QuickStart Tecplot 10 Guide

QuickStart Tecplot 10
October 2003
Chapter 1. Tecplot Introduction 2. Line Plots 3. 2D Cartesian Plots 4. 3D Cartesian Plots 5. Contours with Unorganized Data 6. Data Operations 7. Plot Enhancments 8. Automation 9. ASCII Data Format
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Topic List
Tecplot Introduction
Navigating Tecplot
Components of the workspace How to change the paper How to change the ruler and grid How the sidebar options reflect the current plot type How to improve performance for large data sets How to return to the previous view How to undo plot changes Where to learn about keyboard shortcuts How to fit frames to workspace
Learn to Load Data

How to load a file in Tecplot format How to import files in other formats How to import a text file with special instructions How to load data from Excel directly into Tecplot How to create zones in Tecplot
Layouts and Frames

How to copy and move a frame How to create a uniform set of frames with an add-on The difference between layouts and frame styles How to open a layout How to load data from one frame into another How to apply a style to a frame
Printing and Exporting

What export formats are available How to change print settings How to publish a plot to a web page How to export a file How to import the file into WORD How to copy a plot to the clipboard How to paste the clipboard image into WORD
Line Plots
Polar Line Plots
How to load a data set with a Polar Plot type How to turn off default mappings How to change the variable assigned to Theta How to change axis ranges to fit the assigned variable
Polar Axis and Enhancements

How to turn off ticks, labels and title for an axis How to reverse the direction of the Theta axis How to rotate the Theta axis How to add a line legend How to position the legend How to position the polar plot How to specify curved lines between points
XY Line Plots
How to delete default maps How to create new maps for al zones How to fit your data in the view How to change the color of XY lines How to change the line pattern
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Topic List
How to change the line thickness
Symbols and Legend

How to add symbols How to set symbol colors to match colors of other map layers How to turn off symbols for selected maps How to fill symbols with the outline color How to change symbol size How to change symbol shape How to show a map legend How to prevent a map from appearing in the legend
XY Axis and Grid

How to change the active mappings How to assign one of the maps to a second Y-axis How to change settings for both axes at the same time How to add dashed gridlines How to add dots at precise intersections for minor tickmarks How to change the color of the grid area How to change the size of the grid area
XY Bars and Error Bars

How to create a bar chart How to change values for a variable How to use an offset of X values to view bars side-by-side How to set the width of bars How to add a legend How to add error bars to a plot How to change error bar appearance
Curve Plots
How to set a curve type How to change the order for a polynomial curve How to use a weighting variable How to change the number of control points How to copy an existing map How to change the map name
2D Cartesian
Zones and Zone Layers
How to load a data file How to deactivate a zone How to turn off a plot layer for one zone How to change the mesh style for one zone How to change the boundary style for one zone
2D Axis Settings
How to specify different coordinate variables How to change the dependency for axis ranges How to reset the range for one axis How to link axis and grid settings for the X and Y axes How to change settings for the axis title and labels How to change the position of the axis title
Contour Plot with Legend

How to change sidebar options to create a contour plot How to add a contour legend How to use the Contour Levels dialog to reset contour levels How to add or delete a level for a specific value
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Topic List
How to add and delete contour levels interactively
Enhanced Contour Plots

What contour plot type is necessary to show labels How to turn on contour labels How to interactively place a label in a specific location How to allow Tecplot to generate labels How to edit the label appearance How to limit the number of labels How to use a different variable for the contour flooding How to add the legend for the second contour variable How to set continuous flooding
Custom Scatter Plot

How to change the shape of scatter symbols How to fill the symbols with a color How to size the symbols proportionally to a variable value How to use index skip to limit the number of symbols
Vector Plot
How to see data information How to display vectors at the center of cells How to do a quick zoom-in How to reduce the number of vectors displayed How to change arrowhead type How to change vector length How to change arrowhead size
Animate Streamtraces
How to add a single streamtrace How to add a rake of streamlines How to change the direction of the streamtrace placement How to delete a single streamtrace How to show timed dashes and markers How to animate streamlines
3D Cartesian
3D Surface Plot
How to show an elevation map as a 3D plot How to adjust axis ranges for realistic dimensions How to set the contour color map How to adjust the color map How to choose continuous contour flooding How to zoom into the view
3D Lighting and Translucency

How to change shade color How to turn off lighting for a zone How to set translucency How to turn off translucency for a zone How to set Gouraud lighting for a zone How to set the percentage of translucency How to change the location of the 3D light source How to change light settings How to use specular highlighting
3D Slices
How to interactively turn on slices How to change the slice plane How to interactively place additional slices
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Topic List
How to change lighting effects for slices How to turn on slice layers like boundary How to extract slices How to set 3D scatter symbols How to use a slice with 3D scatter symbols
3D Streamtraces
How to change streamtrace format How to add streamtraces by dialog How to add a rake of streamtraces How to change stream ribbon appearance How to use multiple contour variables How to place streamtraces interactively on a slice How to turn off streamtraces, slices or isosurfaces for a zone
3D Iso-Surface Plume
How to turn off the 3D axis box How to turn on iso-surfaces How to set the number of iso-surfaces How to set iso-surface translucency and lighting effect How to rotate a 3D plot interactively How to remove the 3D orientation axis interactively How to remove the header of the contour legend How to set the position of the legend by dialog How to paste a color map file How to change frame settings
Contours with Unorganized Data

Identify and Edit
How to identify unorganized data How to tell if your data could be IJ-ordered How to know what the IJ settings should be How to edit the file
Triangulate
The frame mode required for triangulation How to triangulate an unorganized zone How to compare new zone to original contour values How to save a frame style How to save a packaged layout
Interpolate
What frame mode is required for interpolation How to create an ordered zone to fit your data How to interpolate to an ordered zone How to compare new zone to original contour values How to add a packaged layout to the current plot
Special Cases
How to triangulate with a boundary to exclude a region Which add-on will create a 3D zone with well data Which add-on will create a 3D zone in the shape of a river Which add-on will create a 3D zone by extruding a 2D zone How to set similar ranges for the axis variables for interpolation
Data Operations
Share Data with 2D Rotation
How to create duplicate zones
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Topic List
How data is shared How to use 2D rotation for a zone How to create a zone to fit an area How altering a zone affects data sharing
Alter Data by Equations

How to enter an equation to change an existing variable How to refer to a variable by its function using a letter code How to create new variables How to use values from one zone to compute other zones How to refer to a variable by position in an equation How to use a variable name in an equation
Plot Enhancements
Value Blanking
How to turn on value blanking How to set blanking constraints How value blanking affects an XY Line plot How to trim cells along a constraint boundary for 2D plots How to change the appearance of the constraint boundary
Linking Between Frames

How to set links for axis ranges How to set links for axis positions How to undo linking errors How to set a different link group How to link contour levels
Add Text
Character height and positioning options How to move text How to add special characters How to set text at an angle How to display the time and date How to display the data set title How to display the slice positions How to add a text box and modify it
Geometries and Images

How to add a geometry How clipping affects geometries and images How draw order affects geometries and images How to set the thickness of the geometry border How to fill the geometry with a specified color How to interactively move and resize the geometry How to insert a JPEG file How to interactively move and resize the image
Automation
Record and Edit Macros
How to record a macro How to Redraw to see changes while recording a macro What state Tecplot should be in to replay a macro How to replay a macro
Customize Tecplot
How to save configuration interactively
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Topic List
Limitations for commands in the configuration How to use commands from a recorded macro How to add macro commands to the configuration file How to make commands general
Quick Macro Panel

How to add macro commands to tecplot.mcr How to replace specific values with intrinsic macro variables How to make the commands into a new macro function How to set the function to appear in the Quick Macro Panel How to open the Quick Macro Panel How to run the new macro function
Animation
What options are available in the Animate Tools Where to find sample macros that create animations The sequence of steps to follow when recording an animation macro How to export an animation file How to name files so they can loaded by a loop How to edit a macro to add a loop for animating How to use the loop variable as part of a data file name How to return Tecplot to its original state to play the macro
Tecplot Start Options

How to set the icon on Windows to get files from a different directory How to use command line options How to run Tecplot in batch mode
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Navigate Tecplot
No software feature is helpful to the user unless he knows where to find it and how to use it. Tecplot is a powerful graphing software that allows extensive control over the plots created. The QuickStart lessons cover most of the basic functions included in Tecplot. You can download the exercise files and repeat each exercise in Tecplot on your own machine. As you learn to navigate Tecplot, you will learn about regions of the Tecplot window, and tools to use to create plots. Exercise 1.1: In this exercise, you will change the appearance of the workspace and the paper. 1. The workspace is the large white area. By default, it is shown with white paper, a grid and the ruler at the bottom and the right. Paper settings can be changed from the File menu. Go to File, Paper Setup. 2. You could change the paper size or orientation, or turn it off. Select the button for Paper Fill Color, and choose the 2nd color on the 5th row. 3. Changes will not take effect until you close the Paper Setup dialog. 4. Notice that the frame was not affected by changes to the paper. To see the paper better, click and drag on the frame border to make it smaller. 5. To change the ruler and grid settings, select Workspace from the main Tecplot menu. Select Ruler/Grid. Toggle off Show Paper on Screen. 6. Changes will not take effect until this dialog is closed. Click OK to close the dialog. 7. Return to the same dialog. If you are creating frames with the dimensions in metric units, it may be helpful to show the ruler and grid in centimeters. Select the field for Grid Spacing. Choose 1 cm from the list. 8. Change Ruler Spacing to 2 cm. To see the new settings take effect, close the dialog. This is one possible setup for the workspace appearance. 9. To return to the default view, close Tecplot and open a new session. If you wanted to save the settings, you would change the configuration file. This will be covered in a later lesson.
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Exercise 1.2: Other important components of the Tecplot interface are the main menu at the top of the Tecplot window, and the sidebar at the left of the Tecplot window. In this exercise, you will learn how sidebar options are affected by the plot style of the current frame. Options for better performance with large data sets will be described, and you will learn how to undo a change or return to a previous view. 1. Notice that the many options on the sidebar are not available. This is because the current frame is in Sketch mode and has no data loaded. From the File menu, choose Open Layout, and select framemodes.lpk. 2. Now a layout with three frames has been loaded into Tecplot. Sidebar options have changed to fit the current frame, the upper left frame with a XY Line plot type. Click on the lower left frame to see sidebar options for 2D Cartesian plots. 3. Sidebar options will change again when you click on the 3D frame on the right. 4. The sidebar shows options for 3D Cartesian plots. Zone Layers and Zone Effects will be discussed in other lessons. The Tool buttons, below the Performance button on the sidebar, will also be covered later. 5. Special options are needed for working with very large datasets. Click the Performance button. Select Options from the list. On the Display Performance dialog, follow these steps: When you are working with a large data set, a complete redraw can
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take a long time. You can choose to see approximations of your frames until plot changes are complete. Toggle off Auto Redraw. Toggle on Non-Current Frames Always Approximated. Although caching graphics can speed up your plot changes, with very large data sets, the graphics resources may not be adequate for full caching. Toggle on Do Not Cache Graphics. Click OK to close the dialog. 6. Select the Zoom tool button. 7. Notice that the XY frame and the 2D frame are approximated. Click and drag in the 3D frame to zoom in. 8. Suppose you wanted to return to the previous size of the plot. Select View from the main Tecplot menu. 9. View options affect the size and position of your plotted data in the current frame. The 16 most recent view changes are stored. To go to the previous view, choose Last. 10. You can undo view changes and many other plot changes with the Undo feature. Go to the Edit menu. 11. The Undo option describes the most recent change to the plot. Select Undo View Change. 12. Select the XY frame as the current frame. 13. Now the 3D frame is also approximated. Select the Redraw All button for a full view of all frames. 14. If you wanted to keep the new performance settings for approximation, you could do that from File/Preferences/Save Configuration. We will return to the default performance settings. You can either close Tecplot, and open it again, loading the layout in step 1, or return to the Display Performance dialog and undo the bulleted list for step 5. 15. Other useful tools are the shortcuts in Tecplot. Select Help from the main Tecplot menu, and select Keyboard Shortcuts. The Help page with the shortcuts listed will open in your internet browser. Some of these options will be covered in other lessons. Close the Help dialog. 16. Go to the Workspace menu. Select Fit All Frames to Workspace. Frames will be enlarged without affecting the height and width proportions of each frame, or the relative positions of the frames.
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Loading Data
The first question when using Tecplot is "How do I enter my data?" The most common methods for loading data are discussed on the following pages. They are: For Windows users, drag and drop a file from Explorer onto the Tecplot icon on your desktop. Load Data Set for files in Tecplot ASCII or binary format Import data with standard formats like CGNS or FLUENT Import text files with custom format Select cells in Excel and load them into Tecplot Another option is available - to work with calculated data, you can have Tecplot create a zone for you. Exercise 1.3: In this exercise, you will learn how to load a datafile in Tecplot format, how to import some other standard formats, and how to import a text file that has lines or characters that will not be loaded. 1. Data is loaded from the File menu. 2. To load a file that is in Tecplot format, select Load Data File(s). 3. The Load Data File dialog lists all files of type *.dat (Tecplot ASCII format) or *.plt (Tecplot binary format). Click on file name FEtriang.plt. 4. You can load multiple files in Tecplot by holding down the Cntrl key while clicking. Select file HydroSlice.plt. 5. We won't load these files in this exercise. Click the Cancel button to continue. 6. Data that is not in the Tecplot format can be imported from the File menu. Select File from the main Tecplot menu. Select Import from the File menu. 7. Several loaders are included with the Tecplot distribution. If you create your own loader with the Add-on Development Kit, it will be listed on this dialog. The General Text Loader is a versatile tool for loading ASCII files.
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Select General Text Loader from the list. 8. By default, the loader lists files of the format *.txt. Click the field for Files of Type, and select All Files. 9. Find file TS400.s2p, and open it. 10. You can set loading options for the title, variable names and lines of data to load. Filters will cause the loaders to skip areas of text. In the Data Preview window, scroll down to view the file contents. Variable names are listed in line 7, and the data begins in line 9. Select the Variables button. 11. You can type in the variable names or let Tecplot find the names in the selected line or lines of your file. Choose Scan for Variable Names, with Start Line set to 7, and End Line set to 7. 12. Select the OK button to continue. 13. Select the Data button. This dialog has the following options: Identify the line where the first data occurs. Identify the location in the file where the loader will stop reading data. If the file has multiple zones, the end must be after the last zone. Specify whether the values are organized in point or block format. In point format, the value of each variable at the first point is listed, then the value of each variable at the second point, etc. In block format, every value for the first variable is listed, then every value for the second variable, etc. For ij-ordered or ijk-ordered data, specify dimensions of i, j and k. Otherwise, data will be loaded as i-ordered data. If i, j, and k dimensions are specified, the loader can detect how many zones to load. Otherwise, zones must be separated by a keyword. If there are extra characters in the lines you have chosen for loading data, they can be ignored. 14. On the Data page, we will change only these settings: Set Start Line to 9, and Set End Identification to End of File. Click the OK button. 15. Click on the General Filters button to view filtering options. You can choose to ignore lines based on the beginning character, a character or word in the line, or specific lines. None of these filters are needed for this file, so click the OK button. 16. When the instructions are complete, you can view the processed data. If
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the settings are correct, the configuration can be saved to use with other files of the same format. Click the OK button.
Data loaded with the General Text Loader.
Using the Excel Add-In Although an Excel loader is included with Tecplot on Windows, this loader is only effective for Excel files with a simple format and values in each cell. For Excel data containing formulas, it is more efficient to use an Excel macro that is included with Tecplot in the Util\Excel folder. The following exercise demonstrates how to use the macro to load one file. Exercise 1.4: 1. Open Excel and load file sample1.xls from the Tecplot folder Examples\Loaders\Excel. 2. Go to the Excel file menu, and select Open. 3. Go to the directory where Tecplot 10 is installed, and select the Util folder. Select the Excel folder, and choose the Excel macro runtecplot. 4. On the dialog that comes up, select Enable Macros. 5. To select the block of data to load, you would click on a cell, and everything in that block below and to the right of the selected cell would be loaded. Click on cell D15. 6. If you highlight a group of cells by clicking and dragging, all of those cells
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will be loaded. This is especially useful to load several blocks of data at once. Click on cell E27. 7. Select the Excel Tools menu. 8. The macro loaded earlier added a Tecplot option to this menu. This will save the selected data to a temporary file, and open a new Tecplot session with the data loaded. Select Tecplot. 9. The data is loaded into Tecplot. If you want to save this plot, be sure to save the data to a new file name, or to save a packaged layout.
Creating Zones Under the Data/Create Zone menu, there are several options for adding a zone to a frame with no data or with existing data. 1D-Line Zone - A new zone is created with y = 0 and the x range you specify. You can use Data/Alter/Specify Equations to change the value of y.
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Rectangular Zone - A new zone is created according to the dimensions you specify. For 2D zones, k = 1.
Circular Zone - A new zone is created according to the dimensions you specify. For 2D zones, k = 1.
Enter Values - A new zone is created with one point for each pair of values entered.
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Exercise 1.5: 1. Create a rectangular zone, i = 15, j = 22, with x = 0.3 to 4.2 and y = 1.2 to 3.7. 2. Create a new zone by entering these XY Values: 16 22 35 42 56 3. Use View/Data Fit or Ctrl-F to see both zones together.
Frame 001 | Internally created data set
Y
3 2
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Layouts and Frames

