global Viewing Parameters, 125
Set LookFrom / LookAt, 129
Set Model Axis/Extent Bounds, 157
Set or Modify Preferences, 399
Set Symmetry, 335
Set Transparency, 331
Set Z Clipping, 127
Setup For Parallel Computation, 432
Setup For Parallel Rendering, 433
Use Block Continuation, 79
Use ens_checker, 46
Use Environment Variables, 28
Use MPI, 31
Use Point Parts, 271

Page 4
Use Resource Management, 84
Use Server of Servers, 59
Use the Box Tool, 174
Use the Color Selector, 154
Use the Cone Tool, 181
Use the Cursor (Point) Tool, 164
Use the Cylinder Tool, 177
Use the Line Tool, 166
Use the Online Documentation, 5
Use the Plane Tool, 169
Use the Selection Tool, 186
Use the Sphere Tool, 179
Use the Spline Tool, 189
Use the Surface of Revolution Tool, 183
Use Volume Rendering, 289
Using The How To Manual, 7
View a Viewport Through a Camera, 160

Page 5
Introduction
Use the Online Documentation
INTRODUCTION
The EnSight online documentation consists of:
WHERE TO START?
If you are new to EnSight you should read the EnSight Overview article. Chapter 1 and Chapter 5 in the User
Manual also provide overview information. The Introduction to Part Creation provides fundamental information on
EnSight’s part concept.
PDF READER
The EnSight online documentation is in pdf format. EnSight uses a pdf reader such as the Acrobat® Reader software
from Adobe Systems, Inc., Xpdf, or Apple’s Preview. Any of these readers provide similar capabilities. For the
purposes of this documentation, the Acrobat Reader will be pictured. A pdf reader provides much the same
functionality as a World Wide Web browser while providing greater control over document content quality. To use a
different reader (from the default), simply set the environment variable CEI_PDFREADER to a different reader
application. See How To Use the How To Manual for more information on using a pdf reader.
Installation Guide Consists of a .pdf file in the doc directory (as well as being available for easy reading
from the web install page). Also goes out as hardcopy with an EnSight distribution CD.
Getting Started
Manual
The Getting Started Manual contains basic Graphical User Interface overview
information and several tutorials. This manual is not cross-referenced with any of the
other manuals.
How To Manual The How To documentation consists of relatively short articles that describe how to
perform a specific operation in EnSight, such as change the color of an object or
create an isosurface. Step-by-step instructions and pictures of relevant dialogs are
included. In addition, each How To article typically contains numerous hyperlinks
(colored blue) to other related articles (and relevant sections of the User Manual).
Note that, although the entries in the How To table of contents and index are not
colored blue, you can still click on an entry and jump to the appropriate document.
How To Use the How To Manual
How To Table of Contents
How To Index
User Manual The User Manual is a more traditional document providing a detailed reference for
EnSight. The User Manual contains blue hyperlinks as well. Both the User Manual
table of contents and index entries are hotlinked as well as cross-reference entries
within chapters (which typically start with “See Section ...” or “See How To ...”).
User Manual Table of Contents
User Manual Index
Command Language
Manual
The Command Language Reference Manual documents command language used
within EnSight. This manual contains some cross-references to the How To and User
Manuals, but cross-referencing from them back is extremely minimal.
Interface Manual The Interface Manual contains the information needed for creating user-defined
readers, creating user-defined writers, creating user-defined math functions,
interacting with EnSight through the external command driver, and using the EnSight
python interpreter.

Page 6
HOW TO PRINT THE DOCUMENTATION
Printing Topics From a PDF Reader
You can easily print any topic in the How To manual or any pages from the other documentation from within the pdf
reader. The documents have been optimized for screen manipulation, but will still produce decent hardcopy printouts.
To print a topic:
1. Navigate to the topic you want to print.
2. Choose Print... from the File menu.
3. Be sure the Printer Command setting is correct for your environment and then click OK. Your document should
print to the selected (or default) printer. If you do not have a printer available on your network or you wish to save
the PostScript file to disk, you can do so: click the File button, enter a filename, and click OK.
Printing EnSight Manuals
You can print (all or portions of) the EnSight manuals from provided .pdf files. These files have been print optimized
and should produce reasonably high quality hardcopy. They have all been formatted for letter size paper. These files
are located in the doc/Manuals directory of the EnSight installation.
$CEI_HOME/ensight92/doc/Manuals/GettingStarted.pdf
$CEI_HOME/ensight92/doc/Manuals/HowTo.pdf
$CEI_HOME/ensight92/doc/Manuals/UserManual.pdf
$CEI_HOME/ensight92/doc/Manuals/CLmanual.pdf
$CEI_HOME/ensight92/doc/Manuals/InterfaceManual.pdf
You can open these manuals in the pdf reader and print any or all pages, or send them to an outside source for
printing, or order printed copies from our website.
CONTACTING CEI
If you have questions or problems, please contact CEI:
Computational Engineering International, Inc.
2166 N. Salem Street, Suite 101
Apex, NC 27523 USA
Email: support@ensight.com
Hotline: 800-551-4448 (U.S.)
919-363-0883 (Non-U.S.)
Phone: 919-363-0883
FAX: 919-363-0833
WWW: http://www.ceintl.com or http://www.ensight.com

Page 7
Using The How To Manual
INTRODUCTION
The “How To” documentation provides quick access to various topics of interest. The topics provide basic and some
advanced usage information about a specific tool or feature of EnSight. Each topic will provide links to the
appropriate section of the EnSight User Manual as well as links to other applicable How To articles. When you hit a
Help button within the various dialogs in EnSight, you will generally be taken to one of the topics in the “How To”
manual.
Topics typically contain the following sections:
(See below for how to quickly jump to a specific section using document navigation.)
The header and footer of each article page provides simple navigation controls:
In addition, links to other documents are displayed as highlighted text. Note that all links and navigation controls
(except index and table of contents) are colored blue.
PDF READER
The EnSight online documentation is in .pdf format. EnSight uses a pdf reader such as the Acrobat® Reader software
from Adobe Systems, Inc., Xpdf, or Apple’s Preview. Any of these readers provide similar capabilities. For the
purposes of this documentation, the Acrobat Reader is pictured. A pdf reader provides much the same functionality
as a World Wide Web browser while providing greater control over document content quality. To use a different pdf
reader, simply set the environment variable CEI_PDFREADER to a different reader application.
The user interface for the various pdf readers is very simple and provides intuitive navigation controls. Keep in mind
that the pages were designed to be viewed at 100% magnification. Although you can use other magnification
settings, the quality of the dialog images may be degraded.
Introduction Introduction to the topic
Basic Operation Quick steps for simple usage
Advanced Usage Detailed information on topic
Other Notes Other items of interest
See Also Links to related topics and documentation
Return to How To
Topics List
Access this page
First page of
current topic Last page of
current topic
Previous page Next page

Page 8
Thus, in addition to the navigation controls within the document itself which are described above, a pdf reader
(Acrobat for example) provides quick access to various display options and navigation controls. A few of them are
pointed out for the Acrobat Reader below. Please use the Help option for your reader for a more comprehensive
description of its options.
The “Go back/forward” buttons are particularly useful – they operate somewhat like the “Back” and “Forward” buttons
on standard Web browsers. If your previously viewed page was in a different document, the pdf reader will
automatically reload the appropriate file and jump to the correct page. Note that most pdf readers also consider a
change of view (e.g. scrolling) or magnification as an event to remember in the back/forward list.
Grab and move page
Click and zoom in
(Ctl-click to zoom out)
Standard page
navigation
Standard page
magnification controls
Go back to last
viewed page
Go forward to previously
viewed page
Select Tool
Print For additional help
Each How To topic provides a set of bookmarks that match the standard
section titles. You can quickly navigate to one of these sections by using
the bookmark list in pdf reader.

Page 9
PRINTING
Printing Topics From The PDF Reader
You can easily print any topic in the How To manual or pages from the other documentation from within the pdf
reader. The documents will produce decent hardcopy printouts. To print a topic:
1. Navigate to the topic you want to print.
2. Choose Print... from the File menu (or hit the printer icon).
3. Be sure the Printer Command setting is correct for your environment and then click OK. Your document should
print to the selected (or default) printer. If you do not have a printer available on your network or you wish to save
the PostScript file to disk, you can do so: click the File button, enter a filename, and click OK.
Printing EnSight Manuals
You can print (all or portions of) the EnSight manuals from provided .pdf files. These files have been print optimized
and should produce reasonably high quality hardcopy. They have all been formatted for letter size paper. These files
are located in the doc/Manuals directory of the EnSight installation.
$CEI_HOME/ensight92/doc/Manuals/Installation.pdf
$CEI_HOME/ensight92/doc/Manuals/GettingStarted.pdf
$CEI_HOME/ensight92/doc/Manuals/HowTo.pdf
$CEI_HOME/ensight92/doc/Manuals/UserManual.pdf
$CEI_HOME/ensight92/doc/Manuals/CLmanual.pdf
$CEI_HOME/ensight92/doc/Manuals/InterfaceManual.pdf
You can open these manuals in the pdf reader and print any or all pages, or send them to an outside source for
printing.

Page 10
EnSight Overview
ENSIGHT OVERVIEW
EnSight is a powerful software package for the postprocessing, visualization, and animation of complex datasets.
Although EnSight is designed primarily for use with the results of computational analyses, it can also be used for
other types of data. Please note that EnSight CFD is a separate product.
This document provides a very brief overview of EnSight. Consult Chapter 1 in the User Manual for additional
overview information. This article is divided into the following sections:
Graphical User Interface
Client / Server Architecture
EnSight’s Parts Concept
Online Documentation
Graphical User Interface
The graphical user interface (GUI) of EnSight contains the following major components:
Chapter 5 in the User Manual provides additional overview information on the user interface.
Main Menu
Feature Icon Bar
Sets the current feature. Click an
icon to open the associated Quick
Interaction area.
Main Parts List
All parts from your model as well as
created parts (e.g. clips, isosurfaces)
are listed here. Click an item to
select part(s) to operate on.
Mode Selection Area
Sets the major mode of EnSight (Part,
Annot, Plot, VPort, ...) and loads the
applicable set of icons into the
vertical Mode Icon Bar. Click the
button to select the Mode.
Mode Icon Bar
The set of icons associated with the
current Mode. Click the icon to
access the function. If Tool Tips are
on (bottom right of desktop), the
icon’s function name will be shown
when mouse is over the icon. If
necessary, use the vertical scroll bar
to access the remainder of the icons.
Transformation Control Area
Buttons that control the current
transformation operation (e.g. rotate
or translate) associated with mouse
action in the Graphics Window. Other
buttons open dialogs providing
detailed transformation control.
Information Area Button
Click to see information dialog.
Message Area
Quick Interaction Area
Interface controls associated with the current
feature selected from the Feature Icon Bar.
Graphics Window showing inset plot and viewport
Note: This whole upper level of the GUI
is referred to as the “Desktop”

Page 11
Client / Server Architecture
To facilitate the handling of large datasets and efficiently use networked resources, EnSight was designed to
distribute the postprocessing workload. Data I/O and all compute intensive functions are performed by a server
process. The server transmits 3D geometry (and other information) to a client running on a graphics workstation.
The client handles all user interface interaction and graphic rendering using the workstation’s built-in graphics
hardware.
The client and server each run as separate processes on one or more computers. When distributed between a
compute server and a graphics workstation, EnSight leverages the strengths of both machines. When both tasks
reside on the same machine, a stand-alone capability is achieved. The client–server architecture allows EnSight to
be used effectively, even on systems widely separated geographically.
Before EnSight can be used, the client and server must be connected. For standalone operation, you simply run the
“ensight8” script and the client and server are started and connected for you. For distributed operation (as well as for
standalone operation when more control is desired), there are two methods of achieving a connection: a manual
connection (described in the Getting Started manual) or an automatic connection (described in How To Connect
EnSight Client and Server).
EnSight’s cases feature allows you to postprocess multiple datasets simultaneously. Cases is implemented by
having a single client connected to multiple servers running on the same or different machines.
EnSight’s Parts Concept
One of the central concepts of EnSight is that of the part. A part is a named collection of elements (or cells) and
associated nodes. The nodes and/or elements may have zero or more variables (such as pressure or stress). All
components of a part share the same set of attributes (such as color or line width).
Parts are either built during the loading process (based on your computational mesh and associated surfaces) or
created during an EnSight session. Parts created during loading are called model parts.
All other parts are created during an EnSight session and are called created or derived parts. Created parts are built
using one or more other parts as the parent parts. The created parts are said to depend on the parent parts. If one or
more of the parent parts change, all parts depending on those parent parts are automatically recalculated and
redisplayed to reflect the change. As an example, consider the following case. A clipping plane is created through
some 3D computational domain and a contour is created on the clipping plane. The contour’s parent is the clipping
plane, and the clipping plane’s parent is the 3D domain. If the 3D domain is changed (e.g. the time step changes),
the clipping plane will first be recalculated, followed by the contour. In this way, part coherence is maintained.
One of the major modes of EnSight is Part Mode. Operations in Part Mode (performed by clicking one of the icons in
the vertical Mode Icon bar) operate on the parts currently selected in the Main Parts list. See How To Select Parts
for more information.
See the Introduction to Part Creation for more information on parts.
Online Documentation
Documentation for EnSight is available online. See How To Use the Online Documentation for more information as
well as hyperlinks to the main documents. Online documentation is accessed from the Main Help menu in the user
interface. In addition, major dialog windows contain Help buttons that will open a relevant “How To” article.
Server
Client
Stand-alone Operation
host1
Requests 3D objects
Server
Client
Distributed Operation
host2
host1

Page 12
Connect EnSight Client and Server
INTRODUCTION
EnSight is a distributed application with a client that manages the user interface and graphics, and a server that reads
data and performs compute-intensive calculations. The client and server each run as separate processes on one or
more computers. Before EnSight can do anything useful, the client process must be connected to the server process.
For a simple operation on the same machine (standalone), the client and server processes will be started and
connected for you. If you desire more control over the standalone operation or want to take advantage of a
distributed operation, you have the options described below.
Necessary Prerequisites
EnSight must have been installed, the CEI_HOME and the command search path set properly. If you successfully
performed the installation as described in the Installation Guide, then these settings should be correct.
(See $CEI_HOME/ensight92/doc/Manuals/Installation.pdf if you need this manual.)
SIMPLE STANDALONE OPERATION (CONNECTION OCCURS AUTOMATICALLY)
If you want to run Ensight client and server (or SOS) on the same machine (standalone), and you have not changed
the default automatic connections to be elsewhere, you can simply do the following:
To Start Ensight:
Non Windows:
At the prompt In a shell window, type:
ensight92
Windows:
To Start Ensight in SOS mode: (reminder that you need a gold license key for this)
Non Windows:
At the prompt in a shell window, type:
ensight92 -sos
Windows:
Note: To add another dataset or replace the existing dataset (which EnSight refers to as another case), see Adding Another Case
below
Either double click the EnSight 9.2
icon on the desktop,
or
Start > CEI > EnSight 9.2
EnSight92
Start > CEI > EnSight 9.2 SOS

Page 13
CONNECTING AUTOMATICALLY
Automatic connections are made according to the “default” connection settings that have been stored (and are
visible) in the Job Launch Settings Dialog. The connection that occurs on startup will be according to the settings
saved in this dialog (and its associated file). Thus, it is important that you know how to get to this dialog.
The Job Launch Settings dialog is accessed via Case on the
main menu.
For each connection, fields are provided for
the needed information.
The default connection is indicated with a True
value for ‘Default configuration’. If EnSight is
started with a connection to an existing
Configuration then it uses those settings. For
example,
ensight92 -c remote_conn
will start up with the indicated options. If the
Configuration is not found, then EnSight will
start up with your default settings but then use
the host name as given by the ‘-c’ command
line option.
When you make changes to any of the fields,
the Save button is activated so you can save
these settings.
To add a new entry, click “New”, name your
entry in Configuration name, fill in your data,
toggle the Default configuration toggle if you
wish this to be your default connection setting,
and press “Save” to save your entry.
Working directory is used when the server is
first started and the browser is opened (e.g. for
case add or case replace). If the working
directory is not set, EnSight uses the
preferences directory. If that is not set, then
the current working directory will be
dependent on the platform, operating system,
and user settings.
If a numerical field has a -1 in it or if a string field is empty,
then it uses the default setting for that field. Currently, the
field Number of Nodes should be left to 1.

Page 14
CONNECTING MANUALLY
ensight92.client -cm will start a client that expects a manual connection and will prompt the user to start the
server/SOS manually, you can do something like the following:
The Server should now make the connection. To see if the connection is successful, you can click on the Information
Note: the machine you are running the client on will be referred to as CLIENT_HOST.
the machine you desire to run the server on will be referred to as SERVER_HOST
In a second window, log onto the SERVER_HOST machine using telnet (or ssh or equivalent).
The SERVER_HOST does not have to be of the same operating system as the CLIENT_HOST.
Start the ensight server on the SERVER_HOST machine, using the appropriate script and the -c option.
If the SERVER_HOST machine is
Windows: ensight92_server -c CLIENT_HOST Note the difference ( . vs _ )
Non-Windows: ensight92.server -c CLIENT_HOST
or for SOS
Windows: ensight92_sos -c CLIENT_HOST Note the difference ( . vs _ )
Non-Windows: ensight92.sos -c CLIENT_HOST
The -c CLIENT_HOST option tells the EnSight Server to connect to the EnSight Client listening on CLIENT_HOST.
Example if doing a
telnet into a
SERVER_HOST which is a
windows machine
Example if doing a telnet into a
SERVER_HOST which is a linux machine.
Example of doing a telnet from a
linux machine to a unix machine.
Example of doing a telnet
from a windows machine to
a windows machine.

