Command Line Options

Tecplot 360 Command Line

The general form of the Tecplot 360 command line is:

tec360 [options] [layoutfile] [datafiles] [macrofile]

Most Tecplot 360 command line options are available for Windows operating systems, not just Linux and Mac. To use them, start Tecplot 360 from the Run command or at the command prompt (cmd.exe).

Under Windows, invoking Tecplot 360 from the command line or in a .bat file returns immediately rather than waiting for the application to terminate. If you are using Tecplot 360 to convert files or run a macro, you probably want to wait until Tecplot 360 has finished one operation before proceeding with the next. Otherwise, the next step may be working with partially-written data. To do this, invoke it with start /wait tec360 followed by the desired options.

Where:

layoutfile: File with extension *.lay or *.lpk. See also Layout Files, Layout Package Files, Stylesheets.
datafiles: One or more data files. If both a layout file (*.lay only) and data files appear on the command line, Tecplot 360 substitutes the data files referenced in the layout file with the data files listed in the command line.
macrofile: Macro file name. See also Macros.
options: one or more of the following:

-addonfile filename

Supply a custom list of addons via the tecplot.add file.

-b macrofile

Run in batch mode.

-c cfgfile

Use cfgfile for the configuration instead of the default configuration file, tecplot.cfg.

-convert

Loads all the specified data files, and runs specified macros in a restricted batch mode in which the only permitted options are reading data files (in any supported format) and writing SZL files. Does not use a license key. See also -o.

-display computername

Display on computer computername (Linux only). The target system must have X-server capability with the GLX extension.

-datafile filename

Load data file filename.

-debug dbugfile

Send debug information to the file dbugfile. Information is displayed to aid in debugging a new configuration file, macro file, or binary data file. You may specify the minus sign ("-") for dbugfile to send the debug output to the "standard output" (Mac/Linux only).

-f fontfile

Use fontfile instead of the default font file, tecplot.fnt.

-h homedir

Use homedir for the home directory instead of the default home directory.

--help

Open help message for command-line flags.

-loadaddon "addonname"

Load an add-on named addonname.

-m colormapfile

Use colormapfile as the initial color map file.

--max-available-processors numprocs

Restrict the number of processors (processor cores) employed by Tecplot 360 to the numprocs specified. Some tasks can be performed in parallel, so using all available processors greatly increases performance of those tasks. By default, Tecplot 360 uses all processors available on the machine to provide the best performance in most cases. Assign a value less than the total number of available processors to limit the number of processors used by Tecplot 360 to the assigned number.

--mesa

-mesa (deprecated)

Linux Only – Use a version of the OpenGL rendering library which uses software rendering (using CPU) rather than hardware rendering (using the GPU and installed/native drivers). Use this flag in situations when a graphics card and/or driver do not exist or it is not working. For assistance troubleshooting see the Troubleshooting Appendix in the User’s Manual. Mesa libraries are used for both on- and off-screen rendering, if you are only working in batch use --osmesa. Mesa may be slower and lower quality on-screen rendering than hardware rendering (using the GPU) but will be reliable.

For Windows - copy the opengll32.dll from the bin\mesa directory to the bin directory in order to use mesa rendering.

--mesa-swrast

--osmesa-swrast

Linux Only – Use when the standard versions of mesa and osmesa libraries conflict with default libraries. Use these options only as a last resort. They cannot be used with regular --mesa or --osmesa commands.

-nobanner

Do not show the opening banner (i.e. splash screen).

-nobatchlog

Suppress creation of the file batch.log during batch mode operation.

-nostdaddons

Do not load the add-ons listed in the tecplot.add file.

-notoolbar

Run with the toolbar deactivated.

-nowelcomescreen

Do not display the Welcome Screen at startup (it may still be opened after launch from the View menu)

-o outputfile.szplt

Writes the specified SZL file from the data loaded from other files (including macros) specified on the command line, then exit. Does not require a license key. See also the -convert command.

--osmesa

Linux Only – Use a version of the OpenGL rendering library which is designed for off screen export using software rendering (using CPU) where there is no X server connection. OSMesa is automatically used when running in batch mode without an X server connection. Also use this flag if 360 or PyTecplot crash in batch mode.

-p scriptfile

Play the macro commands in the file scriptfile.mcr.

-q

Use quick playback mode. Ignores delay and pause commands.

-qm quickpanelfile

Place the macro functions in quickpanelfile in the Quick Macro Panel, instead of using the macros from the default file, tecplot.mcr.

-quiet

Turns off all standard-out messages (Linux only).

-r printfile

Set the filename for routing Print Files to printfile.