The layout is the entire picture you create in Tecplot. Just as the layout for a magazine page can contain more than one picture, so can a Tecplot layout. In a layout, each picture is a frame. A frame is the basic unit of a Tecplot plot. Each frame can be selected, moved, resized, copied, have a unique background color or header, or no background. Data, geometries and text are displayed in frames. Exercise 1.6: In the following exercise, you will learn how to interactively change the frame size and position, how to add a frame by copying an existing frame, and how to use a Tecplot add-on to create multiple frames of uniform size and position. 1. Click on the frame header to select the frame. 2. Resize the frame, and move it to the upper left corner of the workspace. 3. Go to the Edit menu, and choose Copy. 4. Return to the Edit menu, and choose Paste. Another option is to use Cntrl-C to copy, and Cntrl-V to paste. 5. There are now two identical frames, one on the other. Click on the header of the top frame. Marks will appear at the corners to indicate that it is selected. Move the frame until you can see the two frames. 6. Now the layout has two frames. Sometimes you need many frames with uniform size and shape, and you can use an add-on to create them. Close Tecplot. 7. The tecplot.add file is included with the Tecplot distribution, in the home directory. Open this file in Wordpad or Notepad.
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8. The file lists several add-ons that are commented out with the "#". If they are activated, they will appear in the Tecplot Tools menu. Click on the line for "Mulframe", and remove the comment symbol. 9. Save the file and re-open Tecplot to use this add-on. 10. The add-on places all new frames within the current frame, make the current frame fill the workspace. 11. Go to the Tools menu. Choose Create Multiple Frames. 12. Set the number of frames across to 5, and the number of frames down to 3. Set the space between frames to 0.1. Select the Create button.
When you have loaded your data, and created your plot, you will want to save it so that you can easily open the same plot or a similar one with different data. There are three formats for saving plots. Packaged layout files (*.lpk) save the data with the plot information for all frames in one binary file. Linked data layout files (*.lay) save the plot information for all frames with a link to the data file for each frame. Because this is a text file, it can
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easily be edited. You can open it with new data if you prefer. Style files (*.sty) save only the plot information for one frame. A style file can be pasted on any frame without affecting the data that is loaded. Exercise 1.7: In the exercise beginning on the next page, you will open a layout with several frames, select one of the frames, and paste a style file which will change the plot of that frame. Take note that the layout uses more than one frame and is linked to data, but the style sheet isnt linked to data and changes only the frame where it is pasted. 1. To open a layout, go to the File menu. Select Open Layout. 2. By default, the Open Layout dialog shows files with the standard Tecplot layout format using extensions *.lay or *.lpk. Select file frameshare.lay and open. (image) 3. Notice that the layout affects the data loaded, the size and position of the frames, and the frame style of the top frame. Only the top frame has data loaded. In this exercise, the same data will be shared by all three frames, but each will show it in a different plot type. Click the lower left frame to make it the active frame. 4. When you change the Plot Type from Sketch to a new mode, data from the last active frame will be loaded into the current frame. Click on the field for Plot Type. Select 2D Cartesian. 5. To use a previously created frame style, click on Frame in the main menu. 6. Select Paste Frame Style from File. Choose file name Sharedata2D.sty, and open to see the new style applied. 7. Notice that the data was not affected by the frame style, and the frame size and position did not change. Only the plot appearance changed. Select the lower right frame as the current frame. 8. Select the Plot Type field, and select XY Line. 9. Return to the Frame menu. Select Paste Frame Style from File, and open SharedataXY.sty.
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Printing and Exporting

When you have created a plot, how will it be used? This lesson describes the options for printing and exporting from Tecplot. You can print directly from Tecplot, create a web page with attached images, or export files in several formats. Publish The Publish feature provides a quick way to create an HTML file which references the plot image in your Tecplot layout. Publish can also create a layout which is linked to your HTML page. Your results can be viewed online by saving directly to an HTTP location accessible to your audience. Exporting with Vector File Format Vector files define individual objects like lines, text and so forth with a command language. Vector export options are: PostScript HPGL and HPGL/2 EPS (this may include a raster preview image) WMF (Windows Metafile) Exporting with Raster File Format Raster files define the color for each screen pixel. Raster options are: JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) PNG (Portable Network Graphic) BMP (Windows Bitmap) AVI (Audio Visual Interleaved movie format) Raster Metafile (Framer movie format) SUN Raster TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) Using plots in other software Your best export option may be determined by the import options available in
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the software you use to create presentations. Vector format files are very accurate, but larger than raster images for complex plots. Other benefits of raster files include translucency support, Web and presentation software friendliness, and printing ease. For on-screen use, such as PowerPoint or web pages, raster images must be exported at exactly the size needed. Antialiasing will smooth the jagged edges of objects in low resolution raster files. Load the exported file into your application software by importing. Many Windows software applications will allow you to paste a file directly from the clipboard. Exercise 1.8: The following lesson shows you how to print a layout, with special options, and how to publish a file with an attached layout. It teaches you how to export a JPEG file and import it into WORD, and how to save an image to the clipboard to paste in WORD. 1. Open layout PrintExport.lpk. 2. Go to the File menu and choose Print. 3. You could choose a different printer from Print Setup. The Print Setup dialog appearance would be determined by the printer chosen. For this exercise, select Render Options. 4. Vector output doesn't use OpenGL sorting for 3D plots. Select Force Extra Sorting for All 3D Frames. Click OK to continue. You do not need to actually print for this exercise. 5. To publish the plot to a web page, go to the File menu and choose Publish. 6. To save a layout with the web page, toggle on Include Reference to Layout Package. Click the OK button. 7. To save directly to a web site, toggle on URL. 8. You would type your web address, beginning with "HTTP:" on the URL field. Cancel this dialog. 9. The top left frame is selected to export. Return to the File menu, and choose Export. 10. Click on the Export Format field to see available options, and choose JPEG from the list. 11. Click on the field for Region. Choose to export only the current frame.
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12. Other options are available to change the quality and size of the image, but we will accept the defaults for this exercise. Click the OK button. 13. Enter the file name Hydro. Click the Save button. 14. Without closing Tecplot, go to WORD. 15. Select Insert from the main WORD menu. 16. Choose to insert Picture, then select From File. 17. Open the file Hydro.jpg. The image file will appear in WORD. You can interactively move and resize it. 18. Next, a more informal method of placing images in WORD will be used. Keep WORD open, but return to Tecplot. (Alt-Tab) 19. Click on Frame 002 to make it the current frame. 20. Go to the Edit menu. Select Copy Plot to Clipboard. The current frame will be placed as a temporary file on the Windows clipboard. 21. Change the format from Vector to Image. Click the OK button. 22. Return to WORD. 23. To paste in the image from the clipboard, type Ctrl_V, or right mouse click and select Paste. 24. The image is placed in WORD.
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Line Plots
Polar Line Plots

Polar Line Plots
A Polar Line plot is a graph of one or more series of independent and dependent (Theta, R) data points shown on a polar axis. A frame can be changed to show a Polar Line plot by selecting that plot type from the top of the sidebar.
Polar Mappings
Each Polar Line plot has one or more polar mappings. A polar mapping, or map, is a series of data points from a single zone where the radius is a function of the angle. For each polar mapping, one variable is assigned to the Theta axis and another variable is assigned to the radius axis. The Theta axis is shown in degrees by default, but it can also be shown in radians. Each Polar mapping can be turned on or off individually. Also, each mapping can be shown with lines, curves or symbols. Exercise 2.1: In the following exercise, you will load a data set with simulated antenna signal data. You will activate some mappings, and change the variable assigned to Theta. You will reset the axis range for the radius variable. 1. To load data, go to the File menu. Select Load Data File. Open file antenna.plt. 2. Select the field for Initial Plot Type, and choose Polar Line. Click the OK button. 3. When Tecplot opens a file in Polar Plot Type, it assigns the first variable to the Theta axis and creates one mapping for each of the other variables, assigning them to the Radius axis. Only the 1st mapping is displayed, and the Radius axis range is set according to the values of the 2nd variable. In this data set, the first variable is Theta in radians (ThetaR) and the second variable is Theta in degrees (ThetaD). The 3rd and 4th variables are the signal measurements that will be assigned to the radius. To change the active map, click the Mapping Style button. 4. You will deactivate the 1st mapping, which plots ThetaD against ThetaR, and activate the 2nd and 3rd mappings which show the signals. Click on the line for the 2nd map.
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Line Plots
5. Hold down the Shift key while clicking on Map 3. 6. Select the Map Show button. Choose Show Selected Only. 7. The new mappings are hardly visible. This is because the current range for the radius axis is 0 to 360, but the new radius variables have small, mostly negative, values. We will reset the range for radius later. Click the button for Theta Variable. 8. Click on the variable field. Since the plot will be shown in degrees instead of radians, choose ThetaD. 9. Click the OK button, then close the Mapping Style dialog. 10. The current Radius axis range is not appropriate for the antenna signals. Select Plot from the main Tecplot menu. 11. Select Axis from the Plot menu. 12. The dialog is set to show the settings for Theta. To access the settings for Radius, select the R button at the top of the dialog. 13. The size of the axis in the view is good, so toggle on Preserve Length when Changing Range. 14. Select the Reset Range button. 15. If you wanted the minimum and maximum values for the axis to be rounded, you could choose one of the Nice Value settings. For this exercise, we will let Tecplot determine the min and max values by the values of the two radius variables. Choose Set to Var Min/Max. 16. With the new radius axis range, the two active mappings are easy to see. Click the Close button. 17. Here is the new polar plot. It will be modified with additional axis settings in the lesson on Polar Axis and Enhancements. Save frame style antenna1.sty.
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Line Plots
Polar Axis and Enhancements

Polar Axis Components of the axis for any plot type can include the Axis Lines, Gridlines, Tickmarks, Labels and Title. These can be set individually for each of the axes, or the axis and gridline styles can be linked. Coloring can also be added to the grid area or the viewport of the polar axis. The polar axis has a wide variety of options for the Theta range. These include reversing the axis direction, rotating the axis, setting the mode to degrees or radians, or setting the period. One option unique to Polar Line Plots is clipping data to axis. When the range of the axes is less than the range of variable values, you can choose to only show data within the axis range, or extend your data beyond the axis.
Polar Legend
The Polar legend allows you to identify multiple mappings by their style. By default, it displays the map style and map name for each active map. However, the legend can be shown without map names. Also, individual maps can be set to not appear in the legend. Exercise 2.2: In the following exercise, the polar plot from the previous lesson (shown on the left) will be modified to have an axis style consistent with the graph of Azimuth Radiation Pattern Response shown below.
The radius axis max will be set to 0, and axis ticks and labels will be turned off
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for the radius axis. Titles will be turned off for both axes. The Theta axis direction will be reversed, and the axis will be rotated by setting the value on the right. A line legend will be added. 1. Open file antenna.plt and paste frame style antenna1.sty. 2. Go to the Plot menu and select Axis. 3. To change the maximum value for Radius Range, type 0 in the field for Max. 4. Select the Ticks tab of the dialog. Turn off the ticks on the Radius axis line. 5. Go to the Labels page of the Axis dialog. Turn off Labels from the axis line. 6. Go to the Title page of the dialog. Toggle off the Title on the radius axis line. 7. Go to the Theta settings. (Select the little button at the top of the dialog with the Theta symbol.) Turn off the Theta title. 8. Go to the Range page for Theta. To show the Theta values increasing in a clockwise direction, choose Reverse Axis Direction. 9. To rotate the polar axis in Tecplot, you can enter a new value to be shown at the right of the plot. Numbers less than 0 or greater than 360 will not be shown. In the field for Theta Value on Circle Right, type 90. 10. Close the Axis Details dialog. 11. Go to the Plot menu. Select Line Legend. Toggle on Show Line Legend. 12. Set the Legend Box to Filled to give it a solid background. Close the Legend dialog. Click and drag the legend to a better position in the frame.
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Polar Drawing Options

Sometimes the plot should appear as a smooth curve, but the number of points in the zone is small enough that their connection by line segments appears angular. This is because the default interpolation for areas between points is done in XY mode and produces straight lines. You can choose to set interpolation to Theta-R mode, which produces curved lines. However, this will slow performance with large data sets. You can choose an approximate angle for the curve which will be used for the theta axis line and the radius grid lines. The angle will also be used for line plots when the drawing mode is set to curved lines. Draw settings will apply to all maps in the frame. Exercise 2.3: The following exercise uses a layout that was created for you. It has a small number of points defining a spiral of Archimedes. The drawing mode will be set to curved lines, and the angle will be changed. 1. Open layout ArchimedesApprox.lpk. 2. Go to the Plot menu. Select Polar Drawing Options. 3. We want the points to be connected in smooth curves. Set the Polar Line Drawing Mode to Curved Lines. 4. The plot and the curved grid and axis lines will be even smoother when a smaller angle is used. Type 2 in the field for Angle to Approximate Curved Lines. Close the dialog for Polar Drawing Options.
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Theta Mode
There are two options for setting the Theta mode to Degrees - 0 to 360 degrees, or -180 to 180 degrees. Similarly, there are two options for Radians, 0 to 2 Pi or -Pi to Pi. When these options are not ideal for your data, you can set the mode to fit the values of your Theta variable.
Theta Period
The period is set automatically when the mode is Radians or Degrees. But when the mode is Arbitrary to fit your data, you can enter any period for Theta. Exercise 2.4: In the following exercise, the data has a Theta range greater than 360. The Theta Mode will be set to Arbitrary, the Theta range will be changed, and the Theta Period will be set. 1. Open layout ThetaCycle.lpk. 2. The data in this layout has large Theta values. Go to the Plot menu and choose Axis. 3. Since some values for Theta are greater than 360, click the Reset button. Select Fit to Var Min/Max. 4. In Tecplot, you can type in new values for Min and Max. In the field for the Theta Axis Min, type 0. In the field for Theta Axis Max, enter 540. 5. Notice that when the Max is set to a larger number, the Theta Period is increased also. When the Period is set to a greater value than Max, the axis will be drawn as a partial circle. In the field for Theta Period, enter 720. Close the Axis Details dialog.
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Line Plots
XY Line Plots An XY Line plot is a graph of one or more series of independent and dependent (X, Y) data points. When I-ordered data is loaded into or created within a dataless frame, the default plot type will be XY Line. A frame can be changed to show a XY Line plot by selecting that plot type from the top of the sidebar. XY-Mappings Each XY-plot has one or more XY-mappings. An XY-mapping, or map, is a series of data points from a single zone where x = f(y) or y = f(x). For each XYmapping, one variable is assigned to an X-axis and another variable is assigned to a Y-axis. Each XY Line plot can have up to five X-axes and five Y-axes. Each XY-mapping can be turned on or off individually. Also, different plot layers can be turned on or off, or have different settings for each individual XYmapping.
Default XY-Maps This plot shows the initial display of an i-ordered data file. Although a map is created for each variable other than x, as shown in the Mapping Style dialog below, only the first map is shown.
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Exercise 2.5: In the following exercise you will learn how to delete XY maps, how to create new maps, and how to change the appearance of XY lines in your plot. You will learn how to have Tecplot adjust the view to include all of your data. 1. Select File from the main Tecplot menu. From the File menu, select Load Data File. 2. Select file name subsurf.dat and click the Open button. Accept the default load options by selecting the OK button. 3. The default view for an XY line plot is a single mapping of the first two variables of the first zone. To change the mappings, or the style, select the Mapping Style button. 4. The current mappings could be edited to assign different y-axis variables and different zones. In this case, it will be easier to delete all current mappings. Select the top line of the map definitions. 5. In Tecplot, you would hold down the Shift key while clicking to select a group of mappings. Click on the last line, map number 5. 6. Select the Delete Map button. Click the OK button to confirm deletions. 7. Select the button, Create Map. Select the second option to create one mapping for each zone. 8. To change the variable assigned to the Y-axis for all mappings, click the field for Y-Axis Var. Select the last variable, "% of Total Composition." Select the OK button. 9. Tecplot can resize the plot to fit all data points. Select View from the main Tecplot menu, then the option Data Fit to see all points in your plot. 10. To change the appearance of the lines, select the Lines tab on the Mapping Style dialog. 11. Select Map 5 from the list. Choose the Line Color button. Click the purple button on the upper right corner. 12. Select the Line Pttrn button. From the available patterns, choose LongDash. 13. Select Map Num 4 from the list. Click the Line Pttrn button, and choose the Dashed pattern. 14. Select Map Num 3. Select the Line Pttrn button, and choose the DashDot pattern.
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15. For more variety, you could change the pattern length for some mappings. To make the mappings easier to see, increase the line thickness. Select the first mapping in the list. 16. Hold down the Shift key and click the bottom map to see all maps selected. 17. Select the Line Thick button, and change the thickness to 0.4. 18. Close the Mapping Style dialog. 19. The plot now shows distinct line maps for each zone. In later exercises, symbols and a legend will be added, and the axis will be adjusted.
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XY Symbols and Legend