Page 15
button on the Desktop. You should see “Connection accepted” in the EnSight Message Window which comes up. You
can also check the Connection Details under the Case menu. Licensing information should also appear in the
Graphics Window. If the connection failed, please consult Manual Connection Troubleshooting below and
Troubleshooting the Connection in the Installation Guide before contacting CEI support.
Manual Connection Troubleshooting
A manual connection can fail for any of several reasons. Because of the complexity of networking and customized
computing environments, we recommend that you consult your local system administrator and/or CEI support if the
following remedies fail to resolve the problem.
ADVANCED USAGE
Command Line Options
Command line options can be used to streamline many of the connection processes.Connection Details
Connection Details
You can always check the status of the current connection by accessing the Connection details dialog from the Case
Problem Probable Causes Solutions
For Unix Systems:
Unable to telnet into the
SERVER_HOST machine
Telnet service not allowed or not
running on the SERVER_HOST
machine.
Get system administration help to be able to perform this
operation. It may be that your site requires the use of ssh
or some other equivalent.
Ensight server does not start on
SERVER_HOST machine.
EnSight is not properly installed on
the SERVER_HOST
Verify the installation on the SERVER_HOST as described
in the Installation Guide. Making sure that the proper
environment variables and command path have been set.
Startup Command Description
ensight92
ensight92.client -c
Starts up client and autoconnects according to default job launch configuration settings.
ensight92 -sos
ensight92.client -c -sos
Starts up client and auto connects to sos according to default job launch configuration
settings. This requires a gold key.
ensight92.client Starts up client with no connection.
ensight92.client -c connname Starts up client and auto connects to the host specified in the job launch configuration
settings. The default settings are used if connname is not listed.
ensight92.client -c connname -sos Starts up client and auto connects the sos to the host specified in the job launch configuration
setttings.
ensight92.client -cm Starts up a client, and prompts for a manual connection.
* Note that if you are starting from a PC in a command window, change the period to an underscore: ensight92.client becomes
ensight92_client. Also if you specify a resource file to use in the start up, it takes precedence over connection settings.

Page 17
Adding Another Case
You would add another case when you want to add an additional dataset (called a “case”) to your EnSight session.
This is often used for things like A-B comparisons or for assembling components that have been analyzed in different
solvers. You can also use the process described below to replace the current case with a new one without having to
restart EnSight.
You can add or replace cases directly from the
Case menu,
From either option, this dialog will
appear when adding a case.
Additionally, this dialog will appear first
when replacing a case.
For more information on Cases, see How To Load Multiple Datasets (Cases)

Page 18
Other Auto connection requirements
The auto-connect mechanism requires that certain conditions exist in your computing environment for auto
connections to work when running the EnSight server or SOS process on a different computer. Specifically, EnSight
depends on a correctly working 'ssh' command that doesn't require passwords. The notes below assume using the
default 'ssh' command.
Alternatively, EnSight can use a replacement command for 'ssh' as long as that replacement command follows 'ssh'
syntax or ‘rsh’ syntax
(i.e. rsh [-l username] hostname command)
Should you wish to use an alternative command for 'ssh', you may specify this command in the Job Launch
Configuration Setting dialog or on the EnSight command line with the '-rsh alternative_command_name' command
line option where 'alternative_command_name' is the replacement command. Typically, one of these mechanisms is
used in computing environments that use either 'ssh' or 'k5rsh'.
On Unix Systems:
1. You have a .cshrc file (even if you are running some other command shell such as /bin/sh) in your home
directory on the EnSight server host that contains valid settings for CEI_HOME, and that your path variable
includes the bin directory of CEI_HOME. For example, if your EnSight distribution is installed in /usr/local/
CEI and you are running EnSight on an Linux or Unix system (other architectures use a different library path
variable), your .cshrc should contain:
setenv CEI_HOME /usr/local/CEI
set path = ( $path $CEI_HOME/bin )
To verify the settings, simply try to start the server.
2. Your .cshrc file (or files sourced or executed from there) has no commands that cause output to be written (e.g.
date or pwd). Any output can interfere with EnSight server startup.
3. You can successfully execute a remote shell command from the client host system to the server host system. The
name of the remote shell command varies from system to system. While logged on to the client host system,
execute one of the following (where serverhost is the name of your server host system):
ssh serverhost date
If successful, the command should print the current date.
If any of these conditions are not met, you will be unable to establish a connection automatically and will have to use
the manual connection mechanism. Note that it is not uncommon for system administrators to disable operation of all
remote commands for security reasons. Consult your local system administrator for help or more information.
Note that if you wish to use ‘rsh’ instead of ‘ssh’, then you need to have a valid .rhosts file in your home directory
on all systems on which you wish to run the EnSight server. The file permission for this file must be such that only the
owner (you) has write permission (e.g. chmod 600 ~/.rhosts). A .rhosts file grants permission for certain
commands (e.g. rsh or rlogin) originating on a remote host to execute on the system containing the .rhosts file.
For example, the following line grants permission for remote commands from host clienthost executed by user
username to execute on the system containing the .rhosts file:
clienthost username
There should be one line like this for every client host system that you wish to be able issue remote commands from.
It is sometimes necessary to add an additional line for each client host of the form clienthost.domain.com
username (where domain.com should be changed to the full Internet domain name of the client host system). To
verify this, simply try to rsh to the remote machine.
On Windows Systems:
1. You have the EnSight server (ensight92_server) installed on the same system as your EnSight client (if you plan to
connect to the same system)
---- OR ----
2. You can successfully execute a remote shell command from the client host system to the server host system.

Page 19
Note: By default EnSight will use the ‘ssh’ command. ssh is not a default component on Windows
workstations and must be installed by the user from one of many third party sources. However, Windows
does include a rsh command which EnSight can optionally use. Note, however, only systems running
Windows Server have the RSH service and can respond by executing the EnSight server.
The name of the remote shell command varies from system to system. While logged on to the client host system,
execute one of the following (where serverhost is the name of your server host system):
ssh serverhost date
rsh serverhost date
If successful, the command should print the current date.
If condition 1. or 2. is not met, you will be unable to establish a connection automatically and will have to use the
manual connection mechanism. Note that it is not uncommon for system administrators to disable operation of all
remote commands for security reasons. Consult your local system administrator for help or more information.
Manual connection Troubleshooting
An automatic connection can fail for any of several reasons. Because of the complexity of networking and customized
computing environments, we recommend that you consult your local system administrator and/or CEI support if the
following remedies fail to resolve the problem.
Problem Probable Causes Solutions
For Unix Systems:
Automatic connection fails or is
refused
Server (remote) host name is
incorrect for some reason.
Is the server host entered correctly in the Hostname
field? Try running telnet serverhost from the client
machine.
Incorrect or missing .rhosts file
in your home directory on the
server host.
Follow the instructions on .rhosts files (as described in
the Basic Operation section, step 1 above). If you cannot
successfully execute a remote command (such rlogin
or rsh) from the client host to the server host, you will not
be able to connect automatically.
The user account (i.e. login name)
on the client host does not exist on
the server host.
Enter your login name on the server host in the Login
name field.
The server executable is not found
on the server system
Is the entry in the Executable [path/]name field correct? If
the server executable is NOT in your default command
search path on the server, you must include the full path
name to the executable. For example, /usr/local/
CEI/ensight92/bin/ensight92.server.
Your .cshrc does not contain a
valid setting for CEI_HOME.
Add the appropriate line as described in the Basic
Operation section, step 2 above.
Your .cshrc file (or files executed
by it) causes output to be written.
This is interpreted as a server
startup error.
Remove the offending commands from your .cshrc file.
As a test, do the following:
% cd
% mv .cshrc .cshrc-SAVE
Create a new .cshrc file that contains only the lines to set
CEI_HOME and path as described in the Basic
Operation section, step 2 above. If that test works, you
will need to examine your .cshrc to find and remove the
offending lines.
For Windows Systems:
Automatic connection fails or is
refused (trying to connect to
same host system)
Server not installed or not
executable.
You should be able to locate the server executable
(ensight92_server) using Windows Explorer. Double click
on it and see if a console window opens with “This is
EnSight Server 9.2” etc. If this doesn’t happen, refer to
“Troubleshooting the Installation” in the Getting Started
Manual.

Page 20
Other Notes
Connection Name - Hostname flexibility
When you specify '-c name' on the command line, EnSight will match the specified 'name' to a Job Launch
Configuration name. If a match is found, then the Configuration’s Hostname (not Configuration name) is used as the
computer name for the EnSight Server or EnSight SOS. Should a match not be found, then EnSight will use all the
settings for the default Configuration but substitute the name specified by '-c name' for the hostname.
The Job Launch Configuration Setting dialog lists entries by a 'Configuration name' which can be different than the
'Hostname'. The Hostname must be a properly routable intranet/Internet hostname and/or TCP/IP address. A
Configuration name can be any name that doesn't include spaces or special characters. The configuration name and
hostname can be identical.
Network ports used by EnSight and SLiM
Client/Server Mode
The EnSight client connects to the slimd8 license manager via TCP port 7790 typically. This actual port used is
defined in $CEI_HOME/license8/slim8.key and appears on the 'slimd' line as the number after 'slimd'.
The client listens for connections from the EnSight server on TCP port 1106. It also communicates with the
collaborative hub on TCP port 1107. If the client is listening for external commands, it will use TCP port 1104.
If port 1106 is used by another process, EnSight will give you an error "Address already in use", and there are two
possible solutions:
1: use another port with command line option "-ports ####" for both client and server (inconvenient)
2: kill (or have root kill) the process that has the port locked.
For example, determine the process:
/sbin/fuser 1106/tcp
the result comes back....
1106/tcp: 314159o
in this case you(or root, if necessary) would kill it...
kill -9 314159
Note that the specific commands to use will vary depending on operating system.
Server of Server Mode
When running in Server of Server mode (SOS), the SOS is threaded and will start up server processes in parallel
(subject to CPU availability and license restrictions) using ports 1110 through 1117. To limit the number of threads,
set the environmental variable ENSIGHT9_MAX_SOSTHREADS to the maximum number of threads (max is 8).
Path to the server is incorrect If using the EnSight Connect dialog, check that the
correct path is specified in the “Executable” field.
If running from the ensight92 command, first ensure that
your PATH environment variable contains the paths for
the ensight92 “client” and “server” directories. You can
check and correct the value of PATH in the Start
>Settings >ControlPanel >System_Environment dialog.
Incorrect hostname entered in the
“Hostname” field of the Connection
settings dialog.
Make sure that the hostname is correct, including the
case of all letters. The ONLY way to confidently see the
hostname (in the correct case) from Windows is to open
a Command Prompt window and type:
> ipconfig /all
The Host Name will be one of the first things listed.
Automatic connection fails or is
refused (trying to connect to a
remote server)
Same causes as for a Unix system See “For Unix Systems” portion of this table above.
Problem Probable Causes Solutions

Page 22
Command Line Start-up Options
INTRODUCTION
There are a number of options that can be included on the command line when starting EnSight. The following tables
indicate the commands that can be issued for the EnSight script (ensight92), the EnSight client (ensight92.client), the
EnSight server (ensight92.server), or the EnSight server-of-servers (ensight92.sos). To see the most current listing
for any of these, issue one or more of the following:
Linux/Unix/Mac Windows
ensight92 -help
ensight92.client -help ensight92_client -help
ensight92.server -help ensight92_server -help
ensight92.sos -help ensight92_sos -help
BASIC USAGE
ensight92 [options]
or
ensight92.client [options]
Section 1. EnSight Startup/Client-Server Options
-ar <f> Restore from specified archive file “f”
-c [<host>[:<exe>]] Do an auto connection, with optional “host” machine and executable. If only -c is used, the
auto connection will be according to the values set in your ensight_conn_settings file (which is
created in your EnSight Defaults directory (located at
%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\(username)\.ensight92 commonly located at
C:\Users\username\ on Vista and Win7, C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\ on older
Windows, ~/.ensight92 on Linux, and in ~/Library/Application Support/EnSight92 on the Mac) if
you connect via the Connect dialog). EnSight server will run on “host” if you include it after
the -c. And you can also optionally specify the server executable to run on said “host”.
-case <f> Read EnSight casefile name ”f” and display part loader
-cierr Connect auto and ignore errors
-cip Send client’s IP address to the server for auto connect. The IP address will be used
instead of the internet hostname. This can be useful for clients which use dynamic IP
address assignment (i.e. dhcp). (However, it may not send the correct address if the
client computer has multiple network interfaces (e.g. WiFi and wired ethernet).)
-cm Do a manual connection of server
-collab_port <#> Specify the port for collaboration socket communication.
-ctx <f> Applies context file “f” as soon as connection is made
-custom Force the license manager to look for a custom token
-cwd <p> Sets the client working directory to the path specified by ‘p’
-d #
-display #
Command line display?
-delay_refresh Graphics window is not updated during command file playback, until finished
-extcfd Extended CFD variables automatically placed in variable list
-externalcmdport Specify the port on which to receive external commands. See -externalcmds.
-externalcmds Has EnSight start listening for a connection on port 1104 (or the port specified with the
-externalcmdport) for an external command stream. Once connected, all commands
must then come from the external source - as the GUI commands will be ignored.
-gold Force the license manager to look for a gold token
-hide_console (Windows only) hides console on startup
-homecwd (Windows only) Sets the client working directory to HOME
-lite Start EnSight in Lite mode
-localhostname <host> Host name to force server(s) to use to connect to client
-no_delay_refresh Graphics window is updated during command file playback, until finished
-p <f> Plays playfile “f” as soon as connection is made

Page 23
-part_loader If a file is specified on the command line, this command will bring up the part loader to
allow for part selection. If a file is specified on the command line without this command,
all parts will be loaded.
-ports # Allows user specification of socket communication port. (passed on to server or sos)
-prdist # Specify a parallel rendering distribution config file.
-pyargv . . . [-endpyargv] Anything on the command line between these two options will appear as ‘sys.argv’ in
Python. sys.argv[0] = “ensight” except if a python startup file is specified via -qtguipy, in
which case, that filename becomes sys.argv[0]. Note, -pyargv will swallow arguments
up to the end of the argument list or -endpyargv, whichever comes first.
-rsh <cmd> Remote shell program to use for automatic connection. (passed on to server or sos)
-security [#] Forces a handshake between the client and server using the # provided or a random
number
-sos Set up to connect to the Server-of-Servers (ensight92.sos) instead of normal server.
-soshostname <host> Host name to force server(s) to use to connect to Server-of-Servers
-standard Force the license manager to look for a standard token
-timeout <#> Number of seconds to wait for server connection; default = 60, infinite = -1
-token_try_again <#> If can’t obtain a license token, try again in # minutes. where # is a float value. If neither
-token_wait_for nor -token_wait_until is specified, will try for 1 hour.
-token_wait_for # If can’t obtain a license token, try again for # minutes, where # is a float value.
If -token_try_again is not specified, sets -token_try_again to 10.
Supersedes -token_wait_until.
-token_wait_until # If can’t obtain a license token, try again until the time is hour:minute. If -token_try_again
is not specified, sets -token_try_again to 10.
-v # Output verbosity 0 to 10
-version Prints out EnSight’s version number. (Does not start EnSight)
Section 2. EnSight Client GUI Options
-E<extension_name> Call a method on a registered user-defined extension (see EnSight extension
mechanism and How to Produce Customized Access to Tools & Features) using
the name of the extension. There must be no space between the -E and the extension
name and the option can be used repeatedly in the same command line (the order of
execution matches the order on the command line). These calls are made just prior to
playing command files or python files after EnSight starts up. By default, the method
‘cmdLine()’ is invoked, but options exist to specify the method as well as parameters to
the method. The whole option may need to be enclosed in quotes if some of these latter
features are used.
For example, suppose you have a registered extension named ‘foo’. The following
usages are permitted.
‘-Efoo’ will call foo.cmdLine().
‘-Efoo.run()’ will call foo.run(), a specific object method.
‘-Efoo=10.0’ will call foo.cmdLine(10.0), the default method with a parameter.
‘-Efoo.bar(10.0,”hello”)’ will call foo.bar(10.0, “hello”), a specific object method with
multiple parameters.
-iconlblf <#> Mode panel icon label font size
-ignorexerr Ignore X window errors
-jumboicons Adds support for high resolution displays such as IBM Big Bertha (linux/unix) (see -mag)
-largeicons Uses larger feature icons in EnSight (non-Windows only)
-mag # Magnification factor of menus, titlebars, icons using a float number that is greater than
1.0 on high resolution displays or power wall (Windows only).
-menuf # Menu font size (4 to 50)
-ni Will use text in place of icons
-sc <c> Section Label color name “c” string < 24 chars long
-smallscreen Sets window attributes based on the screen size of 1024x768 (non-Windows only)
-smallicons Uses smaller feature icons in EnSight (default)
Section 3. EnSight Server Specific Options

