Pointwise Release Notes

Version: V18.0 Release 4
Release Date: September 2017
News Release: www.pointwise.com/news/2017/Latest-Pointwise-Meshing-Software-Facilitates-Scripting-Customization.html

Overview
New Features
Resolved Issues
Platform Support
Previous Versions

Overview

Pointwise is our leading mesh generation software product for CFD, encompassing nearly three decades of technology development. The product features a modern software framework and workflow and provides tools like 64-bit support, multi-threading, and Windows/Linux/Mac portability.

These release notes are provided as a reference for the new features included in the latest version of Pointwise as well as any known issues that were resolved.

New Features

Environment variables can now be set to define the starting location for Glyph, File Open, Export CAE, and Export Grid.
Toolbar buttons have been added for all show commands (domains, connectors, etc.).
Columns have been added to the T-Rex Boundary Conditions table as well as the CAE Set Boundary Conditions table to show the total number of tris and quads assigned to each condition.
The CAE Set Volume Conditions table now shows the total number of different types of cells (hexes, tets, prisms and pyramids) assigned to each condition.
CGNS can now export to ADF and HDF5 file formats. The format to be exported is set in the CAE Set Solver Attributes panel.
The CFD++ plugin now accepts volume conditions to assign cell sets.
Scripts can now be assigned to buttons on the toolbar. The icon for the script can be selected from an assortment of options.
Plot3D export to SUGGAR++ has been updated to use user-created BC names.

Resolved Issues

SPR	Description
PW-19174	Initialization of an unstructured block failed with an error message related to tetrahedral import.
PW-20270	Export of a 1 billion cell mesh to Exodus II CAE solver failed with an error about the z coordinate array.
PW-20352	The structured solver adjusted the position of a shared floating node after the Apply button was pushed.
PW-20370	Modifying the dimensions of any of the connectors on a domain caused highly skewed cells to form within the domain.
PW-20418	A Nastran file was not importing correctly.
PW-20430	A complicated CFX grid was taking a long time to export.
PW-20434	Database entities from a Parasolid file could be scaled in Pointwise V17.2R5 but not in Pointwise V18.
PW-20450	Setting a value in the donor_quality field and deleting it was causing overset cases to not be able to run.
PW-20458	Journaling was not recording the change to an overset case name.
PW-20470	A multi-segment database curve did not transform properly during a rotate operation.
PW-20471	Pointwise unexpectedly exited during the initialization of an unstructured block.
PW-20476	An unstructured domain could be initialized in Pointwise V18.0R2 but not in Pointwise V18.0R3.
PW-20491	USM3D filed could be written that were larger than the FORTRAN file based format allowed.
PW-20499	The Zoom to Selection command did not work for selected database boundaries.
PW-20509	T-Rex layers in a domain created on a database surface appeared “scalloped.”
PW-20510	Exporting an unstructured grid which contained a T-Rex block and a prism block failed and resulted in errors related to incompatible BC types and non-manifold connectivity.
PW-20515	The default number of database surfaces used for a projection was different in the Grid, Solve panel after initialization of a domain.
PW-20519	Adjusting a parameter to solve a block unnecessarily updated domains.
PW-20523	A domain was not being properly projected to its boundary.
PW-20533	Export to the WIND CAE failed if the number of blocks exceeded 64.
PW-20535	A grid with a cell type unsupported by Ketrel was exported to Kestrel.
PW-20545	Initializing an unstructured domain resulted in a very coarse discretization of the domain. Refining the domain corrected it.
PW-20549	Periodic domains, used in separate blocks, were not being properly updated when using the T-Rex block solver.
PW-20561	Flipping a block’s face orientation in the Edit, Orient command was not journaled correctly.
PW-20573	The Examine, Volume Ratio metric reported an incorrect maximum value after a block was copied and pasted.
PW-20582	Create, Domains on Database Entities was unable to create unstructured domains on two quilts in a geometry file.
PW-20621	Exporting multi-domain extruded block files to a face based solver was taking longer than in previous versions of Pointwise.
PW-20680	Pointwise exited unexpectedly when a database was copied.
PW-20681	The structured block solver continued to run for several iterations after the Stop button was pressed.
PW-20698	Large files could not be exported to Kestrel due to improper handling.
PW-20702	Corrected an inconsistency when using Glyph and the ShapeConstraint parameter.

