Installing a Maintenance Release of 360 on Windows Does Not Work

Chorus, Installation, Tecplot 360 June 28, 2019

Problem: Installing a maintenance release of 360 on Windows which replaces an existing 360 installation does not update 360 to the newer maintenance release version, even though the installer says the installation is successful. Solution: Close all running instances of Tecplot 360. A maintenance release overwrites the existing 360 installation. If 360 is running the operating system will prevent the executable from being upgraded. Confirm that all running instances of […]

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Min-Max Values of Transient Data

Contours, Macro, Tecplot 360 June 28, 2019

Problem: The min-max values shown in the Data Set Information dialog do not show values across all time. Solution: If you have transient data, the min-max for a variable is only for the “active zones” which unfortunately means only the current time step because the other time steps are not currently active. To see the min-max for the entire data set, run the PlotMinMaxContourOverTime.mcr macro from the Tecplot handyscripts GitHub […]

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Explanation of Cell-Centered data when using NumPy Arrays in PyTecplot

Data Format, Pytecplot June 28, 2019

Problem: In PyTecplot, why is the length of my array of cell-centered data of an IJK ordered zone (Imax)*(Jmax)*(Kmax-1) instead of (Imax-1)*(Jmax-1)*(Kmax-1)? For example, from a zone with 5x4x3 nodal values, I expect my cell-centered variable array to have a length of 4x3x2 = 24; however, the cell-centered variable array has a length of 40, (5x4x2 = 40). In other words: zone.num_elements == 24 len(zone.values(“CellCentered”)) == 40 Shouldn’t these be […]

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Generating Animations One Frame at a Time in Parallel Using PyTecplot

Exporting, Pytecplot June 26, 2019

Leveraging Python’s multiprocessing library when paired with PyTecplot scripting creates powerful efficiency. One such example is using multiprocessing to output a large amount of images in parallel. As a result, reducing the time needed to execute. This ParallelImageCreator.py script located in the Tecplot handyscripts GitHub saves every timestep of the active frame as an individual png image. It contains the following arguments: positional arguments: layoutfile Tecplot layout file to open […]

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Deleting Geometries in a Layout Template

Derived Objects, Frames, Macro, Tecplot 360, Text June 25, 2019

Question: How does one replace the geometries (shapes, polylines, etc.) already present in a layout when a new data file is loaded into the layout file? Explanation of the Question: I created a layout file from a dataset that contains geometries, such as a relative wind velocity vector or aircraft body axes relative to wind axes. I want to create a template from this layout, but the geometries are now […]

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Calculating Grid K Normal Nodal Values

Calculation, Data Format, Documentation, Tecplot 360, Vector June 25, 2019

Question: The symmetry of nodal Grid K Unit Normal values differ from the comparable cell-centered values (see Figure 1). How are nodal Grid K Unit Normal values calculated?1 Explaining the Question: In Figure 1, at nodes 1, 6, 11, 16, and 21 the X Grid K Unit Normal vectors are equal. However, on the data row below it (nodes 2, 7, 12, 17, and 22), the components of the X […]

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Adding Macros to the Quick Macro Panel

Macro, Tecplot 360 June 19, 2019

In Tecplot 360, the Quick Macro Panel is a sidebar for playing your favorite or frequently-used macros. It initially appears docked to the right side of the main Tecplot 360 window, but like the other sidebars can be hidden from view. To display the Quick Macro Panel, select Scripting->Quick Macros. Adding macros to the Quick Macro Panel in Tecplot 360 is useful for playing your favorite or frequently-used macros. The […]

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How to Trim Triangulations

Data Format, Derived Objects, Tecplot 360, Triangulation June 18, 2019

Question: How do I prevent the triangulation feature from spanning concave regions of my plot with triangles? Solution: Extracted polylines can be used as boundary zones to limit the triangulation. In particular, these polylines can be used to prevent triangles from spanning concave regions during 2D triangulations. The following procedure utilizes these polylines to trim a triangulation of unorganized data to the desired shape: 1) Load the data to be […]

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Viewing Raster Metafiles With Framer

Animation, Display, Export, Image, Tecplot 360 June 12, 2019

Background: Framer is an unsupported utility program that was included with discontinued versions of Tecplot 360. It allows you to view files stored in Raster Metafile format and runs independently of Tecplot 360. Raster Metafile is a NASA-defined standard format for storing bit images and may contain one or more images. The last version of Tecplot 360 that included framer.exe was Tecplot 360 2013. As Raster Metafiles (.rm) have become […]

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Off-screen Export Failed & Export Memory Problems

Export, Tecplot 360 June 10, 2019

NOTE: This Knowledge Base article only applies to Tecplot 360 2025 R1 and previous. Starting with Tecplot 360 2025 R2, the graphics engine was changed from OpenGL to Vulkan. Problem: I receive the following error when exporting an image or video. “The off-screen image export failed. This may be caused by remote display issues with OpenGL…” Solution: Like the error message says, remote displays may cause issues with OpenGL. However, […]

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