Installing a Maintenance Release of 360 on Windows Does Not Work

Chorus, Installation, Tecplot 360 June 28, 2019

Problem: Installing a maintenance release of 360 on Windows which replaces an existing 360 installation does not update 360 to the newer maintenance release version, even though the installer says the installation is successful. Solution: Close all running instances of Tecplot 360. A maintenance release overwrites the existing 360 installation. If 360 is running the operating system will prevent the executable from being upgraded. Confirm that all running instances of […]

» Read More

Min-Max Values of Transient Data

Contours, Macro, Tecplot 360 June 28, 2019

Problem: The min-max values shown in the Data Set Information dialog do not show values across all time. Solution: If you have transient data, the min-max for a variable is only for the “active zones” which unfortunately means only the current time step because the other time steps are not currently active. To see the min-max for the entire data set, run the PlotMinMaxContourOverTime.mcr macro from the Tecplot handyscripts GitHub […]

» Read More

Deleting Geometries in a Layout Template

Derived Objects, Frames, Macro, Tecplot 360, Text June 25, 2019

Question: How does one replace the geometries (shapes, polylines, etc.) already present in a layout when a new data file is loaded into the layout file? Explanation of the Question: I created a layout file from a dataset that contains geometries, such as a relative wind velocity vector or aircraft body axes relative to wind axes. I want to create a template from this layout, but the geometries are now […]

» Read More

Calculating Grid K Normal Nodal Values

Calculation, Data Format, Documentation, Tecplot 360, Vector June 25, 2019

Question: The symmetry of nodal Grid K Unit Normal values differ from the comparable cell-centered values (see Figure 1). How are nodal Grid K Unit Normal values calculated?1 Explaining the Question: In Figure 1, at nodes 1, 6, 11, 16, and 21 the X Grid K Unit Normal vectors are equal. However, on the data row below it (nodes 2, 7, 12, 17, and 22), the components of the X […]

» Read More

Adding Macros to the Quick Macro Panel

Macro, Tecplot 360 June 19, 2019

In Tecplot 360, the Quick Macro Panel is a sidebar for playing your favorite or frequently-used macros. It initially appears docked to the right side of the main Tecplot 360 window, but like the other sidebars can be hidden from view. To display the Quick Macro Panel, select Scripting->Quick Macros. Adding macros to the Quick Macro Panel in Tecplot 360 is useful for playing your favorite or frequently-used macros. The […]

» Read More

How to Trim Triangulations

Data Format, Derived Objects, Tecplot 360, Triangulation June 18, 2019

Question: How do I prevent the triangulation feature from spanning concave regions of my plot with triangles? Solution: Extracted polylines can be used as boundary zones to limit the triangulation. In particular, these polylines can be used to prevent triangles from spanning concave regions during 2D triangulations. The following procedure utilizes these polylines to trim a triangulation of unorganized data to the desired shape: 1) Load the data to be […]

» Read More

Viewing Raster Metafiles With Framer

Animation, Display, Export, Image, Tecplot 360 June 12, 2019

Background: Framer is an unsupported utility program that was included with discontinued versions of Tecplot 360. It allows you to view files stored in Raster Metafile format and runs independently of Tecplot 360. Raster Metafile is a NASA-defined standard format for storing bit images and may contain one or more images. The last version of Tecplot 360 that included framer.exe was Tecplot 360 2013. As Raster Metafiles (.rm) have become […]

» Read More

Off-screen Export Failed & Export Memory Problems

Export, Tecplot 360, Uncategorized June 10, 2019

Problem: I receive the following error when exporting an image or video. “The off-screen image export failed. This may be caused by remote display issues with OpenGL…” Solution: Like the error message says, remote displays may cause issues with OpenGL. However, this error message can also appear whenever there are off-screen export failures downstream at the graphics card level. The graphics card usually rejects the off-screen export if the image/video […]

» Read More

Calculate Swirl Strength

Macro, Tecplot 360, Vortices June 7, 2019

Problem: How do I calculate the Swirling Strength criterion (Lambda-Ci)? Solution: Use a Tecplot Macro to automate the calculation. Make sure Tecplot is aware of the variables representing your velocity field (Analyze->Field Variables menu).   The commands are as follow: Calculate the tensor of velocity gradients. This command can be obtained by recording the Analyze->Calculate Variables…->Velocity Gradient (tensor) action in Tecplot’s user interface (UI). $!EXTENDEDCOMMAND COMMANDPROCESSORID = ‘CFDAnalyzer4’ COMMAND = […]

» Read More

Derivation of Field Values in Slices and Iso-surfaces

Derived Objects, Tecplot 360, Uncategorized June 6, 2019

The following discussion assumes the “Source Zone” is a volume zone (IJK, FE-Tetra, FE-Brick or polyhedral). For the most part the type of volume zone does not matter with one exception dealing with polyhedral source zones (see below). The manner for which data values are calculated for slices (or iso-surfaces) does however depend on the following: Value location for variables in the source zone Surface Generation Method (option in the […]

» Read More

Tecplot 360 Categories