Download Tecplot User`s Manual

CHAPTER 24
Data Operations
All plots in Tecplot, with the exception of sketches, rely on the data sets attached to each
frame. You can modify, create, transform, interpolate, duplicate, and delete the data in the current data set using the Data menu. You can also use the data operation capabilities of Tecplot to
create plots of analytical functions. By using Tecplot’s linked layout files, or macro capabilities
and equation files, you can create complex data operations that can be repeated on different
data sets.
Changes to the data set within Tecplot do not affect the original data file(s). You can save the
modified data to a data file by selecting Write Data File from the File menu. When you save a
layout file, a journal of data operations is saved and those operations are repeated when the
layout file is read at a later time. If the data in the file has changed, or the data file is overridden
with a different file, the operations are applied to the new data. Alternatively, any data sets that
have been modified are also saved to data files (see Section 5.3, “Layout Files, Layout Package
Files, Stylesheets,” for details).
24.1. Data Journaling
Data is often loaded into Tecplot from external sources, such as data files. On occasion you
may modify this data prior to making a final plot. Some (but not all) of the data operations
mentioned in this chapter modify data. Tecplot simultaneously “journals” the corresponding
instructions. If you then save a layout file, it can reference the original data and include in the
layout the instructions necessary to reconstruct the final data used for plotting.
If you perform some type of operation in Tecplot that it is unable to journal then you are
prompted to save the data set to a new file when you go to save a layout file. This is necessary
for the layout to reproduce exactly what you have in your plot.
24.1.1. Data Journaled Operations
Tecplot journals the following operations:
•
•
•
•
Data alteration (except for derivatives).
Creation of rectangular zones, circular zones, and 1-D zones from within Tecplot.
Zone duplication.
Zone deletion.
387