CFD Online Discussion Forums - [OpenFOAM] Cavity Tutorial: ParaView starts, cannot find reader

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Cavity Tutorial: ParaView starts, cannot find reader

Hello,

I am troubleshooting an installation of OpenFOAM 1.6 on Debian GNU/Linux 5.0. I am working through the instructions at http://www.openfoam.com/docs/README.php. The installation test script ran without errors and I have just run the cavity tutorial with the blockMesh and icoFoam scripts.

However, when I run paraFoam, I get the following messages in the console:

Code:

$ paraFoam

created temporary 'cavity.OpenFOAM'

Read float past end of buffer

Read float past end of buffer

Read float past end of buffer

Read float past end of buffer

ParaView starts, but a dialog box opens indicating a reader for '$FOAM_RUN/tutorials/incompressible/icoFoam/cavity/cavity.OpenFOAM' could not be found, and asks for a reader to be selected.

If I select the logical 'OpenFOAM Files' reader, ParaView crashes with the following additional messages to the console:

Code:

terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::length_error'

  what():  basic_string::_S_create

/home/mfrain/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-1.6/bin/paraFoam: line 109:  5730 Aborted                 paraview --data="$caseFile"

If I select nothing and close the window, ParaView remains running but with no data input, and can exit normally.

I am guessing that ParaView is having difficulty seeing and/or interpreting the OpenFOAM files. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT:

Additional note: Building the PV3FoamReader per the OpenFOAM README does not change this behavior.

Hi should be the same problem like in this thread http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...tu-9-10-a.html

Good luck.

ParaView 3.10.1 starts, reader could not be found

Quote:

Originally Posted by suitup (Post 245862)

Hi should be the same problem like in this thread http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...tu-9-10-a.html

Good luck.

I have a milder version of the problem:

I installed CentOS OF2.0.x and friends, including ParaView 3.10.1

paraFoam will launch ParaView, but ParaView cannot figure out which viewer to use and offers me a list of readers. When I select the OpenFOAM reader, ParaView proceeds normally.

I looked at the ParaView command line switches and the paraFoam script, and I don't see anything obvious.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Mirko

Hi Mirko,

Since it's OF 2.0 + PV 3.10.1, try run it like this:

Code:

paraFoam -builtin

This will use the ".foam" internal reader that comes with ParaView.

As for the ".OpenFOAM" reader, it will depend on:

Whether you built it yourself.
Or came built with CentFOAM (which I think is no longer supported, but I could be wrong).
Or is a version that comes with/for CentOS.
Or is the pre-built one from www.paraview.org.

If you built it yourself, or if the version you have got comes with the development files, then you can build the official reader: the PV3FoamReader Module

Best regards,
Bruno

Quote:

Originally Posted by wyldckat (Post 320654)

Hi Mirko,

Since it's OF 2.0 + PV 3.10.1, try run it like this:

Code:

paraFoam -builtin

This will use the ".foam" internal reader that comes with ParaView.

As for the ".OpenFOAM" reader, it will depend on:

Whether you built it yourself.
Or came built with CentFOAM (which I think is no longer supported, but I could be wrong).
Or is a version that comes with/for CentOS.
Or is the pre-built one from www.paraview.org.

If you built it yourself, or if the version you have got comes with the development files, then you can build the official reader: the PV3FoamReader Module

Best regards,
Bruno

thank you Bruno,

I downloaded all the files from the sourceforge site. They were updated on 8/3. I will contact the CentFoam folks about the paraview build.

Mirko

Hello Bruno,

I have a similar issue as described by Mirko:

Code:

 

$ paraFoamcreated temporary 'cavity.OpenFOAM'

Read float past end of buffer

Read float past end of buffer

Read float past end of buffer

Read float past end of buffer

However, I should say that I compiled Paraview 3.12.1 and the PV3Reader (OF 2.1.1) from the OpenCFD sources. I would like to have an install of OF 1.7.1 and OF 2.1.1 which both use a newer Paraview due to some bug fixes I require.

OF 1.7.1 and Paraview 3.8 works
OF 2.1.1 and Paraview 3.12.1 works

I tried to change .bashrc to allow use of OF 1.7.1 and Paraview 3.12.1 and that's when ParaView cannot figure out which viewer to use and offers me a list of readers. If I select the OpenFOAM reader, ParaView proceeds normally.

My challenge is that I am writing Python code to automate things and manually selecting a reader isn't so great!

thanks for any suggestions,

Jim

Greetings Jim,

Mmmm... If I understand you correctly, you're trying to use ParaView 3.12.0 with OpenFOAM 1.7.1.
And according to your description, I suppose you can't have two separate terminal windows/tabs, one for each OpenFOAM, is that correct?

Another question: is the OpenFOAM 1.7.1 your own build as well?

Basically the solution should be, by doing the following steps on your OpenFOAM 1.7.1 installation:

Edit the file "OpenFOAM-1.7.1/etc/apps/paraview3/bashrc".
Find these lines and change 3.8.0 to 3.12.0:

Code:

# set VERSION and MAJOR (version) variables ParaView_VERSION=3.8.0 ParaView_MAJOR=unknown
Save and close that file.
Next, go to the folder "ThirdParty-1.7.1":

Code:

foam3rdParty
Do a full copy of the other installation of ParaView 3.12.0. For example:

Code:

cp -r $HOME/OpenFOAM/ThirdParty-2.1.0/platforms/linux64Gcc/paraview-3.12.0 platforms/linux64Gcc/
Start a new terminal, with the normal OpenFOAM 1.7.1 environment.
Build the official PV3FoamReader once again:

Code:

foam cd applications/utilities/postProcessing/graphics/PV3FoamReader ./Allwmake
If all goes well, the goose is now cooked and ready to serve :) (Sorry, dinner time ;)).

On the other hand, if you simply want the internal reader, then you can hack the paraFoam script and change all references of ".OpenFOAM" to ".foam". To know where paraFoam is, run:

Code:

which paraFoam

Best regards,
Bruno

Bruno,

The goose was delicious....I adjusted the paths in step 5 to match my install and all is good.

thanks alot,

Jim