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ReadUnstructuredGrid

vtk-examples/Cxx/IO/ReadUnstructuredGrid

Description

This example demonstrates how to read an unstructured grid (VTU) file. The front facing faces are colored Misty Rose, while the back facing faces are colored Tomato.

An example file to use is src/Testing/Data/tetra.vtu.

Other languages

See (Python), (CSharp)

Question

If you have a question about this example, please use the VTK Discourse Forum

Code

ReadUnstructuredGrid.cxx

#include <vtkActor.h>
#include <vtkDataSetMapper.h>
#include <vtkNamedColors.h>
#include <vtkNew.h>
#include <vtkProperty.h>
#include <vtkRenderWindow.h>
#include <vtkRenderWindowInteractor.h>
#include <vtkRenderer.h>
#include <vtkSmartPointer.h>
#include <vtkXMLUnstructuredGridReader.h>

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
  // parse command line arguments
  if (argc < 2)
  {
    std::cerr << "Usage: " << argv[0] << " Filename(.vtu) e.g. tetra.vtu"
              << std::endl;
    return EXIT_FAILURE;
  }

  std::string filename = argv[1];

  // read all the data from the file
  vtkNew<vtkXMLUnstructuredGridReader> reader;
  reader->SetFileName(filename.c_str());
  reader->Update();

  vtkNew<vtkNamedColors> colors;

  // Create a mapper and actor
  vtkNew<vtkDataSetMapper> mapper;
  mapper->SetInputConnection(reader->GetOutputPort());
  mapper->ScalarVisibilityOff();

  vtkNew<vtkActor> actor;
  actor->SetMapper(mapper);
  actor->GetProperty()->EdgeVisibilityOn();
  actor->GetProperty()->SetLineWidth(2.0);
  actor->GetProperty()->SetColor(colors->GetColor3d("MistyRose").GetData());

  vtkNew<vtkProperty> backFace;
  backFace->SetColor(colors->GetColor3d("Tomato").GetData());
  actor->SetBackfaceProperty(backFace);

  // Create a renderer, render window, and interactor
  vtkNew<vtkRenderer> renderer;
  vtkNew<vtkRenderWindow> renderWindow;
  renderWindow->AddRenderer(renderer);
  vtkNew<vtkRenderWindowInteractor> renderWindowInteractor;
  renderWindowInteractor->SetRenderWindow(renderWindow);

  // Add the actor to the scene
  renderer->AddActor(actor);
  renderer->SetBackground(colors->GetColor3d("Wheat").GetData());

  // Render and interact
  renderWindow->SetSize(640, 480);

  renderWindow->Render();
  renderWindowInteractor->Start();

  return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

CMakeLists.txt

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.3 FATAL_ERROR)

project(ReadUnstructuredGrid)

find_package(VTK COMPONENTS 
  vtkCommonColor
  vtkCommonCore
  vtkIOXML
  vtkInteractionStyle
  vtkRenderingContextOpenGL2
  vtkRenderingCore
  vtkRenderingFreeType
  vtkRenderingGL2PSOpenGL2
  vtkRenderingOpenGL2
  QUIET
)

if (NOT VTK_FOUND)
  message("Skipping ReadUnstructuredGrid: ${VTK_NOT_FOUND_MESSAGE}")
  return()
endif()
message (STATUS "VTK_VERSION: ${VTK_VERSION}")
if (VTK_VERSION VERSION_LESS "8.90.0")
  # old system
  include(${VTK_USE_FILE})
  add_executable(ReadUnstructuredGrid MACOSX_BUNDLE ReadUnstructuredGrid.cxx )
  target_link_libraries(ReadUnstructuredGrid PRIVATE ${VTK_LIBRARIES})
else()
  # Prevent a "command line is too long" failure in Windows.
  set(CMAKE_NINJA_FORCE_RESPONSE_FILE "ON" CACHE BOOL "Force Ninja to use response files.")
  add_executable(ReadUnstructuredGrid MACOSX_BUNDLE ReadUnstructuredGrid.cxx )
  target_link_libraries(ReadUnstructuredGrid PRIVATE ${VTK_LIBRARIES})
  # vtk_module_autoinit is needed
  vtk_module_autoinit(
    TARGETS ReadUnstructuredGrid
    MODULES ${VTK_LIBRARIES}
    )
endif()

Download and Build ReadUnstructuredGrid

Click here to download ReadUnstructuredGrid and its CMakeLists.txt file. Once the tarball ReadUnstructuredGrid.tar has been downloaded and extracted,

cd ReadUnstructuredGrid/build

If VTK is installed:

cmake ..

If VTK is not installed but compiled on your system, you will need to specify the path to your VTK build:

cmake -DVTK_DIR:PATH=/home/me/vtk_build ..

Build the project:

make

and run it:

./ReadUnstructuredGrid

WINDOWS USERS

Be sure to add the VTK bin directory to your path. This will resolve the VTK dll's at run time.