Default for foamToVTK conversion of finiteArea fields
Summary
When using foamToVTK on the results from a case that includes finiteArea fields (eg $FOAM_TUTORIALS/incompressible/pimpleFoam/laminar/inclinedPlaneFilm), by default the finiteArea fields are not processed. Instead, you need to apply the -finite-area flag to force them to write. Furthermore, the -finite-area and -surfaceFields flags are not documented in the help blurb for foamToVTK.
Steps to reproduce / example case
- run the $FOAM_TUTORIALS/incompressible/pimpleFoam/laminar/inclinedPlaneFilm tutorial.
- run utility foamToVTK without any parameters.
- look in the VTK folder ... observe that there's no finite-area data (or just read the foamToVTK output).
- execute foamToVTK -help and examine the text output.
OpenFOAM version : v2112 Operating system : ubuntu
Possible fixes
Some quality-of-life improvements:
- Add a description of the -finite-area flag to the "foamToVTK -help" output. Whilst at it, perhaps document the -surfaceFields flag as well.
- For consistency with the surfaceFields flag, should this flag not be called "finiteAreaFields"?
- Lastly, surely the default for foamToVTK should be to write surface and finiteArea fields, if they are present, rather than the user having to request them? Why would you ever want to calculate the fields and then not look at them? Perhaps adjust the logid to write them by default, and then have flags to suppress their output instead?