Plot Options

On the Load/Save page of the Plot Options dialog, you can load or save style settings. This useful function can help you save significant changes for future plots.

Toggle-on "Load at startup" to load the current style file whenever Tecplot RS is launched. The current style file that will be loaded at startup when that toggle is checked is listed as the Current Style heading at the top of the dialog.

When you save style settings, Tecplot RS stores all plot options settings in a Tecplot Style File (extension .rsstyx). When you save a project file, Tecplot RS embeds the style settings in the project file itself. You can load embedded style settings from a project file by clicking the Load button on the Load/Save page and then choosing the "RS Project with embedded data" file type in the Open File dialog.

Use the Save and Save As buttons to create and updated style files (.rsstyx) which can then be loaded automatically at startup (by toggling-on "Load at startup") or manually at any time (by clicking the Load…​ button and browsing to the file).

The Reset Defaults button will reset all Plot Options settings to the factory default states.

Previous versions of Tecplot RS saved style files with the .sty extension. To load style files with this extension, choose "Old format style file (*.sty)" from the Files of type menu in the Open File dialog.

Use the Misc Settings region of the Load/Save page of the Plot Options dialog to customize default time display and animation settings. The time and date formatting options apply only to XY plot axes.

You have the following options:

Animation Step Delay This slider controls the length of the pause between each step of a plot that includes an animation option. If a plot animation cycles too quickly through all the available entities, variables, or time steps, use this slider to adjust the timing.

The Master Variable List includes every defined and derived variable in your loaded data sets. The list includes all variable names from each of these sources:

The Master Variables List references each variable by its short name, generally derived from the simulator. A simulator usually generates short names as all uppercase and no more than 8 characters long, but these conventions do not reflect Tecplot RS limitations.

The Master Variable List also includes nine variables named ST1 through ST9. The long names of these variables appear as Entity 1 through Entity 9. Do not delete these variables from the RS Variables file. The XY Entities and XY Custom Entities plot types use these variables (XY Freestyle does as well, occasionally).

In these plot types, a frame contains plots of a single variable for multiple entities (other plot types show a single entity with the options for multiple variables). If the style was based on the variable being shown, a plot showing three wells would have no way of differentiating one well from another.

So for these plot types, Tecplot RS reads the style not from the variable but from the entity number. These ST1 through ST9 represent the nine different entity-specific styles, which you can customize. If you include more than 9 entities in a single frame, the cycle of styles will repeat.

Two toggles appear at the top of the dialog that allow you to control how the Master Variable List appears.

When Sort is toggled-on, variables appear in the Master Variable List in alphabetical order according to their short name. When toggled-off, variables appear first as they do in the active RS Variables file, followed by the names that Tecplot RS added from the data files in the order that it opened the data files. The latter method helps if you want to use an RS Variables file to group variables in order of use.

The Active toggle becomes available when you have at least one data set loaded. When toggled-on, Tecplot RS limits the variable list to only those variables that exist in the current data sets. In general, leave this toggled-on unless you choose to specifically edit the MVL options for all variables. Derived variables that have been calculated in the Grid Equations dialog or the XY Equations dialog will automatically append to the Active list. Also, Tecplot RS will calculate saturation variables that are part of the simulation but excluded from the recurrent data file and include them in the Active list.

In the Aliases region of the dialog, you can define a long name for any variable, as well as up to three short name aliases for that variable. For example, you could define "Oil/Water Ratio" as the long name for the "OWR" variable. In the Paper Layout plot type, you can choose where to display long variable names: in the frame title, the plot titles, and/or the axes of XY plots. See Title Options for instructions.

Below the Aliases region of the Variables page, the Default Styles region allows you to choose default styles in which each variable displays. Use the Line Color, Line Pattern, Symbol Color, and Symbol Shape menus to set the styles used by default when displaying each variable. As with the Aliases region of the dialog, select the variable you wish to edit in the Master Variables List, change the default styles as you wish, and click Apply.

Since the XY Lines page of the Plot Options dialog allows you to choose even more customized variable styles, remember that the styles set on this page will affect the plot only if the selections on the XY Lines page are set to "Default".

This section displays the path of the active RS Variables file, which contains variable name substitutions, aliases, and the default colors and line and symbol styles used in line plots. Click Change to choose a different file (sample files are provided for each simulator supported by Tecplot RS). See RS Variables Files for further information on these files.

You can design up to 100 complete sets of styles one for the active data set and one each for up to 99 comparison data sets. The Style Set menu controls which set you are altering. Initially, the settings in RS Variables Files define the "default" values for each property, with the exception that the Lines Pattern is cycled for the comparison style sets to differentiate them from the Active Style Set. Each Style Set is applied to the data set(s) included in a comparison plot according to the order specified on the Order page of the Compare Data Sets dialog. (For example, Comp 1 is applied to the first file listed on the Order page.) Refer to Comparing XY Data for more information on specifying comparison values.

