4.2. Operators that Generate New Variables

Some of VisIt’s operators act more like expressions in that they generate new variables that can be plotted. The variable type they output does not necessarily match the variable type they accept as input. For example, the IntegralCurve operator accepts a Vector and outputs a Scalar, while the ConnectedComponents operator accepts a Mesh and outputs a Scalar.

Most of the operators that generate new variables are best applied using the operators submenu of a particular plot’s variable menu. See Figure 4.9,

Fig. 4.9 The menu for applying an operator that generates a new variable.

It is probably best after applying an operator in this fashion to open the Operator’s attributes window to ensure good settings for your data before clicking Draw.

Operators that generate Scalars:

1. Connected Components

2. DataBinning

3. Flux

4. Integral Curve operator

5. Lagrangian Coherent Structure (LCS) operator

6. Limit Cycle operator

7. ModelFit

8. Poincaré operator

9. StatisticalTrends

Operators that generate Vectors:

1. Lagrangian Coherent Structure (LCS) operator

2. SurfaceNormal

Operators that generate Curves:

1. DataBinning

2. Lagrangian

3. LimitCycle

4. Lineout