Regression concerning state files (.pvsm) from ParaView 5.9 to 5.10

ParaView Support
1

Hello everyone,

I’ve noticed 2 issues concerning the way ParaView works with state files (.pvsm) since upgrading from version 5.9.1 to version 5.10.1 on my Windows machine.

1st issue:

With version 5.9.1, I used to be able to simply double-click on a state file and the application would rerun the pipeline.

With version 5.10.1, when I double-click on a state file, ParaView seems to try to open it like it was a data file and asks me what reader to “Open Data With…” and selecting most readers simply results in an error message while some readers even cause the application to silently crash.

The steps to reproduce this error are easy: with fresh installs of both ParaView version 5.9.1 and version 5.10.1, save a state file with any one of them, then try to open it from the Windows file browser. Version 5.9 will open it successfully as a state file, but version 5.10 will prompt you to choose a reader.

2nd issue:

Again with ParaView version 5.9.1, I used to be able to manually modify a state file to make it work with relative paths (which was necessary if I wanted to use the same state files on different computers, unless someone knows of another way to make these state files portable). Now with version 5.10.1, loading a state file containing relative paths results in an error message.

Steps to reproduce: load a data file with ParaView 5.9 or 5.10 and save a state file in the same directory as the data file. Then in a text editor (for example Notepad++), find all the lines with your data file’s location and replace the full path with a ‘.’ (for example: if your file is under “C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\MYDATAFILE.EXTENSION” you need to replace the full path with “.\MYDATAFILE.EXTENSION”).

Did anyone notice the same issues ? or knows of a workaround ?

Thank you in advance !

2

With regards to the first issue, @cory.quammen @mwestphal I assume this is a regression?

With regards to the second issue, you are somewhat breaking the model of state files. When you load state files, you get the option to change where the file resides in the first screen. This is done in case you pass state and data files to me, and I want to open the state file on my computer.

3

This sound like this issue: https://gitlab.kitware.com/paraview/paraview/-/issues/21334

@utkarsh.ayachit

4

@mwestphal
That does look like the issue I’m experiencing. Thanks for the info !

5

Thank you for the suggestion @wascott.

However, I’ve tested your suggestion on my machines and this doesn’t work for me for the following reason:

I’m using a synchronization software (Syncthing) in order to have the same files without having to transfer between machines with a USB key or by some other tedious means. Which means that whatever changes I do to my state files on one machine is reflected on the other one. The option to change where the file resides still results in a machine specific path that breaks the state file of the other machine. The only “workaround” is to CONSTANTLY re-specify file location whenever I switch machines.

True I was kind of “hacking” my state files to make them machine independent, but at least with ParaView 5.9 that allowed me to enjoy a seamless transition between machines. With ParaView 5.10 this isn’t possible anymore.