Loading Grid Data

Tecplot RS reads Eclipse/SLB data (including Chears) from three or more file types, including:

You may notice that the list of grid files includes files with extensions of .grid, .egrid, and .fgrid. Tecplot RS does not actually support .fgrid files, but they appear in the list because of the way the names are filtered. If you choose an .fgrid file, Tecplot RS will use either a .grid or .egrid file, if available.

In most cases, you need to specify only the grid file. Tecplot RS will automatically find the additional files, provided that the root names match that of the grid file. If both unified and non-unified restart files are available, Tecplot RS will use the unified file.

To begin loading Eclipse or Chears data, choose "Load Grid Data" in the Project menu. In the Open File dialog, choose "Eclipse(SLB)" from the file type menu and select a .grid file to open. The Load Grid Data dialog for Eclipse/SLB data has two pages (Files and Options) like the other grid data dialogs.

Use the Files page of the Load Grid Data dialog to specify the associated file(s) you wish to load, including init, restart, and XY data files. Tecplot RS automatically detects most associated files if they use the same base name as the selected grid file. If any files are not detected because they have different base names, use the browse buttons next to each field to choose the correct file.

The Files page has the following additional options besides specifying the Eclipse data files associated with the grid:

After you have specified the file(s) you wish to load, you can either click OK or switch to the Options page of the Load Grid Data dialog to specify any additional loading preferences. See Loading APC Data for details.

In VIP files, the grid and solution data are both stored in files with a .map extension. Tecplot RS supports only Fortran-format binary VIP files. In the case of VIP formats, one .map file contains the grid geometry and static properties. Another .map file, chosen separately, contains the time-dependent variables.

Tecplot RS makes "Date" or "Time" available to the user for use in their plots. However, VIP files contain Date information only. Tecplot RS sets the Time value for each time step as the number of days from the first day in the file.

To load VIP files, choose "Load Grid Data" from the Project menu and choose VIP Map from the file format menu in the Open File dialog. Then select the main VIP .map file, sometimes referred to as the "init" file, containing the grid and static properties. After clicking Open, the Load Grid Data dialog appears, with two pages (Files and Options).

Put the "init" data in the Grid field, and the "recurrent" file in the Solution Data field on the Files page of the Load Grid Data dialog. You can specify the variable used to identify inactive cells on the Options page of the Load Grid Data dialog.

Tecplot RS includes capability to load virtual databases (VDB), by specifying one or more folders that contain the database of files (or "cases"). This kind of grid data is stored in a database file structure within a folder that ends with a .VDB filename extension. To begin loading a VDB case, choose "Load VDB Data" from the Project menu. Select the case folder inside the top-level VDB folder in the Select VDB Case Folder dialog that appears. If there is only one case in the VDB, you may also choose the top-level VDB folder. The Load VDB Data dialog has two pages (Files and Options) with the options described following.

Use the File page of the Load VDB Data dialog to specify the data you wish to load from the VDB case folder you have selected. Tecplot RS automatically locates grid and XY data in the VDB folder. By default, both grid data and complete XY data are loaded.

If the VDB folder contains streamline data, this can be loaded at the same time by toggling on the Load VDB streamlines checkbox. You cannot load streamlines from the VDB folder and from a separate file at the same time.

The Files page has the following additional options:

Tecplot RS supports the visualization of grid solution data created by the SENSOR® reservoir simulator. To load Sensor grid data into Tecplot RS, choose "Load Grid Data" from the Project menu, then choose "Sensor/TETRAD" from the file type menu in the Open File dialog. The filename extension for a SENSOR grid file is .71. Choose a file and click Open to display the options that enable Sensor data loading.

The Load Grid Data dialog for Sensor data has two pages (Files and Options), like the dialogs for loading other types of grid data. Loading Sensor data requires only the first page of the dialog, but the second page provides additional settings.

On the Files page of the Load Grid Data dialog for Sensor data, you can specify an associated XY data file to be loaded at the same time as the grid data. This file has a filename extension of .61 and is automatically selected by Tecplot RS if it exists with the same basename as the grid .71 file.

The Files page has the following additional options:

Tecplot RS can load files created by the CMG (Computer Modeling Group) reservoir simulator, which have the extension .irf, .mrf, .sr3.