Page 24
-buffer_size <#> Set element buffer size for Unstructured Auto Distribute (passed from client down)
-gdbg Print some debugging info for EnSight format geometries (passed from client to server)
-iwd Ignore the working directory in the ensight.connect.default file
-maxoff Turns off maxsize checking (passed from client to server)
-no_ghosts Don’t produce ghosts in Unstructured Auto Distribute (passed from client down)
-no_metric Don’t print metric for Unstructured Auto Distribute (passed from client down)
-readerdbg Prints user-defined-reader library loading information in shell window upon startup of
server (passed from client to server)
-scaleg <#> Provide scale factor to scale geometry by (passed from client to server)
-scalev <#> Provide scale factor to scale all vectors by (passed from client to server)
-swd <dir> Set the server working directory
-time Prints out timing information (passed from client to server)
-writerdbg Prints user-defined-writer library loading information in shell window upon startup of
server (passed from client to server)
Section 4. Miscellaneous Options
-h, -help, -Z Prints the usage list
-inputdbg Prints user-defined input device information
-nb No automatic backup recording
-no_file_locking Turns off file locking (lock()). Some systems don’t support this properly
-no_prefs Do not load saved user preferences (uses all original defaults)
-pal_tex Use 1D textures for color palettes.
-pal_rgb Use rgb colors for color palettes
-range10 Use palette ranges which are 10% in from the extremes
-silent Causes all stdout and stderr messages to be thrown away
-slimtimeout # Allow slimd token to expire if idle.
-stderr <f> Cause all stderr messages to be written to the file.
-stdout <f> Causes all stdout messages to be written to the file.
Section 5. Rendering Options
-batch <width>< height> Batch mode with optional width and height.
-bbox Render only bounding boxes in the GUI window (useful for detached displays with
-prsd2 option). (See How To Setup For Parallel Rendering)
-box_resolution <#> Resolution of bounding boxes for part culling (max 9). Implies -no_display_list
-ctarget <#> Set the number of chunks per server for parallel rendering (passed from client to
server(s)).
-dconfig Specify a display configuration file
-display_list Use OpenGL display lists
-frustrum_cull Use frustrum culling where possible
-glconfig Prints current OpenGL configuration parameter defaults to screen
-glsw Forces use of software implementation of OpenGL, bypassing the hardware graphics
card (same as -X)
-gl Sets line drawing mode to draw polygons
-ogl Sets line drawing mode to draw lines
-no_display_list Force EnSight to use immediate mode graphics
-no_frustrum_cull Do not use frustrum culling
-norm_per_vert Use one normal per vertex for flat-shading
-norm_per_poly Use one normal per polygon for flat-shading
-multi_sampling Turns MultiSampling on
-multi_sampling_sw Use software MultiSampling
-no_multi_sampling Do not use MultiSampling
-no_start_screen Ignore the start screen image (Good for HP using TGS OpenGL)
-num_samples <#> Specify number of samples for software multi-sampling
-num_samples_st <#> Specify number of samples for hardware stereo multi-sampling
-occlusion_test Use the HP occlusion extension if available

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Client Examples:
ensight92 -cm -p myplayfile
This will allow the user to do a manual connection, after which the “myplayfile” will be run.
ensight92 -c -gold -ports 1310 -case myfile.case
This will do an automatic connection (according to information in the user’s ensight.connect.default file) on port 1310,
using a gold seat. After the connection is made, the “myfile.case” casefile will be run.
ensight92 -rsh ssh -hc yellow (or ensight92.client -c -rsh ssh -hc yellow)
This will use ssh as the remote shell for an automatic connection, and will set the highlight color to yellow (instead of
the default color of green).
-no_occlusion_test Do not use the HP occlusion extension
-stencil_buff Use the OpenGL stencil buffer (even if not enabled by default)
-no_stencil_buff Assumes there is not a working stencil buffer (some Windows video cards)
-double_buffer Use double-buffering for the graphics window (default)
-single_buffer Do not use double-buffering
-sort_first Sets the default parallel rendering sorting method to be the sort first method
-sort_last Sets the default parallel rendering sorting method to be the sort last method
-unmapdd Don’t map the detached display on startup
-vcount <#> Specifies the maximum number of vertices between begin/end pairs in a OpenGL
display list object. This option is useful for certain graphics cards (most modern Nvidia
based) when dealing with large display objects - it will usually impact the performance of
creating the display list objects. Every graphics card/driver will be optimal at a different
vcount value so testing is necessary to achieve maximum performance.
-X Starts the X version of EnSight (uses Mesa OpenGL instead of native OpenGL,
bypassing the hardware graphics card. This is the same as -glsw)
Section 6. X Window Specific Options
-bg <color> Background “color” colorname, such as “white”
-fg <color> Foreground “color” colorname, such as “black”
-fn <fn> (UNIX only) Motif GUI font where “fn” is the XLFD font name
-font <fn> Same as -fn
-hc <color> User Interface Current Selection Highlight “color” colorname, such as “yellow”.
Section 7. Resource Options
-chres <f> Collab hub resource filename
-res <f> Resource filename
-sosres<f> SOS resource filename
-use_lsf_for_renderers Evaluate environmental variable LSB_MCPU_HOSTS for renderer resources
(See Client Resources in How To Use Resource Management)
-use_lsf_for_servers Evaluate environmental variable LSB_MCPU_HOSTS for server resources
(See Client Resources in How To Use Resource Management)
-use_pbs_for_renderers Evaluate environmental variable PBS_NODEFILE for renderer resources
(See Client Resources in How To Use Resource Management)
-use_pbs_for_servers Evaluate environmental variable PBS_NODEFILE for server resources
(See Client Resources in How To Use Resource Management)
Section 8. Distributed Rendering (DR) Specific Options
-cr Chromium mode
-offscreen Batch offscreen rendering
-onscreen Batch onscreen rendering
-pc Compositing mode
-pr_out <f> File name for parallel rendering worker output

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Server Examples (when started manually):
ensight92.server -c clientmachine -readerdbg
Specifies “clientmachine” as the machine on which the client is running, and that information on user-defined-reader
library loading should be printed out.
ensight92.server -ports 1310 -scaleg 10.0 -scalev 10.0
Specifies that communication is to occur on port 1310, and that the geometry and all vectors are to be scaled by a
factor of 10.
ensight92.server [options]
-buffer_size <#> Set element buffer size for Unstructured Auto Distribute
-c <host> “host” indicates where the client is running
-ctarget <#> Set the number of chunks per server for parallel rendering.
-ctries <#> The number of times (1 second per try) to try to connect client and server.
-ether Ethernet device name such as ln0
-gdbg Print some debugging info for EnSight format geometries
-h, -help Prints the usage list
-maxoff Turns off maxsize checking
-no_ghosts Don’t produce ghosts in Unstructured Auto Distribute
-no_metric Don’t print metric for Unstructured Auto Distribute
-pipe Forces the server to use a named pipe connection (must be on same machine)
-ports <#> Allows user specification of socket communication port.
-readerdbg Prints user-defined-reader lib loading information in shell window upon startup of server
-scaleg <#> Provide scale factor to scale geometry by
-scalev <#> Provide scale factor to scale all vectors by
-security <#> Provide number for client to server security check or else random token is generated
-sock Forces the server to use a socket connection
-soshostname <host> Allows different name for servers to connect back to Server-of-Servers with
-time Prints out timing information
-writerdbg Prints user-defined-reader lib loading information in shell window upon startup of server
ensight92.sos [options]
-buffer_size <#> Set element buffer size for Unstructured Auto Distribute (passes on to servers)
-c <host> “host” indicates where the client is running
-cports Allows specification of socket communication port to the client.
See also -ports, -sports.
-ctarget <#> Set the number of chunks per server for parallel rendering (passes on to servers).
-ctries <#> The number of times (1 second per try) to try to connect client and server.
-ether Ethernet device name such as ln0
-gdbg Print some debugging info for EnSight format geometries (passes on to servers)
-h, -help Prints the usage list
-maxoff Turns off maxsize checking (passes on to servers)
-no_ghosts Don’t produce ghosts in Unstructured Auto Distribute (passes on to servers)
-no_metric Don’t print metric for Unstructured Auto Distribute (passes on to servers)
-pipe Forces the server to use a named pipe connection (must be on same machine) (passes
on to servers)
-ports <#> Allows user specification of socket communication port. (passes on to servers)
Has the effect of setting -cports and -sports to be the same.
-readerdbg Prints user-defined-reader library loading information in shell window upon startup of
server (passes on to servers)
-rsh <cmd> Remote shell program to use for automatic connection of servers. (passes on to servers)
-scaleg <#> Provide scale factor to scale geometry by (passes on to servers)

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SOS (Server-of-Servers) Examples (when started manually):
ensight92.sos -c clientmachinename -soshostname sosmachinename
Specifies “clientmachinename” as the machine on which the client is running, and that the individual servers should
connect back to “sosmachinename”.
ensight92.sos -readerdbg -gdbg
Specifies that the sos and any servers print out user-defined-reader library loading information, and that the servers
print out EnSight data format geometry loading information.
-scalev <#> Provide scale factor to scale all vectors by (passes on to server)
-security <#> Provide number for client to server security check (passes on to servers)
-slog <f> Create SOS log file ‘f’
-sock Forces the server to use a socket connection
-soshostname <host> Allows different name for servers to connect back to Server-of-Servers with (passes on
to servers)
-sports Allows specification of socket communication port to the servers.
See also -ports, -cports.
-time Prints out timing information (passes on to servers)
-writerdbg Prints user-defined-reader library loading information in shell window upon startup of
server (passes on to servers)

Page 28
Use Environment Variables
INTRODUCTION
There are a number of environment variables that can be set to control and modify aspects of EnSight. These are
generally described in sections of the documentation where they apply. However, for convenience, a summary of
them is indicated below. All, except those indicated otherwise, are optional.
Note: None of the environment variables associated with specific user defined readers and writers are included here.
See the appropriate README files or other documentation for each reader/writer.
BASIC USAGE
List sorted by Category:
Name Locatio
n
Category Description
ENSIGHT9_COLLABHUB_SPAWNDELAY Collab DR Delay time (in seconds) between spawning distributed
rendering clients
ENSIGHT9_HUB_APP Collab DR the executable name for the collabhub when used with
distributed rendering
ENSIGHT9_HUB_ARGS Collab DR a string of arguments passed to the collabhub executable
when used with distributed rendering
ENSIGHT9_HUB_CONNBACKHOST Collab DR the hostname that the collabhub should use for the computer
where the main client executes
ENSIGHT9_HUB_HOST Client DR the hostname that the client should use for the collabhub if
not specified by other means.
ENSIGHT9_HUB_OUTPUTFILE Collab DR a file name containing the output from the collabhub when
used with distributed rendering
ENSIGHT9_RENDERER_HOSTS Client/
Collab
DR a space delimited string consisting of the hostnames to use
for distributed rendering clients. See current client
documentation as well. Also see the Resources
documentation for additional information
ENSIGHT9_WORKER_APP Collab DR the executable name for the client when used with distributed
rendering
ENSIGHT9_WORKER_ARGS Collab DR a string of arguments passed to the distributed rendering
client executable
ENSIGHT9_WORKER_CONNBACKHOST Collab DR the collabhub executable hostname (used by distributed
rendering clients)
CEI_FONT_GLYPHCACHESIZE Client Font Number of font characters to keep in memory at a given time
(default 500). Increasing this number will use more memory
but may increase rendering speed if many different
characters are in use.
CEI_FONT_NOSYSTEMFONTS Client Font Disable the loading of fonts from the system directories, and
use only the fonts provided by CEI.
CEI_FONTPATH Client Font A list of ":" separated directories (";" on Windows) where
EnSight looks for .ttf and .ttc font files.
ENSIGHT_FONT_DEFAULT_ANNOT Client Font Specify family to be used for annotation defaults
ENSIGHT_FONT_DEFAULT_ANNOT_STYLE Client Font Specify style to be used for annotation defaults
ENSIGHT_FONT_DEFAULT_OUTLINE Client Font Specify family to be used for ID and axis defaults
ENSIGHT_FONT_DEFAULT_OUTLINE_SCALE Client Font Specify the relative scale for the outline font. (The value 100.0
is the default, 200.0 is 2x larger, 50.0 is 1/2 size).
ENSIGHT_FONT_DEFAULT_OUTLINE_STYLE Client Font Specify style to be used for ID and axis defaults
ENSIGHT_FONT_DEFAULT_SYMBOL Client Font Specify family to be used instead of the symbol font
ENSIGHT_FONT_DEFAULT_SYMBOL_STYLE Client Font Specify style to be used with the symbol font
ENSIGHT9_FIXED_FONT_SIZE Client Font defines font size - expecting range between 10 and 100 (old)
CEI_ENABLE_PBUF Client Graphics Enable/disable the use of pbuffers for off-screen rendering
CEI_ENABLE_PMAP Client Graphics Enable/disable the use of pixmaps for off-screen rendering
CEI_PIXELFORMAT Client Graphics Specify pixel format for mono rendering
CEI_PIXELFORMAT_ST Client Graphics Specify pixel format for stereo rendering
CVF_NO_WM_OVERRIDE Client Graphics Change the behavior of detached displays so that the
'OverrideRedirect' attribute is not used on the Windows.
ENSIGHT_PICK_SCALE Client Graphics If > 1, modifies the scaling of the GL viewport

Page 29
CEI_RSH Client/
SoS
Networking Alternative to default ssh command
CVF_COMM2_NAGLE Client/
Server
Networking Enable Nagle (RFC896) network feature (on by default).
ENSIGHT9_SOCKBUF Client/
SoS/
Server
Networking Sets socket buffer size (can be different between client and
server)
DISPLAY Client Other Do not remote the display from a different machine as this is
inefficient and prone to problems. Run the client on your local
machine and the server remotely and connect them as
EnSight is optimized for this configuration.
ENSIGHT9_MAX_CTHREADS Client Parallel The maximum number of threads to use for each EnSight
client. Threads in the client are used to accelerate sorting of
transparent surfaces. If not defined, then the EnSight client
chooses the number of threads based on the number of
processors available and license limitations.
ENSIGHT9_MAX_SOSTHREADS SoS Parallel The maximum number of threads to use on the server of
server in order to start up server processes in parallel rather
than serially. If not defined, then EnSight chooses the number
of threads based on the number of processors available and
license limitations.
ENSIGHT9_MAX_THREADS Server Parallel The maximum number of threads to use for each EnSight
server. Threads are used to accelerate the computation of
streamlines, clips, isosurfaces, and other compute-intensive
operations. If not defined, then the EnSight server chooses
the number of threads based on the number of processors
available and license limitations.
ENSIGHT9_RES Client/
SoS/
Collab
Resources Specify a resource file name that the client reads
ENSIGHT9_SERVER_HOSTS Client/
SoS
Resources Specify quoted strings of space delimited host names (e.g.
“host1 host2 host1 host3”) to be used for EnSight servers.
The host names are used in the order they occur. A host
name may occur multiple times
LSB_MCPU_HOSTS Client/
SoS
Resources If either the ‘-use_lsf_for_servers’ or ‘-
use_lsf_for_renderers’ command line options are
specified, then the client will evaluate this environment
variable for resources. The environment variable specifies a
quoted string such as “host1 5 host2 4 host3 1” which
indicates 5 CPUs should be used on host1, 4 CPUs should be
used on host2, and 1 CPU should be used on host3. The
hosts will be used in a round-robin fashion.
CEI_ARCH All Path Description of hardware & OS (set automatically on EnSight
startup)
CEI_HOME All Path Location of EnSight installation (required)
CEI_PDFREADER Client Path Application for reading EnSight .pdf help files
CEI_PYTHONHOME Client Path Point to a different Python runtime library. Default is
CEI_HOME/apex12/machines/CEI_ARCH/Python242
CEI_UDILPATH Client Path A list of ":" separated directories (";" on Windows) where
EnSight looks for user-defined image libraries.
ENSIGHT_PATHREPLACE Client Path Replaces the data path with the path found in this
environment variable
PATH Client Path Must include $CEI_HOME/bin
TMPDIR Server Path Location for temporary files. Default is usually /tmp or /usr/
tmp
CEI_CONTROLLER_KEY Client Tracking See CEI_INPUT
Name Locatio
n
Category Description

Page 30
CEI_INPUT Client Tracking To specify the tracking library. To select trackd, use:
setenv CEI_INPUT trackd (for csh or equivalent users)
The value of CEI_INPUT can either be a fully-qualified path
and filename or simply the name of the driver, in which case
EnSight will load the library libuserd_input.so from directory:
$CEI_HOME/apex21/machines/$CEI_ARCH/udi/
$CEI_INPUT/
For the trackd interface you will also need to set:
CEI_TRACKER_KEY <num>
CEI_CONTROLLER_KEY <num>
CEI_TRACKD_DEBUG Client Tracking Turn on debug information from the trackD user defined input
library.
CEI_TRACKER_KEY Client Tracking See CEI_INPUT
ENSIGHT9_INPUT Client Tracking Input device to use for EnSight (same as CEI_INPUT)
ENSIGHT9_READER Server User Path to the location of additional user-defined readers
ENSIGHT9_READER_GUI Server User Set to 0 in order to not load user-defined extra GUI. Any other
setting (or unset) loads extra GUI.
ENSIGHT9_UDMF Server User Sets directory location of user defined math functions to be
loaded by EnSight at startup
ENSIGHT9_UDW Server User Sets directory location of user defined writers to be loaded by
Ensight at startup
Name Locatio
n
Category Description

Page 31
Use MPI
INTRODUCTION
EnSight includes support for MPI (Message Passing Interface; see http://www.mcs.anl.gov/research/projects/mpich2/
) for use between EnSight's Server-of-Servers (SOS) application and EnSight Servers (server). Note that EnSight
still has the same SOS support as previous versions of EnSight; MPI support is in addition to previous capabilities.
The user should note that MPI support is an evolving area for EnSight. In particular CEI Inc. is still determining the
best method to distribute the various components related to MPI, how best to support varying MPI implementations
and job schedulers, and the type and degree of support required by end-users. This documentation will be updated
at a future date. Please contact EnSight support if you desire to use MPI with EnSight.

