Analysis

FIGURE 6.31 - Save Incident Ray Data dialog illustrating Binary Source File format

Source files saved in Binary Source File format can be inserted into a TracePro model in a couple of different ways as described by the section “Insert Source” on page 5.23.

Ray Histories

The Ray History Table window, as shown in Figure 6.32, displays the incident ray direction, intercept coordinates, incident flux, optical path length, and the object and surface names for the entire path of each ray as it strikes each surface along the path. Each ray path history is displayed on its own sheet in the Ray History Table window. Each ray history sheet can be scrolled using the usual cursor controls, and you can view other sheets containing other ray histories using

Analysis|Ray Select|Next Ray and Analysis|Ray Select|Previous Ray, or by using Alt+PgDn and Alt+PgUp, respectively. The Navigator buttons can be used to select the ray. The navigator allows you to select the first ray (|<), previous ray (<), next ray (>), or last ray (>|). You can also insert the ray number and press the Enter key to display a specific ray.

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Analysis Menu

FIGURE 6.32 - Ray History Table

The Ray History Table window can be viewed for any surface in the model. To view a ray history table:

•choose the Edit|Select Surface menu item or press the Select Surface toolbar button,

•select the surface for which you want to see the ray history table,

•choose Analysis|Ray Histories.

A new window opens with a ray history table for that specified surface. To view the ray history table at another surface, select that surface with the mouse and the ray table will be updated to show the rays at that surface.

Each sheet in the Ray History Table displays the columns listed in Table 6.5 with additional columns for polarization data if polarization raytrace in enabled.

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Analysis

TABLE 6.5. Ray History Table Columns

		Polarization
Label	Description	Ray Trace
Wavelength	Wavelength for the current ray
Ray Node	The ray starts with ray node 1 (at the source or grid) and the
	first ray-surface intersection is node 2, etc.
Start Ray	Start Ray 3 is the third ray started in the raytrace, for example.
X Pos., Y Pos.,	X, Y, and Z coordinates where the ray struck the surface
Z Pos.
Flux	Flux of the incident ray.
OPL	Optical path length of the ray, cumulative from the source—the
	integral of the distance along the ray times the index of refrac-
	tion
X Vec., Y Vec.,	Direction cosines of the departing ray
Z Vec.
Type	SpecRefl for specular reflection, for example. See Table 6.1
	on page 6.40.
History	Often blank. It refers to any special type of the ray node. For
	example, TIR for total internal reflection. A totally internally
	reflected ray on the ray node results in Type=SpecRefl and
	History=TIR. See Table 6.2 on page 6.40.
Object	Name of the object at the current ray node
Surface	Name of the surface at the current ray node
S0, S1, S2, S3	Components of the Stokes vector in the local coordinate sys-	enabled
	tem of the ray
Deg Pol	Degree of polarization of the ray	enabled
Ellipse Ratio	Ratio between the two axes of the polarization ellipse	enabled
Xvec MajAxis,	X, Y, and Z coordinates of a vector pointing in the direction of	enabled
Yvec MajAxis,	the major axis of the polarization ellipse
Zvec MajAxis

Copying and Pasting the Ray History Table Data

The ray history table data can be easily exported from TracePro to another software package such as a spreadsheet or word processor. First, be sure the ray history table window is the active window. Select Edit|Copy in TracePro (or Ctrl- C). Switch to the other application and select Edit|Paste (or Ctrl-V). The tabular data is transferred to the other program via the Windows clipboard.

Saving the Ray History Table in a File

You can also save the ray history table in a text file. Then the table can be imported into a spreadsheet program, for example, or you can perform postprocessing operations using your own or other analysis software. To do this, first be sure the ray history table is the active window (as indicated by a colored top bar on the top of the window), then select File|Save As. The default extension for the file is txt. Type the file name you wish to use and press OK. TracePro saves a tab-delimited file containing the ray history table.

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