# Calculate the divergence of a vector field using paraview filter
**URL:** https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617
**Category:** ParaView Support
**Tags:** vtk, python
**Created:** [March 4, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617 "2021-03-04T14:53:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Renard](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Renard)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617/1 "2021-03-04T14:53:25Z")
Hi,
I have a Python code that reads and analyses a VTU file using the vtk library for python. The file has a vector field stored in it. I would like to calculate the divergence of this vector field. I know Paraview can do this and I know how we can do this using the GUI, However, I would like to know if there is a Python API for Paraview which I can use for this.
I would like to achieve the following, I pass the VTU file and the corresponding vector field to a function, which will return the calculated divergence as an array.
Is there any way to achieve this?
---
### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2021, 2:59pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617/2 "2021-03-04T14:59:21Z")
Gradient Filter + Calculator Filter should do the trick.
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### Author:  [@Renard](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Renard)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2021, 3:42pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617/3 "2021-03-04T15:42:19Z")
Hi Mathieu, Thanks for the superfast response. I’m afraid I did not put my question in the right words, I’m looking for a possible paraview API that I can integrate into my code. Which will calculate the divergence and returns the value as an array.
Is this possible?
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### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617/4 "2021-03-04T15:50:57Z")
> [@Renard](#):
>
> I’m looking for a possible paraview API that I can integrate into my code.
Are you working on a ParaView plugin ?
In any case, if you are implementing a VTK filters, you can use the vtkGradientFilter to compute the gradient and compute the divergence from this.
See here:
[https://public.kitware.com/pipermail/paraview/2010-November/019459.html](https://public.kitware.com/pipermail/paraview/2010-November/019459.html)
---
### Author:  [@Renard](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Renard)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2021, 4:21pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617/6 "2021-03-04T16:21:18Z")
Hi, Thank you, Math for the response. I found that the `vtkGradientFilter` of the VTK library can do what I want to achieve. For anyone looking at this in future,
The VTK library can be installed by `pip install vtk` or , `pip3 install vtk` . Inside this library, there is a function called `vtkGardientFilter`, Which takes a field as input and gives the calculated 9-dimensional gradient as an output array.
If you add the 0, 4 and 8th components in this output array you can get the divergence.
Mathieu, correct me if I made any mistakes.
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### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2021, 4:24pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617/7 "2021-03-04T16:24:44Z")
This is correct, however you are on the ParaView discourse, not VTK, hence my confusion.
These kind of question are more suited for : [https://discourse.vtk.org/](https://discourse.vtk.org/)
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### Author:  [@Renard](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Renard)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2021, 4:27pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617/8 "2021-03-04T16:27:20Z")
Hi sorry, I did not know that the `vtk` libarry had such advanced routines. So I was in vein trying to find a way how I can use the Paraview filters instead. If someone in future made the same mistake as me, I thought this might be helpful for them.
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### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2021, 4:29pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617/9 "2021-03-04T16:29:04Z")
To be fair, some ParaView filters are not present in VTK, so asking here is fine.
Regarding the possibilities of VTK, almost all computation within ParaView is performed by a VTK filters.
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### Author:  [@Renard](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Renard)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2021, 5:10pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617/10 "2021-03-04T17:10:20Z")
Hi, I have tried my best to make this work however I get the following error. can you please say what is going wrong here?
```auto
import numpy
import vtk
def GetField(vtu_filename, fieldname):
""" This will extract the field with the given name from the specified file """
reader = vtk.vtkXMLUnstructuredGridReader()
reader.SetFileName(vtu_filename)
reader.Update()
field_array = reader.GetOutput().GetPointData().GetArray(fieldname)
return field_array
def ComputeDivergence(input_array):
gradient_9d = vtk.vtkGradientFilter(input_array)
du_dx, dv_dy, dw_dz = gradient_9d[0], gradient_9d[4], gradient_9d[8]
return du_dx + dv_dy + dw_dz
Myfile = "hys_Ldiamond080.vtu"
Magnetization = GetField(Myfile, "Magnetization")
divergence = ComputeDivergence(Magnetization)
```
I get the following error,
TypeError: method requires a string argument
---
### Author:  [@jfavre](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/jfavre)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2021, 9:26am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617/11 "2021-03-05T09:26:30Z")
I suggest to consult the notes on using [numpy for processing data](https://docs.paraview.org/en/latest/ReferenceManual/vtkNumPyIntegration.html#using-numpy-for-processing-data) and to use the following
> from vtk.numpy\_interface import algorithms as algs
> div\_f = algs.divergence(vec\_field)
From the notes “Gradient and algorithms that require access to a mesh work whether that mesh is a uniform grid, a curvilinear grid, or an unstructured grid thanks to VTK’s data model.”
