Issue with VTK output file naming convention

[mchurchf]

When you turn on the VTK output, the file naming convention is something like:
Model.AD_Blade1.t0.vtp
Model.AD_Blade1.t1.vtp
...
Model.AD_Blade1.tN.vtp

In order for Paraview to read in and animate the entire time series, the "t" should not be there. Instead, the filename should look like:
Model.AD_Blade1.0.vtp
Model.AD_Blade1.1.vtp
...
Model.AD_Blade1.N.vtp

[sayerhs]

@mchurchf Please see if #17 does what you are looking for. If you and @michaelasprague agree, I'll merge and update master and dev

[jjonkman]

I'm not an expert in ParaView, but I've not seen any problems having the "t" when trying to animate as the *.t#.vtk files get sorted properly anyway. If this really is a problem, we'll not only have to change the visualization output from FAST, but we've used the same numbering convention for the ambient wind input to FAST.Farm (from ABLSolver) and the disturbed wind visualization output from FAST.Farm, which should be changed as well. We'll also have to change the documentation.

[gruchalla]

There are many ways to use ParaView. I think both xxx.t0.vtp and xxx.0.vtp will work in many instances. Although, xxx.0.vtp is a bit more standard and likely to be recognized by a wider range of use cases.

Also, it is generally a good idea to pad your time steps with 0 to facilitate sorting, e.g., xxx.0000.vtp ... xxx.9999.vtp vs xxx.0.vtp ... xxx.9999.vtp

[HaymanConsulting]

I'm inclined to only make a change if someone can present a concrete use-case where the current naming convention is causing an issue.

[mchurchf]

Yes, my install of Paraview 5.3.0-RC2 on my Mac won’t open the time series with the "t" in the name. It will only open individual times. Another data point is my install of Paraview 5.0.0 on Peregrine will also not open the time series if "t" is in the name.

[michaelasprague]

@ghaymanNREL -- can we make this change along with @gruchalla 's suggestion of padding with zeros, "e.g., xxx.0000.vtp ... xxx.9999.vtp vs xxx.0.vtp ... xxx.9999.vtp"

[rafmudaf]

@mschmidt271 and @rafmudaf are currently working on this. See pull request #116.

[rafmudaf]

Fixed by pull request #126