display properties per file type

Is it possible to set specific properties based on the file type? I know I can set properties, then save them as the defaults. But those will be the default for every file type until I change or reset them. What I want to do is read in a file, set the properties as I need, then map those properties to that file type. Then when I open the next file of that type, it will apply the setting I saved. If I open a different file type, it will apply either the Paraview default properties or the defaults I save for THAT file type.

Thanks!

Hi @tjggriffin

What kind of properties are you looking for ? What is the end goal ?

Best,

When I open certain files I ALWAYS have to change some Properties, Display and/or View settings to get them to show correctly. GTLF and SAVG are good examples, but it would be useful for any file type. In these types, color is embedded in the file. Paraview defaults to mapping a data element, usually scalar, to colors. Therefore, under Display, I have to select the data element I want to use for color, and uncheck the “Map Scalars” option. To get smooth shading, I have to select the data element to use for normals, which defaults to None. Often I’m reading in many files. If that are loaded as multi-block data, that prevents using the Group Files filter.

I tried saving settings/properties as a default. 1) If I open a different type, the saved defaults will likely be wrong. 2) Not all the properties I changed are saved. A complete list of properties that do and don’t get saved would be very helpful.

Once I read in the data and setup the rest of the pipeline, I can save the state. So far, all the settings I’ve tried are saved with the state. But the file browser for selecting data in Load State only lets me select one file. Open… and Recent Files lets me use Ctrl and Shift to select arbitrary files.

The nice thing with VTK/Paraview is the flexibility in storing data. Therefore, I’d think that having to select which data effect which aspect of the visualization would be pretty common, color, transparency, glyph, size, direction, etc. A more general solution would be to map any properties on to various file attributes, name, location, etc. I can easily imagine for a given data type, wanting to use different elements to control settings.

Hi @tjggriffin

ParaView is not really considering files using their file types. Once the data is opened, the file is converted into a vtkDataSet. They are of course different type of vtkDataSet and you would be able to configure ParaView for each of these representation a little bit. But by filetype settings is just not possible.

A possible work around is to create macros for each of the filestypes. A macro is a just a pvpython script that is available as a simple button in the macro toolbar. This way, you would be able to setup your vis in a single click.

You may also want to take a look into F3D, as letting user configure the software by filetype is exactly the F3D approach, although F3D is only for viewing, not for post processing.

Hth

Thanks so much! I will take a look at macros. Sounds like the best way to go and maybe exactly what I’m looking for.