Support more flexible messaging from database plugin to user

[aowen87]

This is for Engineering users at LLNL. Note that a key part of Engineering users interaction with VisIt is through a python script they have developed called GrizIt. The python GrizIt script is designed to allow engineering users to use Griz commands they are familiar with to interact with VisIt. At present, there is no adopted way to get information back to users regarding some aspect of the database they have opened. Some degree of messaging is currently achieved by a combination of, File Information (which is basically a textual realization of avtDatabaseMetaData), graying out of variables in the GUI, and exception/warning messages. One example may be Mili library version number. For information that is associated with the database as a whole, its possible we could support a more general, arbitrary text object as an extension of the already existing functionality for the database comment field. This approach may not be sufficient however because its associated only with the database itself and doesn't provide messaging that can vary in response to different GetMesh/GetVar calls issued on a database plugin. So, another route to go here is to support adding generalized textual information on vtkDataArray and vtkDataset objects returned from a plugin. VisIt can inspect the returned objects and if it finds attached to these objects some "avtMessageInfo" object (or some such thing), do the work to push the string either to the ''output" window or as a separate popup dialog.

-----------------------REDMINE MIGRATION----------------------- This ticket was migrated from Redmine. As such, not all information was able to be captured in the transition. Below is a complete record of the original redmine ticket.

Ticket number: 2558 Status: Pending Project: VisIt Tracker: Feature Priority: Low Subject: Support more flexible messaging from database plugin to user Assigned to: Matt Larsen Category: - Target version: - Author: Mark Miller Start: 03/21/2016 Due date: % Done: 0% Estimated time: Created: 03/21/2016 08:49 pm Updated: 10/17/2017 07:49 pm Likelihood: Severity: Found in version: 2.12.3 Impact: 3 - Medium Expected Use: 3 - Occasional OS: All Support Group: GrizIt Description: This is for Engineering users at LLNL. Note that a key part of Engineering users interaction with VisIt is through a python script they have developed called GrizIt. The python GrizIt script is designed to allow engineering users to use Griz commands they are familiar with to interact with VisIt. At present, there is no adopted way to get information back to users regarding some aspect of the database they have opened. Some degree of messaging is currently achieved by a combination of, File Information (which is basically a textual realization of avtDatabaseMetaData), graying out of variables in the GUI, and exception/warning messages. One example may be Mili library version number. For information that is associated with the database as a whole, its possible we could support a more general, arbitrary text object as an extension of the already existing functionality for the database comment field. This approach may not be sufficient however because its associated only with the database itself and doesn't provide messaging that can vary in response to different GetMesh/GetVar calls issued on a database plugin. So, another route to go here is to support adding generalized textual information on vtkDataArray and vtkDataset objects returned from a plugin. VisIt can inspect the returned objects and if it finds attached to these objects some "avtMessageInfo" object (or some such thing), do the work to push the string either to the ''output" window or as a separate popup dialog.

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