XY Symbols An XY-plot with symbols can use solid or outline symbols to represent each data point, or a subset of the points when symbol spacing is used. XY Legend By default, the XY legend displays the map style and map name for each active map. However, the legend can be shown without map names. Also, individual maps can be set to not appear in the legend. Exercise 2.6: The following exercise begins with the plot created in the XY Line exercise. Symbols will be added, and the defaults will be changed. No symbols will be shown for some maps, and the style will be changed for other maps. A legend will be added, but not all mappings will be shown in the legend. 1. Turn on the Symbols Map Layer in the sidebar. 2. Symbols are shown with the default colors. Since the color for one line was changed from yellow to purple in the last exercise, the symbols do not match the line color for that map. You could change each plot layer individually, or you can set Tecplot to show matching colors for layers. Select Plot from the Tecplot main menu. 3. Select Style Linking from the Plot menu. 4. Turn on Zone/Map Color between Plot Layers. Close the Set Links dialog. 5. The yellow symbols have been changed to purple. To change other settings for the symbols, select the Mapping Style button. 6. Symbols will be turned off for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th maps. Click on the second map in the list. 7. Hold down the Shift key and click on the 4th map in the list to select a range of maps. 8. Select the Symb Show button. Choose No from the dropdown list. 9. Select the first map in the list. 10. To select multiple items that are not consecutive, hold down the Ctrl key while clicking. The fifth map will be added to the group of selected maps when you click the last line of the list of maps. 11. In this plot, each of the selected maps will have solid symbols. Select the
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Fill Mode button. 12. There are several options for filling the symbols. Choose Use Line Color to keep the fill color linked to the outline color. 13. Select the Symb Size button. Instead of choosing one of the default sizes, select Enter from the dropdown list. 14. Click on the Size field, and type 2. 15. Click the OK button to close the Enter Value dialog. 16. Reselect only the fifth map by clicking on the last line in the list. 17. Select the Symb Shape button. Choose Diamond from the list of shapes. 18. The legend is a useful tool to show information about the XY plot, but sometimes some mappings should not be shown in it. Select the Definitions tab of the Mapping Style dialog. 19. Select Map 4. 20. Select the Show in Legend button. The default setting is Auto, which shows the Mapping only when it is active. Select Never from the list. 21. Close the Mapping Style dialog. 22. Select Plot from the main Tecplot menu. Choose Line Legend from the Plot menu. 23. Toggle on Show Line Legend. 24. By default, the legend has a transparent background. Set the Legend box to Filled. Close the Line Legend dialog. 25. Click and drag to move the legend to a better position. 26. In this completed plot, notice that all of the XY maps except the fourth appear in the legend.
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XY Axis
By default, the title for each axis is the name of the variable assigned to that axis. The range for an axis fits the value of the first variable assigned to that axis. If you deactivate the current mapping and activate another, or change the variable in a mapping, it may be necessary to reset the axis range. Axis Grid The axis grid is the area defined by the extents of the X- and Y-axes. Some grid attributes that may be altered include grid position in the frame, and grid lines. Precise dot grid places dots at intervals defined by X- and Y-axis tick spacing. Exercise 2.7: In the following exercise, you will change the active mappings, and assign one of the maps to a second Y-axis. As you change the axis and grid styles, you will use Within Frame Linking to change settings for both axes at the same time. You will add dashed gridlines with precise dots, and change the color and height of the grid area. 1. Open the data file subsurf.dat. It is shown with the default active mapping. Select the Mapping Style button. 2. Instead of showing the default map, this exercise will show a comparison of Density and the % of Total composition. Select the 2nd line, the Density map. 3. Select the Map Show button. The option Show Selected Only will activate selected maps and deactivate maps that are not selected. Click on Show Selected Only. 4. No map is shown because the Y-axis range was set for the Y variable of the previous mapping. We will reset the axis range as we edit the axis later in this exercise. Select the 5th map in the list. 5. Click the Map Show button. Choose to Activate the map. 6. The variable assigned to the Y-axis for this map has a different range than the variable assigned to the other active map. Tecplot allows up to four Yaxes in a plot. Select the button, Which Y-Axis. 7. Select the Y2 axis.
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8. Since this was the first map assigned to the Y2 axis, its range was adjusted automatically. However, the thin yellow line of the map is difficult to see. Select the Line tab of the Mapping Style dialog. 9. Select the Line Color button. Choose the Red button on the top row. 10. You hold down the Ctrl key while clicking to add a non-adjacent item to the current selected items. The 2nd map will be selected with the 5th when you Ctrl-click on the 2nd row of the list. 11. Choose the Line Thck button, and increase the thickness to 0.4. 12. Close the Mapping Style dialog. 13. Select Axis from the Plot menu. 14. To change settings for the Y1 axis, select the Y1 button at the top of the Axis Details dialog. 15. Select the Reset Range button. 16. The options for Nice Values will reduce the number of significant digits for the Min and Max of the current axis. For this exercise, choose Set to Var Min/Max. 17. To use better Min and Max values for the ranges of all axes, toggle on Automatically Adjust Axis Ranges to Nice Values. 18. Notice that each axis now begins and ends at a major tick mark. You will make other changes that need to be applied to all axes. The quickest way to do this is to link the style. Open the Plot menu, and choose Style Linking. 19. Linking Between Frames will be covered in another exercise. For Within Frame linking, toggle on Gridline Style. 20. Close the Set Links dialog. 21. Select the Grid tab of the Axis Details dialog. Toggle on Show for Gridlines. 22. Notice that gridlines were drawn for all axes. If separate gridlines for Y1 and Y2 were shown, you could adjust those axes to have the same number of major tickmarks. However, it isn't necessary for this exercise. Click on the field for Line Pattern, and select the Dashed line pattern. 23. To show a dot at the intersection of the minor tickmarks, toggle on Show Precise Dot Grid. 24. Click on the Area tab of the dialog. To show the background for the grid,
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toggle on Fill Grid Area. 25. Select the Color button. Select the 2nd button in the 2nd row. 26. Type a new value in one of the Viewport Position fields to change the size of the grid area. Type 78 in the field for Top. 27. Some of the other Axis options, such as changing the ticks or the title, are discussed in other lessons. Close the Axis Details dialog. 28. The reduced height of the grid allows more room to add a Line Legend. A legend is often an asset to line plots. The process of adding and adjusting a legend is covered in other lessons. Add a legend in the area at the top.
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XY Bars and Error Bars

XY Bars A bar chart is an XY-plot that uses vertical or horizontal bars placed along an axis to represent data points. By default, all mappings are created with Y as the dependent variable (y=f(x)), so default mappings will appear as vertical bar charts. However, if X is the dependent variable (x=f(y)), the bar direction can be set to horizontal. Exercise 2.8: In the following exercise, a set of wind tunnel data contains the yaw moment coefficient at off-test conditions using the various methods typically used in aircraft computer simulations (PR, MOD, VEC) and and the actual case data shown as Check. A bar chart will be created to compare the results of the simulation methods to the real data. 1. Open data file yawmoment.plt. Using information from the XY Lines lesson, create a map for each zone, showing the magnitude of the yaw moment. 2. Turn on the Bar map layer. Turn off the Lines map layer. 3. It is difficult to see the bars because they are all drawn at the same location. They will appear side-by-side if they have slightly different x values. Choose Alter from the Data menu. Select Specify Equations. 4. Guidelines for equations are discussed in a later lesson, Alter Data by Equations, under Data Operations. Type the following equation in the field for Equations. x = x + 0.2 5. Current values for X are integers for all zones. We will not change values for the 1st zone. You could Shift-Click or Ctrl-Click in the list of Zones to Alter to choose which zones will be affected. Highlight zones 2-4. 6. Click the Compute button. Click the OK button to close the Information dialog. 7. The computation will be repeated for Zones 3 and 4. Highlight them in the field for Zones to Alter. 8. Click the Compute button. Click the OK button to close the Information dialog. 9. Select Zone 4 for a last computation. Select the Compute button again.
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Click the OK button. 10. Close the Specify Equations dialog. 11. Open the Mapping Style dialog. 12. Select (highlight) all of the maps. The current Bar Size, 2.5%, is too wide to show the bars well. Click the Bars Size button. Select 1% from the list. 13. Close the Mapping Style dialog. 14. To see what color represents each testing method, we will add a legend. Select Plot from the main Tecplot menu. 15. Select Line Legend from the Plot menu. 16. Toggle on Show Line Legend. 17. To use smaller text on the legend, click the down arrow beside the Font button. 18. Close the Line Legend dialog. 19. Click and drag the legend to the upper center of the plot. 20. Tecplot has many keyboard shortcuts. One of them, Ctrl - F, will fit to full size, that is, the frame will be adjusted to show all data points, plus any text or geometries. Type Ctrl-F. 21. The Y-Axis title needs to be moved away from the labels. We can change its position using the Adjustor tool. Select the 2nd tool button in the right column. Click on the Y-Axis title to see it selected (little markers will appear), then click and drag it.
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Displaying XY Error Bars Error bars are used for showing data where there is some range of variability for either the X- or Y-variable at each data point. The size of an error bar is based on the error bar variable which you choose. The value of the error bar variable should be in the same units as the dependent or independent variable that the error bar is associated with. Only one error bar may be chosen for a map. To create the appearance of multiple error bars, assign error bars to additional maps which are copies of the original map. Exercise 2.9: In the following exercise, a bar chart shows the closing prices of a stock. Error bars will be added to show the daily lows of the stock. 1. Layout Stock.lpk has been opened. Toggle on Error Bars in the sidebar. Select Range_Low as the Error Bar variable. 2. Unlike the other Map Layers, error bars will not be shown until they are turned on for a map or maps. Select the Mapping Style button. 3. We will show error bars with the current active map. Select the top line of the list of maps. 4. Select the EBar Show button. Choose Yes from the dropdown list. 5. To make error bars more visible, select EBar Color. Choose the blue button in the 6th row. 6. Select the Line Thick button. Change the thickness to 0.8. 7. Close the Mapping Style dialog.
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XY Curve Fitting
The default XY Line plot is drawn with Line Segment curve type, which is just a line created by connecting one data point to the next. When you specify a different curve type, Tecplot performs a more sophisticated analysis to determine the drawn curve. Curve fitting lets you discover hidden trends in seemingly random scatters of data. Curve fits can also help you determine if experimental results match theoretical predictions. The following curve fits are available: Linear Polynomial Exponential Power Spline ParaSpline Extended Exercise 2.10: In the following exercise, you will learn how to set a curve type, and to change the settings for the curve, such as the polynomial order. You will learn how to set the number of control points, and how to use a weighting variable. You will also learn how to copy an existing map, edit it, and change the map name. 1. Load file weighting.dat; turn on Symbols in the sidebar. 2. To change the XY map settings, select the Mapping Style button. Select the Curves tab on the Mapping Style dialog. 3. All of the maps used in this plot will be based on the first map, which has Temperature assigned to the y-axis. Delete maps 2-5 by clicking on map 2, then Shift-clicking on map 5 as the last of the group to select. 4. Select the Delete Map button. Click the OK button to confirm deletion. 5. Select the Curve Type button. From the list of curve types, choose Polynomial Fit.
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6. Select the Curve Settings button. 7. To change the curve fit to a 4th-order polynomial, click on the field for Polynomial Order. Select 4 from the dropdown list. Click the OK button to close the Curve Settings dialog. 8. To make a duplicate of Map 1, select the Copy Map button. 9. Click on the new Map 2 to select it, then use the Map Show button to Activate it. 10. Select the Map Name button, then choose Edit Name. Type Weighted Temperature in the Map Name field. Select the OK button to close the Mapping Name dialog. 11. Select the Curve Points button. Instead of choosing one of the default values, choose Enter from the list. Type 20 in the field for Number of Points, then close the dialog. 12. Select the Curve Settings button. 13. Toggle on the option Use Weighting Variable. 14. Click on the field for Weighting Variable, and choose Weight4 from the dropdown list of variables. 15. Click the OK button to close the Curve Fit Settings dialog. 16. To make the weighted curve more distinctive, click the Lines tab of the Mapping Style dialog. Change the Line Color to blue. Change the Line Pattern to Dashed. 17. Shift-Click on Map 1, and it will be added to the selected maps. 18. Click the Line Thck button, and select a thickness of 0.4. 19. Close the Mapping Style dialog. 20. Information about the curves can be viewed or saved to a file. Select Data from the main Tecplot menu, then select Curve Info from the Data menu. 21. You could choose whether to write the data points to a file or to write curve coefficients to a file.
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2D Cartesian Plots
Zones and Zone Layers

A zone is the basic unit for organizing data. Zones can represent many different things. The following examples show the uses of zones in a plot. 1. Different zones may represent different regions. In this plot, each part of the fighter has been entered in the data set as a different zone. Here the regions are shown in different colors to make them distinct. This is an example of a data set where the zones do not occupy the same xy space.
2. Different zones may lie in the same xy or xyz space in a plot, but have different information. This plot shows experimental data vs. measured data. The flooded contours represent the calculated spread of a contaminant. The diamond-shaped scatter points are colored according to the measured concentrations of the contaminant at those locations.
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3. Different zones may lie in the same xy or xyz space in a plot, but represent different times when measurements were taken. On this plot, contamination has been measured at three different times. Each set of measurements was entered in the data set as a zone. The outline color of each scatter point shows in which phase the measurement was taken, and the shade of the interior shows the level of contamination. Zone Layers Each zone can use one or more of the following zone layers: Mesh lines Contour lines and flooding Vector arrows or streamtraces Scatter symbols Shading Boundary lines Using the Zone Style dialog, a zone layer can be turned off or on for any zone. The buttons on the dialog below show the options for Mesh. Many of these options are also available for other layers.
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Exercise 3.1: In the following exercise, you will load a file with three zones, then learn how to change the default plot style. Of the three zones loaded, one will be deactivated, one will have mesh turned off, and one will have a changed mesh appearance. Boundary settings will be changed for one zone. 1. Open file cylinder.plt, accepting the default plot type. 2. By default, all three zones are shown with boundary and mesh. Each is assigned a different color. To change the appearance of the mesh and boundary, select the Zone Style button, or open by double-clicking on a zone. Notice that the Mesh options are active because Mesh is toggled on in the sidebar. 3. Click on the second line to select Zone 2. Zone 2 is drawn with green mesh and green boundary. Select the Zone Show button. From the dropdown menu, choose Deactivate. Notice that with Zone 2 turned off, both the green boundary and the green mesh have disappeared. 4. Now select the first line of the list of zones in the Zone Style dialog. Select the Mesh Show button, and choose No. The red mesh of Zone 1 is gone, but you can still see the boundary. 5. Select Zone 3, select the Line Pattern button, and change the pattern to Dashed. 6. Select the Boundary tab of the Zone Style dialog. 7. In this IJ-Ordered zone, I increases from bottom to top, and J increases from left to right. Select the button for J-Index Boundary. 8. By default, the boundary is shown for both the min and the max values of J. Select Max Only. 9. The left boundary for Zone 3 is no longer drawn. Close the Zone Style dialog.
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2D Axis Settings
Coordinate Variables By default, the first two variables in your data set are used, respectively, as the X- and Y-coordinate variables. If you are working in 3D frame mode, the third variable is assumed to be the Z-coordinate variable. Axis Ranges Tecplot expects that the ranges of the variables assigned to the axes will be similar, and it sets the scale for x and y to be dependent. When the default settings for the axis variables are not ideal for your data, you can use the options on the Axis Details dialog to change the settings. Axis Linking As you change the axis and grid styles, you can use Within Frame Linking to change settings for both axes at the same time. Exercise 3.2: In the following exercise, you will learn how to specify different coordinate variables using the Assign XYZ dialog from the Plot menu. You will reset the range for one axis. You will learn how to link axis and grid settings for the X and Y axes, and how to change settings for the axis title and labels. 1. Open file HydroSlice.plt, which was created by extracting a slice from the YZ-plane of a 3D zone. 2. The first variable in this dataset, XPLANT, has only one value. This doesn't make a useful plot. To assign a different variable to the X-axis, go to the Plot and choose Assign XY. 3. Change the X-axis variable to ELEV. Close the dialog. 4. The range of values for ELEV is much smaller than for YPLANT. To reset the range for the X-axis, select Plot from the main Tecplot menu, and select Axis from the Plot menu. 5. To change the range of the X-axis without affecting the range of the Yaxis, first set the Dependency to Independent. 6. Be sure you are on the page for X, then select the Reset Range button. 7. When you want your axis to begin and end at a major tickmark, you can use one of the Nice Value settings. For this exercise, choose Set to Var Min/Max.
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8. Turn off the Mesh zone layer, and turn on the Contour zone layer. Variable Head will be used for contouring. Close the dialog. 9. You can change your plot more efficiently when you use appropriate linking options. Select Plot from the main Tecplot menu, and select Style Linking from the Plot menu. 10. To use the same style for each axis, select Axis Style. Also select Gridline Style. Close the dialog. 11. Select the Grid tab on the Axis Details dialog. Make these changes on the Grid page: Toggle on Show Gridlines. To see the gridlines over the contour flooding, set Gridline Draw Order to Last. Notice that gridlines are drawn for both axes, because they are linked to change together. Set Line Pattern to Dashed. 12. To change spacing on the Y-axis labels, click on the Y button. 13. Select the Label tab of the dialog. Make these changes on the Labels page: Turn off Auto Spacing of Tick Marks and Labels, and change the spacing to 2000. Toggle on Show Labels On Grid Border Right. Select the Color button, and select the 5th color in the 1st column. Change the font to Times Italic Bold. 14. Select the Line tab of the dialog. Toggle on Show Grid Border. 15. Click on the Title tab of the dialog. Make these changes on the Title page: Change the Color to use the first color in the fifth row. Select the Font button. Click in the field for Font. Choose Times Italic Bold. Click the OK button to close the Select Font dialog. The title for the Y-axis overlaps the axis labels. Change the Offset from Line to 8. 16. Close the Axis Details dialog. The completed plot shows that the styles for the X-axis and the Y-axis were changed together.
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2D Contour Plots
Contours show the variation of a variable C=f(X,Y) or C=f(X,Y,Z) with the use of lines, surfaces or color variations. Contour plots are useful for showing the value of a variable that is not assigned to an axis. You specify the contour variable when you first toggle on the contour layer in the sidebar. You can change the contour variable using the Contour button or the menu option Plot/Contour. Contours can only be plotted with organized data, such as IJ-ordered, IJK-ordered or finite-element. For other data, see the lessons on Contours with Unorganized Data. Contour Legend A contour legend is a key to the contour flooding in your contour plot. It relates the displayed colors to the actual values of the contour variable. It can also relate contour level numbers to the contour values. Contour Levels Contour levels are lines along which the value of a particular variable is constant. When contour lines or flooding are turned on, the contour levels determine the number and location of the lines or color bands. Contour levels are also used to set the number of colors displayed when using multicolor lines, scatter symbols, or vectors. Exercise 3.3: In the following exercise, you will change sidebar options to create a contour plot. You will add a contour legend to show the contour colors assigned to the variable values. You will learn how to use the Contour Levels dialog to reset all levels, or to add or delete a level for a specific value. You will also add and delete contour levels interactively. 1. Open file nozzle.plt. This cross-section of a nozzle is divided into three regions or zones. Turn off the Mesh zone layer in the sidebar, and turn on the Contour zone layer. 2. Change the contour variable to MACHN. 3. Click the More button to expand the Contour Details dialog. 4. Select the Legend tab on the dialog. On the Legend page: Toggle on Show Contour Legend. The position of the legend is shown as percentages of the distance from the top left corner of the frame to the anchor position of the legend. Change the Y position to 95%.
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Change the Legend Box to filled. Select the Fill Color button, and select the 2nd color in the 6th row. 5. Select the Levels tab of the Contour Details dialog. On the Levels page: There are several options for changing levels. You could type a value in the field for Level to Add to choose one new level. If you use the Reset Levels button, Tecplot would select a set of levels with nice values, that is, values with a small number of decimal digits. For this exercise, click the New Levels button. You could type a new number in the field for Number of Levels, but to keep nice numbers for the levels, it is better to designate a delta. Toggle on Min, Max, and Delta. Change the value for Delta to 0.045. The new levels will take effect when you click the OK button. The bands of color are closely spaced for high values. To delete selected levels, click on the 13th level in the list. Hold down the Ctrl key while selecting the 15th level. Click the button Remove Selected Levels. 6. 7. Close the Contour Details dialog. You can interactively add or remove contour levels using the Contour Level tools. Select the 2nd button in the left column to add contour levels. Click on the the plot to add a level. Select the 3rd button in the left column, the tool to delete a contour level. Click on a contour line to remove it.
8.
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Enhanced Contour Plots