Platform Support

Minimum Requirements for All Platforms:

2 GB RAM (8 GB recommended)
2 GB disk space
Ethernet card
OpenGL capable color display monitor
1280x1024 screen resolution (4K monitor support now included)
Graphics adapter supporting 3D hardware-accelerated OpenGL and 24-bit RGB double-buffering
Up-to-date graphics accelerator drivers

Note: Pointwise V18.0R1 and later will not be supported on 32-bit platforms.

	Hardware	64-bit
Microsoft Windows	Intel AMD
Linux	Intel AMD
Mac OS X	Intel

Requirements for All Platforms

Minimum Requirements:

2 GB RAM (8 GB recommended)
2 GB disk space
Ethernet card
OpenGL capable color display monitor
1280x1024 screen resolution (4K monitor support now included)
Graphics adapter supporting 3D hardware-accelerated OpenGL and 24-bit RGB double-buffering
Up-to-date graphics accelerator drivers

Important Notes:

Pointwise does not support 32-bit platforms.
Pointwise does not support remote execution. However, a FAQ with remote execution workarounds is avaiable.

Microsoft Windows

Operating System	64-bit
Windows 7
Windows 8.1
Windows 10

*There is a known incompatibility on Microsoft Windows between Dell Backup & Recovery software and Pointwise V18. If you experience problems opening or saving a file from Pointwise, Dell Backup & Recovery software should be disabled or uninstalled.

Linux

Operating System	Version	64-bit
CentOS	6
Red Hat Enterprise Linux	6
SUSE Enterprise Linux Desktop	12 SP1
Ubuntu Desktop	14.04

Linux Library Dependencies

Listed below are the specific versions of library packages that we have on our test machines where we know Pointwise works. Other dependences (e.g. libGL) are not explicitly listed below as they should be part of any standard install that includes the packages listed below.

CentOS 6.4

expat-2.0.1-11.el6_2
fontconfig-2.8.0-3.el6
freetype-2.3.11-14.el6_3.1
libgcc-4.4.7-4.el6
libstdc++-4.4.7-3.el6
libX11-1.5.0-4.el6
libXau-1.0.6-4.el6
libxcb-1.8.1-1.el6
libXext-1.3.1-2.el6
libXft-2.3.1-2.el6
libXrender-0.9.7-2.el6
zlib-1.2.3-29.el6

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

expat-2.0.1-11.el6_2
fontconfig-2.8.0-5.el6
freetype-2.3.11-15.el6_6.1
libgcc-4.4.7-16.el6
libstdc++-4.4.7-16.el6
libX11-1.6.0-6.el6
libXau-1.0.6-4.el6
libxcb-1.9.1-3.el6
libXext-1.3.2-2.1.el6
libXft-2.3.1-2.el6
libXrender-0.9.8-2.1.el6
zlib-1.2.3-29.el6

SUSE Enterprise Linux Desktop 12 SP1

fontconfig
libbz2-1
libexpat1
libffi4
libfreetype6
libgcc_s1
libglib-2_0-0
libGLU1
libgobject-2_0-0
libgthread-2_0-0
libpcre1
libpng16-16
libstdc++6
libX11-6
libXau6
libxcb1
libXext6
libXft2
libXrender1
libz1

2.11.0-4.19
1.0.6-29.2
2.1.0-17.1
5.3.1+r233831-9.1
2.5.5-7.5.1
5.3.1+r233831-9.1
2.38.2-5.12
9.0.0-15.1
2.38.2-5.12
2.38.2-5.12
8.33-3.314
1.6.8-11.1
5.3.1+r233831-9.1
1.6.2-4.12
1.0.8-4.58
1.10-3.1
1.3.2-3.61
2.3.1-9.32
0.9.8-3.56
1.2.8-5.1

Ubuntu 14.04

libexpat1
libffi6
libfontconfig1
libfreetype6
libgcc1
libpcre3
libpng12-0
libstdc++6
libx11-6
libxau6
libxcb1
libxdmcp6
libxext6
libxft2
libxrender1
zlib1g

2.1.0-4ubuntu1.1
3.1~rc1+r3.0.13-12
2.11.0-0ubuntu4.1
2.5.2-1ubuntu2.5
1:4.9.1-0ubuntu1
1:8.31-2ubuntu2
1.2.50-1ubuntu2.14.04.1
4.8.4-2ubuntu1~14.04.1
2:1.6.2-1ubuntu2
1:1.0.8-1
1.10-2ubuntu1
1:1.1.1-1
2:1.3.2-1
2.3.1-2
1:0.9.8-1
1:1.2.8.dfsg-1ubuntu1