MeVisLab Reference Manual

2025-01-07


Table of Contents

1. Introduction
1.1. About the MeVisLab Reference Manual
1.2. Associated Documents
2. MeVisLab User Interface
2.1. Overview
2.2. Views
3. Modules and Networks
3.1. Types of Modules
3.2. Module Network Panels
3.3. Connector and Connection Types
3.4. Connecting, Disconnecting, Moving, Copying, and Replacing Connections
3.4.1. Connecting Modules
3.4.2. Disconnecting Modules
3.4.3. Moving Connections
3.4.4. Copying Connections
3.4.5. Replacing Connections
3.5. Mouse Pointers
3.6. Mouseover Information
3.7. Module Halo
3.8. Module Highlighting
3.9. Module Handling
3.9.1. Module Context Menu
3.9.2. Additional Inputs
3.9.3. Show Internal Network (Macro Modules)
3.10. Network Handling
3.10.1. Network Context Menu
3.10.2. Connections Context Menus
3.11. Using Groups
3.11.1. Creating Groups and Adding/Removing Modules
3.11.2. Editing, Converting, and Deleting Groups
3.11.3. Copying Groups Including Modules
3.12. Using Notes
3.12.1. Creating Notes
3.12.2. Handling Notes
3.12.3. Editing and Deleting Notes
3.12.4. Copying Notes Including Text
3.13. Using the Mini Map
3.14. Network Quick Search
3.15. Network Selector
3.16. Network Preview
3.17. Network Mouse Gestures
3.17.1. Gesture for Closing the Current Network
3.17.2. Gesture for Closing the Current Network Without Prompt
4. Menu Bar
4.1. File Menu
4.1.1. New
4.1.2. Open
4.1.3. Close
4.1.4. Close all
4.1.5. Save
4.1.6. Save As
4.1.7. Save Copy As
4.1.8. Revert To Saved
4.1.9. Recent Files
4.1.10. Open Most Recent File
4.1.11. Run Project Wizard
4.1.12. Create Local Macro
4.1.13. Add Local Macro
4.1.14. Open File in MATE
4.1.15. Show MATE
4.1.16. Run ToolRunner
4.1.17. Run TestCaseManager
4.1.18. Recent Test Cases
4.1.19. Run Most Recent Test Case
4.1.20. Restart with Current Networks
4.1.21. Quit
4.2. Edit Menu
4.2.1. Undo
4.2.2. Redo
4.2.3. Clear Undo History
4.2.4. Cut
4.2.5. Copy
4.2.6. Paste
4.2.7. Duplicate
4.2.8. Delete
4.2.9. Select All
4.2.10. Deselect All
4.2.11. Invert Selection
4.2.12. Align / Distribute
4.2.13. Auto Arrange Selection
4.2.14. Reload Selected Modules
4.3. Preferences
4.3.1. Preferences — General
4.3.2. Preferences — Packages
4.3.3. Preferences — Module Groups
4.3.4. Preferences — Supportive Programs
4.3.5. Preferences — Paths
4.3.6. Preferences — Scripting
4.3.7. Preferences — Network Appearance
4.3.8. Preferences — Network Interaction
4.3.9. Preferences — Error / Debug Handling
4.3.10. Preferences — Shortcuts
4.4. Modules Menu
4.5. Applications Menu
4.6. Extras Menu
4.6.1. Reload Updated Shared Libraries
4.6.2. Reload Module Database (Keep Cache)
4.6.3. Reload Module Database (Clear Cache)
4.6.4. Reload Imported Python Modules
4.6.5. Show Global MDL Definitions...
4.6.6. Run Module Tests...
4.6.7. Run Tests On Selection...
4.6.8. Generate Module Reference for User Packages (HTML)
4.6.9. Show Widget Explorer
4.6.10. Debug Widgets
4.6.11. Show Connector Details
4.6.12. Show Image Connector Preview
4.6.13. Clear Image Cache
4.7. Scripting Menu
4.7.1. Show Scripting Console
4.7.2. Scripting Context Menu
4.7.3. Edit Network Script
4.7.4. Start Network Script
4.8. User Scripts
4.8.1. Example Scripts
4.8.2. Run User Script...
4.8.3. Run Last User Script: <NameOfUserScript>
4.8.4. Run Recent User Script
4.8.5. Example Scripts
4.9. View Menu
4.9.1. View All
4.9.2. Zoom To Selection
4.9.3. Zoom In
4.9.4. Zoom Out
4.9.5. Zoom 100%
4.9.6. Layout
4.9.7. Toolbars
4.9.8. Views
4.10. Networks Menu
4.10.1. Close
4.10.2. Close All
4.11. Panels Menu
4.11.1. Panels Stay In Front Of Main Window
4.11.2. Hide Panels Of Invisible Networks
4.11.3. Close All Panels
4.11.4. Close Panels Of Current Network
4.11.5. Minimize All Open Panels
4.11.6. Show All Minimized Panels
4.11.7. Working with the Panel List
4.12. Help Menu
4.12.1. (Search in documentation and menu entries)