Contour Labels Contour Labels show the values of the contour variable at the contour line. They can only be displayed when the contour plot type is Lines or Both Lines and Flood. They can be generated automatically by Tecplot, or placed interactively in precise locations. Multiple Contour Variables Using multiple contour variables allows you to display more information in your plot. Different contour variables can be assigned to different zones, or different zone layers can be colored by different variables in the same zone. Continuous Flooding There are two methods of color distribution for contour flooding. Banded color distribution is closely tied to the contour levels. A solid color is assigned for all values within the band between two levels. Continuous color distribution assigns linearly varying colors to all multi-colored objects or contour flooded regions. Exercise 3.4: In the following exercise, you will change the contour plot type and turn on contour labels. You will learn how to interactively place a label in a specific location. You will also learn how to allow Tecplot to generate labels, how to edit the label appearance and how to limit the number of labels. You will use a different variable for the contour flooding, add the legend for that variable, and set continuous flooding. 1. Load data file velocity_smoothed.plt. Turn off Mesh, and turn on Contours, using variable du/dy as the contour variable. 2. Contour labels can only be placed on contour lines. Select the Zone Style button. 3. Change the Contour Type to Both Lines and Flood. Close the Zone Style dialog. 4. Select the top left tool button to add contour labels. 5. A contour label shows the value of the closest contour line. Placing a label in the area between lines can give a false impression of the value there. Click on the line in region of x = 1.8, y = 2.8. 6. Click in the region of x = 4.2, y = 2.5. 7. Click in the region of x = 4.2, y = 2.0.
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8. The Contour Details dialog allows you to change most settings for contours. It can be accessed by clicking Contours on the Plot menu, or by selecting the little button beside Contour on the sidebar. For this exercise, click the little button. 9. To remove existing labels, you could delete them individually using the Selector tool and your Delete key. Use the Clear All Contour Labels button to delete them all. Click the OK button to confirm deletion.
10. Toggle on Generate Automatic Labels. 11. You could modify the appearance of the labels by changing their color or font. To just enlarge them, click the Up arrow beside the Font button. 12. To reduce the number of labels, you could try using a larger Level Skip. Try increasing Skip to 2. Notice that this also affected the number of levels shown in the contour legend. Change Skip back to 1. 13. Another way to reduce the number of labels is to change the spacing. In the field for Spacing, Change the value to 45. 14. To compare values of du/dy to values of vorticity, we will set the flooding to the second contour variable. Select the Zone Style button. 15. Select the Flood By button, and select C2 from the list. Notice that the Contour Details dialog now shows settings for C2. Change the variable to Vorticity. Close the Zone Style dialog. 16. The contour legend for C1 is not needed because these values are shown in the labels. To change C1 settings, click the C1 button. Select the Legend tab of the dialog. Toggle off Show Contour Legend. You may have noticed that the labels were redrawn in new locations several times. To keep them in their current position, click the Labels tab of the dialog. Toggle off Generate Automatic Labels. Return to the Legend tab. 17. Click the C2 button. Toggle on Show Contour Legend for C2. To move the legend, change its X position, which is shown as a percentage of the frame size, to 99% Select the Coloring tab.
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Change the Color Distribution Method to Continuous. There are two methods to modify the flooding for minimum and maximum values. Color Cutoff will show no flooding in the specified regions. Setting Color Map Endpoints will cause the entire color map to be drawn between the endpoints, and regions with more extreme values will be colored as the endpoints are colored. Change the value for Endpoint Max to 400. 18. Close the Contour Details dialog.
The completed plot shows flooded contours for Vorticity, and contour lines and labels for du/dy.
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Scatter Plots
Scatter plots display symbols at data points. Each symbol can show information about variable values at that point by the way it is colored or sized. One symbol can be shown for each point, or a skip factor can limit the number of scatter symbols. Exercise 3.5: The following exercise will teach you to change the shape and color of the scatter symbol. You will also learn how to size the symbols by the values of a variable, how to change the size ratio, and how to limit the number of symbols. 1. Load file velocity.plt. Turn off the Mesh zone layer in the sidebar. Turn on the Scatter zone layer. 2. The default scatter settings don't provide much information about the data points. Select the Zone Style button to change scatter settings. 3. Since Scatter was just turned on, this dialog opens on the Scatter page. Otherwise, you would have to click the tab for Scatter. Change the Symbol Shape to Circle. 4. Select the Outline Color button, and choose Multi C1. 5. Multi-coloring will cause each symbol to be outlined with a color that is set by the value of the contour variable at that point. Choose the variable Vorticity for the contour variable. Close the Contour Details dialog. 6. Select the Fill Mode button. Fill mode options are None, to show anything behind the symbols, Line Color to use the same color as the outline, Back Color, to show the frame background color, and Specific Color. Select Use Line Color. 7. The scatter symbols still overlap each other. They could be set to a smaller size, but instead, they will be sized according to the value of another variable. This allows our plot to show more information about the data. Select the Scat Size button, and choose Size by Variable. 8. The Scatter Size/Font dialog comes up by default the first time you set Size by Variable. If you want to change these settings later, go to the Plot menu and choose Scatter, then Size/Font.. For this exercise, change the Scatter-Size Variable to dv/dx. 9. To change the Size Multiplier, click on the field for Grid Units/Magnitudeand change the value to 0.0006. Close the Scatter Size dialog.
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10. Select the Points tab of the dialog. This page allows you to specify which points will show scatter symbols. Select the Index Skip button, and choose Enter Skip. 11. With IJ-ordered data, I-index changes usually occur with changes to X, and J-index changes occur with changes to Y. The spacing is good in the X direction, but too close in the Y direction. Change J-Skip to 2, and close the dialog. 12. Close the Zone Style dialog.
The completed scatter plot.
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Vector Plots
Vector plots display the direction and magnitude of vector quantities based on variables u and v, where u is the x-magnitude of the vector, and v is the ymagnitude of the vector. In a 3D plot, w represents the z-magnitude of the vector. Vectors can be shown at points or in cell centers. For 3D zones, you can specify whether vectors will be drawn only on surfaces, or also in the interior of the zone. Exercise 3.6: In the following exercise, you will create a vector plot, specify that vectors will be drawn at cell centers and enter a skip index to reduce the number of vectors plotted. Style changes to the vectors will include changing vector length and changing arrowhead type and size. 1. Open file vectors.plt. Toggle on the Vector Zone Layer. Accept the default vector variables by clicking the OK button. 2. To view information about the data, go to the Data menu, and select Data Set Info. 3. Information about the highlighted variable is shown in the lower right section of the dialog. Select u from the variable list to see its information. Notice from the Var Location that u is Cell Centered. Now select v. Variable v also has a Cell Centered location. Close the dialog. 4. To set the vector location to Cell Centered, click the Zone Style button. 5. Click the Points tab of the dialog. From the Points page: Select the Points to Plot button. For faster performance with 3D data, you could choose Cell Centers Near Surfaces. But for this 2D plot, select All Cell Centers. You can quickly zoom in by pressing the middle button on your mouse while you click and drag in a downward motion. In this zoomed view, notice that the vectors now originate from the centers of the cells. Turn off the Mesh zone layer. To reduce the number of vectors, choose the Index Skip button, and select Enter Skip. Change I-Skip to 2 to show every second vector in the X direction. Change J-skip to 3 to show only every third vector in the y-direction. Close the Skip dialog.
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6. To zoom out, you could do the smooth zoom (moving the mouse up while pressing the middle button), but some of the View options give you more precise fits. Go to the View menu, and choose Data Fit. 7. Select the Vector tab on the Zone Style dialog. Change the Head Style to Filled. Close the Zone Style dialog. 8. Go to Plot on the main Tecplot menu, and choose Vector, then Length. 9. Change Relative Length in Grid Units to 0.15, and close the dialog. 10. Return to the Plot menu, choose Vector, then select Arrowheads. 11. Change the Angle to 22. 12. To make arrowheads a uniform size, toggle on Frame Units. 13. Change the percentage of Frame Units to 1. Close the Arrowsheads dialog. 14. Go to Frame, Copy Frame Style to File, and save this style as vectors.sty.
This is the completed plot with cell-centered vectors.
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Streamtraces
A streamtrace is defined as a line that is everywhere aligned with the vector field. For a steady-state vector field, it is the path traced by a massless particle at a specified location. Streamtraces illustrate the nature of the vector field flow in a particular region of the plot. Like contours, streamtraces are dependent on cell structure. They cannot be drawn on an unorganized (i-ordered) zone. Other factors which prevent streamtraces from appearing can include: Vector values are 0. The streamtrace was placed outside the data. (Hint: Use Cntrl-Click to place it on the nearest point.) Inappropriate integration step size is used. Exercise 3.7: In the following exercise, the sample file vectors.plt will be opened and set to the same style as in the exercise Vector Plot. You will add streamtraces, singly and in a rake, change the direction of the streamtrace placement, and delete a single streamtrace. You will set the streamtraces to show timed dashes and markers, and animate them. 1. Open file vectors.plt. From the Frame menu, paste the frame style file vectors.sty. 2. Select the tool to add streamtraces. 3. Click in the region of x = 22.2, y = 17.3 to add a streamtrace. You could use Ctrl-click to place the streamtrace on a datapoint. 4. Notice that the streamtrace moves forward from the point selected, but isn't drawn in the other direction. To change this setting, go to Plot, Streamtraces. 5. Streamtraces with the line format are also called streamlines. Notice that the option to change the format is not available for 2D plots. Other formats will be used in the lesson for 3D Streamtraces. Change Direction to Both. 6. Click in the upper right corner of the zone to create a streamline extending in both directions. 7. This dialog offers options to place a streamline precisely by position or on a point according to its index value in the zone. The same options extend
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to placing a rake, several streamtraces in a row. However, we wont use these options in this exercise. 8. You can delete all streamtraces, or just the last one created. Select the button for Delete Last. 9. You can click and drag to place a rake of streamtraces. Click in the upper right quadrant of the zone, and drag your mouse down before releasing. 10. In one area, the streamtraces appear dense because they are circling around repeatedly. You can prevent this and see the path of individual streamlines by using a streamtrace termination line. Select the button for the streamtrace termination line. 11. A stream termination line is placed by clicking and dragging. Click in the region of x = 23.8, y = 17 and drag your mouse to x = 23.8, y = 16.1. 12. Before animating the streamlines, their appearance will be changed. Select the Line tab of the Streamtrace Details dialog. Toggle off Show Arrowheads on Lines. Change Line Thickness to 0.4%. 13. Select the Timing tab of the Streamtrace Details dialog. Toggle on Show Dashes. Turn on Show Markers. Reduce the size of the markers to 1. 14. Close the Streamtrace Details dialog. 15. To animate the streamtraces, go to the Tools menu, and select Animate/Streamtraces. 16. Select the Animate button. Close the Animate Streamtraces dialog.
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Completed streamtrace plot.
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3D Surface Plots
Three dimensional plots can be made with volume data, but other data may also be used to advantage in 3D plots. 3D options such as lighting or translucency may contribute to create a plot that gives the viewer more information than would be possible in a line plot or 2D plot. These plots show measurements taken on the surfaces of a jet. Although the data is in 2D format, as shown on the left, it is more useful when viewed in 3D, as on the right.
Exercise 4.1: The following exercise will teach you how to create a 3D image of a 2D zone that has an elevation variable. You will learn how to change the length of the zaxis proportionally to the x and y axes. You will choose one of Tecplot's default color maps, and customize it for the plot. You will learn how to zoom in to enhance the view. 1. Open file RainierElevation.plt, turn off the Mesh and Boundary zone layers and turn on Contour for E (Elevation). This is a reduced density version of a DEM file. 2. To change the plot type from 2D Cartesian to 3D, click on the Plot Type field in the upper left corner of Tecplot. 3. Select 3D Cartesian for the plot type. 4. The default axis settings do not provide a realistic view of Mt. Rainier. Select Plot from the main Tecplot menu, and choose Axis from the Plot menu.
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5. When the dependency is set to XYZ dependent, it is difficult to adjust one axis without affecting all three. Change the Dependency to XY Dependent. 6. Click on the field for Z Size Factors, and change the value to 0.05. Close the Axis Details dialog. 7. For a better view, select the Zoom tool from the sidebar. Click and drag to select the area to enlarge. Another option to zoom is to hold down the middle mouse button while dragging your mouse down. You can zoom back out by dragging your mouse up with the middle mouse button. 8. The colors used for flooding can be changed with the color map. Select Workspace from the main Tecplot menu. Choose Color Map from the Workspace menu. 9. The default color map is Small Rainbow. It has five control points, each with its own RGB values. Any color map can be edited by changing the location and RGB values of the control points. Click on the field for Base Color Map to see the list of built-in color maps. 10. Select Two Color from the list of color maps. 11. Control Point 1 sets the color for the lowest contour level by the RGB (Red/Green/Blue) values. Around Mt. Rainier, the lower elevations are forested. Use the sliders to adjust the values for Red, Green and Blue for a forest green color. (Red = 0, Blue = 95, Green = 95) 12. You can select which Control Point will be edited. This color map only has 3 control points. Click the up arrow beside the field for RGB Values for Control Point, and change it to point 3. 13. To show the snowy cap of Mt. Rainier, set the RGB values to white. (255 for all 3 colors) 14. Click and drag to adjust the location of Control Point 2 to the left. 15. If this color map would be used for other plots, you could save it to a file, and reload it later, from the Workspace menu. Close the Color Map dialog. 16. To change contour settings, click the button beside Contour in the sidebar. 17. The Contour Details dialog is shown here in its reduced form. To expand it from its reduced form, click the More button. (To reduce it again, you would click the Less button.) Select the Coloring tab on the dialog. For a smoother transition of colors, change the Color Distribution Method to Continuous.
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18. Close the Contour Details dialog. 19. Click on the highlighted area to zoom in more.
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3D Lighting and Translucency