Page 36
Read and Load Data
Read Data
INTRODUCTION
EnSight supports a number of file formats common in computational analysis. In addition, CEI has defined generic
data formats (in both ASCII and binary versions) that can be used for both structured and unstructured data. In many
cases analysis codes output this data directly (i.e. FLUENT, STAR-CD, KIVA, etc.)
One-Step Quick Method (Simple Interface)
One-Step Quick Method (Advanced Interface/Load All)
Ensight_reader_extension.map file example:
Two-Step Method (Advanced Interface/Choose Parts)
First Step (Specifying Files):
Second Step (Loading Parts):
BASIC OPERATION
One-Step Quick Method (Simple Interface)
The one-step method of reading data into EnSight works for most formats and requires a file extension-to-reader
mapping file (ensight_reader_extension.map). This file can reside in the site_preferences directory and/or each user
can have his own personal one in his personal EnSight defaults directory (located at
%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\(username)\.ensight92 commonly located at C:\Users\username\.ensight92 on
Vista and Win7, C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\.ensight92 on older Windows, and ~/.ensight92 on Linux,
and in ~/Library/Application Support/EnSight92 on the Mac). A sample of this file is shown below. The mapping file
associates file extensions to readers. If this file is not provided or an association is not known, or the format doesn’t
allow it due to required intermediate information (such as Plot3D currently), the one-step method (Simple Interface)
Reading data into Ensight can be a one-step quick process if an association is
known for the data format type and you wish to load all parts.
A two-step process is also available. This is the more traditional method for
EnSight, and provides more control over the reading of data files and the part
creation process. The first step is the selection of appropriate files. The second step
is the loading of parts. Both steps have many similarities regardless of the data
format. These basic steps are described below. Variations from the methods shown
will be described in Chapter 2 (Reader Basics) of the User Manual for the various
formats. Both of these methods are accessed under File->Open...

Page 37
will default to the first step of the two-step method (Advanced Interface)
One-Step Quick Method (Advanced Interface/Load All)
A variation of the one-step method of reading data into EnSight can also use the Advanced interface and the Load All
button. The extension-to-reader mapping file (ensight_reader_extension.map) is also used for this variation - but if no
mapping is set, the user can specify the format manually. Note also that this method gives you more control over
1. Select File > Open...
2. If not already selected, toggle
Simple Interface on.
3. Navigate to the desired directory
using typical navigation methods.
4. Filter the list using the File type, if
desired.
5. Select the desired file.
This file’s extension is what will be
mapped to a reader in the
ensight_reader_extension.map.
6. Click Okay
(Double clicking the file in step 4. is
also allowed.)
At this point (provided the association is successful and the data is readable) all parts of the model will be loaded
into EnSight and will appear in the graphics screen and in the Parts List. If the association is not successful, an
error message will result.

Page 38
other format and time options.
Format options and Time options are documented in the next section.
1. Select File > Open...
2. If not already selected, toggle
Advanced Interface on.
3. Navigate to the desired
directory using typical
navigation methods.
4. Filter the list using the File
type, if desired.
5. Select the desired file.
This file’s extension is what will
be mapped to a reader in the
ensight_reader_extension.map.
6. Click appropriate Set Button.
If a mapping is known, the correct
Format will be automatically
chosen for you.
7. Select the correct Format - if
not already correct.
8. Click Load All.
At this point (provided the settings are correct) all parts of the model will be loaded into EnSight and will appear in
the graphics screen and in the Parts List. Otherwise an error message will result.

Page 39
Ensight_reader_extension.map file example:
The following is a sample containing associations for EnSight Case, EnSight5, STL and MSC/Dytran:
EnSight file extension to format association file
Version 1.0
#
# Comment lines start with a #
#
#
# The format of this file is as follows:
#
# READER_NAME: reader name as it appears in the Format chooser in the EnSight Data Reader dialog
# NUM_FILE_1: the number of file_1_ext lines to follow
# FILE_1_EXT: the extension that follows a file name minus the “.”, i.e., “geo”, “case”, etc.
# There should be one definition after the :. Multiple FILE_1_EXT lines may exist
# NUM_FILE_2: the number of file_2_ext lines to follow
# FILE_2_EXT: the extension of a second file that will act as the result file. This is only used
# for formats that require two file names. As with FILE_1_EXT, there may be multiple
# FILE_2_EXT lines.
# ELEMENT_REP: A key word that describes how the parts will be loaded (all parts will be loaded the
# same way). One of the following:
# “3D border, 2D full”
# “3D feature, 2D full”
# “3D nonvisual, 2D full”
# “Border”
# “Feature angle”
# “Bounding Box”
# “Full”
# “Non Visual”
# If option is not set then 3D border, 2D full is used
# READ_BEFORE: (optional) The name of a command file to play before reading the file(s)
# READ_AFTER: (optional) The name of a command file to read after loading the parts
# Definition for Case files
READER_NAME: Case
NUM_FILE_1: 2
FILE_1_EXT: case
FILE_1_EXT: encas
ELEMENT_REP: 3D feature, 2D full
# Definition for EnSight5 files
READER_NAME: EnSight 5
NUM_FILE_1: 2
FILE_1_EXT: geo
FILE_1_EXT: GEOM
NUM_FILE_2: 2
FILE_2_EXT: res
FILE_2_EXT: RESULTS
ELEMENT_REP: 3D feature, 2D full
# Definition for STL files
READER_NAME: STL
NUM_FILE_1: 4
FILE_1_EXT: stl
FILE_1_EXT: STL
FILE_1_EXT: xct
FILE_1_EXT: XCT
ELEMENT_REP: 3D feature, 2D full
# Definition for Dytran files
READER_NAME: MSC/Dytran
NUM_FILE_1: 2
FILE_1_EXT: dat
FILE_1_EXT: ARC
ELEMENT_REP: 3D border, 2D full
READ_AFTER: read_after_dytran.enc

Page 40
Two-Step Method (Advanced Interface/Choose Parts)
First Step (Specifying Files):
Each data format requires a different set of files for proper data loading. A table is provided below that briefly
describes these files for various formats. Links to the User Manual are also provided - so you can get detailed
information for each format
1. Select File > Open...
2. Toggle Advanced Interface, if not
already set.
3. Navigate to the desired directory
using typical navigation methods.
4. Filter the list using the File type, if
desired.
5. Select the desired file.
This file’s extension is what will be mapped
to a reader in the
ensight_reader_extension.map.
6. Click the applicable Set Button(s)
(in this case, the Set d3plot button)
If a mapping is known, the correct Format
will be automatically chosen for you.
7. Select the correct Format - if not
already correct.
The list shown is dependent on the
presence of internal and user-defined
readers at your site, and in your preference
settings. For the list of available readers
please see Native EnSight Format
Readers or Other Readers.
8. Optionally set any Format
options.
Note the options presented will vary
according to the data format. All but the
Casefile format will allow input of measured
data. See EnSight5 Measured/Particle
File Format. Plot3d, Casefile, and Special
HDF5 structured formats will provide a field
for a boundary file. See EnSight
Boundary File Format
9. Optionally set any Time options.
If desired, specify a starting time. The
default is the last time step, unless you
have set a preference otherwise.
10. Click Choose Parts.

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The Data Part Loader dialog for the applicable format will now open and you are ready for the second step in the data
reading process.
There are a couple of exceptions to this, where additional information must be entered. For example, the Plot3D
reader requires some confirmation on various formatting possibilities, the ESTET reader allows for vector building
from scalar components, etc. If not obvious, please see the details for specific readers in Chapter 2 (Other Readers)
of the User Manual
Second Step (Loading Parts):
There are several ways that parts are specified for loading into EnSight. Many formats use similar procedures, while
a few have custom methods. Below we present the more common part loading methods. For formats that vary from
these - you will be referred to the User Manual which gives the details for each.
To build unstructured parts for EnSight Case (Ensight Gold, EnSight6), EnSight5, ABAQUS_ODB, Medina bif/bof,
Ansys Results (v8), AVUS, AVUS Case, CFF, CFX-4, CGNS, ExodusIIgold, Special HDF5, LS-DYNA3D, MSC/
Dytran, Nastran OP2, NetCDF, RADIOSS_4.x, SCRYU, Silo, TECPLOT 7.x, Tecplot_ASCII, Vectis, and any other
User-defined formats:
1. If the Data Part Loader dialog is not open,
select File > Load parts...
The available parts are listed in the Parts List. You can build
them all by clicking Load All at the bottom. Alternately, you
can build the selected ones or even one by one and choose a
different visual representation and part name for each.
To build selected parts:
2. Select the desired part(s) in the Parts list.
3. Choose the desired initial Visual
Representation for the select part(s).
Optionally, you can have each of the elements indicated by
the visual rep be represented as a point and a normal.
4. Toggle on if you want the selected parts to be
grouped together.
If on, the “New part description” field will be used as
the group name.
5. If desired, enter a name for the part (to use in
the Main Parts list).
The default name is the same as the entry in this
Parts List.
6. Click Load Selected.
7. Click Close when done.
Note that you can re-enter the part loader and build more parts later for formats which use this method.

Page 42
For ANSYS RESULTS, FAST UNSTRUCTURED, FIDAP NEUTRAL, FLUENT UNIVERSAL, Movie, and MPGS 4.1
formats:
For the N3S format, see N3S Reader
For the Abaqus_fil format all parts are automatically loaded.
All parts defined in the file will be loaded to the EnSight
server. However, you have a choice for the initial visual
representation of some parts as displayed on the client. The
choice is made with the Load pull-down:
All Parts: all parts are loaded to the client in the default visual
representation (typically 3D Border, 2D Full).
Part 1 Only: Only the first part is loaded to the client in the default
visual representation. The other parts will have the NonVisual
representation.
All But Part 1: All parts other than part 1 are loaded to the client in
the default visual representation. Part 1 will be NonVisual.
No Parts: No parts are loaded to the client (i.e. the representation of
all parts is set to NonVisual).
Note that you can easily change the visual representation of
a part at any time. See How To Change Visual
Representation for more information.
1. Select the desired Load option.
2. Click Okay.
Note that you will not be able to re-enter the part loader for formats which use this method

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To build structured parts for EnSight Case (EnSight Gold, EnSight6), Special HDF5, Plot3D, and any other User-
defined formats:
For the ESTET format the procedure is similar. See ESTET Reader
1. If the Data Part Loader dialog is not
open, select File > Load parts...
2. Be sure Structured Data is selected to
display only the structured parts in the
Parts List.
3. Select the desired part(s) in the Parts
List.
4. Choose the desired initial Visual
Representation for the select part(s).
Optionally, you can have each of the elements
indicated by the visual rep be represented as a point
and a normal.
5. If the selected part has Iblanking, you
can build based on the value (Inside
selects cells where Iblank=1, Outside
selects Iblank=0, All selects all cells
ignoring Iblanking).
6. You can specify From, To, and Step IJK
values for the selected part(s). The From
and To values are inclusive.
Valid values in the From and To fields are numbers
advancing from 1(the min for each part), or numbers
decreasing from 0(the max for each part):
1,2,3,... ---> <--- ...-3,-2,-1,0
|-------------------------------------------|
min max
(always 1) (varies per part)
If you specify values that will be outside of the range
of an individual part, the proper min or max values
for the given part will be used.
The Min and Max fields are for reference only.
8. If desired, enter a name for the part (to
use in the Main Parts list). The default
name is the same as the entry in the
Parts List.
9. Open this turndown section to create
unstructured parts based on boundary
Iblanking from any parts created above.
10. Click Create/load from selected.
(or Create/load all if you want to load all the
structured parts)
11. Click Close when done.
7. If you desire to extract multiple
surfaces (at a constant delta) from the
same zone, set one of the directions to
the desired non-zero delta value.
This is a “blade row” kind of operation.
Please note that this results in an
unstructured part instead of a structured one.

Page 46
Use ens_checker
INTRODUCTION
This program attempts to check the integrity of the EnSight Gold (or EnSight6) file formats. Most files that pass this
check will be able to be read by EnSight (see Other Notes below). If EnSight Gold (or EnSight6) data fails to read into
Ensight, one should run it through this checker to see if any problems are found.
Ens_checker makes no attempt to check the validity of floating point values, such as coordinates, results, etc. It is
just checking the existence and format of such.
BASIC OPERATION
Program invocation:
If you invoke the program without any arguments, it will prompt you for the casefile to read. For example:
> ens_checker
*****************************************************************
* EnSight Data Format Checker *
* =========================== *
* Currently, *
* 1. Must be run from directory in which casefile is located. *
* 2. Handles EnSight6 and EnSight Gold formats only. *
* 3. Does not process SOS casefiles. *
*****************************************************************
<Enter casefile name (must be in directory containing it!) > mydata.case
You can alternatively invoke the program with the casefile on the command line.
> ens_checker mydata.case
Sample runs:
As ens_checker works it will be providing feedback. This feedback is important in interpreting what is wrong in the
files. Here is a sample run, which was successful:
> ens_checker 3by3.case
*****************************************************************
* EnSight Data Format Checker *
* =========================== *
* Currently, *
* 1. Must be run from directory in which casefile is located. *
* 2. Handles EnSight6 and EnSight Gold formats only. *
* 3. Does not process SOS casefiles. *
*****************************************************************
<Enter casefile name (must be in directory containing it!) > 3by3.case
Casefile to Process:
--------------------
3by3.case (Opened successfully)
---------------------
Major Sections Found:
---------------------
Required FORMAT section (at line 1)
Required GEOMETRY section (at line 4)
Optional VARIABLE section (at line 7)
Optional TIME section (at line 11)
---------------
FORMAT Section:
---------------
EnSight 6 Format (set at line 2)

Page 47
-------------
TIME section:
-------------
Info for timeset number: 1
----------------------------
Time set: 1 (at line 12)
No description provided
Number of steps: 1 (at line 13)
Time values: (starting on line 14)
time values[1] = 0
>-------------------<
> TIME section OKAY <
>-------------------<
-----------------
GEOMETRY Section:
-----------------
--------
Model filename is: 3by3.geo (at line 5)
Static geometry
--------
Opened 3by3.geo successfully
File type is: ASCII
Description 1: EnSight test geometry file
Description 2: ==========================
node ids: assign
element ids: assign
Global section:
Number of nodes: 64
Coordinates for (64) nodes found
Part 1:
Description is: 3 x 3 xy
Unstructured Part
Number of quad4 elements is: 9
Connectivities for (9) quad4 elements found
Part 2:
Description is: 3 x 3 yz
Unstructured Part
Number of quad4 elements is: 9
Connectivities for (9) quad4 elements found
Part 3:
Description is: 3 x 3 xz
Unstructured Part
Number of quad4 elements is: 9
Connectivities for (9) quad4 elements found
Part 4:
Description is: 3 x 3 45
Unstructured Part
Number of quad4 elements is: 9
Connectivities for (9) quad4 elements found
>-----------------------<
> GEOMETRY section OKAY <
>-----------------------<
-----------------
VARIABLE Section:
-----------------
scalar per node: scalar (at line 8)
Filename is: 3by3.scl
Non transient variable

Page 48
--------
Opened 3by3.scl successfully
Description: 3by3 scalar variable
Global section:
(64) Nodal scalar values for unstructured nodes found
vector per node: vector (at line 9)
Filename is: 3by3.vct
Non transient variable
--------
Opened 3by3.vct successfully
Description: 3by3 vector variable
Global section:
(192) Nodal vector values for unstructured nodes found
>-----------------------<
> VARIABLE section OKAY <
>-----------------------<
>----------- Hooray! ----------<
> <
> Data verification SUCCESSFUL <
> <
> with No Warnings <
> <
>------------------------------<
And here is a sample run, with a problem, namely a ‘block’ line is missing:
> ens_checker 3by3s.case
*****************************************************************
* EnSight Data Format Checker *
* =========================== *
* Currently, *
* 1. Must be run from directory in which casefile is located. *
* 2. Handles EnSight6 and EnSight Gold formats only. *
* 3. Does not process SOS casefiles. *
*****************************************************************
Casefile to Process:
--------------------
3by3s.case (Opened successfully)
---------------------
Major Sections Found:
---------------------
Required FORMAT section (at line 1)
Required GEOMETRY section (at line 4)
Optional VARIABLE section (at line 7)
Optional TIME section (at line 11)
---------------
FORMAT Section:
---------------
EnSight 6 Format (set at line 2)
-------------
TIME section:
-------------
Info for timeset number: 1
----------------------------

Page 49
Time set: 1 (at line 12)
No description provided
Number of steps: 1 (at line 13)
Time values: (starting on line 14)
time values[1] = 0
>-------------------<
> TIME section OKAY <
>-------------------<
-----------------
GEOMETRY Section:
-----------------
--------
Model filename is: 3by3s.geo (at line 5)
Static geometry
--------
Opened 3by3s.geo successfully
File type is: ASCII
Description 1: EnSight test geometry file
Description 2: ==========================
node ids: assign
element ids: assign
Global section:
Number of nodes: 0
Part 1:
Description is: 3 x 3 xy block
Structured Part
Not iblanked
i j k = 4 4 1
Number of nodes: 16
Number of cells: 9
Block X coordinates for (16) nodes found
Block Y coordinates for (16) nodes found
Block Z coordinates for (16) nodes found
Part 2:
Description is: 3 x 3 yz block
===> Problem:
-------------
Looking for one of the following valid line types:
element type (unstructured types, any of the following:
point tria6 tetra10 penta15
bar2 quad4 pyramid5 hexa8
bar3 quad8 pyramid13 hexa20
tria3 tetra4 penta6
block (structured block)
part (the next part)
but found the following:
4 4 1
>-------------------------<
> GEOMETRY section FAILED <
>-------------------------<
>-*-*-*-*-*-* bummer! *-*-*-*-*-*-<
> <
> Verification of the data FAILED <
> <
>-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-<
After fixing the ‘block’ line and running the program again, another problem is encountered - namely, an extra space