To load CMG grid data into Tecplot RS, choose "Load Grid Data" from the Project menu. Choose CMG from the file type menu in the Open dialog, then choose an .irf, .mrf, .sr3 file and click Open. The Load Grid Data appears, letting you choose what data should be loaded and what units should be used.

The Load Grid Data dialog for CMG data has two pages (Files and Options) similar to the dialog for loading other types of grid data.

On the Files page of the Load Grid Data dialog for CMG data, you can specify the units for the data being loaded and choose to load XY data. Some CMG files do not include rate and ratio variables; if you would like Tecplot RS to calculate these for you while opening the file, toggle on Include derived variables.

The Files page has the following additional options:

Tecplot RS can load files created by the UTCHEM (University of Texas Chemical Flood Simulator). You must choose the file named INPUT.

To load UTCHEM grid data into Tecplot RS, choose "Load Grid Data" from the Project menu. Choose UTCHEM from the file type menu in the Open dialog, then choose an INPUT file and click Open. The Load Grid Data appears, letting you choose what data should be loaded and what units should be used.

The Load Grid Data dialog for UTCHEM data has two pages (Files and Options) similar to the dialog for loading other types of grid data.

On the Files page of the Load Grid Data dialog for UTCHEM data, you can edit the solution name, which is initially set to the run name found but may be changed, and choose to load XY data contained in the dataset.

The Files page has the following additional options:

Tecplot RS can load GRDECL data to display grid geometry and static properties. Since data are often distributed in multiple files, and these files may be in separate folders, the dialog gives you the ability to pick and choose the files to be loaded. This is often useful when investigating alternatives prior to running a full simulation.

To begin loading GRDECL data, choose "Load Grid Data" in the Project menu or the Grid option in the menu bar. In the dialog file type drop-down list, choose "GRDECL grid (*.data; *.grdecl)"

You start by choosing a single file with either a .grdecl or .data filename extension.

The file list is just a starting point. You may remove files from the list by highlighting and deleting them in the Load GRDECL Data dialog. You can also click the Add Files button and browse to and select additional files, including files from other folders.

GRDECL is an ASCII format, which means it is easy to view and change them, but it is less efficient to load and display the data. For this reason, Tecplot RS scans the files and creates additional binary files. The generated .tecinit and .rsinit files hold the solution data, and an .rsgrid file contains the grid geometry.

Tecplot RS attempts to create these files only the first time the GRDECL data is loaded or if it changes. However, it can be difficult to tell what has changed when picking and choosing individual GRDECL files. For this reason, we recommend using a .data file with INCLUDE directives when practical. This makes it possible for Tecplot RS to detect files that have been added, removed, or updated, and avoids unnecessary re-processing when the data is loaded into Tecplot RS.

The options for smoothing the grid geometry can be controlled via the Options tab on the dialog. See Grid Data Loading Options for details.

Tecplot RS can load IJK grid geometries in the RESQML format (*.epc files and the associated .h5 files). At this time, only the grid geometries are loaded from the RESQML files. However, the associated grid solution data, including well geometries, can be read from Eclipse formatted .init and .unrst files.

When loading the RESQML data, you may choose either an .afi or .epc file. If the .afi file is chosen, it will be searched for an INCLUDE directive that specifies the .epc file containing the grid geometries. This will look something like this.

If found, the MyFile.epc will be placed in the field for the grid geometry. If the .afi file is not selected, or if it does not contain the required INCLUDE directive, you can instead simply choose the .epc file containing the grid geometry directly.

At this time, the grid solution data must come from Eclipse-formatted .init and/or .unrst files. If these files are found in the folder that contained the .afi or .epc file defining the grid geometry, then they will be placed in the dialog. If not found, or if you need to select different solution files, you may use the …​ button to select files manually.

Future releases of RS will provide the option to load solution data from .epc files.

Tecplot RS reads APC data from 9 file types:

Grid Refinements (That is, grid files may not contain more than one grid)

To load APC data, first select a DSRV1 (*.cn1) file, or a DSRV2 (*.gc1) file.

If a root.cn1 file is selected, Tecplot RS will look for the following companion files in the same directory:

If a root.gc1 file is selected, Tecplot RS will look for the following companion files in the same directory:

GC4 Note:

When loading GC4 data, three static variables are created:

After selecting a *.cn1 or *.gc1 file, Tecplot RS shows the following dialog which displays all companion files found. This information is display only, since companion files must exist in the same folder as the root file and must have the extensions listed above.