When you prepare an article for publication, you want your images to have the best possible quality. 3D objects should appear life-like, with space and dimension. Lighting effects can emphasize the curvature and depth of your objects or zones. Specular highlighting will show glossy surfaces. If you need to view the outer shell of a zone, yet see objects beyond it or within it, translucency will make this possible. Exercise 4.2: In the following exercise, you will learn how to change the appearance of lighting of a 3D plot on a zone-by-zone basis - setting translucency, using lighting effects and using a smooth or Gouraud shading effect. You will learn how to change the location of the 3D light source, and how to change the settings for the 3D light. You will also use specular highlighting to make the surfaces shine. 1. Load file spcship.plt in 3D Cartesian plot style and draw with zone layers Shade and Boundary. 2. Use the Roller Ball Rotation tool to adjust the plane until its nose points to the lower left corner of the frame. 3. Select the Zone Style button. 4. Click on the top zone in the list, hold down the Shift key and click on the 4th zone. All zones will be selected. 5. Click the Shade Color button, and select the Blue button from the 2nd row of colors. 6. All four zones have the same lighting effects. Click on the top row of the zone list to select only Zone 1. 7. Select the Use Lighting button and select No from the list. 8. Notice that Zone 1 has lost its 3D appearance. Select the Effects tab of the Zone Style dialog. 9. Turn on the Translucency Zone Effect in the sidebar. 10. Select Zone 3 from the list. Set Use Surface Translucency to No.
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11. Select the Lighting Effect button, and choose Gouraud effect for smooth shading across the zone. 12. Set the Surface Translucency for Zone 2 to 20% to make the zone less transparent. 13. Notice the contrast provided by different effects. For better viewing for the next part of the exercise, turn off Translucency in the sidebar, and set zone 2 and 4 to Gouraud shading. 14. To change the 3D Light Source, select Plot from the main Tecplot menu, and Light Source from the Plot menu. 15. Move the source of the light by clicking and dragging the black dot to the lower right area of the Light Source Position window. 16. Move the source to the upper left area of the window. 17. You can experiment with changing each setting on this dialog. Reduce Surface Color Contrast to 75%. 18. Increase Background Light to 45%. 19. Increase Intensity to 90%. 20. Toggle on Include Specular Highlights. 21. Increase Intensity to 70%. 22. The percent of Shininess affects the contrast between the highlighted area and the surrounding area. Increase it to 60%.
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3D Slices
3D Volume Objects A special challenge with volume data is to view the information for data within the zone. Usually the best method to do this is to add volume objects streamtraces, iso-surfaces, or slices. These derived objects do not affect your dataset. Unless they are extracted, they are temporary viewing objects that will change as your data is changed. They can be used with each other or with zone layers to create a plot. Slices 3D Slices allow you to view X-, Y- or Z-planes within your data. With IJKordered data, slices can also be placed on I-, J- or K-planes. A slice appears similar to a 2D zone. It can be drawn with lighting effects, translucency, and all the layers which can be used on a zone except scatter points. For X-, Y- or Zplanes, slices will be flat, but for I-, J- or K-planes they will follow the curvature of the zone. Exercise 4.3: In the following exercise you will learn how to interactively turn on slices, change the slice plane, and control the number and location of slices. You will learn how to use the Slice Details dialog for more precise placement of slices, and to change their appearance. After turning on 3D scatter symbols for a zone of random order field data, you will use the slices to compare values of the contour variable. Then you will make current slices permanent by extracting them to zones. 1. Start a new session of Tecplot, or set the Color Map to Small Rainbow. (Workspace/Color Map) Open file 3DVHydro.plt and turn off the Mesh zone layer. To enter slices interactively, select the Slice tool from the sidebar. 2. Your first slice will be placed in an X-plane based on the x value of the location of your click on the closest surface of the top zone. Click on the right side of the zone. 3. When the slice tool is active, changing slices to Y-planes is accomplished by typing "y" on your keyboard. Changing to Z-planes is done by typing "z". For an IJK zone, type "i" for I-planes, "j" for J-planes, or "k" for KPage 69
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planes. Try each of these slice planes, and click and drag a slice to move it. 4. Place a second slice by holding down the Shift key while clicking on the plot at the location for the new slice. 5. Intermediate slices can be added or removed while the Slice tool is active by clicking a number 1 - 9 on your keyboard. To remove all but the start and end slices, click 0. Intermediate slices on the X-, Y- or Z-planes will be evenly spaced. Add two intermediate slices. 6. Intermediate slices will be readjusted when you move the start slice by clicking and dragging, or move the end slice by Shift-clicking and dragging. Click in the highlighted area to see the slices move. 7. Using the Slice dialog, slices can be placed precisely, or have a different appearance. Choose Plot from the main Tecplot menu, and select Slices from the Plot menu. 8. Choose to Draw Slices at K-Planes. 9. Notice that the slices are not evenly spaced. Slices on I-, J-, or K-planes will only be drawn on planes that exist in the zone. If the number of planes between the start slice and the end slice is less than the number of intermediate slices, the number of slices will be reduced. For X-, Y- or Zplanes, the numbers shown for positions for slices 1 and 2 or for min and max indicate axis values. For I-, J- and K-planes, these numbers show the index of the plane. Move Slice 1 to the 2nd K-plane of the zone by setting the Position field to 2. 10. Set Slice 2 Position to 10. 11. Change the Number of Intermediate Slices to 3. 12. Select the Contour tab of the Slice Details dialog. 13. This dialog allows you to change the variable or the appearance for contours on slices. Toggle on Use Lighting Effect. 14. Paneled lighting causes each cell to be shaded with one intensity. Gouraud lighting gives a smooth transition in intensity from corner to corner of each cell. Change the Lighting Effect from Paneled to Gouraud. 15. The lighting effect allows you to view the changes in elevation for each Kplane slice. These variations would not occur for Z-plane slices. Choose the Other tab of the dialog.
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16. You could choose to show Mesh or Shade, but Shade would not appear with contour flooding. Toggle on Show Boundary. 17. Close the Slice Details dialog. 18. This dataset contains a second zone of randomly entered points where measurements were taken. None of the current viewing options apply to this data format. To compare the contour values for these points, turn on Scatter on the sidebar. 19. Select the Zone Style button. 20. Turn off Scatter for Zone 1. 21. Click on the 2nd line to select Zone 2, and select the Symbol Shape button. Using a 3D symbol shape will help you tell which points are coinciding with a slice plane. Choose Sphere from the list of shapes. 22. Select the Outline Color button. Choose Multi C1 to color by the 1st contour variable. 23. Close the Zone Style dialog. 24. Go to the Tools menu and animate Slices, saving as an AVI file. Find the new file in Explorer, and double click to watch the animation. 25. Slices can be extracted to new zones. If zones are created with scatter points turned on, scatter points would be drawn on the new zones. Toggle off Scatter on the sidebar. 26. Select Data from the main Tecplot menu, choose Extract, then Current Slices. 27. Click the Extract button, then the OK button.
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3D Streamtraces
Streamtraces are introduced in the lesson on Streamtraces with Animation for 2D Cartesian Plots. 3D Streamtraces have additional capabilities, including these four format options: Surface Line Volume Line - Streamtraces of this format will be placed on a surface. - Volume streamlines will be placed within the zone.
Volume Ribbon - Ribbons can show 3D effects such as lighting and translucency. Volume Rod Exercise 4.4: In the following exercise, you will use the streamtrace dialog to change the streamtrace format to ribbon, set streamtrace positions, and add a rake of streamtraces. You will set the ribbons to appear with multicolor mesh. For an easier method of placing streamtraces, you will add a slice to an area you would like to explore. A new rake of streamtraces can be placed directly on the slice. Then you will use the Zone Style dialog to determine which zones will show the slice, while the streamtraces are unchanged. 1. Open layout wing1.lay to show volume data with transparent shading. To add streamtraces at precise locations, select Plot from the main Tecplot menu. 2. Select Streamtraces from the Plot menu. 3. Change the Format to Volume Ribbon. 4. Sometimes the direction chosen can be critical for making the streamtraces appear. Extending the streamtraces in both directions will give the best view of them. Click on the field for Direction, and choose Both from the list. 5. You can choose to create a single streamtrace or a group, or rake, of streamtraces. You could also change the number of streamtraces per rake. Toggle on Create Rake. 6. Try to create a rake using the start and end positions shown here; you will get an error message that the streamtraces fall outside of the data field.
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Using this dialog to place streamtraces requires a careful insection of your data to find good positions. 7. Change the start and end positions to the settings shown here.
8. Select the Create Rake button. 9. To change the appearance of the new stream ribbons, select the Rod/Ribbon tab of the dialog. 10. The width of a Streamrod or Streamribbon is a percentage of the medianaxis length. Change the Rod/Ribbon Width to 0.04. 11. Toggle on Show Mesh. 12. Choose the Color button. This plot will use more than one contour variable. To use the Contour Variable 1, select the button, Multi C1. To accept the default variable U for the 1st contour variable, close the Contour Details dialog. 13. Close the Streamtrace Details dialog. 14. An easier method to create volume streamtraces in the area where you want them is to place them on a slice. Select Plot from the main Tecplot menu. 15. Select Slices from the Plot menu, and toggle on Show Slices. 16. Set Draw Slices at to I-Planes. 17. Change the Position to 11. 18. Select the Contour tab on the Slice Details dialog. 19. The slice will be flooded by the values of a second contour variable. Select the Flood by field, and select C2 from the list. 20. If the Contour Details dialog doesnt come up automatically, click on the button by Contour on the sidebar, and change variable for C2 to vb. Close the Contour Details dialog. 21. Close the Slice Details dialog. 22. Select the Streamtrace button from the sidebar.
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23. Using Alt-Click will determine that a volume object, not a zone, is selected for probing or placing streamtraces. To place a rake of streamtraces, hold down the the Alt key while clicking and dragging to place a rake of streamtraces on the slice. 24. For a plot with multiple zones, you may set volume objects to appear in one zone, but not another. Select the Zone Style button. 25. On the Volume page of this dialog, Streamtraces, Iso-Surfaces and Slices can each be set to appear on a zone-by-zone basis. Select zones 1 and 3, and turn off Show Slices. 26. Close the Zone Style dialog. Notice that the slice is smaller because it is only drawn for one subzone. However, streamtraces that have been placed on a slice will remain after the slice is removed.
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3D Iso-Surface Plume
An iso-surface is a surface having a constant value for the contour variable. Isosurfaces require that your data contains volume zones, such as IJK-ordered, finite-element brick, or finite-element tetrahedral zones. The contour value where iso-surfaces are defined can either be associated with the current set of contour levels, or you may specify up to three unique levels independent of the contour levels. Iso-surfaces can be drawn with mesh and contours or shade. Exercise 4.5: In the following exercise, an iso-surface plot will be created showing the plume resulting from the exhaust of a jet. The number of iso-surfaces will be increased, and they will be made translucent. Using a custom color map and changing the frame appearance will produce a more dramatic plot. 1. Open file glase2.plt has been opened. Select Plot from the main Tecplot menu. Select Axis from the Plot menu. 2. To remove the axis box, toggle off Show X-Axis. 3. Click the toggle for Y-axis options, and turn off the Y-axis. Turn off the Zaxis. Close the Axis Details dialog. 4. To turn on Iso-Surfaces, select Plot from the main Tecplot menu, and select Iso-Surfaces from the Plot menu. 5. Iso-Surfaces show regions of constant values for a contour variable. By default, they are based on the 1st contour variable, called C1. To accept Vorticity as the 1st contour variable, close the Contour Details dialog. 6. 7. Toggle on Show Iso-Surfaces. You can control the values of your iso-surfaces by choosing 1 to 3 values which are independent of contour levels, or drawing an iso-surface for each contour level for the specified contour variable. From the field for Draw Iso-Surfaces at, select Contour Group Levels. Select the Style tab on the Iso-Surface Details dialog. Toggle on Use Surface Translucency. Change Translucency to 90%. Change Lighting Effect to Gouraud. Close the Iso-Surface Details dialog.
8. 9.
10. Turn off the Mesh zone layer on the sidebar.

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11. Some plots are designed to show a maximum amount of information, but other plots are designed for a dramatic appeal. The following pages give some tips for improving the visual appeal of a plot. Many of the techniques used are discussed in more detail in other lessons. Turn off the Boundary zone layer on the sidebar. 12. Using the tool for Z rotation, rotate the plot around the Z-axis. 13. Zoom in smoothly by pressing the middle mouse button while moving your mouse downward. 14. The 3D Orientation Axis will not be included. You could turn it off on the dialog under the Plot menu. To turn it off interactively, choose the Selector tool. Click on the 3D Orientation Axis. Use the Delete button on your keyboard to remove it. 15. In previous exercises, you have learned how to change the number of contour levels and add a contour legend. Reduce the number of contour levels by half (Min = 2, Max = 34, Delta = 4), and add a legend with text colored orange. 16. The lesson on 3D Surface Plot shows how to create a custom Two-Color color map and save it. For this lesson, you will open a previously created color map. Select Workspace from the main Tecplot menu. 17. Select Paste Color Map from File. By default, color map files use extension *.map. Select map plume.map, and click the Open button.
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18. Edit the frame to have a black background and no header. The completed plot could be used in a colored presentation or a publication.
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Identify and Edit Unorganized Data

Sometimes when a user loads data and turns on contours, no contours appear. This occurs when data has not been organized into cells. A data file that contains only variable values, with no information to organize the zone, will be loaded into Tecplot as an i-ordered zone, that is, each point is connected only to the point preceding it and the point following it. By default, it will be shown in XY mode.
Tecplot accepts two types of organized data, ordered data and finite element data. They are described in more detail on the following pages. How to know if your data is unorganized: When loaded into Tecplot, it is shown in XY mode. Each point is connected to, at most, two other points. This may be easier to detect if you turn on Symbols in XY mode, or Scatter in 2D mode. Examples of unorganized data
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Ordered Data Ordered data requires a uniform number of points in 2 or 3 dimensions. Points are connected along each dimension.
Finite Element Data Finite element (FE) data lists the points in a zone, then groups the points, by index, to connect into cells. The number of points to include in each cell depends on the FE data type. For example, with FE-triangle data, three points will be listed on each line of the connectivity list. 2D Finite Element Data Types 3D Finite Element Data Types
FE Triangle Each cell has 3 points.
FE Quad Each cell has 4 points.
FE Tetra Each cell has 4 points.
FE Brick Each cell has 8 points.
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There are several ways to change your unorganized data into a format suitable for making contour plots. Make an ordered data file. Your data may be easy to transform into an ordered zone. Triangulation. Let Tecplot connect the data points to form 2D triangular elements. Interpolation. Let Tecplot transfer the variable values from your unorganized data to an ordered zone. Special cases. Learn when a particular method is required, and tips for handling unusual data. Exercise 5.1: In the following example, the file Unorganized_ij.plt will be loaded. After a closer examination, it will be saved as a text file, edited in WordPad, and reloaded into Tecplot. A contour plot will be created with the edited file. 1. Load file unorganized_ij.plt. In this unorganized zone, each point is connected to, at most, two other points. We would like to change this to an IJ-ordered zone, if appropriate. We can see that there are 7 rows of points. If each row has the same number of points, it will make an IJordered zone. The easiest way to determine this is to view data labels. Select Plot from the main Tecplot menu. 2. Select Label Points and Cells. Toggle on Show Node Labels. 3. Click the down arrow beside Font to reduce the size of the labels. 4. Close the dialog. 5. It is difficult to see the labels at the ends of the rows. Select the 4th tool button in the right column, the Translate tool. 6. Although you can use smooth zoom (middle mouse button) to zoom in and out, the Translate tool with the "+" and "-" keys on your keyboard will give you a controlled incremental resizing. Secect the Translate key and hit the "-" key. 7. The data labels show that there are 34 points in each row, and they are in increasing order from left to right. If some points were out of order, or if some rows had a different number of points, the zone would require more changes before it could be made into an IJ-ordered zone. To save this file in text format for editing, select File from the main Tecplot menu. 8. Select Write Data File. 9. Change the format from Binary to ASCII.
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10. Click the OK button to close the dialog. 11. When Tecplot saves an ASCII data file, the default extension is *.dat. Select the Save button. 12. Open WordPad and find the ASCII file you just created. Select the Open button. 13. Notice that the current IJ settings are I = 238 and J = 1. We found that there are 34 points in each row (I = 34) and 7 rows (J = 7). Change I=238 to I=34. 14. Change J=1 to J=7. 15. Go to the File menu to resave the file. Choose Save As from the File menu, and enter a new name, organized_ij.dat. Click the Save button. 16. Click the Close button on WordPad and return to Tecplot. 17. To open the new file, go to the File menu. Select Load Data File. 18. Accept the default of replacing the current plot by clicking the OK button. 19. Select file name organized_ij.dat. Select the Open button. 20. Accept the default settings by clicking the OK button. 21. In this new IJ-ordered zone, the points are organized into cells. Turn on Contour on the sidebar. Accept the Contour variable by clicking the Close button.
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Triangulation
The quickest, easiest way to transform your irregular data into a 2D grid for contouring is to use Tecplot's triangulation feature. Triangulation works best when your data has fairly regular spacing between points. How do you know when to triangulate and when to interpolate? This lesson and its companion lesson on Interpolation include steps to set up a comparison plot to determine which method you prefer for your data set. Exercise 5.2: In the following exercise, you will triangulate an unorganized zone, then set up a plot that compares the contours on the new zone to the values of the contour variable of the original zone. This frame style will be saved to a style file, and the new plot will be saved to a layout. 1. Open file unorganized_ij.plt. By default, an unorganized file is opened in XY Line frame mode, but triangulation is not available in this mode. Click on the field for frame mode in the upper left corner of the Tecplot window, and select 2D Cartesian frame mode. 2. Axis ranges for X and Y are set to be dependent. From the Plot menu, select Axis. Set the Dependency to Independent and reset the range for the Y-axis to the variable Min and Max. 3. The Y-axis title is too close to the axis labels. It could be moved in the Axis dialog, but for this exercise, the Adjustor tool will be used. Select the 2nd tool button in the right column, then click on the axis title to select it. 4. The dots at the corners show that the title is selected. Drag it slightly to the left. 5. From the menu, select Triangulate. 6. Select Measured Data as the Source Zone for the triangulation. 7. Select the Compute button, then click the OK button to close the Information dialog. 8. A new zone has been created, using the same data points, which are now connected into triangular cells. Close the Triangulate dialog. 9. Toggle off the Mesh zone layer, and turn on the Contour zone layer. 10. Choose the 5th variable on the list the Contour variable, and close the Contour Details dialog.
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11. Turn on the Scatter zone layer. The two zones will have different Scatter settings. Select the Zone Style button. 12. Select the 2nd zone, Triangulation, from the list. 13. Turn off Scatter symbols for this zone. (Use the Scat Show button.) 14. Click on the first zone, Measured Data. Select the Fill Mode button, and choose Use Specific Color. 15. Select the Fill Color button. Multi-coloring will show the value of the contour variable at the original data points. Choose the Multi C1 button. Close the Zone Style dialog. 16. With Triangulation, the value of the new zone at each point is exactly the same as the original zone, because it uses the same data points. However, the color transition between points may look abrupt. The same frame style will be used to compare results of Interpolation in that lesson. Select Frame from the main Tecplot menu. 17. Select Copy Frame Style to File. Enter the name Comparison. Select the Save button. 18. The layout to compare results between Triangulation and Interpolation will have two frames of reduced size. Click and drag the lower frame border to reduce the frame size by half. 19. To save the layout, select File, Save Layout. Enter the name Triangulated on the File name field. 20. Because the data was changed by triangulation, this will need to be saved as a packaged layout that has data embedded in the file. Click on the field for Save as Type, and select the option Packaged Data. Click the Save button.
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Interpolation
Interpolation is the process of assigning values for the variables in one zone to the variables in another zone. Unlike triangulation, points in the destination zone may not have the same location as the original zone, and the interpolated variables will not have exactly the same values. The accuracy of the transfer will depend on your data, the density of the destination grid, how well it fits the area of your unorganized zone, and the settings used for interpolation. There are two interpolation methods available in Tecplot to transfer values from an unorganized zone to a 2D or 3D grid: Inverse Distance and Kriging. They are described in more detail in the Tecplot User's Manual. Exercise 5.3: In the following exercise, you will create an ordered zone to use with your data for interpolation. You will use a style file to view how accurate the new contours are, and you will make a plot that compares the results of interpolation with the results of triangulation from the Triangulation lesson. 1. Open file unorganized_ij.plt. The Interpolation option is only available for a Cartesian plot - 2D or 3D. Click on the field for the frame mode in the upper left corner of the Tecplot window, and select 2D Cartesian frame mode. 2. A new zone must be created as the destination zone for interpolation. From the Data menu, select Create Zone. 3. Select Rectangular from the list of zone options. 4. By default, the X and Y ranges for a new zone will cover all active zones. Interpolation results will look smoother and be more accurate with a finer grid. Select the field for I and enter the value 30. Enter 30 for J. Select the Create button. 5. Click the OK button to close the Information dialog. Close the Create Zone dialog. 6. To interpolate, select Data, Interpolate. 7. Select Inverse Distance as the interpolation method to use. 8. Choose Measured Data as the Source Zone, and Rectangular Zone as Destination Zone. Click the Compute button. 9. Click OK to close the Information dialog. Close the Interpolation dialog. 10. To use the frame style created in the Triangulation lesson, go to the Frame menu, and choose Paste Frame Style from File.
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11. Select file name comparison.sty. Click the Open button. 12. The scatter points show the locations and contour values of the original data. Now these results will be compared with the results from triangulation. Click on the top edge of the frame, and drag it down to half size. 13. Select File, Open Layout. To keep the current frame while we add the layout, toggle on Append. 14. Click on file name Triangulated.lpk and open. 15. The completed plot shows Triangulation results in the top frame and Interpolation results in the lower frame.
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Special Cases for Triangulation and Interpolation

