Contour Tool How to

The Fill Contours button selection fills the area between the contour lines with the contour line colors. Contour annotations and lines are displayed over the filled contour plot.

To fill contours with color, select the Fill Contours button in the controls area. The contour plot is automatically regenerated and filled.

When PV-WAVE fills contours, the following actions occur:

The contour plot is rendered in Follow mode.

A temporary file is opened and the contour path information is written to it.

The PV-WAVE CONTOURFILL procedure is called to fill the contours.

Annotations and lines are redrawn over the filled regions.

note

If you try to print a contour-filled plot to a black and white PostScript printer, you can get undesirable results. This is because of inherent limitations caused by trying to map a color plot to a black and white printing device.

Also, with filled contours, an image beneath the contours will be obscured. In addition, with complex contours, the plot may take a long time to display.

See Also

Splining Filled Contours

Annotating Contour Lines

Contour lines can be annotated automatically with the value of the contour level or with user-supplied labels.

Default Contour Annotation

By default, every other contour is annotated with the value of the contour line.

To enable this default annotation, select the Follow button in the Method Style section of the controls area.

User-specified Contour Labels

To specify contour labels other than the default labels, do the following:

1. Select Follow in the Method Style section of the controls area.

2. Select Attributes=>Contour Attributes from the menu bar.

3. Choose the contour level you want to annotate. Do this by clicking on the contour level number in the Contour # list box. You can select only one contour level to annotate at a time. The first contour level (1) is the outermost contour.

4. Select the Special Annotation button in the Contour Attributes dialog box.

5. Enter the text for the annotation in the Special Annotation text field.

6. Click OK or Apply to apply the changes. The new annotation is displayed with the contour level you selected.

See Also

Changing the Color of Contour Lines

Changing the Linestyle of Contour Lines

Changing the Color of Contour Lines

By default, each contour line is assigned a unique color. When all of the plot colors in the color table are used up, the image colors from the color table are used.

You can change the color of selected contour lines. To change the color of a contour line, follow these steps:

1. Choose Attributes=>Contour Attributes. The Contour Attributes dialog box appears.

2. In the Contour # list box, click MB1 on the contour level you want to change. Contour level numbering begins with level 1 at the outer edge of the plot and increases contour numbers as you move toward the center of the plot.

3. Click the Contour Color button. This brings up the Contour Color dialog box. Use this dialog box to choose a color for the selected contour line. The selected color is reflected in the color square in the Contour Attributes dialog box.

4. Click OK or Apply in the Contour Attributes dialog box to apply the new color to the selected contour line.

See Also

Annotating Contour Lines

Changing the Linestyle of Contour Lines

By default, each contour line is solid. To change the linestyle of a contour line, follow these steps:

1. Choose Attributes=>Contour Attributes. The Contour Attributes dialog box appears.

3. Select a linestyle from the Line Style option menu button.

4. Click OK or Apply in the Contour Attributes dialog box to apply the new linestyle to the selected contour line.

See Also

Annotating Contour Lines

Changing the Color of Contour Lines

Creating Splined Contours

The splining algorithm produces smooth, even curves for your contour plot. Splining takes extra time, but the resulting plot may have a superior appearance.

To create splined lines, select the Spline button in the controls area.

The contour plot is automatically redrawn with splined contours.

See Also

Splining Filled Contours

Speeding Up the Contour Plot

The contour plotting operation that is the quickest to perform is the cell method. The speed advantage of cell method drawing is accomplished by not allowing contour annotation or filling of contours. To select cell method do the following:

1. De-select the Fill Contours button if it is selected.

2. Select the Cell button in the controls area.

note	The Spline control button is inactive when Cell is selected.

The contour plot is automatically redrawn using the Cell method of rendering contour lines.

note	The Cell method is the default line drawing method for Contour Tool.

Splining Filled Contours

Filled contours are not splined by default. If you want the filled contours to be splined, follow these steps:

1. Select the Fill Contours button in the controls area.

2. Select the Spline button in the controls area. The contour’s lines become splined.

See Also

Creating Splined Contours

Filling Contours

Zooming in on Contour Data

Although there isn’t an explicit function for zooming in on contour data, you can achieve the same effect by selecting data and exporting it to a Contour Tool. The Contour Tool used to display the subsetted data can be the original tool, if you want to maintain the contour attribute settings; or it can be a new Contour Tool, if you want to view the original data and the “zoomed” data simultaneously.

To “zoom” in on a subsetted area of data, do the following:

1. Select the data you want to zoom in on using the Data Selection button from the button bar.

2. (Optional) If you want to view the zoomed data and the original data simultaneously, you may want to start another Contour Tool at this time.

note	You can view the subsetted data and the original data with the same attribute settings, if you first save the original tool as a template and then start the second tool by opening the template.

3. Select File=>Export Selected Data from the menu bar. The Export Selected Data dialog box appears.

4. In the Export Selected Data dialog box, choose the name of the Contour Tool in which to display the selected data.

5. Click OK or Apply. The selected data is displayed in its expanded form in the selected Contour Tool.

note	The contour attributes for data that is redisplayed in the original Contour Tool will remain the same; however, if the “zoomed” data is displayed in another Contour Tool, the contour attributes will change to the settings of that tool.

Displaying a Variable in a Contour Tool

Before you can display a variable in a Contour Tool, the variable must already exist on the $MAIN$ level of PV-WAVE.

note	Only 2D variables or images can be displayed in a Contour Tool.

Use any of the following methods to display a variable in a Contour Tool:

Open a Contour Tool from the Navigator when one or more variables are on the variabl e selection list. Select a variable from the list that has the correct data type and dimensions for the Contour Tool. The selected variable is automatically plotted when a Contour Tool is opened. See Displaying a Variable into a VDA Tool Started from the Navigator for more information.

Import a variable. To do this, use the File=>Import Variable(s)

Export selected data from another VDA Tool using the File=>Export Selected Data function in the source VDA Tool.

Supply a variable name as a parameter to the Contour Tool command. For example:

WAVE> WzIPContour, contour_data

where contour_data is a variable on the $MAIN$ level of PV-WAVE.

or:

WAVE> WzIPContour, image_data, contour_data

where image_data and contour_data are variables on the $MAIN$ level of PV-WAVE.

Turning Off Auto Redraw

The Contour Tool controls area has a pre-selected control button for automatic redrawing of the contour plot whenever a change is made to the Fill Contours, Method Style, Spline, or Layer to Plot controls. Turn off the auto redraw function to save processing time, if your contour plot is very large and takes considerable time to be redrawn. To do this:

Position the pointer on the Auto Redraw button and click MB1.

note	If the Auto Redraw button is deselected, you must manually select the Redraw button on the button bar whenever you want to see your changes applied.

See Also

Contour Tool Controls Area

Button Bar Buttons

The Button Bar contains functions for editing graphical elements, selecting data and graphical elements, and adding graphical elements.

note	Position the pointer over a button to see its name printed just below the Button Bar. If a button is inactivated, no name will appear.

	Redraw—Redraws the current view and updates the view with any data changes.
	Cut—Cuts the selected graphical elements. A cut object can be pasted into the same graphics area or into the graphics area of another VDA Tool.
	Copy—Copies the selected graphical elements to a clipboard. A copied object can be pasted into the same graphics area or into the graphics area of another VDA Tool.
	Paste—Pastes the contents of the clipboard in the graphics area of a VDA Tool.
	Delete—Removes the selected graphical elements from the plot window and redraws the view. When a graphical element is deleted, it is not added to the clipboard. Therefore, you cannot paste or in any other way restore an item that has been deleted.
	Data Select—Lets you select a subset of the data that is plotted in the view window. Use the mouse to select a point or draw a rectangle around the data you want to select. Selected data can be exported to another VDA Tool with the File=>Export Selected Data command. Information about the selected data is printed in the Message Area.
	Irregular Data Select—Lets you draw an irregular boundary around a specific region of interest in your data. Press and drag the left mouse button to define the irregular region. The region closes when you release the mouse button. Selected data can be exported to another VDA Tool with the File=>Export Selected Data command.
	Object Selection—Lets you select graphical elements in the plot using the mouse. Graphics elements include text, lines, rectangles, legends, and axes. Selected graphics elements can be cut, copied, pasted, deleted, or grouped.
	Create Text Object—Add words and phrases to accentuate important trends and differentiate features of the view. Use MB1 to pick a starting point for the text, then enter the text. Press <Return> when you are finished entering text.
	Create Line Object—Add a line to the display area to emphasize a particular value or to visually connect text to some feature of interest elsewhere in the view. Press and drag MB1 to define the line. Press and drag <Control>-MB1 to constrain the line to be horizontal or vertical.
	Create Box Object—Add a box to the display area to enclose a region of special interest. Press and drag MB1 to define the corners of the rectangle. Press and drag <Control>-MB1 to create a square.
	Create Ellipse Object—Add an ellipse to the display area to enclose a region of special interest. Press and drag MB1 to define the bounding box of the ellipse. Press and drag <Control>-MB1 to create a circle.