Page 50
at the end of the second line of x coordinates for the block that is part 2.
> ens_checker 3by3s.case
*****************************************************************
* EnSight Data Format Checker *
* =========================== *
* Currently, *
* 1. Must be run from directory in which casefile is located. *
* 2. Handles EnSight6 and EnSight Gold formats only. *
* 3. Does not process SOS casefiles. *
*****************************************************************
Casefile to Process:
--------------------
3by3s.case (Opened successfully)
---------------------
Major Sections Found:
---------------------
Required FORMAT section (at line 1)
Required GEOMETRY section (at line 4)
Optional VARIABLE section (at line 7)
Optional TIME section (at line 11)
---------------
FORMAT Section:
---------------
EnSight 6 Format (set at line 2)
-------------
TIME section:
-------------
Info for timeset number: 1
----------------------------
Time set: 1 (at line 12)
No description provided
Number of steps: 1 (at line 13)
Time values: (starting on line 14)
time values[1] = 0
>-------------------<
> TIME section OKAY <
>-------------------<
-----------------
GEOMETRY Section:
-----------------
--------
Model filename is: 3by3s.geo (at line 5)
Static geometry
--------
Opened 3by3s.geo successfully
File type is: ASCII
Description 1: EnSight test geometry file
Description 2: ==========================
node ids: assign
element ids: assign
Global section:
Number of nodes: 0
Part 1:
Description is: 3 x 3 xy block
Structured Part
Not iblanked
i j k = 4 4 1
Number of nodes: 16

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Number of cells: 9
Block X coordinates for (16) nodes found
Block Y coordinates for (16) nodes found
Block Z coordinates for (16) nodes found
Part 2:
Description is: 3 x 3 yz block
Structured Part
Not iblanked
i j k = 4 4 1
Number of nodes: 16
Number of cells: 9
===> Problem:
-------------
Previous lines end with 1 extra chars on the line,
but line 2 has 2 extra chars. The lines must be consistent
or EnSight will have trouble reading it.
===> Problem:
-------------
Not successful reading 16 X block coordinates
>-------------------------<
> GEOMETRY section FAILED <
>-------------------------<
>-*-*-*-*-*-* bummer! *-*-*-*-*-*-<
> <
> Verification of the data FAILED <
> <
>-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-<
After eliminating the extra space, the file then checked out fine.
ADVANCED USAGE
Redirecting Output to a File:
ens_checker is writing to stderr, so if you want to redirect output to a file, you need to use “>&”. For example, the
following will place the output of the run into a file called output.file:
> ens_checker 3by3.case >& output.file
OTHER NOTES
The word “most” is used above because one of the things that could pass the checker, but fail in EnSight is element
connectivity of EnSight6 files with node ids. The ens_checker checks that node ids used in the element connectivities
lie within the min and max range of the node ids, but does not verify that there is actually a node with each individual
id.
The validity of model extents, presence of nan’s, etc. are currently checked to some degree in ens_checker, but
again, this is a format checker - not a model integrity checker.
SEE ALSO
User Manual:
EnSight Gold Casefile Format
EnSight6 Casefile Format

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Load Multiple Datasets (Cases)
INTRODUCTION
Normal operation of EnSight involves one client process (the graphics and GUI) interfacing with one server process
(data I/O and computation) to postprocess your data. There however several other configurations possible. One of
these is the ability to connect a single client to multiple servers at the same time, with each server maintaining a
unique dataset. Each of these servers can potentially run on different machines.
The main use of this capability is to visualize multiple datasets simultaneously. Each dataset is loaded into a separate
case and can be viewed in the same window or in separate viewports. You can perform before and after comparisons
of the same problem or compare experimental with simulated results. The same operation (such as a clip or a particle
trace) can be performed in both cases simultaneously. Created parts always belong to the same case as the parent
from which the part was created. As a consequence, you cannot perform operations that combine parts (such as a
merge) from multiple cases.
When EnSight reads a new case, it searches the current list of variables for matches with the variables from the new
case. If it finds a match (based on an exact match of the variable name), it will not enter the new variable in the list.
Rather, the matched name will be used for both. This behavior is based on the assumption that the identical variable
names represent the same physical entity and should therefore be treated the same. If the new variable name does
not match any existing name, the new variable is added to the list as usual.
Up to 16 cases can be active at one time. You can add a new case or replace an existing case to a running session
by using the File->Open... process (if you want to load all parts and don’t need to control other options available when
loading cases) or the File->Data (reader)... process (which provides greater control). Adding a case starts a new
server process, connects it to the client, and either loads all the parts (if you used Open...) or allows you to specify the
data format and files as well as which parts to load into the new server and what optional settings to use as the case
is created. One of the helpful uses of the replace case option is to load a new dataset into EnSight without re-starting
the client. You can of course also delete cases you no longer need.
Server
Client
Server
Client
Server
Normal Operation Two Cases

Page 53
BASIC OPERATION
Simplified case operations (Add or Replace and load all parts) can be accessed through the File->Open dialog. All
other case operations (including control of various options can be accessed through the Case menu or through the
File->Data (reader) dialog. Both methods will be shown below.
Add a Case
To add a case to a running EnSight session
Using simple File->Open dialog
method:
1.Select File->Open... to open
the File Selection dialog.
2. Select Keep currently loaded
data
This will add, rather than
replace, the case
3. Select the desired directory
and files for the new case.
4. Click Okay.
The EnSight client will now start the connection process for the new server. If your original connection was
automatic, the new server will be started automatically. If your original connection was manual, you will have to
manually start another server. You can follow the progress of the connection in the Message area. See the
EnSight Getting Started Manual or How To Connect EnSight Client and Server for more information. Once
connected, EnSight will also load all parts of this new case if you use this method.

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Using File->Data (reader) dialog method:
1. Select Case > Add, Replace, Delete... to open the data reader File Selection dialog.
2. If the Case section is not
open, click the turndown.
3. Click Add...
4. If desired, enter a name for the
case (other than the default).
The name will be displayed in the
Case menu so this case can be
selected as the current case.
5. Set optional settings.
Create new viewport for this case will
place the new case in a new viewport.
Apply Context From Case 1 will cause
the new case to inherit positioning etc.
from case 1.
Reflect Model About Axis allows the
model to be reflected as it is read in.
Pick the axis and specify the origin
location.
6. Click Okay.
The EnSight client will now start the connection process for the new server. If your original
connection was automatic, the new server will be started automatically. If your original connection
was manual, you will have to manually start another server. You can follow the progress of the
connection in the Message area. See the EnSight Getting Started Manual or How To Connect
EnSight Client and Server for more information.

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Replace a Case
You can replace an existing case. This is most useful when you wish to load a new dataset without having to stop
and re-start the client. To replace a case:
Using simple File->Open dialog method:
Do the same thing you do for adding a case, but select the Replace currently loaded data toggle.
Using File->Data (reader) dialog method
1. Select the case you wish to replace in the Case menu (Case > casename).
2. Select Case > Add, Replace, Delete... to open the data reader File Selection dialog.
3. If the Case section is not open, click the turndown.
4. Click Replace...
You will be asked to confirm the replacement. If confirmed, the server associated with the selected case is terminated
and the EnSight client will now start the connection process for the new server. If your original connection was
automatic, the new server will be started automatically. If your original connection was manual, you will have to
manually start another server. You can follow the progress of the connection in the Message area. See How To
Connect EnSight Client and Server for more information.
Delete a Case
To delete a case:
1. Select the case you wish to delete in the Case menu (Case > casename).
2. Select Case > Add, Replace, Delete... to open the data reader File Selection dialog.
3. If the Case section is not open, click the turndown.
4. Click Delete...
You will be asked to confirm the deletion. If confirmed, the server associated with the selected case is terminated.
Displaying Parts by Case
By default all parts from all cases are displayed in the Main Parts list and they are displayed in a hierarchical manner
by case. There are several different ways to show or not show things in the list. These are controlled by the Sort...
button under the list. See How To... Introduction to Part Creation for more details on viewing the parts list.

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Case Viewport Display
One of the chief advantages of the case feature is the ability to perform side-by-side comparisons of different
datasets. One way to do this is to display each case in a separate viewport. To do this:
ADVANCED USAGE
EnSight’s cases capability has also been used to achieve coarse-grained parallelism for very large datasets by
partitioning a mesh into blocks and reading each block into a different case. Each case can run on different machines
or on different CPUs of a multiprocessor host. Since the EnSight client places the geometry from the different cases
in the same coordinate system, the blocks are effectively “stitched” back together for viewing. Operations such as
clipping and isosurface calculation are then automatically performed in parallel. However, since there is no
communication between the servers (in the current release) you cannot trace particles originating in one block and
expect them to cross a block boundary into a different block. (It should be noted that EnSight’s server-of-server
capability is an alternate, and usually better way to do parallel operations on a model.)
OTHER NOTES
When you perform an archive operation, a binary dump file is produced for each active server (case). The archive
information file contains details about the cases and can be used to restart the EnSight client as well as all servers
active when the archive was performed. See How To Save and Restore an Archive for more information.
SEE ALSO
User Manual: Case Menu Functions
1. Create as many additional viewports as you need to
display your cases. See How To Define and Change
Viewports for more information.
2. Select the case whose parts you wish to display only in
certain viewports in the Case menu (Case > casename).
3. Select Case > Viewport Visibility...
4. Click in the desired viewport to enable or disable
display of the selected case. Black means the selected
case is not displayed in the viewport, green means that
it is displayed.

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Load Transient Data
INTRODUCTION
From it’s inception, EnSight has been used extensively to postprocess time-varying or transient data. In many cases,
dynamic phenomena can only be understood through interactive exploration as a transient case is animated.
EnSight handles all types of transient data. All variables as well as mesh coordinates and connectivity can vary over
time. The rate at which variables (or the mesh) change can differ (supported through the EnSight Gold and EnSight6
Case data format only).
EnSight can postprocess transient data in many ways. The Solution Time Quick Interaction area lets you easily set
the current time step, step through time (manually or automatically), or restrict the range of time to a region of
interest. You can perform query operations to extract information over time. You can use the flipbook capability to
create an on-screen animation of your data changing over time and continue to interact with it during animation
playback. EnSight’s keyframe animation capability can be used to create high-quality video animations of transient
data.
This article covers reading transient data into EnSight.
BASIC OPERATION
Reading transient data into EnSight is essentially the same as reading static data (see How To Read Data for more
information). By default, the last time step will become the current time step. This behavior is based on the
assumption that the last step will contain the largest dynamic range of the variable data so that variable palettes will
be initialized properly. However, you can override this by clicking the Specify Starting Time Step toggle and entering
the desired time step in the data reader File Selection dialog (File > Data (Reader)...).
For most data formats, the “results” file supplies the necessary time information, including number of steps, actual
solution time at each step, and how to access the dynamic variable and geometry files. However, some formats
supported by EnSight include this information in the same file that contains other geometry or variable data. The
following table lists how transient data is specified for each format type. And for the latest and most detailed
information, please look at the README file in the reader folder under $CEI_HOME/ensight92/src/readers.
Format Type What File Contains Time Info? Notes
Case EnSight 6 file.case Standard EnSight case file
EnSight Gold file.case Standard EnSight case file
EnSight 5 file.res Standard EnSight results file
ABAQUS file.fil
ABAQUS_ODB file.odb
ANSYS RESULTS file.rst, file.rth, etc.
Ansys Results (v8) file.rst, file.rth, etc.
AVUS Does not handle transient data directly
AVUS Case file.txt AVUS text case file
CFF file
CFX-4 file.dmp
CGNS file.cgns
ESTET Does not handle transient data
ExodusIIgold file.exo
FAST UNSTRUCTURED file.res. Can handle transient geometry
as well as solution and function files.
Special FAST format results file. See FAST
UNSTRUCTURED Results File Format
FIDAP NEUTRAL file.fdneut All time steps must be contained in the same neutral
file (i.e. there is only one file, not one for every time
step).
Fluent file.cas, file.dat
FLUENT UNIVERSAL file.unv Special FLUENT format results file. See FLUENT
UNIVERSAL Results File Format

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SEE ALSO
How To Change Time Steps, How To Animate Transient Data, How To Query/Plot
User Manual: Flipbook Animation, Query/Plot
Special HDF5 file (each file contains one time value) Special casefile containing number of files and the list
of files to use.
LS-DYNA3D file.d3plot Can be all in one file or in a family of d3plot files.
Medina bif/bof file.konfig
Movie file.res Standard EnSight results file
MPGS 4.1 file.res Standard EnSight results file
MSC/Dytran file.arc files Remember file.dat can be used to assemble multiple
“parts” from multiple file.arc files.
Nastran OP2 file.op2
N3S file.res N3S results file
NetCDF file.ncase
PLOT3D file.res. Can handle transient geometry
as well as solution and function files.
Special PLOT3D format results file. See PLOT3D
Results File Format.
RADIOSS_4.x file.anim
SCRYU file.pre
Silo file.silo or file.case Multiple times can be in the file.silo file, or the
file.case file can contain reference to multiple files
and their times.
STL Does not handle transient data
TECPLOT 7.x file.plt
Tecplot_ASCII file.dat for single file transient
or file*.dat (file1.dat, file2.dat, etc.)
For a single file transient solution, use
SOLUTIONTIME=# keyword after each ZONE T
keyword where # is a number representing the time
and check the Single File Transient Toggle in the
Format Options Tab of the data reader.
For multiple files, use file*.dat where the * represents
the file number of the timestep.
Vectis
Other User Defined varies with each reader See How to Read User Defined
Format Type What File Contains Time Info? Notes

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Use Server of Servers
INTRODUCTION
ensight92 (with gold license key) has the capability of dealing with partitioned data in an efficient distributed manner
by utilizing what we call a server-of-servers (SOS for short). An SOS server resides between a normal client and a
number of normal servers. Thus, it appears as a normal server to the client, and as a normal client to the various
normal servers.
This arrangement allows for distributed parallel processing of the various portions of a model, and has been shown to
scale quite well.
Currently, EnSight SOS capability is only available for EnSight5, EnSight6, EnSight Gold, Plot3d, and any EnSight
User-Defined Reader data. (It is not directly available for Fidap Neutral, Fluent Universal, N3S, Estet, MPGS4,
Movie, Ansys, Abaqus, or FAST Unstructured data.)
Please recognize that your data must be partitioned in some manner (hopefully in a way that will be reasonably load
balanced) in order for this approach to be useful. (The exception to this is the use of the auto_distribute capability for
structured or unstructured data. This option can be used if the data is available to all servers defined. It will
automatically distribute each portion of the data over the defined servers - without the user having to partition the
data. If you also use “resources”, a SOS casefile is not even needed. Please note that currently only EnSight
Gold, Plot3d, and any 2.06 (or greater) user-defined readers (which have implemented structured reader
cinching) can be used for structured auto_distribute - and that only EnSight Gold and any 2.08 (or greater)
user-defined readers (which have implemented the “*_in_buffers” routines ) can be used for unstructured
auto_distribute.)
(Included in the EnSight distribution is an unsupported utility that will take most EnSight Gold binary unstructured
datasets and partition it externally for you. The source for this utility (called “chopper”) can be found in the
$CEI_HOME/ensight92/unsupported/partitioner directory.)
Note: If you do your own partitioning of data into EnSight6 or EnSight Gold format, please be aware that each part
must be in each partition - but, any given part can be “empty” in any given partition. (All that is required for an empty
part is the “part” line, the part number, and the “description” line.)
You should place each partitioned portion of the model on the machine that will compute that portion. Each
partitioned portion is actually a self contained set of EnSight data files, which could typically be read by a normal
client - server session of EnSight. For example, if it were EnSight gold format, there will be a casefile and associated
gold geometry and variable results file(s). On the machine where the EnSight SOS will be run, you will need to place
the sos casefile. The sos casefile is a simple ascii file which informs the SOS about pertinent information needed to
run a server on each of the machines that will compute the various portions.