Special data may require special methods to create contour plots. Sometimes data points are in an unusually shaped region. If such data is interpolated to a rectangular or circular zone, the destination zone has many points which are not located in the original region, yet the values of the variables are interpolated to those outlying points. The resulting plot may not give a true indication of the data. Sometimes interpolation results may seem skewed. You can try different options on the interpolation dialog, but the best solution may be to change the axis variable. Exercise 5.4: In this exercise, data points are taken from a slice of a body of liquid flowing around a pipe. A second zone is included; its points define the boundary of the pipe. You will learn how to triangulate using a boundary zone. 1. Open file randomboundary.plt. Set to 2D frame mode, turn off Mesh and turn on Scatter zone layer. 2. Select Data, Triangulate. 3. Choose the first zone as the source zone. Choose to Use Boundary Zone. Select the zone named Boundary for Triangulation as the boundary zone. 4. Click the Compute button. Click the OK button to close the Information dialog. 5. Close the Triangulate dialog. 6. Turn on the Contour zone layer, selecting the 4th variable for contouring. Close the Contour Details dialog. The completed 2D plot shows an appropriate blank area inside the pipe. This zone will be used in a later exercise. Save it as pipe.plt.
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The add-ons, Prism Grid and Tetra Grid, plus the add-on Extrude which will be used in this exercise, are included with the Tecplot distribution. To use these add-ons, open the tecplot.add file in WordPad and uncomment the lines for the Grid/Zone generation add-ons by removing the "#" symbol before the command. Each command begins with "$!LoadAddon".
Although triangulating with a boundary zone works well with 2D data, triangulating is not an option in 3D. Data taken from uniquely shaped 3D regions can present a special challenge. For some special types of data, an add-on has been developed to work with them. Well data - Each well is entered as an i-ordered zone. Points are closely positioned in the Depth direction, but the wells are far apart. Use the Tetra Grid add-on to create a new zone with all points connected into 3D cells.
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River data - When measurements are taken of contaminants or temperatures of a river or other body of water, interpolating to a rectangular zone does not give good results. Make a zone of points that define the sides and bottom of the river, and use the Prism Grid add-on to create a 3D volume zone. The measured values can be interpolated to the new volume zone.
Exercise 5.5: In the following exercise, assume that the data used to triangulate with a cutout (in the previous exercise) was just one slice of the volume data measured for the flow around a pipe. You will use the extrude add-on to create a volume zone with a hollow area where the pipe runs through. 1. After editing tecplot.add, close Tecplot and reopen it. Be sure that the Extrude option is shown on the Tools menu. Open file pipe.plt. To use a loaded add-on, go to the Tools menu. Select Extrude. 2. The number of K-Cells determines the density of the grid in the z direction. Change the value to 20. 3. The Extrusion Distance is the z-range of the new zone. Change the range to 5. 4. Select the OK button to create the new zone. 5. Turn on shading to emphasize the new zones unique shape.
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Exercise 5.6: In this exercise, data has been interpolated to a rectangular zone, but the resulting contours do not fit contour values of the original zone. This happens when the difference between the ranges for the axis variables is so great that the round-off error becomes a major factor. You will create a temporary variable reducing the values of x to a range similar to y-values, assign the variable to the x-axis, then interpolate again. 1. Open file Temperature.plt in 2D plot style. 2. Axis ranges for X and Y are set to be dependent. From the Plot menu, select Axis. Set the Dependency to Independent and reset the range for the Y-axis to the variable Min and Max. 3. From the Data menu, create a 30x30 rectangular zone. Use Inverse Distance to interpolate from the 1st zone to the rectangular zone. 4. From the Frame menu, paste frame style Temperature.sty. You can see that the flooded contours of the rectangular zone dont match the multicolor scatter symbols of the original zone. Round-off errors that occurred during interpolation have made the contour values of the rectangular zone inaccurate. The following steps are a workaround that allows accurate interpolate results.
5. To add a new variable, go to the Data menu. Select Alter, then Specify Equations. 6. Enter this equation for the new variable: {x2} = x/100000000000. (11 zeros) Click the Compute button. 7. Close the Information dialog and the Specify Equations dialog.
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8. To assign the new variable to the x-axis, select Plot, Assign XYZ. 9. Change the X variable to x2. Close the dialog. 10. Go to Data, Interpolate, Inverse Distance. Choose Zone 001 as the source zone, Rectangular zone as the destination zone. Be sure to choose ONLY Temperature as the variable to interpolate. Select the Compute button. 11. Assign the X-axis back to the original variable. 12. In the completed plot, the contours are more accurate, so the flooded colors are a better fit for the multicolored symbols of the original zone.
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Data Operations
Data Sharing and 2D Rotation

Zone Duplication It may be desirable to supplement the original set of zones loaded into Tecplot by creating new zones. New zones may be similar or identical to existing zones if they are created as exact copies (duplicate zones), a copy of a subset, or mirror images of existing zones. All zone types can be copied, however only ordered zones can be used to extract a subset of the existing zone. Data Sharing Tecplot shares variables as much as possible when zones are created. When zones are duplicated, all variables are shared between the source zones and their duplicates. If one zone is altered, any variable that is changed will no longer be shared. Data sharing reduces the amount of memory required by Tecplot. 2D Rotation Tecplot offers two types of rotation. When a 3D plot is rotated, it is a change to the view; none of the variable values are altered. However, with a 2D Cartesian plot, a zone or zones can be rotated around a designated center of rotation, called an origin. Values for the variables assigned to the X- and Y-axis will be changed. Exercise 6.1: In the following exercise, the original zone, a propeller blade, will be duplicated, creating new zones with all variables shared. The new zones will be rotated to appropriate positions for the other blades. A new zone will be created to fill the area of the propeller shaft. 1. Open layout prop1.lay. The data contains only one zone. 2. Select Data from the main Tecplot menu, and select Create Zone. Choose Duplicate from the list of options for creating a zone. 3. In this dataset, there is only one zone which will be duplicated. Select Zone 1, Propeller 1. Click the Create button. 4. Click the OK button to close the Information dialog. 5. More than one zone can be duplicated at once. Ctrl-click on Zone 2, and it will be added to the selected zones.
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Data Operations
6. Click the Create button. Click the OK button. 7. Close the dialog to Create Duplicate Zone. 8. Information about the loaded data can be viewed on the Data Set Information dialog. Select Data from the main Tecplot menu. 9. Select Data Set Info from the Data menu. 10. Click the Sharing tab on the dialog. 11. You can see that the variable X in Zone 2 is shared in zones 1, 2, 3, and 4. Click on the variable field to see what other variables are shared. 12. All of the variables are shared in these duplicate zones. Close the Data Set Information dialog. 13. Go to the Data menu and select Alter. 14. Choose 2D Rotate from the Data/Alter menu. 15. Select Zone 2 to rotate. 16. Accept the default rotate angle of 90 degrees and the default center of rotation. Click the Compute button. 17. In Tecplot, the Information dialog appears after each successful rotation. It will be skipped at times in this exercise. Click OK to close the Information dialog. 18. Select Zone 3 to rotate. Go to the list of angles and choose 180. Click the Compute button. 19. Select Zone 4 to rotate. Rotate it 90 degrees by typing in that value or choosing it from the list. 20. Close the 2D Rotate dialog. 21. To complete the propeller, a new circular zone will be created with a radius to fill the empty area within the circle of blades. It will have a radius of about 20. To make a 3D zone, you must first change the plot type. Select the field for Plot Type and choose 3D Cartesian. 22. Open the Data menu and select Create Zone. Select Circular zone type. 23. You can change any of the values by typing a new value in the field. Increase J to 30. 24. To increase the K value from 1, which would make a plane, to 10, for a 3D cylinder, type 10 in the field for Top to Bottom. 25. Type 20.1 in the field for Radius.
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Data Operations
26. Set ZMin to 70 and ZMax to 0. 27. Click the Create button, then click the OK button to close the Information dialog. 28. Close the dialog for Create Circular Zone. 29. The new zone is created. From the Data menu, open the Data Set Information dialog and click the Sharing tab to see how data sharing has been affected. 30. X and Y are changed with 2D rotation, so they are no longer shared. Z is still shared. If this data set had contained other variables, their sharing properties would not be changed. Although there are now 5 zones in the dataset, the new circular zone doesn't share any variables with the other zones. Close the Data Set Information dialog. 31. The final plot could be enhanced with shading and other changes.
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Data Operations
Alter Data by Equations

Specify Equations Variables can be altered, and new variables can be added, by using equations. Many common mathematical functions are allowed in the equations, including trig functions and derivative functions. Standard precedence for operations is followed, that is, exponents will be calculated before multiplication or division, which are calculated before addition and subtraction. Data Sharing by Equation When a variable is calculated for two or more zones, Tecplot determines if the results will be the same in the different zones, and shares the variable where appropriate. Exercise 6.2: In the following exercise, a 1D zone will be created and the Y variable will be altered by equation. Several other variables will be added by equation. A new zone will be loaded, appending to the existing data set. New equations will cause several variables in the 2nd zone to be shared with the 1st zone. 1. To create a new zone, select Data from the main Tecplot menu. 2. Select Create Zone from the Data menu. 3. Select 1D-Line from the Zone type. 4. Accept the default number of points. Click in the field for XMin and change the value to 1. 5. Click in the field for XMax and change the value to 10. 6. Select the Create button. 7. Y = 0 at all points in the new zone. Select Data from the main Tecplot menu. 8. Select Alter from the Data menu. 9. Select Specify Equations. 10. You can type in new equations or load equation files. You can specify which points in a zone will be affected by choosing the Index Start, End and Skip. In the field for Equation(s), type this equation: Y = sin(X)
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Data Operations
11. In this equation, Y and X refer to the variables assigned to those axes. These are some of the acceptable letter codes representing variable functions which can be used in equations instead of variable names. Letter codes are not enclosed in any special characters. With a function such as sine, place parentheses around the variable used. Click the Compute button. 12. Click the OK button to close the Information dialog. 13. To see the sine curve, go to the View menu, and choose Data Fit, or just type Cntl-F. 14. New variables will be created by equations. Replace the first equation with these: {P} = 0 {Swirl} = 0 {Pos} = 0 15. New variables will be created with specific names by adding those names enclosed in braces "{}" on the left side of the equation. You can also designate a variable by its order in the data set. In this case, the new variables could be called V3, V4 and V5. No distinction is made between upper and lower case characters for variable names, variable order or letter code. Adding the new variables will allow you to load a file with these five variables. Click the Compute button. 16. From the File menu, select Load Data File. 17. Select Add to current data set. Click the OK button. 18. Choose file XYMeasured.plt. It has one i-ordered zone with 100 points. Open the file. 19. Notice that the new zone name appears under Zones to Alter. Change the equations to these: {P} = v3[2] {Swirl} = v4 {Pos} = {Pos}[2] 20. In the first equation, note that because P is the third variable, it can be referenced as either {P} or v3. Only the literal variable name will be in braces. The notation of [2] indicates that values of the 2nd zone will be used, that is, each point is assigned the value of the third variable in the second zone for that indexed point. In the second equation, no zone is specified on the right hand of the equation, so
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Data Operations
each zone will use values from its 4th variable. Variable Swirl will not be shared. The 3rd equation shows how a zone name can be used on the right side of the equation. 21. Click the Compute button. 22. Click the OK button to close the Information dialog. 23. Close the Specify Equations dialog. 24. To see information about the data, go to the Data menu, and select Data Set Info. Click on the Sharing tab. 25. You can see that variable P is shared in Zones 1 and 2. Click on the Variable field. 26. Variables P and Pos are shared, but variable Swirl is not.
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Plot Enhancements
Value Blanking
Blanking Blanking allows you to exclude certain portions of zones from being plotted. It is a view change that doesn't affect your data. Value blanking is most commonly used, but two other types of blanking are available. IJK-blanking, for IJ-ordered or IJK-ordered zones only, will include or exclude cells based on their index value. Depth blanking for 3D plots will exclude cells based on their distance from the viewer plane. Value Blanking Value blanking allows you to hide invalid or irrelevant data points, or to isolate specific data ranges. Line Plots are drawn as if the blanked points do not exist. In 3D Plots, entire cells are included or excluded. In 2D Plots, blanking can be performed on a cell-by-cell basis, or a precise region can be blanked. Exercise 7.1: In the following exercise, you will use value blanking to eliminate points with extreme values from an XY Line plot. In a 2D plot, you will turn on value blanking with precise trimming along the constraint boundary. You will set constraints for two variables, and give each constraint a different appearance for the boundary. 1. For Value Blanking in an XY plot, open the data file region.plt as an XY Line plot type. Some temperature readings were invalid. To blank out points with values above 750, select Plot from the main Tecplot menu. 2. Select Value Blanking from the Plot menu. Toggle on Include Value Blanking. 3. Make Constraint 1 active. Click on the variable field under Blank when. Select Temperature as the blanking variable. 4. Click on the operator field. Select "is greater than or equal to." 5. In the field for the constant value, change the value to 750. 6. Close the Value Blanking dialog. The XY Line plot is drawn as if the blanked points did not occur.
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Plot Enhancements
7. From the File menu, choose New Layout. Load data file cylinder.plt with a 2D Cartesian plot type. Turn off Mesh and turn on Contours, choosing U(M/S) as the contour variable. 8. From the Plot menu, choose Blanking, then Value Blanking. 9. Toggle on Include Value Blanking. 10. Change the setting from Blank entire cell to Trim cells along constraint boundary. 11. Make constraint 1 active. 12. Sometimes the default settings for a constraint will cause a large area of your plot to be blanked until new settings are made. If you find this distracting, you can turn off Auto Redraw from the Performance button. Then use the Redraw button after setting each constraint. 13. Click the field for the variable under Blank when. Select variable T(K). 14. Select "is less than" as the operator. 15. Change the constant value to 299. 16. Toggle on Show Constraint Boundary. 17. Click on the field for Line Pattern. Select the Dashed line pattern. 18. Set a new constraint by clicking the 2 button beside Constraint. 19. Make Constraint 2 active. 20. Click the variable field under Blank when. Select variable P(N).
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Plot Enhancements
21. Select "is greater than" as the operator. Set the constant value to 110001. 22. Toggle on Show Constraint Boundary. 23. Select the Color button. Choose the Blue button from the top row. 24. Close the Value Blanking dialog. 25. The completed plot shows two blanking constraints.
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Plot Enhancements
Linking Between Frames

