C - 2   Editing RS Variables Files

The easiest way to edit a RS Variables file is by using the Master Variables List. See Master Variables List for more information. You can also edit an RS Variables file separately from Tecplot RS; it is an ASCII text file that can be viewed and edited using any text editor, such as Notepad, WordPad, or vi. To edit the file, first exit Tecplot RS, since Tecplot RS will only read changes to the file when launching.

The required format is:

long name, short name, line color, line pattern, symbol color, symbol shape, alias1, alias2, alias3

When editing the file, use the following standards:

• Use one line per variable.

• All items must be separated by commas.

• Long variable names can include spaces, but spaces are ignored or “squeezed out” of all other items.

• The short variable names should exactly match those used in the data files (whether from the simulator or your files containing observed data).

• Comments (lines beginning with a “#”) will be ignored. Note that when you modify an RS Variables file from inside Tecplot RS, comments will be lost, so this feature is best suited for templates that will be edited by hand before being used with Tecplot RS.

• The file header lists the colors, patterns, and shapes that can be used.

• At a minimum, you must include both Long Name and Short Name. Long Name is the long variable name as it should appear on plots. Short Name is the acronym variable name as it is found in the file output by the simulator (OPR, WPC, SWAT and so on).

• Alias1 through Alias3 are optional. They are alternative names, or aliases, for the same variable. They can be used for different simulators (for example, Eclipse versus VIP), or names such as those found in user-created ASCII files.

The first few lines of the file (after header lines) are shown here:

The top line is not included in the file. It is displayed here for informational purposes. The first two items in a row are the long variable name followed by the short name (typically used by the simulator). The next four values define the default settings for colors, line patterns, and symbol shapes. The last value is a variable alias. You can include up to three variable aliases (comma-separated).

Include any variable names unique to grid data. In Options > Plot Options > Grid Legend you can manually assign range limits to grid variables in the Axis Scale region of the page.

A set of unique entries, called “Entity *”, are defined in RS Variables files to provide default line and symbol styles for plots that display multiple entities, such as XY Entities plot.