build names, compilers, abbreviations

ParaView Support
1

in the download section we can find “stable” releases named as
ParaView-5.5.2-Qt5-Windows-64bit.zip
ParaView-5.5.2-Qt5-Windows-64bit.exe
ParaView-5.5.2-Qt5-MPI-Windows-64bit.zip
ParaView-5.5.2-Qt5-MPI-Windows-64bit.exe
ParaView-5.5.2-Qt5-MPI-Linux-64bit.tar.gz
ParaView-5.5.1-Qt5-MPI-Linux-64bit.tar.gz
ParaView-5.5.1-1-Qt5-MPI-Linux-64bit.tar.gz
ParaView-5.5.0-Qt5-MPI-Linux-64bit.tar.xz
ParaView-5.5.0-Qt5-MPI-Linux-64bit.tar.gz

And in nightly builds these are:
ParaView-latest-Qt5-Windows-msvc2015-64bit.zip
ParaView-latest-Qt5-Windows-msvc2015-64bit.exe
ParaView-latest-Qt5-Windows-msvc2013-64bit.zip
ParaView-latest-Qt5-Windows-msvc2013-64bit.exe
ParaView-latest-Qt5-Windows-64bit.zip
ParaView-latest-Qt5-Windows-64bit.exe
ParaView-latest-Qt5-MPI-Windows-msvc2015-64bit.zip
ParaView-latest-Qt5-MPI-Windows-msvc2015-64bit.exe
ParaView-latest-Qt5-MPI-Windows-msvc2013-64bit.zip
ParaView-latest-Qt5-MPI-Windows-msvc2013-64bit.exe
ParaView-latest-Qt5-MPI-Windows-64bit.zip
ParaView-latest-Qt5-MPI-Windows-64bit.exe
ParaView-latest-Qt5-MPI-Linux-64bit.tar.xz
ParaView-latest-Qt5-MPI-Linux-64bit.tar.gz
ParaView-latest-MPI-Linux-64bit.tar.xz
ParaView-latest-MPI-Linux-64bit.tar.gz

And there is no explanation to which is which can be found.
Traditionally, public download folders in nix world contain some kind of description text file, what’s where, and how is it named. But for some reason not in paraview download area.

So, talking about extension, it speaks for itself. Any notion about exe would be useful, though; is it sfx or installer, or an adware.
Next we come to MPI. It is googlable, and HPC cluster users are familiar with it. But there are other simple people in science, who nave no education in IT.
Well, and just 2% of PC users understand Qt, generally from Linux world.
Linux’s Qt5-MPI-Linux-64bit.tar.gz and plain MPI-Linux-64bit.tar.xz difference is not clear, but I guess the latter is a console render-server without GUI. (can you confirm?)

Two things I totally do not understand, is why there are three (!3!) kinds of Windows binaries, for MPI, or standalone machines!?
msvc2015 is probably a compiler bundled with specific msvc.
But how do developers choose this or that compiler, how are those characterized, pros and cons?
I thought, in MSVC the important is not the compiler itself, but compilation options, impacting compiled software weight, performance, and compatibility.

Then, what is
ParaView-latest-Qt5-Windows-64bit.zip
???
MSVC2008? Well, I made a research, it is gcc. But it is not clear, will it always be gcc 4.x, or something else, llvm?

Therefore the final question:
What is the “stable” ParaView-5.5.2-Qt5-Windows-64bit.exe
There is totally no notion. With hard work against the wall I found, that it is MSVC2013. The error log record told me it, because “stable” paraview is not working well in Windows (ver 5.5.)
Why MSVC2013, not others? Will others crash the same way? What version do developers use, when confirming or not confirming your bug-reports?

Too much is unclear about builds, I think, before you try them all one by one.

BTW,
There are also installation instructions, another old tradition, absent.

2

ParaView-latest-Qt5-Windows- msvc2015 -64bit.zip
ParaView-latest-Qt5-Windows- msvc2015 -64bit.exe

This is the latest master build of ParaView built with MSVC 2015 and no MPI support. Compiling with MSVC 2015 is new since the last ParaView release but will be the standard for the next release. This binary is to test the infrastructure for that.

