"User Defined Binary" (UBIN) Components Generated from the JavaScript API

"User Defined Binary" (UBIN) components generated from the JavaScript API

There is a fourth class of user-defined data component that shares all the attributes of those described above, which is used with the JavaScript API (described in The JavaScript Interface , and not to be confused with the "JavaScript File" method above).

UBIN components are far more powerful than the methods above, since data can be extracted for any node or element, from any state and at any integration point; and it can be written anywhere in the same way. In addition, the JavaScript API allows data to be read from and written to external disk files, so UBIN components can be created from any mix of internal and external data using algorithms of arbitrary complexity.

UBIN components are used in the same way as the three types above except that:

• UBIN components can only be created and manipulated via the JavaScript API.
• They are cached on disk in <jobname>.ubd files alonside the normal database files, meaning that they persist across D3PLOT sessions.
• Their data is stored in compact binary form, meaning that access is quick but <jobname>.ubd files are not hand-editable.

Once a UBIN component has been created by running a JavaScript, it will appear in the lists and menus of user-defined components, and can be used in exactly the same was as any of the other user-defined components described above.

The creation and management of UBIN components is described in more detail in the JavaScript Interface Appendix .