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The format for this file is as follows: (Note that [ ] indicates optional information, and a blank line or a line with # in the
first column are comments.)
FORMAT (Required)
type: master_server datatype (Required)
where: datatype is required and is one of the formats of EnSight’s internal readers (which
use the Part builder), namely:
gold ensight6 ensight5 plot3d
or it can be the string used to name any of the user-defined readers.
Note: For user-defined readers, the string must be exactly that which is defined in the
USERD_get_name_of_reader routine of the reader (which is what is presented in the Format
pulldown of the Data Reader dialog).
If datatype is blank, it will default to EnSight6 data type.
[auto_distribute: on/off] (Optional for structured or unstructured data)
EnSight will automatically distribute data to the servers specified below if this option is present
and set to “on”. This will require that each of the servers have access to the same data (or
identical copies of it). For structured data: use only if the datatype is gold, plot3d or a 2.06
or greater user-defined reader (which has implemented structured cinching). For
unstructured data: use only if the datatype is gold, or a 2.08 (or greater) user-defined
reader. Additionally, be aware that 2.* user-defined readers should implement the special
functions defined in README_USERD_IN_BUFFERS file if memory is to be used efficiently in
the unstructured auto-distribute process.
[use_resources: on/off] (Optional, to allow specification of server machines to come from the “resource file”)
[plot3d_iblanked: true/false](Required only if doing auto_distribute and datatype is plot3d)
[plot3d_multi_zone: true/false](Required only if doing auto_distribute and datatype is plot3d)
[plot3d_dimension: 1d/2d/3d](Required only if doing auto_distribute and datatype is plot3d)
[plot3d_source: ascii/cbin/fortranbin](Required only if doing auto_distribute and datatype is plot3d)
[plot3d_grid_double: true/false](Required only if doing auto_distribute and datatype is plot3d)
[plot3d_results_double: true/false](Required only if doing auto_distribute and datatype is plot3d)
where: iblanking, multi_zone, dimension, source type, grid file double precision, and results file
double precision information should be provided. If it is not provided, it will default to the
following (which is likely not to be correct):
plot3d_iblanked: false
plot3d_muti_zone: false
plot3d_dimension: 3d
plot3d_source: cbin
plot3d_grid_double: false
plot3d_results_double: false
[do_ghosts: on/off] (Optional for unstructured auto_distribute - default is on)
Allows user to control whether ghost cells will be produced between the distributed portions.
[buffer_size: n](Optional for unstructured auto_distribute and do_ghosts - default is 100000)
Allows user to modify the default buffer size that is used when reading node and element
information of the model when producing ghost cells.
[want_metric: on/off](Optional for unstructured auto_distribute and do_ghosts - default is on)
If set on, a simple metric will be printed in the shell window that can indicate the quality of the
auto_distribution. The unstructured auto_distribute method relies on some coherence in the
element connectivity - namely, that elements that lie next to each other are generally listed close
to each other in the data format.
The metric is simply the (#total_nodes / #nodes_needed_if_no_ghosts).
When no ghosts, the value will be 1.0. The more ghosts you must have, the higher this metric
will be. If the number gets much more than 2.0, you may want to consider partitioning yourself.
NETWORK_INTERFACES (Note: This whole section is optional. It is needed only when more than one network
interface to the sos host is available and it is desired to use them. Thus, distributing the servers
to sos communication over more than one network interface)

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number of network interfaces: num(Required - if section used)
where: num is the number of network interfaces to be used for the sos host.
network interface: sos_network_interface_name_1(Required - if section used)
network interface: sos_network_interface_name_2(Required - if section used)
.
.
network interface: sos_network_interface_name_num(Required - if section used)
SERVERS (Required)
number of servers: num [repeat](Required)
where: num is the number of servers that will be started and run concurrently.
repeat indicates that the first server specification should be repeated num times for use
with resources. Other server specifications will be ignored.
#Server 1 (Comment only)
machine id: mid (Required)
where: mid is the machine id of the server.
executable: /.../ensight92.server(Linux/Unix/Apple Required, must use full path)
or ensight92_server.bat (Windows only Required, must use .bat extension)
[directory: wd](Optional)
where: wd is the working directory from which ensight92.server will be run
[login id: id](Optional)
where: id is the login id. Only needed if it is different on this machine.
[data_path: /.../dd](Optional)
where: dd is the directory where the data resides. Full path must be provided if you use this line.
casefile: yourfile.case (Required, but depending on format, may vary as to whether it is a casefile, geometry file,
neutral file, universal file, etc. Relates to the first data field of the Data Reader Dialog.)
[resfile: yourfile.res](Depends on format as to whether required or not. Relates to the second data field of the Data
Reader Dialog.)
[measfile: yourfile.mea](Depends on format as to whether required or not. Relates to the third data field of the Data
Reader Dialog.)
[bndfile: yourfile.bnd](Depends on format as to whether required or not. Relates to the fourth data field of the Data
Reader Dialog.)
--- Repeat pertinent lines for as many servers as declared to be in this file ---
BASIC OPERATION
To use Server of Servers, you must:
1. Partition your data, and distribute it (or make it available) to the various machines on which you will run servers.
(Or if all servers have access to the data, you can use the auto_distribute option in the sos casefile.)
2. Create the sos casefile, which defines the server machines, the location of server executables on those machines,
and the name and location of the [partitioned] data for the servers.
3. Use ensight92.sos in place of ensight92.server, and provide it with the sos casefile.
Example SOS Casefile
This example deals with a EnSight Gold dataset that has been partitioned into 3 portions, each running on a different
machine. The machines are named joe, sally, and bill. The executables for all machines are located in similar
locations, but the data is not. Note that the optional data_path line is used on two of the servers, but not the third.
FORMAT
type: master_server gold
SERVERS
number of servers: 3
#Server 1
machine id: joe
executable: /usr/local/bin/ensight92/bin/ensight92.server

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data_path: /usr/people/john/data
casefile: portion_1.case
#Server 2 is a Windows machine (notice .bat extension)
machine id: sally
executable: C:\Program Files\CEI\ensight92\bin\ensight92_server.bat
data_path: D:\john\data
casefile: portion_2.case
#Server 3
machine id: bill
executable: /usr/local/bin/ensight92/bin/ensight92.server
casefile: /scratch/temp/john/portion_3.case
If we name this example sos casefile - “all.sos”, and we run it on yet another machine - one named george, you would
want the data distributed as follows:
On george: all.sos
On joe (in /usr/people/john/data): portion_1.case, and all files referenced by it.
On sally (in /scratch/sally/john/data): portion_2.case, and all files referenced by it.
On bill (in /scratch/temp/john): portion_3.case, and all file referenced by it.
By starting EnSight with the -sos command line option (which will autoconnect using ensight92.sos instead of
ensight92.server), or by manually running ensight92.sos in place of ensight92.server, and providing all.sos as the
casefile to read in the Data Reader dialog - EnSight will actually start three servers and compute the respective
portions on them in parallel.
So, one could do the following (after preparing the all.sos file):
On “george”, run the client and the sos by invoking the ensight92 script in a shell window (non-windows) or
Command Prompt window (windows), like:
george>> ensight92 -sos
Or one could run the client on the “myclient” machine, telnet (or equivalent) into the “george” machine and run the sos
there, by using the following commands:
:
In either case, you would enter the all.sos command as the file to read in the Data Reader dialog once EnSight is up
and connected. And the servers on “joe”, “sally”, and “bill” would be started and used automatically.
If “myclient” is a non-windows machine:
In a window on “myclient”: In a window that is telneted into the “george” machine:
myclient>> ensight92.client -cm If “george: is a non-windows machine:
george>> ensight92.sos -c myclient
If “george is a windows machine:
george>> ensight92_sos -c myclient
If “myclient” is a windows machine:
In a Command Prompt window on “myclient”: In a Command Prompt window that is telneted into the
“george” machine:
myclient>> ensight92_client -cm If “george: is a non-windows machine:
george>> ensight92.sos -c myclient
If “george is a windows machine:
george>> ensight92_sos -c myclient

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ENVIRONMENT Variables
The following Environment variables will directly affect the SOS performance, see How To Setup for Parallel
Computation.
ENSIGHT9_MAX_THREADS
ENSIGHT9_MAX_SOSTHREADS
Optional NETWORK_INTERFACES section notes
If the machine named george had more than one network interface (say it had its main one named george, but also
had one named george2), we could add the section shown below to our casefile example:
NETWORK_INTERFACES
number of network interfaces: 2
network interface: george
network interface: george2
This would cause machine joe to connect back to george, machine sally to connect back to george2, and machine bill
to connect back to george. This is because the sos will cycle through its available network interfaces as it connects
the servers. Remember that this is an optional section, and most users will probably not use it. Also, the contents of
this section will be ignored if the -soshostname command line option is used.
Example SOS Casefile for PLOT3D, Using structured auto_distribute
This example shows a plot3d dataset (post.x and post.q) that has not been partitioned, but is on an nfs mounted disk
available to each server machine. EnSight will distribute the data to the 3 servers defined. IO will not necessarily be
great since each server will be reading from the same file, but execution will be enhanced by the partitioning. We will
use the same machines used in the previous example.
FORMAT
type: master_server plot3d
auto_distribute: on
plot3d_iblanked: true
plot3d_multi_zone: false
plot3d_dimension: 3d
plot3d_source: cbin
plot3d_grid_double: false
plot3d_results_double: false
SERVERS
number of servers: 3
#Server 1
machine id: joe
executable: /usr/local/bin/ensight92/bin/ensight92.server
data_path: /scratch/data
casefile: post.x
resfile: post.q
#Server 2
machine id: sally
executable: /usr/local/bin/ensight92/bin/ensight92.server
data_path: /scratch/data
casefile: post.x
resfile: post.q
#Server 3
machine id: bill
executable: /usr/local/bin/ensight92/bin/ensight92.server
data_path: /scratch/data
casefile: post.x
resfile: post.q

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Example SOS Casefile for EnSight Gold, Using unstructured auto_distribute
This example shows an EnSight Gold dataset (trial.case) that has not been partitioned, but is on an nfs mounted disk
available to each server machine. EnSight will distribute the data to the 3 servers defined. IO will not necessarily be
great since each server will be reading from the same file, but execution will be enhanced by the partitioning. We will
use the same machines used in the previous examples.
FORMAT
type: master_server gold
auto_distribute: on
do_ghosts: on
buffer_size: 10000
want_metric: on
SERVERS
number of servers: 3
#Server 1
machine id: joe
executable: /usr/local/bin/ensight92/bin/ensight92.server
data_path: /scratch/data/gold
casefile: trial.case
#Server 2
machine id: sally
executable: /usr/local/bin/ensight92/bin/ensight92.server
data_path: /scratch/data/gold
casefile: trial.case
#Server 3
machine id: bill
executable: /usr/local/bin/ensight92/bin/ensight92.server
data_path: /scratch/data/gold
casefile: trial.case
Special Case:
If using auto_distribute (and thus each server will be accessing the same data files), and the servers will all be run on
the same machine, then one can add the word “repeat” to the end of the “number of servers: num” line and then only
define one set of Server info. For example:
FORMAT
type: master_server gold
auto_distribute: on
SERVERS
number of servers: 3 repeat
#Server 1
machine id: joe
executable: /usr/local/bin/ensight92/bin/ensight92.server
data_path: /scratch/data/gold
casefile: trial.case
Structured Auto Distribute Note:
If using structured auto_distribute, the default decomposition scheme is to do so in the i, j, or k direction that has the
largest dimension. This may not always be the best direction for a given analysis. Thus, through the use of an
environment variable, the user can set the axis to use. The chosen axis will be used unless the dimension in that
direction will not allow for all servers to contain data (namely, as long as the dimension in the chosen direction is
greater than the total number of servers used). To use the this option, set the following to 0, 1, 2, or -1:
setenv SAD_DECOMPOSE_AXIS 0 (for the i axis)
1 (for the j axis)
2 (for the k axis)
-1 (to use the default largest dimension scheme,
same as not setting the variable)

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Load Spatially Decomposed Case Files
INTRODUCTION
If one has multiple EnSight gold casefiles (each of which contain a spatially decomposed portion of the same model),
they can be read using one or more servers (as long as the number of servers is less than or equal to the number of
casefiles). In other words, when it is desired to read N casefiles with M servers (M<=N), an additional section can be
added to the SOS casefile to accomplish this. Note that the following important restrictions/limitations will apply:
1. M (number of servers) must be less than or equal to N (number of casefiles).
2. Unstructured data only. (Note: a similar capability exists for structured data. See How to Use Block Continuation)
3. Auto distribute may not be specified in the SOS casefile.
4. None of the following can be specified in the partition casefiles:
GEOMETRY
measured:
match:
boundary:
rigid_body:
Vector_glyphs:
BLOCK_CONTINUATION
<any of the options>
MATERIAL
<any of the options>
Note: that some of the restrictions (such as measured) may eventually be lifted. But currently all of the above are
in effect.
5. All of the normal SOS requirements still apply.
a) All parts must be present in all cases. (Empty parts are allowed)
b) The same variables must exist in all cases.
c) The same timesets must be used in all cases.
Note: If the desired number of servers is equal to the number of casefiles, one can either use the procedure
described in this How To, or could use the normal SOS procedures (see How To Use Server of Servers).
BASIC OPERATION
To postprocess your partitioned EnSight Gold unstructured data on fewer servers than casefiles, run SOS using an
SOS casefile that has a MULTIPLE_CASEFILES section.
Three possible methods are available for your convenience . They all accomplish the same thing in slightly different
ways. So use whichever is easiest for your situation.
Note: in using one of the 3 the methods below, one should determine something about how the data resides, or is
available to EnSight. Namely, how will one need to specify the path to the data.
Since the whole idea is that the number of servers may vary, and Ensight will determine which casefiles go
to which servers, there are really only two possibilities for paths.
A) There is a global path for all of the data. And thus each server needs to know this global path (which it
will prepend to each casefile).
B) Each casefile has its own path. And each server needs to know the path for each.

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Example
Method 1
Specify the number of and the actual files in the sos casefile
A) Using global path:
MULTIPLE_CASEFILES
total number of cfiles: 3
cfiles global path: /home/bjn/data
cfiles: file1.case
file_b.case
bruce.case
B) Using path per casefile:
MULTIPLE_CASEFILES
total_number of cfiles: 3
cfiles: /home/bjn/data1/file1.case
/home/bjn/data2/file_b.case
/home/bjn/data3/bruce.case
Method 2
Specify the number of, the pattern, and the start and increment
A) Using global path:
MULTIPLE_CASEFILES
total number of cfiles: 3
cfiles global path: /home/bjn/data
cfiles pattern: file**.case
cfiles start number: 0
cfiles increment: 1
OR
MULTIPLE_CASEFILES
total number of cfiles: 3
cfiles pattern: /home/bjn/data/file**.case
cfiles start number: 0
cfiles increment: 1
Available Section lines: Comments
MULTIPLE_CASEFILES Required for all methods
total number of cfiles: n Used for method 1 and 2
cfiles global path: global_path Optional, used for methods 1 and 2
cfiles: partition_1.case Used for method 1
partition_2.case
.
.
partition_n.case
cfiles pattern: partition_*.case Used for method 2
cfiles start number: # Used for method 2
cfiles increment: # Used for method 2
cfiles file: filename Used for method 3

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B) Using path per casefile:
Note: method 2 does not have a way to have a separate path for each casefile.
Method 3
Similar to 1., but place the info in a separate file
A) Using global path:
MULTIPLE_CASEFILES
cfiles file: all_together_cfiles.txt
and in all_together_cfiles.txt, (first line contains number of, second line contains the optional global path, then
filenames come 1 per line on the following lines). Like:
3
/home/bjn/data
file1.case
file_b.case
bruce.case
B) Using path per casefile:
MULTIPLE_CASEFILES
cfiles file: separated_cfiles.txt
and in separated_cfiles.txt, (first line contains number of, second line must be the word “none” - indicating no global
path specified, then filenames come 1 per line on the following lines). Like:
3
none
/home/bjn/data1/file1.case
/home/bjn/data2/file_b.case
/home/bjn/data3/bruce.case
Another Example
An EnSight Gold unstructured transient geometry model with a couple of variables, in 4 partitions, like:
Using Method 1:
If they all reside in the same directory (/home/bjn), a method 1 SOS casefile that will use just 2 servers (perhaps
named bjn_4x2.sos) should look like:
FORMAT
type: master_server gold
MULTIPLE_CASEFILES
total number of cfiles: 4
cfiles global path: /home/bjn
cfiles: bjn1.case
bjn2.case
bjn3.case
bjn4.case
SERVERS
number of servers: 2 repeat
bjn1.case bjn2.case bjn3.case bjn4.case
bjn1.geo0000 bjn2.geo0000 bjn3.geo0000 bjn4.geo0000
bjn1.geo0001 bjn2.geo0001 bjn3.geo0001 bjn4.geo0001
bjn1.scalar0000 bjn2.scalar0000 bjn3.scalar0000 bjn4.scalar0000
bjn1.scalar0001 bjn2.scalar0001 bjn3.scalar0001 bjn4.scalar0001
bjn1.evector0000 bjn2.evector0000 bjn3.evector0000 bjn4.evector0000
bjn1.evector0001 bjn2.evector0001 bjn3.evector0001 bjn4.evector0001

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machine id: gun
executable: ensight9.server
Using Method 2:
If they all reside in the same directory (/home/bjn), a method 2 SOS casefile that will use just 2 servers should look
like:
FORMAT
type: master_server gold
MULTIPLE_CASEFILES
total number of cfiles: 4
cfiles global path: /home/bjn
cfiles pattern: bjn*.case
cfiles start number: 1
cfiles increment: 1
SERVERS
number of servers: 2 repeat
machine id: gun
executable: ensight9.server
Using Method 3:
For this one, lets change things and say that they reside in separate directories, like:
the SOS casefile could look like:
FORMAT
type: master_server gold
MULTIPLE_CASEFILES
cfiles file: /scratch/bjn.txt
SERVERS
number of servers: 2 repeat
machine id: gun
executable: ensight9.server
and the /scratch/bjn.txt file could look like:
4
none
/scratch/portion1/bjn1.case
/scratch/portion2/bjn2.case
/scratch/portion3/bjn3.case
/scratch/portion4/bjn4.case
or could look like: (See the Other Notes below)
4
/scratch
portion1/bjn1.case
portion2/bjn2.case
portion3/bjn3.case
portion4/bjn4.case
/scratch/portion1 /scratch/portion2 /scratch/portion3 /scratch/portion4
bjn1.case bjn2.case bjn3.case bjn4.case
bjn1.geo0000 bjn2.geo0000 bjn3.geo0000 bjn4.geo0000
bjn1.geo0001 bjn2.geo0001 bjn3.geo0001 bjn4.geo0001
bjn1.scalar0000 bjn2.scalar0000 bjn3.scalar0000 bjn4.scalar0000
bjn1.scalar0001 bjn2.scalar0001 bjn3.scalar0001 bjn4.scalar0001
bjn1.evector0000 bjn2.evector0000 bjn3.evector0000 bjn4.evector0000
bjn1.evector0001 bjn2.evector0001 bjn3.evector0001 bjn4.evector0001

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OTHER NOTES:
When your casefile data resides in separate directories below a parent, such as:
/home/bjn
/home/bjn/data1
/home/bjn/data2
/home/bjn/data3
it is valid to use the global path to specify the parent directory, and the individual files to give the path on down. Such
as:
cfiles global path: /home/bjn
cfiles: data1/file1.case
data2/file_b.case
data3/bruce.case
This will result internally as the same thing as if you had done:
cfiles: /home/bjn/data1/file1.case
/home/bjn/data2/file_b.case
/home/bjn/data3/bruce.case
APPENDED_CASEFILES Variation:
If you desire to use all casefiles on one server, you can obviously do so with the above option by using the SOS with
one server. However, there is a variation on this option that can be used without using the SOS. It can be used with
a client and server alone.
It is very similar to the MULTIPLE_CASEFILES option in an SOS casefile, except that it is placed in the first regular
casefile of the series - the one that you will read. It uses APPENDED_CASEFILES as the section header, and lists
just the additonal casefiles (not the one that this is placed in).
So instead of using the SOS with an SOS casefile like:
FORMAT
type: master_server gold
MULTIPLE_CASEFILES
total number of cfiles: 4
cfiles global path: /home/bjn
cfiles: bjn1.case
bjn2.case
bjn3.case
bjn4.case
SERVERS
number of servers: 1
machine id: gun
executable: ensight92.server
You could place the following in bjn1.case:
FORMAT
type: ensight gold
GEOMETRY
model: bjn1.geo
VARIABLE
scalar per node: scalar bjn1.scl
APPENDED_CASEFILES
total number of casefiles: 3
cfiles global path: /home/bjn
cfiles: bjn2.case
bjn3.case
bjn4.case
Note that all current limitations for the MULTIPLE_CASEFILES option (which were enumerated above) also
apply to the APPENDED_CASEFILES option. The two options cannot be used in combination. It is an either

Page 72
Read User Defined
INTRODUCTION
EnSight provides a mechanism for users to write their own readers and have the code automatically link and execute
at run-time (using a shared library).This capability is documented in the EnSight Interface Manual. As indicated in
that manual, sample readers, as well as the code for several actual readers are provided below the following
directory: $CEI_HOME/ensight92/src/readers/. In subdirectories underneath, are README files that contain
the latest information on using existing user defined readers.
Also, as explained in that manual, be aware that a udr_checker.c file is provided in $CEI_HOME/ensight92/src/
readers/checker directory. This can be used to debug your User-defined reader before using it with EnSight.
OTHER NOTES
When starting EnSight (ensight92 or ensight92.server), you can use the command line option “-readerdbg” to echo
user defined reader loading status. This will allow you to see what readers are actually being loaded.
Set the environment variable ENSIGHT9_READER to point to the path where additional user defined readers exist
and then start up with the -readerdbg option described above to verify that you are loading the reader(s) of interest.
SEE ALSO
The EnSight Interface Manual, as well as:
How To Read Data

Page 73
Do Structured Extraction
INTRODUCTION
When building parts from the Data Part Loader dialog for structured parts (Ensight6 structured parts, EnSight gold
structured parts, PLOT3D parts), there is some flexibility in what is actually extracted. If the model contains iblanking,
then you have control over which iblanking domain to use, namely Inside, Outside (blanked out), or All (which ignores
the iblanking). If no iblanking in the model, the domain is All by default. You can extract all or portions of zones at
original or coarser resolutions, do the extractions on single or multiple zones, extract planes at every delta value
within a zone, etc.
BASIC OPERATION
When extracting the domain parts, whether iblanked or not, some (but definitely not all combinations) of the options
include:
Extracting a complete zone at original resolution,
1. Select the structured zone desired.
Optionally you can change the domain and provide a part
description.
2. Hit the Create/Load from selected button.
The part will be created and shown in the graphics window.
In the example below, it is shown in border representation
mode.