4.12.2. Full-text Search in Documentation...
4.12.3. Show Context Help...
4.12.4. Show Help Overview
4.12.5. Browse Help Pages
4.12.6. Welcome
4.12.7. About
4.12.8. Enter License
5. Toolbar
5.1. File Operations
5.2. Edit
5.3. Zooming
5.4. Script Debugging
5.5. Quick Search
5.6. Align / Distribute
6. Bottom Bar
6.1. Loop! indicator
6.2. ML Cache
6.3. Stop Button
6.4. Toggle Layout
7. Background Tasks
8. Debug Output
9. ML Parallel Processing Profiler View
10. Module Browser
11. Module Inspector
11.1. Fields
11.1.1. Editing Field Values
11.1.2. Module Inspector Fields Context Menu
11.2. Files
11.2.1. Module Inspector Files Context Menu
11.3. Tree
11.3.1. Tree Context Menu
11.4. About
11.5. Related
11.5.1. Related Context Menu
11.6. Scripting
12. Module List
13. Module Search
13.1. Module Search
13.2. Advanced Search
13.3. Module Search Result Context Menu
13.3.1. General Options
13.3.2. Additional Options for Macro Modules
13.4. Search in Network
14. Network Field WatchList
15. Output Inspector
16. Parameter Connections Inspector
16.1. Parameter Connections Inspector View
16.2. Parameter Connections Inspector Context Menu
17. Profiling
17.1. Introduction to Profiling
17.2. Using Profiling
17.2.1. Modules
17.2.2. Fields
17.2.3. Functions
18. Recent Outputs
19. Screenshot Gallery
19.1. Screenshot Gallery
19.2. Screenshot Gallery Context Menu
19.3. Movies in the Screenshot Gallery
20. Scripting Console
21. Scripting Assistant
22. Search in Network
23. Search in Documentation
24. Full-text Search in Documentation
25. Snippets List
26. Project Wizard
26.1. Project Wizard Introduction
26.2. Modules (C++) Wizard
26.2.1. First C++ Module Wizard Dialog
26.2.2. Inventor Module
26.2.3. ML Module
26.3. Modules (Scripting) Wizard
26.4. Module Field Interface
26.5. Packages
26.6. Example .Wiz File (Inventor Module), indented for a better readability
27. MATE
27.1. What is MATE?
27.2. Text Editor User Interface
27.3. Menu Bar
27.4. Module Menu
27.5. Outline Area
27.6. Edit Area
27.7. Preferences
27.8. Python Debugger
27.9. Module Help Editor
27.9.1. Context Menus
27.9.2. Formatting
27.9.3. How it Works
27.9.4. Internal HTML Preview
27.10. Session Management
27.11. Project Workspaces
27.11.1. Project Types
27.11.2. Context Menu
27.11.3. Views
27.11.4. File Locator
27.12. GUI Editor
27.13. Scripting
27.14. Pylint Integration
27.14.1. Installation
27.14.2. Usage
27.15. Black Integration
27.16. Rope Integration
27.16.1. Rename
27.16.2. Extract Function
28. Tips and Tricks
28.1. Command-Line Options
28.2. MeVisLabPackageScanner.exe
28.3. Connecting Inventor Engines to ML Modules
28.4. Using SyncFloat to Reduce System Load
28.4.1. Case 1: Two Inventor and One ML Module Connected in a Circle
28.4.2. Case 2: A Macro Module (Including an Inventor Module) and Another Inventor Module Connected in a Circle
28.5. Printing MeVisLab Networks
28.6. Multi-threading in MeVisLab
28.6.1. Multi-threading in the ML
28.6.2. Background Tasks
28.6.3. Modules for Multi-threading
28.7. Set Open Inventor Override Flag (Inventor Modules)
29. Settings File and Environment Variables
29.1. Possible Locations of mevislab.prefs
29.2. Options in mevislab.prefs