ParaView-latest-Qt5-Windows-msvc2013-64bit.zip
ParaView-latest-Qt5-Windows-msvc2013-64bit.exe

This is the binary built on MSVC 2013 similar to the binaries for the previous release (again no MPI).

ParaView-latest-Qt5- Windows-64bit .zip
ParaView-latest-Qt5- Windows-64bit .exe

I’m honestly not sure where these come from. I don’t think we have a GCC/MingGW build. They may be older…

ParaView-latest-Qt5-MPI-Windows-msvc2015-64bit.zip
ParaView-latest-Qt5-MPI-Windows-msvc2015-64bit.exe
ParaView-latest-Qt5-MPI-Windows-msvc2013-64bit.zip
ParaView-latest-Qt5-MPI-Windows-msvc2013-64bit.exe
ParaView-latest-Qt5-MPI-Windows-64bit.zip
ParaView-latest-Qt5-MPI-Windows-64bit.exe

These are all like the ones above except they rely on MS MPI. Microsoft’s MPI must be installed separately (licensing issues with redistributing it). These should probably have a note like “only get this version if you know you need it”.

Traditionally, public download folders in nix world contain some kind of description text file, what’s where, and how is it named. But for some reason not in paraview download area.

I think the assumption is that if you are pulling from the nightly binaries then you know enough about ParaView development to know what is what (or someone who does told you which to grab). Still you make a good point that we probably should have a description file or more helpful text on the page. The version 5.5.2 binaries still have this problem too, hmmm. @utkarsh.ayachit he’s right we should provide more help choosing what to download.

Any notion about exe would be useful

Not adware, just an exe installer (as opposed to an unzippable version you can place on your desktop for those who don’t have permission to run installers).

I guess the latter is a console render-server without GUI

It is a version without the GUI. pvpython, pvbatch, and the server version. Note: this still needs an X session to run as it is not compiled with OSMesa or EGL.

Two things I totally do not understand, is why there are three (!3!) kinds of Windows binaries, for MPI, or standalone machines!?
msvc2015 is probably a compiler bundled with specific msvc.
But how do developers choose this or that compiler, how are those characterized, pros and cons?

As I tried to explain above, unless you know you need MPI, you don’t. But some users need it so we provide the binaries. MSVC 2015 nightlies are testing to move to 2015 for the next release. MSVC 2013 nightlies are more similar to the old releases, but don’t have VTK-m support (since VTK-m dropped MSVC 2013 support). No idea on the GCC ones, they may be old?

The MSVC version is important because on Windows, you cannot link to libraries compiled with a different version of MSVC. So if a plugin developer wants to build plugins for ParaView, they need to match the MSVC version.

What is the “stable” ParaView-5.5.2-Qt5-Windows-64bit.exe

It is most equivalent to the msvc2013 ones from the nightlies but does have VTK-m as it depends on an older VTK-m that supported 2013.

3

In Wiki for older versions(4.x), there was gcc+mingw in the table. And it looks the same, with characteristic defects in UI. The version number looks up to date. But no compiler is mentioned in “about”. It does not crash when applying vector glyphs to huge vector data grids. But can crash when rendering with such message:

Faulting application name: paraview.exe, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x5b28c2be
Faulting module name: vtkIOMovie-pv5.5.dll, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x5b28ba70
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000000000005160
Faulting process id: 0x22c
Faulting application start time: 0x01d412f098d336ba
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\ParaView\bin\paraview.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Program Files\ParaView\bin\vtkIOMovie-pv5.5.dll
Report Id: 03ad5569-fa0e-4f4f-b857-8fc842b41261
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

It is most equivalent to the msvc2013 ones from the nightlies but does have VTK-m as it depends on an older VTK-m that supported 2013.

WOW! I didn’t have an idea they could differ. Thank you for mentioning!