The Files page has the following additional options:

The Options page of the Load Grid Data dialog is substantially the same for all formats except VIP.

You can change the following options in this page of the dialog:

Since grid files can often consume large amounts of system RAM, when you no longer need a grid, it is a good idea to unload it. This releases the system memory that you can use to load another file.

Use the Unload tab of the Manage Data dialog to unload data sets. You do not need to unload files prior to exiting Tecplot RS; the data sets unload automatically when you exit.

If the active grid has changed, it can be reloaded by click the (Reload Grid) toolbar button. Reloading the grid will preserve the current environment while reloading the grid and loading any additional timesteps. After clicking the reload grid button, a popup message will display over the tooltip indicating the number of new timesteps read (if any).

You may load new grid solution data into your project by choosing Project → Change Grid Solution Data. This function is convenient in two situations:

The Change Grid Solution Data dialog is essentially the same as the Load Grid Data dialog you see when initially loading grid data into Tecplot RS, albeit with some features hidden. The following is the Eclipse (SLB) version of the dialog.

The Options tab is not displayed, since you aren’t changing the grid geometry, and the Make Active checkbox is also hidden because you are, by definition, changing the active grid data set rather than loading a new one. Also, the options for loading XY data are not included. XY data is not associated with the grid data, so you can always load them separately. See Loading XY Data.

The solution filenames are pre-filled with the paths to the current grid data solution file(s). Click the …​ browse buttons to choose different files for one or either (or enter the new path directly). Clearing the fields does not unload the data file; see Unloading Grid Data for instructions on doing this.

Choosing a new streamline file replaces any streamline data already loaded, since only one streamline file may be associated with a grid. However, multiple survey well files may be attached to a single grid by loading them one at a time. Since survey well files are plain text files, you may also concatenate them into a single file and load them all at once.

You may also edit the display name for the current grid data set in this dialog.

You can exchange any loaded data file for another by using the Swap Files dialog, accessible from Project → Swap Files. Unlike Changing Grid Solution Data, Swap Files temporarily substitutes one file for another, such that all references to the original file refer instead to the new file. This is particularly useful for plots in the Bookmark Gallery and for XY Freestyle Plots plots, which are tied to a specific data set. It is also useful for choosing different files for some kinds of comparison plots without losing track of the original data sets used for the comparison

The Swap Files dialog shows a list of the files currently active in your project and, to the right of this, a list of corresponding replacement files. Initially, the swap files are listed as "no swap," indicating that the original file is active. A single scroll bar controls both lists in sync, and highlighting a file in one list also highlights it in the other.

Files you swap in should be basically similar to the original files. That is, in general, they should have the same entity and variable names, grid IJK limits, and spatial dimensions. The swapped-in file will replace the original file in the current session, including in the Bookmark Gallery and XY Freestyle Plots plots, which refer to specific data sets by name. Differences in variable names can be handled by Aliases. Differences in entity names are not resolved, however, and may result in an empty plot. Also, 3D grid views are calibrated to a specific area, and if a replacement grid is on a different coordinate system, the data may no longer be in that same area and the plot may again appear empty.

To swap in a different file for a designated file, use one of the following techniques. You may swap as many or as few files as you like; you do not need to swap all files.

Note that no wildcards (or ?) are permitted. Since all matches of the Find Pattern are replaced, be sure to enter enough characters to prevent ambiguity; for example, if you want to change XYZ_March1_2012 to XYZ_March2_2012, searching for 1 and replacing it with 2 will change the year to 2022 as well as the date to 2, causing no files to match; instead, search for 1 and replace with 2. Since only files that actually exist will be swapped in, an ambiguous replacement will generally cause the desired files not to be found. In general, make the find and replace strings as specific as possible.

To undo the highlighted swap-in substitution, click Remove swap file. The entry in the Swap File list changes back to "no swap". You can also simply swap the original file back in by browsing to it.

When swapping in new files, Tecplot RS automatically sets the options for you; you do not have the ability to set the options (such as grid smoothing) you set when you originally loaded the file. In general, the same options are used to load the swapped-in file as were used when loading the original file, with the following exceptions:

If the automatic behaviors are not what you want, after doing the swap you can change the loader settings using the standard loader dialogs.

The selected files are not actually swapped in until you click OK. This may take some time depending on the size of the swapped-in files.