29.3. Environment variables

List of Figures

2.1. Typical MeVisLab User Interface
2.2. View Docked in the Views Area
2.3. Floating View
2.4. Moving View to Another Position in Views Area
2.5. Stacked Views
2.6. Resizing a View in the Views Area
3.1. Example Network for SynchroView2D with Viewer (Panel), Automatic Panel, and Settings
3.2. Modules with Network Panels
3.3. View2D with Connected "Invisible" Open Inventor Connector
3.4. Compatible Connectors for CSOVisualizationSettings Type
3.5. Compatible Connectors for CSOList Type
3.6. Compatible Connectors for ML Image Type
3.7. Parameter Connection — Panel Mouseover
3.8. Connector Image Preview
3.9. Connector Detail Info and Image Preview
3.10. Module Context Menu
3.11. Module Context Menu — Show Window
3.12. Automatic Panel
3.13. Panel Defined in MDL
3.14. Module Context Menu — Edit Instance Name
3.15. Modules and Instance Names
3.16. Module Context Menu — Show Example Network
3.17. Dependency Walker
3.18. Module Context Menu — Tests
3.19. Module Context Menu — Related Files
3.20. View3D With Visible Inventor Inputs (Default)
3.21. View3D With Hidden Open Inventor Inputs
3.22. RegionGrowingMacro — Internal Network
3.23. Network Context Menu
3.24. Parameter Connection Context Menu
3.25. Module with Internal/Self-Connected Parameter Connection
3.26. Data Connection Context Menu
3.27. Network Context Menu — Adding Groups
3.28. Network Context Menu — Adding to a Specific Group
3.29. Group Context Menu
3.30. Note (Expanded)
3.31. Creating a Note
3.32. Dialog for Editing Notes
3.33. Note (Collapsed)
3.34. Note Context Menu
3.35. A Note Displayed as a Network Comment
3.36. Note in a Group
3.37. Mini Map
3.38. Navigating in the Mini Map
3.39. Parent Navigation Frame for Macro Modules
3.40. Parent Navigation Frame Context Menu
3.41. Network Quick Search
3.42. Network Quick Search — Options
3.43. Network Quick Search — Show All Results
3.44. Network Quick Search — Highlight Results
3.45. Network Selector in Action
3.46. Network Selector in Action
3.47. Trail of Unrecognized Mouse Gesture
3.48. Mouse Gesture for Closing the Current Network
3.49. Mouse Gesture for Closing the Current Network Without Prompt
4.1. File Menu
4.2. Local Macro Creation
4.3. Modules Connected to Outer Macros
4.4. Edit Menu (Windows example)
4.5. Align / Distribute
4.6. Preferences — General
4.7. Preferences — Packages
4.8. Preferences — Module Groups
4.9. Preferences — Supportive Programs
4.10. Preferences — Paths
4.11. Preferences — Scripting
4.12. Preferences — Network Appearance
4.13. Preferences — Network Interaction
4.14. Preferences — Error / Debug Handling
4.15. Preferences — Shortcuts
4.16. Modules Menu
4.17. Extras Menu
4.18. MeVisLab Global MDL Definitions
4.19. Module Selection
4.20. MeVisLab Widget Explorer - Attributes Inspector
4.21. MeVisLab Widget Explorer - Style Sheet Editor
4.22. Scripting Menu
4.23. Scripting Editor
4.24. Scripting Example
4.25. Scripting Context Menu
4.26. View Menu
4.27. View — Layout Submenu
4.28. Store Current Layout
4.29. Edit User Layouts
4.30. View — Toolbars Submenu
4.31. View — Views Submenu
4.32. Networks Menu
4.33. Panels Menu
