Pointwise Release Notes

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

  • Pointwise can now be customized to execute scripts written in virtually any scripting language including Python and Perl and these scripts can call Glyph commands.
  • All break points on selected connectors can be deleted using a new toolbar button.
  • The Project command now includes the ability to show constrained grid points in the Display window in the same manner as Examine, Database Associativity.

Resolved Issues

SPR Description
PW-17414 Initialization of a large unstructured T-Rex block took over 12 hours after a moderate increase in farfield connector dimensions.
PW-19141 Pointwise exited prematurely when initializing an unstructured block.
PW-19170 Initialization of a T-Rex block failed with the error “One or more entities could not be initialized”.
PW-19604 Pointwise was unable to initialize an unstructured block.
PW-19884 Pointwise created abnormally large tetrahedra in the Farfield of an initialized unstructured block.
PW-20031 Added more information to Glyph2 Manual Pages for the general type Filter, as well as the mode types Copier, Creator, Modifier, Paster, and ReExtrusionSolver.
PW-20073 Some plugins were missing from a Mac OSX workstation when the system region was set to Asia-Japan.
PW-20078 The glyph action pw::Object getType was inadvertently obscured by pw::TRexCondition getType. This was affecting a python-glyph wrapper.
PW-20082 Pointwise core dumped when trying to export a large grid to CGNS.
PW-20085 A Coon's Patch was not being created for circles consisting of one database line curve.
PW-20088 The secondary color attribute was not being applied to the interior lines of entities.
PW-20089 A grid exported to Star-CCM+ contained negative volume cells when imported into Star-CCM+.
PW-20090 The transparent background option was permanently disabled on Linux.
PW-20091 The *.tiff format for the Print to File command was not available on Linux workstations.
PW-20097 Pointwise exited prematurely when importing an IGES file created by OpenVSP.
PW-20102 Pointwise's screen was black and numerous error messages appeared when it was executed on a workstation running Mesa with OpenGL 3.1 or higher support.
PW-20111 Quads in Advancing Front Ortho domains were split automatically by the T-Rex algorithm at a sharp edge during the generation of multiple normal off the edge. The split direction chosen resulted in cells with no interior points.
PW-20121 Pointwise V18 was unable to finish importing a STEP file.
PW-20144 A vertex could not be selected during curve creation.
PW-20151 Starting Pointwise when there were no available processes failed which resulted in the appearance of the License Activation Wizard.
PW-20156 Copying and pasting multiple line sources caused one to be deleted.
PW-20157 A UGRID file with surface patch ID's set to zero failed to import into Pointwise.
PW-20159 When trying to connect to one Windows workstation from another with Remote Desktop, Pointwise's display would appear black due to insufficient OpenGL support.
PW-20162 Pointwise exited prematurely when trying to initialize a T-Rex block in which quadrilateral surface elements were being extruded out of very small geometric regions with a very low Maximum Included Angle Skew criteria.
PW-20170 Pointwise was not correctly importing Gridgen CAE settings.
PW-20204 Flip was not working while executing a rotational extrusion.
PW-20205 Setting the Spacing to “User Specified” in structured block solver attributes caused an assertion.
PW-20211 The prescribed Pyramid Aspect Ratio was not being used during initialization for the cells between a structured and unstructured block.
PW-20213 The preference to start the file browser in the current working directory was being ignored on Mac platforms.
PW-20228 A T-Rex block with structured domains in the face was generating zero height pyramids off the quads during initialization.
PW-20233 The Glyph manual pages for the Rotational Extrusion Solver Attributes contained a minor typo in the description for RotateAxisStart.
PW-20234 Boundary Conditions that had the same ID number were exported to CFD++ with zero faces.
PW-20237 Unrelated domains were selected after the completion of a domain projection operation.
PW-20240 No cells were display on an examination cut of the Skewness Equivolume diagnostic function for a block containing mixed cells.
PW-20241 The Glyph manual pages for the Rotational Extrusion Solver Attributes did not contain an example usage for the NormalCornerFactor attribute.
PW-20244 Refining two T-Rex domains on a wing caused Pointwise to exit prematurely.

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

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

Microsoft Windows

Operating System 64-bit  
Windows 7 Windows 7 Compatible
Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 Compatible
Windows 10 Windows 10 Compatible

*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

Mac OS X

Operating System Version 64-bit
Mountain Lion 10.8
Mavericks 10.9
Yosemite 10.10
El Capitan 10.11

Important: Pointwise V18.1 R1 will not support Mac OS X versions older than 10.10.

Other Versions

Pointwise V18.6 R5
Pointwise V18.6 R4
Pointwise V18.6 R3
Pointwise V18.6 R2
Pointwise V18.6 R1
Pointwise V18.5 R2
Pointwise V18.5 R1
Pointwise V18.4 R4
Pointwise V18.4 R3
Pointwise V18.4 R2
Pointwise V18.3 R2
Pointwise V18.3 R1
Pointwise V18.2 R2
Pointwise V18.2 R1
Pointwise V18.1 R2
Pointwise V18.1 R1
Pointwise V18.0 R4
Pointwise V18.0 R3
Pointwise V18.0 R2
Pointwise V18.0 R1