Mesh Visualization

 One of the primary functions of V2K is to facilitate visual inspection of a volume mesh. The tools required to support this are located on the main interface and are immediately available upon program execution once a mesh has been imported.
 The panel to the left provides the controls required to define and manipulate mesh planeswhich are surfaces of constant i, j or k index.

Mesh Plane Specification

 Mesh planes may be defined anywhere within the active block the corresponding index for which is displayed in the text field at the top of the panel. A block is made to be the active block by either (1) using the increment/decrement arrow buttons, (2) entering the index of the desired block into the text field, or (3) interactively selecting the desired block from the graphics display. Though edges of all blocks are redndered (by default), the edges of the active block become highlighted unless the block is interactively selected in which case the edges are rendered in red.

 Once the desired block has been made active, the user need only press the Create button to define a mesh plane. The default plane is centered in the i-direction, and its index is identified adjacent to the slider and in the associated text field. The location of this plane may be dynamically adjusted by simply moving the middle slider control or by entering an index into the slider text field. The user may also recast this plane as a constant j or k plane by pressing the desired button at the top of this sub-panel.

Rendering Control

 Rendering characteristics for the mesh planes are, of course, subject to user control. At creation time, mesh planes are rendered as wireframes of the color indicated in the pull-down menu located at the bottom of the panel. Adjustment of this color has an immediate effect on the active mesh plane, and all subsequently created planes will be rendered similarly. If so desired, alternate rendering Styles may be prescribed for the active plane.

Mesh Plane Manipulation

 The definition and rendering attributes of the active mesh plane can be rapidly copied to other blocks using either the Copy To Selected and Copy To All buttons. Note that the former becomes active only after one or more other blocks have been selected, and this selection must be performed while depressing the Shift key as is required for multiple selections. The usefulness of these copy facilities is limited to instances in which the local coordinate systems of the individual blocks are similarly aligned.

 The user should note that each of the sliders has upper and lower slider controls. In the context of visualization, these controls simply restrict the view of the prescribed block and subset of the mesh plane. These controls also play a role in the mesh modification facilities.

 Lastly, as mesh planes are created, any plane may be made active by simply selecting it with the mouse. At such time, the block and plane widgets are update to reflect the location (i.e. block and index) of the now active plane. Owing to the interactive selection, the mesh plane also becomes highlighted in red.