[Gmsh] File transfer between client and solver

[Christophe Geuzaine]

Jose M. Sancho wrote:
> Dear Gmsh team:
> 
> I am trying to use Gmsh as a graphics processing tool for a FEM solver. 
> This is not the usual way to use Gmsh as  a standard POST processor 
> reading the files generated
> by the solver. 
> 
> The graphics data is generated by the solver and Gmsh draws them on the fly.
> 
> Enclosed is a short example file containing a C++ class encapsulating 
> the services provided by the Gmsh Client.
> I assume Gmsh is in mode -listen and the data containing the views is 
> received through a disk file.
> However, this method is not fast enough for large datasets showing the 
> deformation process.
> 
> The question is:  would it be possible to  use a different type of 
> stream to transfer the data to the Gmsh client?

I see two possibilities:

- either continue to use the file interface, but write your datasets in
binary format: this should speed-up the writing and reading of the files
by a significant amount for large datasets;

- or, if that's not enough, we could generalize the solver interface to
pass the post-processing data directly via the socket (instead of the
filename).

The first solution does not require any change in Gmsh. For the second 
option, we would have to think about which format to use: I'm not sure 
we should tie the solver interface to the actual data format we use 
internally in Gmsh.

Cheers,

Christophe

> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> 
> José M. Sancho
> 
> Professor of Structural Analysis
> 
> Universidad Politecnica de Madrid
> 
> ETS de Arquitectura
> 
> Avda. Juan de Herrera,4
> 
> 28040 Madrid, Spain
> 
> Tel. +34 91 336 65 16
> 
> Fax. +34 91 336 65 67
> 
> E-mail: jose.sancho at upm.es <mailto:jose.sancho at upm.es>
> 
> 
> 
> 
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-- 
Christophe Geuzaine
Assistant Professor, Case Western Reserve University, Mathematics
http://www.case.edu/artsci/math/geuzaine