-s stylefile

Use stylefile as a stylesheet for the first frame (*.sty).

-showpanel

Open the Quick Macro Panel upon startup.

--use-openssl

Linux Only - Force the use of supplied OpenSSL libraries instead of installed system libraries. For systems with unusual OpenSSL configurations, this may enable the Load Remote Data option in the file menu (the SZL Client add-on).

--use-sys

Use the libraries from the bin/sys sub-folder below the tecplot home directory when running Tecplot. The sys sub-folder contains the version of libstdc++ that was used to build Tecplot and may be required when running older Linux systems. (Linux only).

-v

Display the version number.

-y exportfile

Set the filename for export files to exportfile.

-z

Display macro commands in the Macro Viewer. This allows you to see macro commands prior to their launch.

Command Line Input	Result
tec360	Run Tecplot 360 without pre-loading any data files
tec360 ex1.plt	Run Tecplot 360 loading the data file ex1.plt as the first dataset
tec360 ex1.plt ex2.plt ex3.plt	Run Tecplot 360 loading the data files ex1.plt, ex2.plt, and ex3.plt as the first dataset
tec360 -h /usr/myhome -c /usr/myhome/myset.cfg	Run Tecplot 360 using /usr/myhome as the Tecplot 360 home directory and loading the Tecplot 360 configuration file /usr/myhome/myset.cfg
tec360 sumtr1.lay	Run Tecplot 360 using layout file sumtr1.lay
tec360 calc.lay temp.plt	Read a Tecplot 360 layout file calc.lay and replace the first dataset referenced in the layout file with the data file temp.plt
tec360 -p a.mcr	Run Tecplot 360 and play a macro called a.mcr
tec360 infile.dat -o outfile.szplt	Reads infile.dat, writes outfile.szplt in batch mode. Does not require a license.
tec360 -convert conversion.mcr	In batch mode, run the macro file conversion.mcr which may contain instructions only to read files and write them in .szl format. Does not require a license.

Command Line Input

Result

tec360

Run Tecplot 360 without pre-loading any data files

tec360 ex1.plt

Run Tecplot 360 loading the data file ex1.plt as the first dataset

tec360 ex1.plt ex2.plt ex3.plt

Run Tecplot 360 loading the data files ex1.plt, ex2.plt, and ex3.plt as the first dataset

tec360 -h /usr/myhome -c /usr/myhome/myset.cfg

Run Tecplot 360 using /usr/myhome as the Tecplot 360 home directory and loading the Tecplot 360 configuration file /usr/myhome/myset.cfg

tec360 sumtr1.lay

Run Tecplot 360 using layout file sumtr1.lay

tec360 calc.lay temp.plt

Read a Tecplot 360 layout file calc.lay and replace the first dataset referenced in the layout file with the data file temp.plt

tec360 -p a.mcr

Run Tecplot 360 and play a macro called a.mcr

tec360 infile.dat -o outfile.szplt

Reads infile.dat, writes outfile.szplt in batch mode. Does not require a license.

tec360 -convert conversion.mcr

In batch mode, run the macro file conversion.mcr which may contain instructions only to read files and write them in .szl format. Does not require a license.

Using Command Line Options in Windows Shortcuts

All of the command line options that can be entered at the DOS or WCommand prompt by using the Run command can also be used in a Windows shortcut.

If you frequently run Tecplot 360 using the same command line flags, it may be useful to create a shortcut on your Windows desktop that launches Tecplot 360 with the desired command line flags. Here’s how this can be done:

This process may vary slightly in different supported versions of Windows. The Windows 7 dialogs are shown here.

Right click any blank space on your Windows desktop.
Select New→Shortcut from the resulting Menu.
In the Create Shortcut dialog, type the location of the Tecplot 360 executable, along with any command flags you want to specify. An example command line is:
"C:\Program Files\Tecplot 360 EX 2024 R1\bin\tec360.exe" -p C:\Me\mymacro.mcr
You may also click the Browse button to choose the executable using an Open dialog, instead of typing the path.
Click Next.
Select a name for your shortcut, then click Finish.
A new shortcut icon will be placed on your Windows desktop.

Changing Shortcuts

You can alter an existing shortcut by doing the following:

Right-click on the shortcut icon you want to change and select Properties.
On the Shortcut page, modify the command line by changing the setting for Target. To change the working directory that Tecplot 360 runs under, change the Start in location.

Exit Codes

Upon completing execution, Tecplot 360 returns an exit code, which can be used in scripts to determine whether a problem occurred. This exit code is 0 (success) if execution completed without error, or 1 (error) if execution was terminated by an error.