Most plot style settings in Tecplot are controlled on a frame-by-frame basis. Linking Between Frames makes it easy to make one or more style attributes common between frames. When an attribute is linked, changing its setting in one frame causes the same change in all linked frames. Frame Linking Attributes Use Frame/Frame Linking to choose which attributes to link. Most attributes are only available for one or two plot types. The following attributes may be linked between two or more frames. Frame Size and Position: Allows you to stack transparent frames. X-Axis Range: Links the ranges and positions of the X-axes Y-Axis Range: Links the ranges and positions of the X-axes XY-Axis Position: Links the relative positions of the X- and Y-axes Polar Plot View: Links views for frames using the Polar Line plot type. 3D Plot View: Links the 3-D axes and 3-D view. Slice Positions: Links slice positions and slice planes for active slices (but not slice style). Iso-Surface Locations: Links iso-surface values (but not iso-surface plot style). Contour Levels: Links the values and number of contour levels for 2and 3-D plots. Value Blanking Constraints: Links all value-blanking attributes. To edit the link attributes of another frame, it is not necessary to close and reopen the dialog between frames. Just use the selector tool and click anywhere in the desired frame. This will make it the current frame and the Set Links for Current Frame dialog will change appropriately. Frame Linking Groups Frames can be segregated into groups so that changes in the linked attributes are propagated only to members of that group. Exercise 7.2: In the following exercise, a layout has four frames, which will be separated into
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Plot Enhancements
two linking groups. Attributes will be linked, and changes made to one frame will be reflected in the frame linked by the same group. 1. Open layout Linking2group.lpk, and select Frame 003 as the current frame. The dialog, Set Links for Current Frame, can be accessed from the Frame menu or the Plot menu. Go to the Plot menu. 2. Within Frame Linking was discussed in other lessons. Select the tab for Between Frames. 3. Toggle on the link for X-Axis Range. 4. Toggle on the link for XY-Axis Position. 5. Click on the lower right frame. It will become the active frame and the dialog to set links will be updated to show no links have been set for this dialog. 6. Set the same links as for Frame 003. 7. Both of these frames will be in Group 1. Close the dialog to set links. 8. Select Axis from the Plot menu. 9. Go to the Line tab for the Y1 axis. 10. Click on the field for Align Axis. 11. To position the Y1 axis at X = 6000, choose to align it with X1 Value. 12. In the field for X1-Axis Value enter the value 6000. 13. Close the Axis Details dialog. Notice that the Y1 position is changed for both frames. 14. Select the Zoom tool from the sidebar. Zoom into the central part of the plot. Notice that the X-Axes of the two lower frames were changed together.
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Plot Enhancements
15. To set linking for the top frames, first click on Frame 001 to make it the active frame. 16. Return to the Plot menu. Select Style Linking. 17. Toggle on linking for X-Axis Range. 18. We want to link the top frames to each other, not to the bottom frames. However, because the default is to add a frame to Group 1, the X-Axis range of this frame has been set to the range for the lower frames. When you make an error like this, go to the Edit menu. 19. Select Undo Style Change. 20. Click on the field for the Linking Group. Select Group 2. 21. Toggle on all three options for linking axes will be used. 22. Also toggle on the link for Contour Levels. 23. Move the dialog to show the top right frame. 24. Notice that the right frame has different ranges for the axes, and different contour levels shown on the legend. Select the frame. 25. Click on the field for the Link Group. Select Group 2. 26. You can see this frame change as attributes are linked to Frame 001. Toggle on X-Axis Range, Y-Axis Range and XY-Axis Position. 27. Toggle on Contour Levels. 28. Close the dialog for setting links. 29. Choose the Adjustor tool from the sidebar. Click on the X-Axis to select it. 30. Click and drag on the right end of an axis to change its range. 31. Select the zoom tool and zoom into the plot.
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Plot Enhancements
Add Text
Sketches and plots can be enhanced with the use of text objects. Text objects can be placed anywhere within a frame in Tecplot. Text Position and Angle Place text at an angle by entering a degree of rotation around the text anchor location. You can specify X- and Y-origin values based on the chosen coordinate system. For text positioned on the grid, if you move or change the range of your data grid, the text also moves relative to the grid. Text positioned on the frame will not move with the grid. Font and Height Tecplot allows several font options, including italic and bold fonts. Character height can be set in three different units. Text sized by Points will always appear the same size. Text sized by Grid Units will be resized with the grid, and text sized by Frame will be affected by frame changes. In frame units, you can also specify inches, centimeters or points by adding in, cm, or pt after the number. Tecplot will convert these units to frame units for you.
Embedded Fonts
Within a set of text, a character or word can be designated as Greek, Math, or User-Defined fonts, or as subscript or superscript, by adding the appropriate modifier before and after. Examples: subcript abcd superscript abcd math font <math>abcd</math> greek font <greek>abcd</greek> Text from the extended character set can be inserted into a text string using \nnn where nnn is a three digit code that refers to a character in the Extended Character Set. For example, the division sign is \247. Exercise 7.3: In the following exercise, a layout is loaded with several pieces of text. You will see how the different character height options and positioning options affect the text behavior as the plot is changed. You will move one text entry, and modify another to use special characters. This text will be set at an angle. 1. Open layout text.lpk. In this layout, the text sized and positioned by Frame units will change only when the frame is changed. Text sized by
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Points will always appear the same size, but text positioned by Grid units will move with the grid. Click on the Y-axis to select the grid. 2. Click and drag to resize the grid. Notice that the text positioned by Grid has moved. Now select the frame by clicking on its border. Click and drag on the frame corner to resize it. Notice that the size and position of the lowest text was changed in proportion to the frame changes. 3. Text can be edited in Tecplot by double-clicking on it to open the Text Details dialog. Double-click on the upper left text. Move the Text Details dialog to the side so that you can see the text on the plot. 4. You can add a special character by typing "\" followed by the appropriate number from the chart for Character Indices in Tecplot. "247" is the number for the division symbol. Replace "divided by" in the text string with "\247". Notice the division symbol in the text on the Tecplot window. 5. Any text can be superscripted when you type the modifier in front of it. Type before the 2. 6. Since we only want the 2 to be superscripted, type the closing modifier after the 2. 7. To show the text at an angle, select the field for Angle. Select -30. 8. The Origin values for X and Y set the location of the text. Since the Position Coordinate System is Frame, these values are in Frame units. The text could be moved by changing these values, or text can be moved interactively. 9. Close the Text Details dialog. 10. Select the lower text by clicking on it. Click and drag to move it. 11. Selected objects except the grid can be interactively resized by using the "+" and "-" keys on your keyboard. Click the "+" key twice.
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Text Options Selecting the Options button will bring up the Text Options dialog, where you can choose from options which include adding a box for your text, changing the text box appearance, and choosing which part of the text will be anchored to the plot. Dynamic Text Dynamic text allows Tecplot to update the text displayed on your plot to show information from your current data set, such as the maximum value of a contour variable, or from your system, such as the date, or the platform being used. Exercise 7.4: In the following exercise, you will add dynamic text to a layout to display the time and date, information about the data set, and information about the current plot. You will also add a text box and modify it. 1. Open layout AddDynamicText.lpk. To use dynamic text in this layout, select the tool to add text. 2. Click in the upper left corner of the frame to add text there. 3. Dynamic text options are listed in the Tecplot User's Manual. Dynamic text is designated by "&" with a key string placed in parentheses. Use of lower or upper case characters is not important. 4. Although the title for the current data set is shown on the frame header, we want to show it more prominently on the plot. Type &(DATASETTITLE) in the field for Enter Text String. 5. For an incremental change in text height, you could click on the up or down arrows beside the Font button. For this, click the Font button and type 20 in the field for height. Close the Select Font dialog. 6. To use a text box, select the Options button. Choose a Plain Text Box. 7. Increasing the margin around the text will enlarge the text box. Click the up arrow beside the Margin field so set a margin of 40. Close the Text Options dialog. 8. You must close the Text Details dialog before you can place new text. 9. Click below the first text to place new text. 10. Type "1st slice" (without the quotes) in the field for Enter Text String. 11. We want this text to have a different appearance. Click on the Font button and change the height to 14. Close the dialog.
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12. Select the Options button. Select No Box. Close the Text Options dialog. 13. Change the color to blue. 14. Go back to the field for Enter Text String and type X = &(StartSlicePos) to see the location of the 1st slice. Notice that the text on the plot appears exactly as entered until the dynamic text notation is completed. Then the dynamic text on the plot will be replaced with the X value for the 1st slice. 15. Hit the Return button a few times to add empty rows, then type 2nd slice X = &(EndSlicePos) (without the quotes). Close the Text Details dialog. 16. Click in the lower left corner of the frame to place new text. Type in &(Date) &(Time) and change the height to 12pt. and the color to dark blue. 17. Close the Text Details dialog.
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Geometries and Images

Tecplot provides a variety of drawing tools that enable you to make sketches or annotations to your plot. Geometries created in Tecplot can be saved within a layout. You can also save geometries within a data file using File/Write Datafile. Adding Geometries Add a geometry to a frame by selecting the appropriate option from the Insert menu or by selecting the right tool from the sidebar, then clicking and dragging in the frame to create the geometry. Geometries can be added to any plot regardless of the plot type, or to frames in Sketch mode, having no data loaded. Editing Geometries Select a geometry and then choose the Object Details button or doubleclick on the geometry. A dialog will come up that displays the geometry's attributes. A geometry can be positioned or sized in reference to either the Frame or Grid coordinate systems. You can attach geometries to zones or X-Y maps. When the zone or X-Y map is turned off, the geometry is turned off. Show in All Like Frames is used to display geometries in all frames with the same data set. Editing Multiple Geometries You can change the appearance of several geometries at once with the Quick Edit dialog. To select them, click and drag on a region that includes all of the geometries to change. A dialog will appear letting you select which items will be selected. After selecting, choose the Quick Edit button from the sidebar to change line color, pattern or thickness, or fill color. Interactively Resize Geometries Resize a geometry by selecting it, then moving your cursor over the object until you see the cross mouse pointer. Use the - and + keys. If you have selected more than one geometry, the size of each will be affected, but they will maintain a relative position.
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Exercise 7.5: In the following exercise, a circle will be added to a plot in an area to indicate the location of a pipe. 1. Open layout AddGeom.lpk. It shows a cross section of the flow of water around a pipe. The scatter symbols show that no points are located within the pipe, but contours are still drawn there. (See the Triangulate lesson to learn how to triangulate with a boundary zone.) 2. A circle geometry will be added to fill the pipe region. Turn off Scatter on the sidebar. 3. Choose the tool to create circle geometries. 4. Click and drag to create a circle that partly overlaps the flooded area, and extends beyond the grid area. 5. Double-click on the edge of the circle to bring up the Geometry Details dialog. 6. Not all of the circle is seen because it is clipped to the viewport or grid area. Click on the field for Clipping. Select Frame Clipping. 7. Sometimes you may want a geometry or image to be drawn behind a plot. Click on the Draw Order field. Select Before Data. 8. Notice that part of the circle disappears behind the flooded area. This option is not commonly used with shading or flooded contours. Click the Draw Order field again and change back to After Data. 9. Toggle on Fill with Color. Change the color to bright blue. 10. Select the Line Thickness field. Choose 0.4 % for the thickness of the circle border. 11. Close the Circle Geometry Details dialog. 12. Move the circle by clicking and dragging. When it is centered over the circular area that should not be shown, release. 13. If you knew the exact radius of the pipe, you could have entered it on the Circle Geometry Details dialog. Tecplot will resize selected objects when you use the "+" and "-" keys.
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Inserting Images Image files in bitmap, PNG or JPEG format can be added to a plot from the Insert menu. After adding an image, you can double-click on it to bring up the Image Geometry Details dialog. Many of the options available for a geometry can also be used for an image. For example, you can attach it to a zone or map, and you can set its coordinate system to Frame or Grid. You can also choose whether it will be drawn before or after data. Exercise 7.6: In the following exercise, images will be inserted into an existing layout. They will be interactively moved and resized. 1. Open the layout DallesDam.lpk. It will be enhanced by adding an image of the powerhouse of the dam, and a small map of the area. 2. Select Insert from the main Tecplot menu. Choose Image from the list. 3. Open file Powerhouse.jpg. 4. The image of the powerhouse will be shown with a size and position similar to the actual powerhouse. Click on the image to select it. Then click and drag until it is at the left edge of the plot, just about the contour area. 5. Reduce its size until it doesnt cover the text to the right. 6. To label the Powerhouse, select the button to add text. Click just above the new image. Type in "Powerhouse 1". 7. Click the up arrow beside Font to see the text size increased.
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8. By default, the new text was given the same settings as the last text entered, "Operating Condition." To remove the text box, click the Options button. 9. Under Text Box, select No Box. Close the Text Options dialog. Close the Text Details dialog. 10. Choose the Selector tool from the sidebar. 11. Go to the Insert menu. And select Image. 12. Open file location.JPG. Click on the image to select it. 13. You can move and resize an image interactively by clicking and dragging, or use the dialog to enter precise size and location. The dialog would appear when you double-click on the image. By either method, move the image to the upper right corner and reduce its size to not cover any other parts of the plot.
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Recording Macros
What are Macros? Macros are sets of instructions (macro commands) which perform operations in Tecplot. By convention, macro files have the extension .mcr. Macros are useful for: Doing repetitive operations like looping through zones or variables, or processing multiple files. Performing common, multi-step tasks more quickly. Simplifying Tecplot functionality for inexperienced users or for demonstrations. All Tecplot 10.0 macro files begin with the following header: #!MC 1000 Creating Macros Macros can be written using a text editor, but the task can be greatly simplified with the use of the Macro Recorder. As long as the Macro Recorder dialog is up (almost) all actions you perform interactively are recorded as macro commands to a file which you specify. The Macro Recorder also enables you to insert raw macro commands while recording. Running Macros After recording or writing a macro, execute the macro by doing one of the following: Choose File/Macro/Play from within Tecplot. At the UNIX or DOS command line use the -p flag to run a macro upon startup. For example: tecplot -p mymacro.mcr. Click on a button in the Quick Macro Panel. You will get the best results if you play a macro when Tecplot is in a similar state to when the macro was recorded. It is often best to open a data file or choose New Layout just before the macro is recorded or played. Editing Macros Macros are recorded with very specific information, such as which zone was affected, or what variable was used for contours. This can affect the ability to successfully replay the macro. For example, if you record a macro where changes were made to the 5th zone, and where the contour variable was the 6th variable, this macro wouldnt work on a dataset with 3 zones and 4 variables. You could edit the macro with any text editor to be more general. You could also edit a macro to make it more powerful. You can add loops, condition statements, prompt the user for information, or use macro variables.
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The Tecplot Reference Manual has complete information on macro commands, macro variables, and usage. Exercise 8.1 In the following exercise, you will record a macro with one data set, then replay the macro with a different data set. 1. Create a circular zone. 2. Go to the File menu, choose Macros, then Record. 3. Enter the macro name, Scatter. Tecplot will add the *.mcr extension for you. 4. Close the information dialog, but remember that you will not see many of the settings you choose while recording a macro unless you redraw. Move the Macro Recorder dialog to the side. 5. Turn off Mesh and turn on Scatter on the sidebar. 6. Go to the Zone Style dialog. On the Scatter page, change the Symbol Shape to Delta. 7. Set the Fill Mode to Use Line Color. 8. 9. Change the Scatter Size to 1. Close the Zone Style dialog and hit the Redraw button to see the changes.
10. Return to the Macro Recorder dialog and choose Stop Recording. Click OK on the Question dialog. Any changes made during the macro would now be seen even without using the Redraw button. 11. Go to the File menu and choose New Layout. Dont save the current plot. 12. Create a rectangular zone. 13. Go to File/Macro/Play and run Scatter.
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Customize Tecplot
There are some special macros files used with Tecplot. These include frame style files, linked layouts, quick macro files, and equation files used with Data/Alter/Specify Equations. Other special macros are run by Tecplot as it starts. These include tecplot.add for loading add-ons, tecplot.mcr for the Quick Macro Panel, and tecplot.cfg, the Tecplot configuration file. Macro Command Types Macro commands fall into three general categories: Control commands: Handle the flow of control within a Tecplot macro. Action commands: Perform some type of action, usually visual. SetValue commands: Assign values which change the state of Tecplot. Most special macro files, especially the configuration file and layouts, do not allow action or control commands. Configuration File The file tecplot.cfg is a special macro file containing only SetValue macro commands. This file is read by Tecplot upon start up and is used to define certain preferences with regards to initial layout setup, print/export settings, and so forth. Detailed information about the Tecplot configuration file can be found in the Tecplot Users Manual in Chapter 29. Tecplot looks for the tecplot.cfg file in the following places and in the following order: The tecplot.cfg file in the current working directory The .tecplot.cfg file in the users home directory (UNIX only) The tecplot.cfg file in the Tecplot home directory as specified by TEC100HOME or the h command line flag When tecplot.cfg is not found, factory defaults are used. Creating a Custom Configuration File You can set up and use a custom configuration file in a number of ways. In Tecplot, change settings to reflect your desired default setup and then save a configuration under File/Preferences/Save Configuration. Only the following settings can be made using this method: Interface Details (Auto Redraw on/off, Status bar on/off). Basic Color RGB values. Paper Layout (portrait/landscape, grid and ruler settings). Print/Export setup information. You can also create or modify an existing configuration file by adding any of the
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SetValue commands. These commands can be found in the Tecplot Reference Manual. You can use your own custom configuration file by adding the -c command line flag followed by the configuration file name (when starting Tecplot). If you want to add a particular setting to your tecplot.cfg file that is not saved using Save Configuration, and you are unsure which command to use, simply record a short macro in Tecplot where you make the desired setting by hand. Then, copy and paste the appropriate command from the macro file to your configuration file, tecplot.cfg. Exercise 8.2: 1. Close Tecplot. Open scatter.mcr in Notepad. Open a 2nd Notepad session with tecplot.cfg. 2. From scatter.mcr, copy all commands that begin with $!Field.. Paste them into tecplot.cfg just below $!MC 1000.
3. Make these commands more general by removing all references to a zone. [1] 4. Save and close tecplot.cfg and reopen Tecplot. 5. Create a rectangular zone. It will be drawn with Mesh turned off and small scatter symbols turned on.
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Tecplot Preferences Some changes to Tecplot can be saved through the File/Preferences option. You can alter some of the 64 colors available, then make those color changes take effect for future Tecplot session by choosing Save Configuration. When you save configuration, any current changes to the paper or frame would also be saved. Exercise 8.3: 1. Go to the File menu and choose New Layout. 2. Resize the frame either by dialog or interactively. 3. Go to File/Paper Setup and change the paper or color or turn it off. 4. Go to File/Preferences, Colors. Select the Yellow button from the top row and change the Red, Green and Blue values until you have a very distinctive color. 5. Go to File/Preferences/Save Configuration. The Save configuration dialog shows you the options that will be saved. The new settings will be merged with any commands in the tecplot.cfg file. Click OK. 6. Close Tecplot and reopen it. These new settings, plus the changes from Exercise 8.2, will be in effect. 7. To return to default settings, you could reopen tecplot.cfg and remove any unwanted commands. In fact, the only contents it must have is the header: #!MC 1000
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Quick Macro Panel

The Quick Macro Panel provides access to a few key macros that will be used frequently. The QMP is built from macro functions in the tecplot.mcr file or from another macro file specified by adding the q flag to the Tecplot command. Exercise 8.4: In the following exercise, you will record a macro that makes a contour plot by interpolating to a new zone. You will add the commands from this macro to tecplot.mcr, and edit them, replacing specific values with intrinsic macro variables. 1. Load data file random.plt. 2. Start recording a macro named Interpolate. 3. Change to 2D Cartesian plot type. 4. Create a rectangular zone, with I = 25, j = 25. 5. Go to Data/Interpolate/Inverse Distance. Choose Phase 1 as the source zone, and Rectangular zone as the destination zone. Interpolate only the 3rd variable. 6. Turn off Mesh and turn on Contour from the sidebar. Choose the 3rd variable as the contour variable. 7. Stop recording the macro. 8. Open Interpolate.mcr in WordPad. Copy all of the commands below #!MC 1000. 9. Open tecplot.mcr in WordPad. Enter new lines above the rows describing Function 3D Rotation Animation. 10. Paste the commands from Interpolate.mcr. 11. Find the commands where the rectangular zone is created. This zone would not fit the region of many zones. Use intrinsic variables for the range of the zone by editing the commands as shown below: X1 = |minx| Y1 = |miny| X2 = |maxx| Y2 = |maxy| 12. Search for and edit or remove any references to the 4th variable.
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13. Next we must make a macro function out of these commands. Scroll down in tecplot.mcr to find the beginning of the macro function for 3D Rotation. Copy the lines:
$!Macrofunction Name = "3D Rotation Animation" ShowInMacroPanel = True
14. Paste these lines above the commands you entered in this file. Change the name from 3D Rotation Animation to Interpolation. 15. Below the last command you entered, type $!Endmacrofunction 16. Save tecplot.mcr and reopen Tecplot. 17. Load data file field_elevations.dat. 18. Go to the Tools menu, and choose Quick Macro Panel. Your macro function, Interpolate, should be at the top of the list. Select it.
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Tecplot Start Options