4.34. Panels Menu — Listing all Open Panels
4.35. Help Menu
5.1. Toolbar
5.2. Quick Search Options
5.3. Quick Search — Info Box
5.4. Quick Search History
6.1. Bottom Bar
7.1. ML Background Tasks
7.2. ML Background Tasks — Context Menu
7.3. ML Background Tasks — Context Menu for Running Processes
7.4. Warning for Running Background Tasks
7.5. Save in Background for GVRVolumeSave
8.1. Debug Output
8.2. Context Menu
9.1. Parallel Processing View Overview
9.2. Parallel Processing View Details
10.1. Module Browser
11.1. Module Inspector — Fields
11.2. Automatic Panel
11.3. Module Inspector — Edit Boolean
11.4. Module Inspector — Edit Color
11.5. Module Inspector — Edit Text
11.6. Module Inspector — Edit Values
11.7. Module Inspector Fields Context Menu
11.8. Module Inspector — Files
11.9. Module Inspector Files Context Menu
11.10. Module Inspector — Tree
11.11. Module Inspector Tree Context Menu
11.12. Show Available MDL Tags
11.13. Module Inspector — About
11.14. Module Inspector — Related
11.15. Module Inspector Related Context Menu
11.16. Module Inspector — Scripting
12.1. Module List
13.1. Module Search with Demo Entry
13.2. Module Search — Advanced
13.3. Module Search — Searching In
13.4. Module Search — Operators
13.5. Module Search Results — Context Menu
13.6. Search in Network
14.1. Network Field WatchList
15.1. ML Image Inspector
15.2. ML Image Inspector: 3D View
15.3. ML Image Inspector: Detailed Information
16.1. Parameter Connections Inspector View
16.2. Parameter Connection Example — View2D and View3D
16.3. Parameter Connection Example — View2DExtensions
16.4. Parameter Connection Example — Navigating Between Fields
16.5. Parameter Connections Inspector Context Menu
17.1. Functions to be Profiled
17.2. Profiling
17.3. Profiling Report
17.4. Profiling Modules
17.5. Profiling — Heading Configuration
17.6. Profiling Fields
17.7. Profiling Functions as Flat Profile
17.8. Profiling Functions as Call Graph
17.9. Functions with Filters Visible
18.1. Recent Outputs
19.1. Screenshot Gallery
19.2. Screenshot Gallery Context Menu
21.1. Scripting Editor
22.1. Scripting Editor
22.2. Scripting Editor
22.3. Scripting Editor
23.1. Search in Documentation
23.2. Search in Documentation — ML Example
23.3. Search in Documentation — MDL Example
23.4. Search in Documentation — Python Example
24.1. Full-text Search in Documentation Window
24.2. Full-text Search Settings
24.3. Full-text Search Results Browser
25.1. Snippets List
25.2. Snippets List — Context Menu
26.1. Project Wizard (no user packages available)
26.2. Project Wizard (with user packages available)
26.3. First C++ Module Wizard Dialog — ML Module Example
26.4. Create an ML Module in a Self-contained Folder
26.5. Inventor Type
26.6. Imaging Module Properties (New Style)
26.7. New Style ML Module
26.8. New Style ML Module — Uses Fixed Data type
26.9. New Style ML Module — Uses Data Type Of Input Image
26.10. New Style ML Module — Entering The Supported Types
26.11. New Style ML Module — Configuring The Input Handling
26.12. New Style ML Module — Uses The Same Data Type As
26.13. Imaging Module Properties (Classic Style)
26.14. Additional ML Module Properties
26.15. Project Wizard