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Extracting a complete zone at coarser resolution,
1. Select the structured zone desired.
Optionally you can change the domain and provide a part
description.
2. Modify the Step values.
These should be positive integer values. A step of two means
to deal with every other plane, a step of four means every
fourth plane, etc.
3. Hit the Create/Load from selected button.
The part will be created and shown in the graphics window. In
the example below, it is shown in border representation mode.
Note that it is considerably coarser than the previous because
step values of 2, 4, and 5 were used in the ijk directions
respectively.

Page 75
Extracting portions of a zone,
1. Select the structured zone desired.
Optionally you can change the domain and provide a part
description.
2. Modify the From and To values.
These can be anything between the ranges shown in the
Min and Max columns. By default they will be the entire
range, but you can modify them.
3. Hit the Create/Load from selected button.
The part will be created and shown in the graphics
window. In the example below, it is shown in border
representation mode. Note that you now get a portion
instead of the whole. Note also that we got original
resolution because we set step values back to one. The
step values can be other than one, and your portion will be
at the coarser resolution.

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Extracting multiple planes within the same zone (these become unstructured),
1. Select the structured zone desired.
Optionally you can change the domain and provide a part
description.
2. Modify the From and To values so that one
dimension is a plane.
One of I, J, or K must have the same values for both From
and To - indicating a plane in the other two dimensions.
3. Enter a value in the Delta field for the dimension that
is a plane.
Only one of the Delta fields may be non-zero, and it must
be one where the From and To values are the same.
4. Hit the Create/Load from selected button.
The part will be created and shown in the graphics
window. In the example below, it is shown in border
representation mode. Note that you now get an IK surface
at J = 1, 6, 11, 16, 21, 26, ...

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Extracting the same portions over multiple parts,
1. Select the structured zones desired.
Optionally you can change the domain
2. Modify the From and To values.
These can be anything between the ranges shown in the Min
and Max columns (which will now be the min and max of all
parts selected). By default they will be the entire range, but
you can modify them. Additionally, “-1” is a valid entry,
indicating the last plane. Minus numbers are ways to specify
the plane from the max back toward the min, thus -2 equals
the next to last plane. (Note: Zero is treated the same as -1)
3. Hit the Create/Load from selected button or the
Create/load all button.
In this example, 4 parts will be created, and they will each be
the full extent IK plane at J = 1 for each of the four zones.
Note that the IK ranges can actually vary per part because the
max is specified, but each zone may be less than the max.
In our example, we then changed From and To to be “0”, thus
extracting the last plane in each zone. Note the image below.
The image at the right includes complete zones that were
extracted, but shown in feature angle representation so
you get the feel of the complete zone.

Page 78
Extracting unstructured iblanked parts.
SEE ALSO
How To Read Data
User Manual: Using Node Ranges:
1. Select the structured zones desired.
Optionally you can change the Domain, From, To, and
Step values.
2. Hit the Create/Load from selected button.
In this example, 4 parts will be created, and they will each
be the full extents at original resolution. Iblanking for the
domain will be ignored.
3. Open the Iblanked Part Creation turndown.
4. Select from the domain parts that you have
previously created.
5. Select the iblanking value to use.
Optionally you can specify your own name for the part
that will be created.
6. Hit the Create and Load Iblanked Unstructured Part
button.
This will create an unstructured part consisting of the
elements which have the selected iblank value from the
selected parts.

Page 79
Use Block Continuation
INTRODUCTION
Given a situation where structured data blocks have been partitioned for analysis on multiple compute nodes, and the
data can be saved in EnSight Gold format, such that a set of cases exists which are contiguous from one set to
another - the data can be read into Ensight using the casefile Block Continuation capability. This allows any number
of these contiguous sets to be clustered and visualized together in an EnSight server. Furthermore, by using this
capability combined with Ensight’s Server of Servers, one can visualize M number of sets with N number of EnSight
Servers. Where m is greater than n.
Please note that each set must be a standalone EnSight case containing a portion of all the parts. The block parts in
each of the sets must consist of a valid subset range of each complete block part. This will require, for example, that
a given 3D block part will vary in only one dimension throughout the sets. Also, each set must be the neighboring
portion or “slice” in the set of cases. Note the following simple example:
With data set up like the above, we might then decide that we will visualize the model with only two servers. We could
combine (using Block_Continuation) the first two sets onto the first server and the last 3 sets onto the second server.
Block Part 1 advances in the i direction.
Block Part 2 advances in the j direction.
Each Case (or set) consists of portions of both
parts, which are specified using EnSight’s block
range capability. Thus, the first case has the red
portions. The second case has the yellow
portions, etc.
Each block part can be “sliced up” in a different
direction, but that direction must continue for all
sets for that part. And the sets must be the
contiguous natural neighbors of each other.
Note that the block dimensions must remain the
same in the non-advancing directions, but they
can vary per set in the advancing direction (even
though in this simple example they are quite
consistent).
i dir
j dir
Portion of Block Part 1 on server 1
(consists of original sets 1 and 2)
Portion of Block Part 2 on server 1
(consists of original sets 1 and 2)
Portion of Block Part 1 on server 2
(consists of original sets 3, 4, and 5)
Portion of Block Part 2 on server 2
(consists of original sets 3, 4, and 5)

Page 80
BASIC OPERATION
To combine more than one of the sets for a given server (what we may call a “cluster” of sets), one must create a
casefile which contains a Block_Continuation section (as described in Chapter 11 of the User Manual).
In our example on the previous page, there were five case files (with their associated geo and scl files).
set_1.case set_2.case set_3.case set_4.case set_5.case
set_1.geo set_2.geo set_3.geo set_4.geo set_5.geo
set_1.scl set_2.scl set_3.scl set_4.scl set_5.scl
and the contents of the first of these casefiles (set_1.case) would look something like:
FORMAT
type: ensight gold
GEOMETRY
model: set_1.geo
VARIABLE
scalar per node: set_1.scl
With the contents of each of the other casefiles differing only in the digit following the underscore.
To “cluster” these as described (two sets in the first case and 3 sets in the second case), we would need to create the
following two casefiles.
cluster_1.case, would contain:
FORMAT
type: ensight gold
GEOMETRY
model: set_%.geo Note the use of % as the wildcard for
VARIABLE block continuation sets.
scalar per node: set_%.scl
BLOCK_CONTINUATION
number of sets: 2
filename start number: 1
filename increment: 1
cluster_2.case, would contain:
FORMAT
type: ensight gold
GEOMETRY
model: set_%.geo
VARIABLE
scalar per node: set_%.scl
BLOCK_CONTINUATION
number of sets: 3
filename start number: 3
filename increment: 1
And we could then easily use an SOS casefile (perhaps named, two_blocks.sos) that would use these two cluster
files:
FORMAT
type: master_server gold
SERVERS
number of servers: 2
#Server 1
machine id: node1
executable: ensight92.server
casefile: cluster_1.case
#Server 2
machine id: node2
executable: ensight92.server
casefile: cluster_2.case

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If you now run EnSight using this SOS casefile, the two block parts should appear as you would expect. Of course, to
avoid any visual (or computational) effects from the partitioning, you would need to be using ghost cells between the
original partitions (sets). See EnSight Gold Geometry File Format and the example file below.
For a description of block range usage, which the original partition (sets) use in describing the block geometry, See
EnSight Gold Geometry File Format
An example of such is the third set geometry file (set_3.geo), which is using uniform blocks with ranges:
Uniform Block Continuation Test - set 3
=======================================
node id assign
element id assign
extents
0.00000e+00 1.00000e+00
-5.00000e+00 1.00000e+00
0.00000e+00 5.00000e+00
part
1
horizontal
block uniform range
2 2 6
1 2 1 2 3 4
0.00000e+00
0.00000e+00
2.00000e+00
1.00000e+00
1.00000e+00
1.00000e+00
part
2
vertical
block uniform range
2 11 2
1 2 5 7 1 2
0.00000e+00
-2.00000e+00
0.00000e+00
1.00000e+00
-0.50000e+00
1.00000e+00
Curvilinear and rectilinear descriptions for block parts are of course also valid.
This same file using ghost cells is:
Uniform Block Continuation Test - set 3
=======================================
node id assign
element id assign
extents
0.00000e+00 1.00000e+00
-5.00000e+00 1.00000e+00
0.00000e+00 5.00000e+00
part
1
horizontal
block uniform with_ghost range
2 2 6
1 2 1 2 2 5
0.00000e+00
0.00000e+00
1.00000e+00
1.00000e+00
1.00000e+00
1.00000e+00
ghost_flags
1
0
1
part
2

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vertical
block uniform with_ghost range
2 11 2
1 2 4 8 1 2
0.00000e+00
-1.50000e+00
0.00000e+00
1.00000e+00
-0.50000e+00
1.00000e+00
ghost_flags
1
0
0
1
Transient Example
If we change our example to be a simple transient model, using the same sets, but now with two time steps:
set_1_00.case set_2_00.case set_3_00.case set_4_00.case set_5_00.case
set_1_00.geo set_2_00.geo set_3_00.geo set_4_00.geo set_5_00.geo
set_1_00.scl set_2_00.scl set_3_00.scl set_4_00.scl set_5_00.scl
set_1_01.case set_2_01.case set_3_01.case set_4_01.case set_5_01.case
set_1_01.geo set_2_01.geo set_3_01.geo set_4_01.geo set_5_01.geo
set_1_01.scl set_2_01.scl set_3_01.scl set_4_01.scl set_5_01.scl
The contents of the first of these casefiles (set_1_00.case) would now look something like:
FORMAT
type: ensight gold
GEOMETRY
model: 1 set_1_**.geo changing_coords_only
VARIABLE
scalar per node: 1 set_1_**.scl
TIME
time set: 1
number of steps: 2
filename start number: 0
filename increment: 1
time values: 0.0 1.0
With the contents of each of the other casefiles differing only in the digit following the first underscore.
To “cluster” these as described (two sets in the first case and 3 sets in the second case), we would need to create the
following two casefiles.
cluster_1.case, would contain:
FORMAT
type: ensight gold
GEOMETRY
model: 1 set_%_**.geo changing_coords_only
VARIABLE
scalar per node: 1 set_%_**.scl
TIME
time set: 1
number of steps: 2
filename start number: 0
filename increment: 1
time values: 0.0 1.0
BLOCK_CONTINUATION
number of sets: 2
filename start number: 1
filename increment: 1
cluster_2.case, would contain:

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FORMAT
type: ensight gold
GEOMETRY
model: 1 set_%_**.geo changing_coords_only
VARIABLE
scalar per node: 1 set_%_**.scl
TIME
time set: 1
number of steps: 2
filename start number: 0
filename increment: 1
time values: 0.0 1.0
BLOCK_CONTINUATION
number of sets: 3
filename start number: 3
filename increment: 1
And we could then use the same SOS casefile that we showed in the static example.
SEE ALSO
How To Use Server of Servers
How To Read Data
User Manual: EnSight Gold Geometry File Format

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Use Resource Management
INTRODUCTION
Resources are used to specify which computers are used for running the various EnSight components, specifically
the Server (ensight92.server), the SOS (ensight92.sos), the CollabHub (ensight92.collabhub), and the distributed
renderers (ensight92.client). If you are running a single client and server on a single computer, you may skip this
document.
Resources are an alternative way to specify these computers compared to SOS case files, PRDIST files, Connection
Settings, and command line options. While these other ways are still valid and take precedence for backwards
compatibility, resources greatly simplify specifying computers in a dynamic network environment. For example, SOS
Case files and PRDIST files no longer need to be edited to reflect the current node allocation from cluster batch
schedulers. Resources coupled with native reader support in the SOS even make SOS Case files unnecessary.
Resources can be specified via command line arguments and environment variables. Resources can be specified
multiple times; precedence rules determine which resources ultimately get used. This allows sites to specify defaults
while allowing those to be overridden.
BASIC OPERATION
Resource Files
Resources can be specified via a resource file. Here is an example of a resource file:
#!CEIResourceFile 1.0
SOS:
host: localhost
SERVER:
prologue: “setup_job”
epilogue: “cleanup_job”
host: server1
host: server2
host: server3
host: server4
COLLABHUB:
host: pc0
RENDERER:
prologue: “setenv DISPLAY :0.0”
# epilogue:
host: pc1
host: pc2
host: pc2
Resource files must begin with the ‘#!CEIResourceFile 1.0’ line. Afterwards, they may have up to four optional
sections: SOS, SERVER, COLLABHUB, and RENDERER. Each of the four sections contains one or more ‘host:
hostname’ lines. These lines specify which computers to use for the corresponding section. ‘hostname’ must be an
Internet/intranet routable host name or IP address. A given host name may appear on multiple lines within a section
or in different sections. If it appears multiple times within a section, then that host will run multiple instances of the
corresponding EnSight component if needed.
Additionally, each section may have an optional ‘prologue: cmd’ line and/or an optional ‘epilogue: cmd’ line.
These specify a command to execute on each host before and after the corresponding EnSight component. Note that
the cmd string must be quoted, and may include appropriate job backgrounding symbols (e.g. ‘&’).
At version 2.0, the resource file can accept an optional ‘shell:’ line, like:
#!CEIResourceFile 2.0
SOS:
host: bunker
shell: "/usr/local/bin/ssh"
Note the new version number (2.0) and that the shell line string must be double quoted.

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How to specify resources
Resources can be specified via resource files, environment variables, and command line options. Precedence rules
determine which resources will be used. Basically, the last occurrence of a resource section (e.g. SERVER) will be
used in its entirety. For example, if multiple SERVER resource sections are found, only one will be used as determined
by the precedence rules.
Since the EnSight Client, SOS, and CollabHub start other EnSight processes, they can use resources. The EnSight
Server and distributed renderers do not start other EnSight processes that require resources.
While many ways exist to specify resources, in practice only one or two will be used given the particular user’s
computational environment.
Client Resources
The EnSight client supports the following ways for specifying resources:
1. the ENSIGHT9_RES environment variable;
2. the ENSIGHT9_SERVER_HOSTS environment variable;
3. the ENSIGHT9_RENDERER_HOSTS environment variable;
4. the ‘-use_lsf_for_servers’ command line option;
5. the ‘-use_lsf_for_renderers’ command line option;
6. the ‘-use_pbs_for_servers’ command line option;
7. the ‘-use_pbs_for_renderers’ command line option;
8. the ‘-sosres file_name’ command line option;
9. the ‘-chres file_name’ command line option; and
10.the ‘-res file_name’ command line option.
If multiple resources are specified to the client, then they will be evaluated in the order indicated above with the later
methods taking higher precedence for a given section.
The ENSIGHT9_RES environment variable specifies a resource file name that the client reads.
ENSIGHT9_SERVER_HOSTS and ENSIGHT9_RENDERER_HOSTS specify quoted strings of space delimited host
names (e.g. “host1 host2 host1 host3”) to be used for EnSight servers and distributed renderers, respectively.
The host names are used in the order they occur. A host name may occur multiple times.
If either the ‘-use_lsf_for_servers’ or ‘-use_lsf_for_renderers’ command line options are specified, then
the client will evaluate the environment variable LSB_MCPU_HOSTS for the resources. The environment variable
specifies a quoted string such as “host1 5 host2 4 host3 1” which indicates 5 CPUs should be used on host1,
4 CPUs should be used on host2, and 1 CPU should be used on host3. The hosts will be used in a round-robin
fashion.
If either of the ‘-use_pbs_for_servers’ or ‘-use_pbs_for_renderers’ command line options are specified,
then the client will evaluate the environment variable PBS_NODEFILE for the resources. The environment variable
specifies a filename in which the file contains list of line delimited host names that were allocated by the PBS
scheduler.
The ‘-sosres file_name’ command line option specifies the pathname to a resource file. This file name is passed
to the SOS and processed by it; thus the file name must be accessible and readable by the ensight92.sos process. If
multiple ‘-sosres’ options are specified, only the last will be used.
The ‘-chres file_name’ command line option specifies the pathname to a resource file. This file name is passed
to the CollabHub and processed by it; thus the file name must be accessible and readable by the ensight92.collabhub
process. If multiple ‘-chres’ options are specified, only the last will be used.
The ‘-res file_name’ command line option specifies the pathname to a resource file. This command line option
can be specified multiple times. This might be useful when generating resource files dynamically: a single file might
specify only a particular type of resource (e.g. SERVER or RENDERER). The last occurrence of a particular section
takes precedence when multiple ‘-res’ options are given.
Finally, a resource file may be selected in the File->Open dialog for the SOS to use.

