[Python-apps-team] Bug#488569: mayavi2: please implement a SelectMultiOutput filter

[Francesco Poli]

Package: mayavi2
Version: 2.1.1-5
Severity: wishlist

Hello!

Thanks to the SelectOutput filter, I am now able to visualize
multiblock PLOT3D data files.  This was implemented in response to
bug #478359: great!   :-)

However, manually selecting several different blocks, even when
using copy & paste within the object tree, is slow and unpractical,
especially if you later change your mind on which filters/modules
you want to apply to *all* the loaded blocks...

I would like to see a new filter implemented: it could be named
"SelectMultiOutput" or something similar.
It should work as follows: like the SelectOutput filter,
SelectMultiOutput would be able to select which blocks are loaded from
the PLOT3D data source; but, unlike SelectOutput, SelectMultiOutput
would permit the user to select one *or more* of the available blocks.
Instead of one slider, SelectMultiOutput would present a list of
available blocks, and the user would be allowed to select any number
of them (say, #1, #2, and #4, but not the remaining ones).
Any child filter/module of a SelectMultiOutput filter would be
transparently applied to each selected data block, so that adding,
changing, or deleting children would affect all selected data blocks
at the same time.
In terms of object tree, the following example situation:

 v TVTK Scene 1
   v PLOT3D:myfile.xyz, myfile.q
     v SelectMultiOutput
       v ExtractVectorComponents
         v Modules
             Surface

(where the SelectMultiOutput filter selects blocks #1, #3, #4, #5 of
the, say, 8 available blocks in myfile.{xyz,q}), would be substantially
equivalent to:

 v TVTK Scene 1
   v PLOT3D:myfile.xyz, myfile.q
     v SelectOutput
       v ExtractVectorComponents
         v Modules
             Surface
     v SelectOutput
       v ExtractVectorComponents
         v Modules
             Surface
     v SelectOutput
       v ExtractVectorComponents
         v Modules
             Surface
     v SelectOutput
       v ExtractVectorComponents
         v Modules
             Surface

(where the above SelectOutput filters select blocks #1, #3, #4, and #5,
respectively).


I hope this feature can be implemented sooner or later: despite being
not too trivial to add, I think it would greatly improve the usability
of mayavi2.

Please forward this wishlist bug report to upstream.
Thank you.


-- System Information:
Debian Release: lenny/sid
  APT prefers testing
  APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 2.6.24-1-amd64 (SMP w/2 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash

Versions of packages mayavi2 depends on:
ii  libc6                        2.7-10      GNU C Library: Shared libraries
ii  python                       2.5.2-1     An interactive high-level object-o
ii  python-central               0.6.7       register and build utility for Pyt
ii  python-enthought-traits      2.0.4-2     Manifest typing and reactive progr
ii  python-enthought-traits-ui   2.0.4-3     User interface related modules for
ii  python-numpy                 1:1.1.0-1   Numerical Python adds a fast array
ii  python-pkg-resources         0.6c8-3     Package Discovery and Resource Acc
ii  python-vtk                   5.0.4-1+b1  Python bindings for VTK
ii  python-wxgtk2.6              2.6.3.2.2-2 wxWidgets Cross-platform C++ GUI t
ii  python2.5                    2.5.2-6     An interactive high-level object-o

mayavi2 recommends no packages.

-- no debconf information