26.16. Module Field Interfaces
26.17. Package Wizard
27.1. User Interface
27.2. MATE File Menu
27.3. MATE Edit Menu
27.4. MATE View Menu
27.5. MATE Window Menu
27.6. MATE Extras Menu
27.7. MATE Module Menu — Without Attached Module
27.8. MATE Module Menu - With Attached Module
27.9. MATE Module Menu — Windows Submenu
27.10. MATE Module Menu — Files Submenu
27.11. Outline Area
27.12. MATE Edit Area
27.13. MATE Edit Area — Code Completion for Keywords
27.14. MATE Edit Area — Code Completion for Commands Defined in MDL
27.15. MATE Edit Area — Context Menu
27.16. MATE Preferences
27.17. MATE with Python Debugger
27.18. MATE Debug Menu
27.19. MATE for Module Help
27.20. Outline Context Menu
27.21. Text Context Menu
27.22. Automatically Documented Elements
27.23. HTML View
27.24. HTML View Decoupling
27.25. Decoupled HTML View
28.1. MeVisLabPackageScanner Help
28.2. Field Bridge Example
28.3. SyncFloat Example — ML and Inventor Modules
28.4. SyncFloat Example — Macro and Inventor Modules
28.5. Open Inventor Scene Without Override
28.6. Open Inventor Scene With Override
28.7. Open Inventor Scene With Ignore Flag (Red)
28.8. Open Inventor Scene With Ignore Flag (Blue)

List of Tables

1.1. List of MeVisLab Documents
3.1. Module Types
3.2. Invalid Modules
3.3. Connectors
3.4. Connecting to an Invisible Connector
3.5. Connections
3.6. Connecting Modules by Dragging
3.7. Dragging a New Connection Generates New Input Connectors to the Sides of Regular Connectors
3.8. Even More New Connectors are Available
3.9. New Input Connectors are Generated by Positioning the Mouse
3.10. Connecting by Moving the Source Module into Proximity
3.11. Connecting by Moving the Destination Module into Proximity
3.12. Connecting an Open Inventor Group by Proximity
3.13. Connecting to an Open Inventor Group by Proximity
3.14. Appending vs. Prepending to an Open Inventor Group by Proximity
3.15. Connecting a Module by Inserting
3.16. Connecting a Module with Two Inputs by Inserting
3.17. The Second Input is Connected by Dragging
3.18. Variation: First Input is Connected by Proximity
3.19. Variation: Second Input is Connected by Inserting into an Existing Connection
3.20. Disconnecting by Dragging to Background: Input
3.21. Disconnecting by Dragging to Background: Output
3.22. Disconnecting by Selection and Pressing DEL
3.23. Disconnecting by Context Menu
3.24. Move Input Connection
3.25. Move Multiple Output Connections
3.26. Move Connection Within an Open Inventor Group
3.27. Copy Connection
3.28. Replace Connection
3.29. Mouse Pointers
3.30. Mouseover Information
3.31. Module Halos — Classic and Alternative
3.32. Module Halos Input Output — Classic and Alternative
3.33. Highlighting of Selections — Classic Halo
3.34. Highlighting of Selections — Alternative Halo
3.35. Module Group with Alternative Halo — Selected and Highlighted
3.36. Preview of Internal Networks of Macro Modules
3.37. Run In Separate Process
3.38. Modules in Groups
16.1. Connections Symbols
17.1. Function Type Icons
27.1. Buttons for Debugging
27.2. Icons for Debugging
27.3. Help Toolbar Buttons
27.4. Inline markup
27.5. Directives
27.6. Roles
28.1. Command-Line Options