You can customize the way Tecplot runs by using command line options, running in batch mode or changing the directory where Tecplot is started. Command line options The general form of the Tecplot command line is: tecplot [options] [layoutfile] [datafiles] [macrofile] Some of the command line options are listed here. For the complete set, see the Tecplot Users Manual, Appendix A.
-addonfile filename -b -c cfgfile -d or -display computername -datasetreader readername Load add-ons listed in filename. Run Tecplot in batch mode (-p option is also required). Use cfgfile for the configuration set up instead of the default configuration file. Displays Tecplot on computer computername (UNIX only). The computer, computername, must have X-server capability with the GLX extension. Instruct Tecplot to use the data set reader readername when loading data files specified on the command line. See Section A.7, Specifying Data Set Readers on the Command Line, for details. Play the macro in the file macfile. Note that if your macro file has an .mcr extension you do not need to use -p. Use quick playback mode. Ignores delay and pause commands. Load macro functions for the Quick Macro Panel from quick-panelfile instead of the default file tecplot.mcr. Show the Quick Macro Panel immediately when Tecplot starts up. Run Tecplot full screen.
-p macfile -q -qm quickpanelfile -showpanel -x
Most of the Tecplot command line options are available in Windows. To use them, you should start Tecplot from the Run command from the Start button. Under Windows you may also use the command line from the DOS prompt or the command prompt.
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Batch mode You can run Tecplot in batch mode to create plots without displaying any graphics to the screen. This saves a lot of time when processing multiple files for printing or export. In batch mode, Tecplot can be executed locally on your workstation computer or, under UNIX, remotely using an ASCII terminal. You must specify the b flag to run in batch mode, and the p flag so it will run a macro. tecplot b p (macrofilename) When you run in batch mode, you must either specify the datafile to open on the command line, or include a command to load data in the macro. Also, your macro should end with a $!Quit command to exit Tecplot. Start up directory The directory where Tecplot is started will be the first location where that Tecplot session looks for special Tecplot macros (tecplot.cfg, tecplot.add, etc.) It will also be the default location for data files, macros and layouts. If your work requires that you use different data files and a different appearance for your tasks, you can have two or more folders where you start Tecplot, each with its own configuration and set of data files. Tecplot icon for Windows You can add command line options to the Target of the Properties of your Tecplot icon, and change the Start In: directory for Tecplot. If you have two or three different folders of data that you want to access easily, you can copy your Tecplot icon and make one icon for each data location, specifying the Start In: directory and any needed command line options for each. You can have a unique configuration file in each Start In: folder. The Properties below show that the icon labled Tecplot 10.0 QuickStart will open Tecplot in full screen mode, and use a special Quick Macro Panel file, myQMP.mcr
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Exercise 8.5: In the following exercise, you will create a new icon for Tecplot with unique settings. 1. Create a new icon for Tecplot. 2. Add command line options to the Target command of the new icon. 3. Change the Start in: directory for the new icon, and add a unique configuration in that folder. 4. Copy tecplot.mcr to the Start in: directory for the new icon, and add this macrofunction.
$!Macrofunction Name = "Hello" ShowInMacroPanel = True $!Pause (Add any statement you want.) $!Endmacrofunction
5. Run Tecplot from both icons at the same time, and ensure that your changes took effect.
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Animation
Animation is the process of generating a sequence of frame images, which are displayed in rapid succession to give the impression of motion or change over time. Animation tools Under the Animate option of the Tools menu you will find the following items for animating your data: Zones: Display one zone at a time, in succession. XY-Mappings: Display one XY-mapping at a time. Contour levels: Display one contour level at a time. IJK-Planes: Display one I-, J-, or K-plane at a time. IJK-Blanking: Animate a sequence of renderings, starting with an initial set of blanked IJK cells and proceeding in a series of interpolated steps to a final set of blanked IJK cells. Slices: Animate currently defined slices in a 3-D plot. Streamtraces: One cycle (Delta Time * 2) is the length of one On dash and one Off dash or the distance between three markers. Steps per cycle are the number of times a marker will move to complete one cycle. Creating movie files All of the animation options above include the option to animate On Screen, to an AVI file or to a RM file. When exporting to a file is selected, Tecplot saves the images that you see on screen in AVI or Raster Metafile movie formats. AVI is a widely recognized format suitable for display on a Web site. Raster Metafile (RM) movies can be viewed using the Framer utility supplied with Tecplot. Framer is a simple utility for playing Raster Metafile (.rm) movies. Framer is included with Tecplot, and is freely distributable. Several options, such as playing the movie forwards or backwards, looping and stepping through frames, are available. Running Framer under Windows To run framer under windows, simply choose Framer from the Tecplot 10.0 Program group under the Start Menu. You can also type framer <filename> at the DOS prompt, or just double-click on a .rm file in Windows Explorer. Running Framer under UNIX To run Framer under UNIX, type framer <filename>, where <filename> is the name of the .rm file you want to view.
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Exercise 8.6: In the following exercise, you will record a macro while you rotate a 3D figure. You will edit the macro and add loops. Then you will compare your macro with the "3D Rotation Animation" macro function included in tecplot.mcr. 1. Open layout prop2.lpk or wing1.lay. 2. Start recording a macro, Animate.mcr. 3. Go to the View menu and choose Rotate. (Do not use the Rotation tool buttons for macros, because they create commands that show the precise location instead of causing a rotation action.) 4. In the field for Rotation Step Size, enter 10. 5. Click the + sign beside Zaxis, then click the Redraw All button. 6. Stop recording the macro. 7. Replay it. It will rotate your plot 10 degrees again. To rotate your figure 360 degrees, you would have to play the macro 36 times. 8. Open Animate.mcr in WordPad. 9. Enter a new line before $!ROTATE3DVIEW command, that says: $!Loop 36 10. Enter a new line after the $!Redraw command that says: $!Endloop 11. Save the macro and replay it. 12. Rotating a 3D object was such a popular request that the tecplot.mcr file now has a macro function for it. In a new session of WordPad, open tecplot.mcr. Look at the commands for "3D Rotation Animation", and compare them to Animate.mcr. List several differences.
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Tecplot Data File Format

Tecplot Binary Data Files Tecplot binary files use up 40 percent less disk space and are read in faster than Tecplot ASCII files. Binary data file names normally have the .plt extension. Tecplot binary files can be created using the following methods: Use Preplot to convert your Tecplot ASCII file to a Tecplot binary file. See Appendix B in the Tecplot Users Manual for more information on Preplot. Read an ASCII data file into Tecplot, then write it out again as binary. If you generate large amounts of data, you can save disk space and loading time by generating binary data files directly by using the TECIO library functions. Read Chapter 11 of the Tecplot Reference Manual for more information. Tecplot ASCII Data Files ASCII data files, also known as plain text files, can be read into Tecplot, as discussed in the lesson introducing Tecplot. ASCII files in Tecplot format normally have the file name extension .dat. These files can be saved from Tecplot, or can be created and edited with a text editor. File Header If a file header occurs anywhere but at the top of the file, it is ignored. This is useful when concatenating two or more files. The TITLE parameter defines the title of the data set which is displayed in the frame header. If it is not included in the data file, a default title will be created by Tecplot. The VARIABLES parameter defines the number and name of variables associated with each data point for the entire data file. Variable names may be separated with a space, comma, or tab. You must use quotes if a variable name contains a space or comma. All data points in a file must have the same number of variables. If the VARIABLES parameter is not included in your data file, then Tecplot assumes that the number of variables in the file is equal to the number of values present in the first line of data values. Default variable names will also be created by Tecplot. Zone records include data values as well as parameters which are unique to each zone, such as zone type, color, and so forth. Text records define text that will be added to the frame when the data file is loaded, and specify other text characteristics like font.
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Dataset Auxiliary Data records define named text strings that may be used in Tecplot. Geometry records define geometries that will be added to the frame when the data file is loaded, and specify other geometry characteristics like line type. Custom label records are made up of one parameter that defines custom labels.
Example: Data file that includes all records (records.dat) TITLE = "Rainfall" VARIABLES = "Month" "Seattle Rainfall" "Dallas Rainfall" "Miami Rainfall" "Error 1" "Error 2" ZONE T="1995", I=12 1 4.3 4.0 4.0 2 4.5 4.0 4.1 3 4.0 3.5 4.5 4 4.2 3.4 4.2 5 3.5 3.0 3.6 6 2.1 2.6 2.8 7 2.0 1.5 2.5 8 1.5 1.0 2.4 9 2.1 1.1 2.6 10 2.5 1.6 3.1 11 3.3 2.5 3.0 12 3.6 3.5 3.5 .20 .22 .24 .24 .20 .16 .23 .16 .10 .22 .22 .24 .40 .44 .48 .48 .40 .40 .32 .43 .20 .44 .44 .48
CUSTOMLABELS = "JAN" "FEB" "MAR" "APR" "MAY" "JUNE" "JULY" "AUG" "SEPT" "OCT" "NOV" "DEC" TEXT CS=frame HU=point X=2.3 Y=1.0 H=6 F=Courier Bold T="Source: NWN" DATASETAUXDATA DataSource = "National Weather Service" GEOMETRY F=POINT CS=FRAME X=19.24,Y=5.44 PL=4 LT=.2 T=Line 1 4 -0.052 -0.156 1.346 -5.038 -1.480 -5.038 00
Zone Record A zone record contains a listing of all of the variable values for each data point within a particular zone. A zone record begins with the keyword ZONE and is
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followed by any additional parameters needed to define the data within that zone. Zone records contain either ordered data or finite-element data as defined in the previous section. The keyword ZONE and parameters are optional when your data file contains one zone which is a one dimensional array of data (I-ordered). General Zone Records (For Ordered or FE data) T parameter defines the zone title. DATAPACKING defines the format of how variable values are listed within the zone. o Point - all variable values for the first data point are listed, then all values for the second data point and so forth. Data files that contain cell-centered data cannot be saved in this format, because the cellcentered variables do not have a one-to-one ratio with the points. o Block - all variable values for the first variable are listed, then all values for the second variable and so forth. ZONETYPE - There are two basic types of zones: ordered and finiteelement. Ordered zones have the formats ZONETYPE=ORDERED. Finite-element zones have the specific ZONETYPE of FELINESEG, FETRIANGLE, FEQUADRILATERAL, FETETRAHEDRON, or FEBRICK. VARLOCATION specifies whether a variable is nodal or cell-centered. The default is Nodal, so only the cell-centered variables need to be listed. C defines the zone color for field plots. In XY-plots, this setting is ignored and Tecplot uses a set of default colors. VARSHARELIST defines a list of variables ([ ]) to share from the specified preceding zones. For example, this command says that variable 2 will be shared with zone 1, and variable 1 will be shared with zone 4. VARSHARELIST = ([2]=1, [1]=4) AUXDATA defines a named text string associated with the zone that may be used within Tecplot. Multiple AUXDATA strings may be specified for each zone if they have unique names. DT specifies how each variable will be stored in Tecplot (single, double, longint, shortint, byte and bit). If you have several zones, and one or more of the variables are the same for
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each zone, use the VARSHARELIST parameter to share the variables from one zone to the next. This is especially useful for time series data, where X, Y, and Z stay constant while other variables change over time. Using the shared variable list parameter will reduce the size of your data files and the memory usage in Tecplot. Ordered Zone Records Ordered zone records contain data whose structure is a parameterized array of data points. I-, J-, and K-parameters store the number of data points along the I-, J-, and K-indices of the array. Data values should be listed with the index values varying as follows: I-index increments the fastest (inner loop). J-index increments next fastest (middle loop). K-index increments slowest (outer loop). Finite-Element Zone Records Finite-element zone records contain a set of data points (called nodes) followed by a connectivity list that defines how nodes are connected to form individual cells (or elements). The N-parameter defines the number of nodes. The E-parameter defines the number of elements. Connectivity List - The connectivity list follows the list of variable values for a zone. It references the data points by the order in which they are listed. For example, element 1 2 3 would be made up of the first, second and third data points listed in the file. The number of values in each line is determined by the zone type. FETriangle data has 3 points in each line, and FEBrick has 8 values. Text Records Text records are used to place text within the frame or grid region of the frame. Parameters define location, size, color, and so forth. Most parameters are optional and have default settings if they are not used. T= defines the actual text to be displayed within the quotes. In most cases, the best way to create text records is to add text interactively with the text tool and then to save it to a data file. Text can also be saved in layout files and style sheets. Dataset Auxiliary Data records DATASETAUXDATA defines a named text string associated with the data set that may be used within Tecplot. Multiple AUXDATA strings may be specified
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for each data set if they have unique names. These records are of the format DATASETAUXDATA DefinedName = "text" Auxiliary Data for a data set can be added to a text file or added within Tecplot by a macro. You can view the Auxiliary data in the Data Set Info dialog, or access it by the defined name using dynamic text. Geometry Records Geometry records are used to add line drawings, some of which may be filled, to a plot or drawing. Parameters control color, line type, fill, and so forth. Most parameters are optional and have default settings if they are not specified. All available parameters for geometry records are listed in the Tecplot Users Manual. Each Geometry type has a different format which identifies its location and size. Types available: Square. Rectangle. Circle. Ellipse. Line. Line3d (only available for plots displayed in 3D frame mode). In most cases, the best way to create geometry records is to add them interactively with geometry tools and then to save them to a data file. Exercise 9.1 In the following exercise, you will create ASCII files with different zones, and identify the parts of the file. 1. Create a rectangular zone, with the dimensions shown below. Save it as an ASCII file in point format.
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2. If you open the file in WordPad, it will look like this. Identify the parts of the header. Beside each row of data, show the value of i, j, and k. The first two are done for you.
TITLE = "Internally created data set" VARIABLES = "X" "Y" "Z" ZONE T="Rectangular zone" I=4, J=3, K=2, ZONETYPE=Ordered DATAPACKING=POINT DT=(SINGLE SINGLE SINGLE ) 1.00E+000 3.00E+000 -2.00E+000 I = 1, J = 1, K = 1 1.33E+000 3.00E+000 -2.00E+000 I = 2, J = 1, K = 1 1.67E+000 3.00E+000 -2.00E+000 2.00E+000 3.00E+000 -2.00E+000 1.00E+000 3.50E+000 -2.00E+000 1.33E+000 3.50E+000 -2.00E+000 1.67E+000 3.50E+000 -2.00E+000 2.00E+000 3.50E+000 -2.00E+000 1.00E+000 4.00E+000 -2.00E+000 1.33E+000 4.00E+000 -2.00E+000 1.67E+000 4.00E+000 -2.00E+000 2.00E+000 4.00E+000 -2.00E+000 1.00E+000 3.00E+000 -1.00E+000 1.33E+000 3.00E+000 -1.00E+000 1.67E+000 3.00E+000 -1.00E+000 2.00E+000 3.00E+000 -1.00E+000 1.00E+000 3.50E+000 -1.00E+000 1.33E+000 3.50E+000 -1.00E+000 1.67E+000 3.50E+000 -1.00E+000 2.00E+000 3.50E+000 -1.00E+000 1.00E+000 4.00E+000 -1.00E+000 1.33E+000 4.00E+000 -1.00E+000 1.67E+000 4.00E+000 -1.00E+000 2.00E+000 4.00E+000 -1.00E+000
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3. Open a new session of Tecplot. Create a new zone by entering these values:
7 12.5 18 16.5 23.5 16.5 18 12.5 7 8.5 1.5 8.5 7 3 8 3 10 12.5 15 22 17 22 15 12.5 10 3
4. Change the Plot Type to 2D Cartesian. Triangulate the 1st zone. This will form a 2nd zone which will be FE-Triangle. 5. Create a new new variable (Data/Alter/Specify Equations) with the equation {Contour} = x * y Before computing, set the variable location to cell-centered. 6. Add text and change the text appearance. 7. Add a geometry and change the geometry appearance. 8. Save all of this to an ASCII file named MyASCII.dat. 9. Open MyASCII.dat in WordPad. Identify these parts of the file: a. The ordered zone b. The variable that has a different number of values (Why?) c. The FE zone (notice that the points for the zones are the same) d. The connectivity list e. The text record, and the changes you made to it f. The geometry record and the changes you made 10. (Advanced) Suppose you didnt like the connectivity in the center of the zone. If you deactivate zone 1, you could turn on Cell Labels (Plot/Label Points) to see which lines to change (the 9th, 10th, 14th and 16th lines of the connectivity list). Then you could turn on Node labels to decide which 3 points you want to connect for each triangle.
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11. Add the following Auxiliary Data to the header of the second zone. AUXDATA Test="Type any text here" (Optional) Also add Auxiliary Data to the data set, following the format shown in the file records.dat. 12. Reopen MyASCII.dat in Tecplot. Add dynamic text to show the Auxiliary data attached to the 2nd zone: &(Auxzone[2]:Test) Be sure that you dont include any spaces in the dynamic text. (Optional) Add dynamic text to show the Auxiliary data attached to the data set. &(Auxdataset:Definedname)
Frame 001 | Internally created data set
My text
20
15
Y
10 5 5 10 15 20
Page 131

QuickStart Tecplot 10 Guide

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QuickStart Tecplot 10

Page 8 24 46 64 78 92 98 111 123

Learn to Load Data

Layouts and Frames

Printing and Exporting

Polar Axis and Enhancements

Symbols and Legend

XY Axis and Grid

XY Bars and Error Bars

Contour Plot with Legend

Enhanced Contour Plots

Custom Scatter Plot

3D Lighting and Translucency

Contours with Unorganized Data

Alter Data by Equations

Linking Between Frames

Geometries and Images

Quick Macro Panel

Tecplot Start Options

Data loaded with the General Text Loader.

Layouts and Frames

Printing and Exporting

Polar Line Plots

Polar Axis and Enhancements

Polar Drawing Options

XY Symbols and Legend

XY Bars and Error Bars

Zones and Zone Layers

Enhanced Contour Plots

The completed scatter plot.

This is the completed plot with cell-centered vectors.

Completed streamtrace plot.

3D Lighting and Translucency

- Rods can be different shapes according to the number of rod points.

10. Turn off the Mesh zone layer on the sidebar.

Contours with Unorganized Data

Identify and Edit Unorganized Data

Contours with Unorganized Data

FE Triangle Each cell has 3 points.

FE Quad Each cell has 4 points.

FE Tetra Each cell has 4 points.

FE Brick Each cell has 8 points.

Contours with Unorganized Data

Contours with Unorganized Data

Contours with Unorganized Data

Contours with Unorganized Data

Contours with Unorganized Data

Contours with Unorganized Data

Contours with Unorganized Data

Special Cases for Triangulation and Interpolation

Contours with Unorganized Data

Contours with Unorganized Data

Contours with Unorganized Data

Contours with Unorganized Data

Contours with Unorganized Data

Data Sharing and 2D Rotation

Alter Data by Equations

Linking Between Frames

Geometries and Images

Quick Macro Panel

Tecplot Start Options

-p macfile -q -qm quickpanelfile -showpanel -x

ASCII Data Format