Subject: [FEniCS-dev] Viper

From: Anders Logg <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 13:12:09 +0200

Two questions:

  1. Are there any objections to making Viper an official project?

  2. Has anyone tried it out?

For more information about Viper, take a look here:

    http://www.fenics.org/wiki/Viper

To try it out just

    hg clone http://www.fenics.org/dev/viper
    cd viper
    sudo python setup.py install

Then you should be able to run the Poisson demo in DOLFIN and plot the
solution with "python plot.py" which just loads the function and
calls the plot() command in PyDOLFIN (wrapped from Viper).

/Anders

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From: "Garth N. Wells" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 14:25:13 +0200

>   1. Are there any objections to making Viper an official project?

In principle no, but ParaView III (which is under development)
and MayaVi 2 (which has a much improved user interface) both use VTK and 
have a Python interface, so I wonder if it would be better to use these 
existing packages.

>   2. Has anyone tried it out?

Yes, a while ago. I found it a bit hard to use as I didn't know the key 
bindings. Some documentation on this would be nice.

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From: Anders Logg <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 15:19:10 +0200

> have a Python interface, so I wonder if it would be better to use these 

Viper has a somewhat different focus. It is just a minimal plot()
command that can be used either for postprocessing or interactively
during a computation. At least before, the Python bindings for MayaVi
have been difficult to use and you always get the GUI (not just the
plot).

> bindings. Some documentation on this would be nice.

I'm sure that can be arranged. Ola?

/Anders

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From: Kent-Andre Mardal <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:41:10 +0200

> have been difficult to use and you always get the GUI (not just the

I agree with Anders. 

With Viper you get your plot up in less than one second, whereas 
with MayaVi and ParaView you need to wait for the huge libraries to be
loaded, then  click several buttons etc. in the GUI. I know MayaVi is
scriptable, but  I don't think it is as convenient as Viper. I use Viper
during debugging and development, and MayaVi or ParaView when I need
more advanced features. 

Kent

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From: "Garth N. Wells" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:21:56 +0200

> during debugging and development, and MayaVi or ParaView when I need

Fine with me to add it. Just throwing up some food for thought.

Garth

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From: Ola Skavhaug <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 17:48:01 +0200

> Fine with me to add it. Just throwing up some food for thought.
 
I completely agree with Garth in the sence that viper is not, and should not
be viewed as, a complete visualization system. However, for simple stuff, viper
is a kind of application that can provide the researcher valuable knowledge as
fast and simple as possible. I am working on the manual now, so perhaps viper
can be more usable for the average fenics developer in the future.

Ola