Tutorial: Other Useful information

Converting Spec A to Spec D databases

It is necessary at times to convert a Spec A to a Spec D Cinema database (CDB). Spec A CDBs are available from ParaView v5.6 and earlier, from VisIt, from Ascent or you may have an older CDB that needs to be updated.

The cinema_lib library can be used to upgrade a Spec A CDB. Follow the instructions for downloading and installing from the cinema_lib Github page or see cinema_lib Library. Included in that download is a upgrade_cinema_database script:

cinema_lib/cinema_lib/upgrade_cinema_database

Simply run the upgrade_cinema_database script giving the path to your Spec A database. This will result in the generation of a Spec D compliant data.csv file. Once converted, the Spec D CDB can be viewed with your favorite Cinema viewer, CinemaScience Viewers.

$ upgrade_cinema_database /path_to_database/database_name.cdb

A Note on Browser Security

To use the browser-based viewers, you MUST allow local file access. Do this in the following way, but be sure to reset these options when you are done as this allows loading of a file from any folder.

  • Firefox (preferred)
    • In the brower search bar, enter about:config
    • Set privacy.file_unique_origin to false
    • Set security.fileuri.strict_origin_policy to false
  • Safari
    • Safari->Preferences->Advanced->Show Develop menu in menu bar
    • Safari->Develop->Disable Local File Restrictions (on)
  • Chrome
    • open chrome with the option --disable-web-security
    • Mac example:
      open -na “Google Chrome” cinema_view.html –args –user-data-dir=”<path/to/repo>” –disable-web-security

The CinemaScience GitHub page and the CinemaScience website are useful sources for more information and ideas.