Tools Menu

For any given raytrace, you can perform volume flux calculations numerous times. By changing the inputs to the Volume Flux Options window, you can write the results of volume flux calculations to different files. If desired, each of these calculations can utilize a different volume flux cell configuration; cell positions, number of cells, without having to repeat the raytrace. The data is uses the Volume Flux Viewer to display the results from each file generated. See “View Volume Flux” on page 6.55.

You can also write the results of different raytraces to the same file. This occurs when the volume flux cell configuration does not change from one Apply and Calculate selection to the next. In this case, the results from the current raytrace are mathematically added to the results currently in the file. An incremental counter, which keeps track of the number of simulations is also stored in the file.

A summary of what TracePro will do under different conditions is shown in Table 6.8. For instance, if the specified Results File doesn’t exist, a new one is

always created. If the Results File does exist, then TracePro compares the data in the file to the current state of the model and the current volume flux cell configuration.

TABLE 6.8 - Summary of TracePro action depending on the current state of the model. The “New” and “Old” labels signify whether changes were made since the last time a volume flux calculation was performed.

Volume Flux	New	New	Old	Old
Cell
Configuration
Raytrace	New	Old	New	Old
				User is prompted
TracePro Action	User is	User is	New data is	whether existing
	prompted to	prompted to	added to	data should be
	overwrite	overwrite	existing	added to existing
	Results File	Results File	Results File	data in Results
				File

View Volume Flux

Overview

The Volume Flux Viewer, as shown in Figure 6.38, can be used to visualize data that has been gathered by using the Collect Volume Flux option from the Tools menu. When volume flux data is collected, it is saved to a text file, which can be loaded into the Volume Flux Viewer. Since the volume flux data is arranged in a 3-dimensional grid of data, the volume flux viewer allows you to view any 2-dimensional slice of that data.

To use the Volume Flux Viewer, select Tools|View Volume Flux. Click the Open button to open a Volume Flux file.

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Analysis

Press Open to select a data file.

FIGURE 6.40 - New viewer without data file.

Flux Type

Once the volume flux file has been opened, you can change which Flux Type you are viewing by selecting Absorbed, Incident, Lost, or Originating from the Flux Type drop-down list. An example showing an Incident Flux Type is shown in Figure 6.41.

FIGURE 6.41 - Changing the flux type.

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Tools Menu

Normal Axis/Orientation

The default is to look at the volume flux data with the positive Z axis pointing into the screen (Normal Axis) and the positive Y axis pointing up and the positive X axis pointing right. If, for example, as shown in Figure 6.42, you want to look at the data with the X axis normal to the screen, and the positive Z axis pointing up and the positive Y axis pointing to the left, then you would select the X axis as the Normal Axis, and choose “+Z up, +Y left” from the Orientation drop-down list.

FIGURE 6.42 - Changing the orientation.

Slices

In this example, there are 50 cells along the x-axis. This means that in the above orientation, there are 50 “Slices” of the data that can be displayed. To scroll through the slices, use the spin control (Figure 6.43) to the right of the Normal Axis control. The number just to the left of the spin control shows the axis coordinate (in this case X) of the current slice of data.

FIGURE 6.43 - Spin control for Volume Flux Slices

Color Map

There are several color schemes available for displaying the data. Each can be selected directly from the Color Map drop-down list.

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