You can specify the style for each variable in each Style Set. Typically, you would only edit the styles applicable to the plots you are creating. Often the default settings display sufficiently. To quickly edit a line style, double-click on the specific line in the XY plot of interest. This will bring up the XY Lines page with the appropriate Style Set and Variable pre-selected in the dialog. After you make several changes to line styles you should save a style file using the Load/Save page of the dialog. If you create or use an existing Project file, Tecplot RS will automatically save all of the style changes to the Project file.

To edit multiple combinations of variables and style sets, click the Multi-Edit Styles button (see Multi-Edit XY Line Styles).

The Variable box includes all the names included in Master Variables List, including settings for entities. Use it to choose the variable for which you want to change the comparison style settings. The variable is automatically selected if you accessed this dialog by double-clicking on a line in an XY plot. Click the button in the upper-right corner of the list to launch an expanded, searchable list. This helps particularly for very long lists.

You can also use the Variables page of the Plot Options dialog and manage this list of variables by sorting it alphabetically and limiting it to just the variables that appear in your data files.

Toggle-on "Long Names" to display the full name of the variable (as defined in the Master Variables List). When "Long Names" is toggled-off, Tecplot RS uses an abbreviation.

Tecplot RS uses the variables named "Entity1" through "Entity9" or "ST1" through "ST9" to customize the style settings for entities used in XY Entities plots. "Entity 1" / ST1 correspond to the first entity in the plot, and so forth.

The style selection options are initially set to default settings defined in the RS Variables file for a given variable or set of variables. To edit the settings, use the Variables page of the Plot Options dialog to change them interactively, or create a personal RS Variables file and edit it. Refer to Master Variables List and Editing RS Variables Files for instructions.

The options are grouped for lines and symbols, as follows:

The XY Lines page of the Plot Options dialog allows you to define styles for each unique variable/style set combination, one at a time. To make multiple assignments at once, click the Multi-Edit Styles button in the lower right corner of the XY Lines page. The Multi-Edit XY Line Styles dialog appears.

When the Multi-Edit XY Line Styles dialog opens, the selections match the settings in the Plot Options dialog, but this is just a starting point. The basic style settings are identical to those in the Plot Options dialog: line color, pattern, etc. Two things are different.

For example, suppose you wanted to always show any Oil values in green, but alter the line style to differentiate rates from cumulative values, and use a different symbol to differentiate files in comparison plots. You can do this as follows:

1.Set the line color:

You’ve just made hundreds of changes one per style set time the number of oil variables selected.

Repeat the last step for other oil values, using different line patterns for each.

You may find it nice to use the line symbols for differentiating comparison plots. A character symbol is a good way to do this, and this can be done for all variables. For example:

You may choose instead to use symbols instead of line patterns to tell OPR from OPC, and use patterns to differentiate comparison plots. The choices are yours, but the Multi-Edit XY Line Styles dialog makes it easy to make mass edits.

Use the Variables list on the left of the dialog to choose a variable to customize. If you access this page by double-clicking an axis or label in your XY plot, the dialog will open with the variable assigned to that axis highlighted in the list. Click the button in the upper-right corner of the list to launch an expanded, searchable variables list. This button helps particularly for very long lists.

The Long Names toggle controls whether the Variables box displays the long variable names. Toggle-on "Long Names" to display the long variable names. Otherwise, the short (acronym) names display.

The list of variables that displays here comes from Master Variables List.

You can also switch to the Variables page of the Plot Options dialog and manage this list of variables by sorting it alphabetically and limiting it to just the variables that appear in your data files. You can use the Variables page to add variables to your RS Variables file.

The Axis Scale region of the dialog controls the scale (range and display) of axes on XY plots. You can choose to instruct Tecplot RS to display a range that fits the data, or to customize the ranges manually.

The selections in the Axis Scale region of the dialog apply only to the variable selected in the Variable list. After clicking the variable in the Variable list that you wish to customize, choose from the following options in the Axis Scale region of the dialog.

Choose the Y axis direction for this variable in XY plot types.

The selections in the Axes Style region of the XY Axes page control how axes are drawn and labeled:

Tecplot RS will apply the selections on this page as follows:

Tecplot RS will choose a labeling interval automatically.

When you have "Active Cells" selected on the left side of the Grids page, the settings that display on the Grids page control the Mesh and Contours of the active plot, for 2D Grid Plots or 3D Grid Plots.

To adjust the style of the inactive cells' display, select "Inactive" on the left side of the Grids page. With the controls that appear, you can customize the display style of the inactive cells in your grid. These controls are also included in the Inactive Cells dialog; changes made in one dialog will be reflected in the other.