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SOS Resources
The EnSight SOS supports the following ways for specifying resources:
1. resources gathered and sent from the client;
2. the ‘-sosres file_name’ command line option;
3. the ENSIGHT9_RES environment variable;
4. the ENSIGHT9_SERVER_HOSTS environment variable;
5. the ‘-use_lsf_for_servers’ command line option;
6. the ‘-use_pbs_for_servers’ command line option;
7. the ‘-res file_name’ command line option; and,
8. a resource file specified via the File->Open dialog.
If multiple resources are specified to the SOS, then they will be evaluated in the order indicated above with the later
methods taking higher precedence for a given section. However, the SOS only uses SERVER section resources; the
other sections are ignored.
The ‘-sosres file_name’ command line option specifies the pathname to a resource file. If multiple ‘-sosres’
options are specified, only the last will be used.
The ENSIGHT9_RES environment variable specifies a resource file name that the SOS reads.
ENSIGHT9_SERVER_HOSTS specifies a quoted string of space delimited host names (e.g. “host1 host2 host1
host3”) to be used for EnSight servers.
If the ‘-use_lsf_for_servers’ command line option is specified, then the SOS will evaluate the environment
variable LSB_MCPU_HOSTS for the resources. The environment variable specifies a quoted string such as “host1 5
host2 4 host3 1” which indicates 5 CPUs should be used on host1, 4 CPUs should be used on host2, and 1 CPU
should be used on host3. The hosts will be used in a round-robin fashion.
If the ‘-use_pbs_for_servers’ command line option is specified, then the SOS will evaluate the environment
variable PBS_NODEFILE for the resources. The environment variable specifies a filename in which the file contains
list of line delimited host names that were allocated by the PBS scheduler.
The ‘-res file_name’ command line option specifies the pathname to a resource file. This command line option
can be specified multiple times. The last occurrence of a particular section takes precedence when multiple ‘-res’
options are given.
Finally, a resource file may be selected in the File->Open dialog for the SOS to use.
CollabHub Resources
The EnSight CollabHub supports the following ways for specifying resources:
1. resources gathered and sent from the client;
2. the ‘-chres file_name’ command line option;
3. the ENSIGHT9_RES environment variable;
4. the ENSIGHT9_RENDERER_HOSTS environment variable;
5. the ‘-use_lsf_for_renderers‘ command line option;
6. the ‘-use_pbs_for_renderers’ command line option; and,
7. the ‘-res file_name’ command line option.
If multiple resources are specified to the CollabHub, then they will be evaluated in the order indicated above with the
later methods taking higher precedence for a given section. However, the CollabHub only uses RENDERER section
resources; the other sections are ignored.
The ‘-chres file_name’ command line option specifies the pathname to a resource file. If multiple ‘-chres’
options are specified, only the last will be used.
The ENSIGHT9_RES environment variable specifies a resource file name that the CollabHub reads.
ENSIGHT9_RENDERER_HOSTS specifies a quoted string of space delimited host names (e.g. “host1 host2 host1
host3”) to be used for EnSight distributed renderers.
If the ‘-use_lsf_for_renderers‘ command line option is specified, then the CollabHub will evaluate the
environment variable LSB_MCPU_HOSTS for the resources. The environment variable specifies a quoted string such

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as “host1 5 host2 4 host3 1” which indicates 5 CPUs should be used on host1, 4 CPUs should be used on
host2, and 1 CPU should be used on host3. The hosts will be used in a round-robin fashion.
If the ‘-use_pbs_for_renderers’ command line option is specified, then the CollabHub will evaluate the
environment variable PBS_NODEFILE for the resources. The environment variable specifies a filename in which the
file contains list of line delimited host names that were allocated by the PBS scheduler.
The ‘-res file_name’ command line option specifies the pathname to a resource file. This command line option
can be specified multiple times. The last occurrence of a particular section takes precedence when multiple ‘-res’
options are given.
When using distributed rendering, any hosts specified via a prdist file are used instead of those given by RENDERER
resources. Additionally, any prdist file specified directly to the collabhub, will override one specified to the client.
A Client/Server Example
Resources are not used to specify where a server runs when it is part of a normal client/server session. The default
server connection in the Connection Setting dialog determines on which computer the server runs unless the Client
command line option ‘-c connection_name’ is specified.
A Simple SOS Example
The SOS can read any of the supported file formats in addition to the SOS Case file format. When a SOS Case file is
not used, then the number of EnSight Servers used is equal to the number of hosts specified in the SERVER resource
section.
1. The following resource file ‘my_hosts.res’ is created:
#!CEIResourceFile 1.0
SOS:
host: borg
SERVER:
host: drone1
host: drone2
host: drone3
host: drone1
2. EnSight is started with this command line:
ensight92 -res my_hosts.res -sos
The EnSight Client will automatically check out a gold key and will run on the local workstation, the SOS
(ensight92.sos) will be automatically started on computer ‘borg’ and will connect back to the client. Borg will need to
recognize the name of the computer that the client is running on.
3. In the File->Open dialog the LS-Dyna file ‘d3plot’ is selected and the ‘Load All’ button is clicked.
The SOS will start four EnSight Servers on computers ‘drone1’, ‘drone2’, ‘drone3’, and ‘drone1’ (presumably,
‘drone1’ might be a SMP). The ‘drone’ computers need to recognize the hostname borg in order to connect back to
the sos running on this computer.
Each of the servers will read 1/4 of the data set since the ‘Auto Distribute’ flag (on the SOS tab of the File->Open
dialog) is on by default for the LS-Dyna reader.
Another SOS Example
1. EnSight is started with this command line:
ensight8
2. The Case->Connection Settings dialog is opened. On the ‘SOS’ tab, an entry for host ‘borg’ is created. For
that entry, ‘Executable:’ is set to the name of command file ‘my_sos’, ‘Use default rsh cmd’ is
deselected, and ‘Alt rsh cmd:’ is set to ‘ssh’. The entry is saved and EnSight is terminated.
3. The following resource file ‘my_hosts.res’ is created:

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#!CEIResourceFile 1.0
SOS:
host: borg
SERVER:
host: drone1
host: drone2
host: drone3
host: drone1
4. On computer borg (assuming it’s running Unix or Linux), the file ‘my_sos’ is created:
#!/bin/csh
setenv ENSIGHT9_SERVER_HOSTS ‘cat $PBS_NODEFILE‘
ensight92.sos $*
The file must be in the user’s default path and must be executable.
5. EnSight is started with this command line:
ensight92 -res my_hosts.res -sos
The EnSight Client will check out a gold license key and run on the local workstation, the command file ‘my_sos’
will run on computer ‘borg’ which must be able to connect back to the local workstation by hostname. The client will
start up ‘my_sos’ via ssh. ‘my_sos’ sets the environment variable ENSIGHT9_SERVER_HOSTS to be the contents
of the file specified by the environment variable PBS_NODEFILE (OpenPBS’ dynamic list of allocated nodes).
6. In the File->Open dialog the LS-Dyna file ‘d3plot’ is selected and the ‘Load All’ button is clicked.
The SOS will start EnSight Servers on computers specified in file $PBS_NODEFILE. Hosts specified in the SERVER
section of my_hosts.res are ignored since ENSIGHT9_SERVER_HOSTS takes precedence.
Each of the servers will read 1/N of the data set since the ‘Auto Distribute’ flag (on the SOS tab of the File-
>Open dialog) is on by default for the LS-Dyna reader.
A SOS Case File Example
When a SOS Case file is used with resources, it needs to be modified otherwise the resources will be ignored for the
EnSight Servers. This is done for backwards compatibility.
1. The file SOS case file ‘big_data.sos’ is modified. Two lines are added to the FORMAT section:
‘use_resources: on’ and ‘auto_distribute: on’. The ‘casefile: ‘ line for each server is brought to
the beginning of each subsection.
FORMAT type: master_server LS-DYNA3D
use_resources: on
auto_distribute: on
SERVERS
number of servers: 2
#Server 1
#---------
casefile: d3plot
machine id:
executable: ensight92.server
directory: /tmp
login id:
data_path: /tmp
#Server 2
#---------
casefile: d3plot
machine id:
executable: ensight92.server
directory: /tmp
login id:
data_path: /tmp

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Note that the ‘casefile:’ line must appear before the other lines for that server
when using resources.
2. The following resource file ‘my_hosts.res’ is created:
#!CEIResourceFile 1.0
SOS:
host: borg
SERVER:
host: drone1
host: drone2
host: drone3
host: drone1
2. EnSight is started with this command line:
ensight92 -res my_hosts.res -sos
The EnSight Client will run on the local workstation, the SOS (ensight92.sos) will run on computer ‘borg’.
3. In the File->Open dialog the SOS Case file ‘big_data.sos’ is selected and the ‘Load All’ button is clicked.
The SOS will start two EnSight Servers on computers ‘drone1’ and ‘drone2’. Only two servers are used since two
‘casefile: ‘ lines occur in the SOS Case file. The ‘number of servers: 2’ line is ignored as are the
‘machine id:’ lines.
Each of the servers will read half of the data set due to the line ‘auto_distribute: on’ in ‘big_data.sos’.
Another SOS Case File Example
1. The file SOS case file ‘big_data.sos’ is modified. Two lines are added to the FORMAT section:
‘use_resources: on’ and ‘auto_distribute: on’. The ‘number of servers:’ line is modified. One
server subsection is specified.
FORMAT
type: master_server LS-DYNA3D
use_resources: on
auto_distribute: on
SERVERS
number of servers: 4 repeat
#Server 1
#---------
casefile: d3plot
machine id:
executable: ensight92.server
directory: /tmp
login id:
data_path: /tmp
2. The following resource file ‘my_hosts.res’ is created:
#!CEIResourceFile 1.0
SOS:
host: borg
SERVER:
host: drone1
host: drone2
host: drone3
host: drone1
2. EnSight is started with this command line:

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ensight92 -res my_hosts.res -sos
The EnSight Client will run on the local workstation, the SOS (ensight92.sos) will run on computer ‘borg’.
3. In the File->Open dialog the SOS Case file ‘big_data.sos’ is selected and the ‘Load All’ button is clicked.
The SOS will start four EnSight Servers on computers ‘drone1’, ‘drone2’, ‘drone3’, and ‘drone1’. Since the
‘number of servers:’ line has the word ‘repeat’, the servers specified in the SERVERS resource is used to
determine the number of servers used and their host names. All server subsections after the first in
‘big_data.sos’ are ignored due to ‘number of servers: 4 repeat’.
Each of the servers will read 1/4 of the data set since the ‘Auto Distribute’ flag (on the SOS tab of the File-
>Open dialog) is on by default for the LS-Dyna reader.
A PRDIST Example
1. The following resource file ‘my_hosts.res’ is created:
#!CEIResourceFile 1.0
SOS:
host: borg
SERVER:
host: drone1
host: drone2
host: drone3
host: drone1
COLLABHUB:
host: curly
RENDERER:
prologue: “xhost +”
host: larry
host: moe
2. The following prdist resource file ‘my_conf_with_res.prdist’ is also created:
#ParallelRender EnSight 1.0
router
pc
client
3. EnSight is started with this command line:
ensight92 -res my_hosts.res -prdist my_config_with_res.prdist
The EnSight Client will run on the local workstation, the SOS (ensight92.sos) will run on computer ‘borg’.
The EnSight CollabHub will run on computer ‘curly’. Two distributed renderers will start on hosts ‘larry’ and
‘moe’.
The my_conf_with_res.prdist file here specifies both "router" and "client" followed by blank names which indicate to
use the 'my_hosts.res' file. The "pc" option indicates to use parallel compositing which removes the GUI from the
composited display
NOTE: if "pc" is not specified, then a GUI will wrap the composited display - which is a testing and debug mode. In
addition, no display sync will be used during interactive transformations, producing a lag effect which is quite
annoying.
4. In the File->Open dialog the LS-Dyna file ‘d3plot’ is selected and the ‘Load All’ button is clicked.
The SOS will start four EnSight Servers on computers ‘drone1’, ‘drone2’, ‘drone3’, and ‘drone1’ (presumably,
‘drone1’ might be a SMP).
Each of the servers will read 1/4 of the data set since the ‘Auto Distribute’ flag (on the SOS tab of the File-
>Open dialog) is on by default for the LS-Dyna reader.

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Note that a prdist file can be specified as an option to the ‘-prdist’ command line option. However, if the defaults
are adequate or overridden with command line options, then a prdist file is no longer needed. Furthermore, specifying
the command line option ‘-prdist’ automatically implies the command line option ‘-sos’; previous versions
required the user to specify it. See “Distributed Memory Parallel Rendering” on page 18. of the User Manual for prdist
file documentation, including default values and manual connect support.
OTHER NOTES
See “Resource File Format” on page 13. in Chapter 10 of the User Manual for details on the resource file syntax.
See the EnSight User’s Guide for details on relevant SOS Case file modifications as they pertain to resources. Also,
see that section regarding details on which file formats support auto distribution. Note that not all Case files (i.e. non-
gold) can be auto distributed.
The default SOS and server entries in the Connections Setting dialog will be used as the template for SOS and
server computers not specifically listed in the dialog. This is useful for specifying defaults such as to use ‘ssh’ in place
of ‘rsh’ or to specify a default path.
SEE ALSO
How To Read Data
How To Read User Defined
How To Setup for Parallel Computation
User Manual: Server-of-Server Casefile Format
Resource File Format
Shared-memory parallel rendering
Distributed Memory Parallel Rendering

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Save or Output
Save or Restore an Archive
INTRODUCTION
EnSight command files are useful for restoring the system to a state reached in a previous session. However,
restoring a long session dealing with large files can be a tedious process. Fortunately, EnSight provides an archiving
mechanism that saves only the current state of the system, rather than the entire history of a session.
This capability is useful not only for large data files with several active variables, but also for saving a standard
starting point for sessions. In the initial session, geometry can be loaded, variables activated, a good viewpoint
selected, and an archive written. Subsequent sessions take advantage of this investment by merely loading the
archive (which can be done as you start EnSight from the command line).
The client and server each write separate binary files containing the complete current state of the respective
processes. Since these files are binary, they can be quickly written and restored. Note that an archive only contains
information resident in either client or server memory at the time of the archive. No information is available for
variables that were inactive or time steps other than the current. For this reason, you should never remove the
original dataset and attempt to use the archive as a substitute (unless you know what you’re doing).
BASIC OPERATION
An EnSight archive consists of three files:
1. The Archive Information File. This file provides pointers to the client and server archive files as well as additional
information required to load the archive. An example is given in the Advanced Usage section below.
2. The Client Archive file. This is the client’s binary dump file.
3. The Server Archive file. This is the server’s binary dump file.
(Note that for Server-of Servers, there will be an SOS archive file and then a server archive file per server)
Although each file has a default location, you can override the default during the archiving process.
Saving an Archive
1. Close all open EnSight windows except the main window.
2. Select File > Save > Full Backup... to open the Save Full Backup Archive dialog.
2. If desired, enter a new name for the Archive Information file. You can set the directory for
the Archive Information File by clicking the Archive Information File... button to open a
standard File Selection dialog.
3. If desired, select a directory for the client’s binary dump file by either entering the directory
in the Client Directory field or clicking the Client Directory... button to open a standard File
Selection dialog.
4. If desired, select a directory for the server’s binary dump file by either entering the
directory in the Server Directory field or clicking the Server Directory... button to open a
standard File Selection dialog.
5. Click Okay.

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You also have the option of saving an archive as you exit EnSight.
Restoring an Archive
You can restore an archive either as part of EnSight startup or during an active session. To load an archive on
startup:
1. Select File > Quit... to open the Quit Confirmation
dialog.
2. Click the “Save full backup archive to:” toggle,
and either enter a new name for the Archive
information file or browse to the desired location/
file by clicking the Browse: button.
3. If you browsed to the file, click Save once
you have selected or entered the desired
filename.
This will place the filename in the Quit
confirmation dialog.
3. Click Yes to save the archive and exit.

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1. Use the “-ar archive_info_file” option when you start EnSight. For example,
% ensight92 -ar load.ar
where load.ar is an Archive Information file saved in a previous session.
To restore an archive during an active session:
1. Select File > Restore > Full Backup... to open the File Selection dialog.
2. Select the desired Archive Information file and click Okay.
3. If the original connection (when the archive was saved) was manual, you will need to manually restart the
server.
ADVANCED USAGE
There are times when you may want to modify the contents of the Archive Information file. If you wish to use the
archive on a different machine or change the location of the binary dump files, you can simply edit the file with a text
editor. The following example shows the contents:
OTHER NOTES
Important note! Archives are typically not upwardly compatible with new major – and some minor – releases of
EnSight.