1. Utkarsh Ayachit Kitware Inc.
Selection in ParaView
Utkarsh Ayachit
Kitware Inc.

2. Selection Mechanism to identify subset of a dataset
Focus on selected subset
Inspect properties of the subset
Further process subset alone
Track subset over time

3. Focus on subset

4. Track subset over time

5. Selection in ParaView What are we selecting? Data produced by a source
Active Selection
One application wide selection
All views show the same selection if possible
Creating a new selection results in removing the old one
Is transient: cannot be saved in state files, does not respect undo/redo.

6. Selection Components Selection Inspector Inspect the active selection
Spreadsheet View
Inspect the selected data

7. Active Selection Inspector
Accessible through View | Selection Inspector
Used to create/modify active selection
Shows the properties of the active selection
Control how the active selection is shown
Briefly show the selection inspector panel and point out the different components of the panel.

8. Create new selection
Active selection
properties
Selection type
Selected cells ids
Selection display
Properties/Labeling

9. Spreadsheet View Used to view the raw cell/point data
To create: split an existing view and select “Spreadsheet view”
Display tab provides option to view only selected items

10. What is shown in
the view
Show only
selected items
Attribute shown
Select block to inspect

11. Selecting using 3D View Surface cells/points
Cells/Points within a frustum
Blocks in a composite dataset
We begin with selections possible using 3D view.

12. Select Cells on surface
Used to select any set of visible cells on the surface of a dataset
Representation should be points / wireframe / surface / surface with edges
With 3D view active, use the ‘Select Cells On’ tool button (shortcut ‘S’) to enter selection mode
Click and drag to select cells

13. Select Points on surface
Same as selecting cells on surface except use ‘Select Points On’ tool button.

14. Selection Linking
Selection is linked among all views (whenever possible)
Active selection is shown in all view (whenever possible)

15. Select Cells Through Select all cells intersecting a frustum
Use ‘Select Cells Through’
Selection Inspector has a check button to show the selection frustum
Use ‘Select Points Through’ for selecting points

16. Select Blocks
Use ‘Select Block’ (shortcut ‘B’) to select blocks in a composite dataset
Keep Ctrl pressed when clicking to add to existing selected blocks

17. Selecting using Spreadsheet View
Can create Point/Cell index based selections (depending on what attribute is being shown)
Click to select rows as one would in any spreadsheet application
Can use modifiers such as Ctrl, Shift while selecting
Selection is shown in all views

18. Selecting using Selection Inspector
Create new selections
Convert selections
id based to global id based
frustum to id based
Modify existing selection

19. Location based selection
Select cell enclosing the location or select point closet to the location within a threshold
Created using the Selection Inspector and changing the selection type to Locations
Provides widgets to specify locations

20. Labeling Selected Items
Label selected cells/points using Selection Inspector
Choose the array/id to label with

21. Extract Selection Extract selected subset for further processing
Create ‘Extract Selection’ filter
Make selection and ‘Copy Active Selection’
Hit ‘Apply’

22. Plot Selection over Time
Plot data variable changes over time for a set of cells or points
Use ‘Plot Selection Over Time’ filter
Make selection and ‘Copy Active Selection’
Output can be shown on a XY plot

23. Plot Selection over Time
Changes for each cell/point selected can be plotted, one at a time, by choosing the block on the Display Tab

24. Conclusion
Selection provides mechanism to focus on a subset of the dataset
Selection identifies the cells/points in the output of a filter/source
Active selection is shown in all views (when applicable)
Selection inspector can be used to create/modify the active selection
Spreadsheet view can be used to explore the attribute values for the selected items
Extracting a selection makes it possible to further processes the selected subset