In the first set of options, you can choose whether to display the inactive cells as a simple mesh or shade, or whether to display a variable value:

The remaining options in the Inactive Grid Styles region of the Grids page control the mesh color, mesh thickness, and/or shading color displayed by the inactive cells:

Click the Apply button to view the results in your plot.

Tecplot RS uses see-through styles in 3D views any time you select options in which viewing the interior of the grid is advantageous, for example, when toggling-on "Ghost" while displaying Inside Views.

Ghost Gray is the recommended option; this will produce a translucent gray surface that shows the surface of the reservoir while also leaving the interior details visible. Use the Translucency slider to increase or decrease the visibility of the ghosted image.

The "Ghost Color" option displays a translucent reservoir surface colored by the selected grid variable.

Generally, turn off the mesh when you have either of the ghost options selected for the best view, and turn on the mesh only when No Fill is selected.

The Show Mesh option is related to, but different from, the Mesh toggle in the sidebar. The sidebar toggle turns off all mesh displays, including the mesh for the see-through grid, if it is visible. The Show Mesh option in this dialog determines whether the see-through grid’s mesh is shown when the Mesh sidebar toggle is on.

The Light Effect menu controls how light source shading is performed. This is done whenever "Light" is toggled-on in the sidebar. Choose Paneled for fastest performance, or Smooth for a more realistic (but slower) effect.

The selections you make on this page apply on a variable-by-variable basis. In the Variables region of the page, select the variable you wish to customize in the other regions of the page.

In the Variables Range region of the page, you can customize the range for which each variable displays in your plot. This region includes the following options:

In the case of grid legends, the Frame or Data selections operate identically. The legend will encompass the full range of variable values for all time steps.

Use the Contour Legend region of the dialog to customize the style of your contour legend for each variable. You have the following options:

In the Axes Styles region of the Grid Axes page, you can customize the way axis labels appear on your plot with the following options:

In the 3D Views region of the Grid Axes page, you can choose whether to include the axes display on 3D views (2D views always include the axes). Toggle-on "Show 3D Axes" to display the axes in a 3D Grid plot.

To customize additional characteristics of 3D Grid plots, use the Grid Options dialog, which you can access by clicking the Grid Options button or by clicking Grid in the 2D or 3D sidebar.

In the Symbols region of the page, you can customize how well symbols appear, as well as where well symbols display relative to their well. Four selections control how well symbols appear on the grid plots.

There are actually seven sets of well symbol settings, one for each of the Types in the first option menu.

The well types are read from the simulator files. Tecplot RS recognizes five basic types, including:

You can select a different symbol/color/size for each type. These will be placed on the well head. Symbols are also placed on the well nodes (completions), and these are categorized as either Open or Closed.

For each of the listed types, you can choose the color, shape, and size. Sizes are expressed as a percentage of the frame size.

The selections for the symbol shape include:

The last three shapes (cube, sphere, and octahedron) are 3D symbols. In 2D Grid plots, they will be shown as squares, circles, and diamonds, respectively.

The simulator output files describe the well geometry by designating the cells containing the well completions. The well head (or first node) is located within the grid, usually (but not always) in the first K plane. When Tecplot RS plots wells, it places the well head symbol in a position above the surface of the grid model so it is easily visible in both 2D and 3D views.

You have control over how this position is determined with a pair of controls in the Symbols region of the Wells page. The Well symb offset box contains four options. Use these options to select the point from which to measure the offset (from the first completion or from the highest elevation in the grid model), and the units for the offset (an actual distance or a percentage of the grid height). You can then use the Well symb offset text field to specify the actual percentage or distance.

When the offset is measured from the well head, the symbols generally follow the surface of the grid model. However, sometimes the well head or first completion falls in a cell significantly beneath the grid surface, causing the symbol to be hidden within the grid within 3D Views. In this case, you can designate that the starting point for the offset be the maximum elevation in the grid model. This guarantees that the symbols will all display visibly, but it also means that they will be at a constant height, possibly increasing the likelihood of interference.

The Labels region of the Wells page controls how to display well labels. A "Show" toggle controls whether to include labels for the well names.

You can choose the font and color of the labels from the Font and Color menus in the Labels region of the Wells page.

To change the label size, type a value in the Size text field. The Units menu controls whether the size is expressed as a percentage of the frame size (the labels remain the same size when you zoom in) or a percentage of the grid area (when you zoom in, the labels get larger along with the image).

Use the Connect Nodes region of the Wells page to specify the style of the line that is drawn between well nodes to represent the well path. The Connect toggle in the upper portion of the sidebar controls the display of these lines.

Use the 2D View settings region of the Wells page to specify how to treat wells in 2D Grid plots.

Choose from one of the following options: