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.