HTH
---
### Author:  [@Renard](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Renard)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2021, 9:46am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617/12 "2021-03-05T09:46:41Z")
Hi, Thank you for your response. However, This is not working.
```auto
import numpy
import vtk
def GetField(vtu_filename, fieldname):
""" This will extract the field with the given name from the specified file """
reader = vtk.vtkXMLUnstructuredGridReader()
reader.SetFileName(vtu_filename)
reader.Update()
field_array = reader.GetOutput().GetPointData().GetArray(fieldname)
return field_array
def ComputeDivergence(input_array):
gradient_9d = vtk.vtkGradientFilter(input_array)
du_dx, dv_dy, dw_dz = gradient_9d[0], gradient_9d[4], gradient_9d[8]
return du_dx + dv_dy + dw_dz
from vtk.numpy_interface import algorithms as algs
Myfile = "hys_Ldiamond080.vtu"
Magnetization = GetField(Myfile, "Magnetization")
div_f = algs.divergence(Magnetization)
```
I get the following error.
```auto
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "Stack.py", line 21, in
div_f = algs.divergence(Magnetization)
File "/home/rajgourav/.local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/vtk/numpy_interface/algorithms.py", line 125, in new_dsfunc
return dsfunc(array, ds)
File "/home/rajgourav/.local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/vtk/numpy_interface/internal_algorithms.py", line 247, in divergence
if not dataset : dataset = narray.DataSet
AttributeError: 'vtkCommonCorePython.vtkDoubleArray' object has no attribute 'DataSet'
```
---
### Author:  [@jfavre](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/jfavre)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2021, 11:24am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617/13 "2021-03-05T11:24:49Z")
You will need a bit more reading of the documentation page. You need to wrap your VTKArray into an object suitable for numpy processing. Thus, the following code should work for your case:
> from vtk.numpy\_interface import dataset\_adapter as dsa
> obj = dsa.WrapDataObject(reader.GetOutput())
> Magnetization = obj.PointData[“Magnetization”]
> #we now have a numpy array
> isinstance(Magnetization, np.ndarray)
> my\_div = algs.divergence(Magnetization)
Get back the VTK array equivalent of this numpy array
> mag\_vtkarray = dsa.numpyTovtkDataArray(my\_div, “div\_mag”)
> isinstance(mag\_vtkarray, vtk.vtkDoubleArray)
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### Author:  [@Renard](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Renard)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2021, 12:13pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617/14 "2021-03-05T12:13:25Z")
Thanks, the documentation was really cryptic and hard to understand. Your answer is really helpful, I have tried this and this is working. However, I still have a small technical doubt. In order to calculate the Divergence, the function should know all the mesh information. In this case, how does its NumPy function getting this information? Since we are only passing the vector field as a Numpy array? or does this also contain the point data?
---
### Author:  [@jfavre](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/jfavre)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2021, 12:48pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/calculate-the-divergence-of-a-vector-field-using-paraview-filter/6617/15 "2021-03-05T12:48:26Z")
from the documentation:
> Functions like this [gradient] require access to the dataset containing the array and the associated mesh. This is one of the reasons why we use a subclass of `ndarray` in dataset\_adapter: Each array points to the dataset containing it. Functions such as gradient use the mesh and the array together.
a cursory look at [internal\_algorithms.py](https://gitlab.kitware.com/vtk/vtk/-/blob/master/Wrapping/Python/vtkmodules/numpy_interface/internal_algorithms.py) will give you hints about what is going on.