CGNS Steering Committee

Telecon Minutes

1. The meeting was called to order at 11:05 AM. There were 11 attendees, listed below.
   
   
2. The minutes of the 20 March 2003 telecon meeting were reviewed and approved as posted on the web site.
   
   
3. Status of previous action items:
   
   
   1. Poinot's HDF-5 implementation: Wedan & Rumsey both checked it out and tried the test case, but nothing done beyond that. Power said they are currently looking into it as a part of CHSSI project, and will report to the group when they get further along.
   2. ADFVIEWER documentation: Wedan has completed - it comes with the package, through SourceForge. Towne has also put documentation separately on the web documentation page. ADFVIEWER also now has "CGNS compatibility" button functional, for limited checking of file for compatibility with the standard.
   3. SourceForge status: up and running and working fine. Wedan and Rumsey are administrators, Poinot is currently the only developer. Access is available by downloading tar files or by accessing via CVS (see (g) below for further discussion). Need SSH to use CVS.
   4. Rewording of BC section in SIDS: Towne has completed.
   5. Accessibility of tools and utilities documentation: Towne has revamped so that documentation is now accessible through 1 link as opposed to being difficult to navigate to.
   6. New proposals for extension: Rumsey has posted on CGNS website - reviews and comments needed by August.
   7. Removal of beta status: done, as of initiation of SourceForge accessibility (by Wedan) Version 2.2 is now the latest official CGNS release.
      1. Issue: if get tar file, you get latest "official" release, if download using CVS, you get official + bug fixes.
      2. We will recommend that users get the "official" release; CVS version is unofficial.
      3. When enough fixes accumulate, or when a "major" bug is corrected, then there should be a new "official" release issued.
      4. Developers should "tag" any significant series of changes that are committed.
      5. Wedan will add comment(s) on web page and/or on SourceForge regarding this policy.
   8. Archiving CGNSTALK: Towne completed this.
   9. Reno 2004 paper: Poinot, Rumsey, Bush submitted abstract "Impact of CGNS on CFD Workflow".
   10. Orlando meeting: Rumsey set up for Tues, June 24 at 7PM in Jasmine room.
   
   
4. ISO Status - Ray Cosner (via e-mail) reported that there was still a problem with the 2003 budget for ISO at Boeing. It is a long shot to get restored funding this year; it is more likely that budgets will be restored in 2004. Some limited efforts have continued in Seattle, but the funding has been week-to-week and it is likely to stop soon. In spite of the budget problem, they still may get to present the Committee Draft Proposal (via e-mail) for all 4 parts in June at the ISO-STEP meeting in Stuttgart.
   
   
5. Documentation - Towne asked if we want to submit the latest (2.2) SIDS documentation to AIAA for a revised recommended practice guideline. The answer is yes, although there may be a minor modification to make first regarding the CGNSLibraryVersion node (see item (7b) below). After that issue is resolved, Towne will proceed with forwarding the latest documentation to AIAA. The spam problem we were having with the cgnstalk mailing list seems to have died down, so a decision on how to deal with the problem was tabled for now.
   
   
6. Software status - Wedan mentioned that recent bug (a check testing index range in pnts) was fixed in the official release of 2.2: the check was taken out (so it is possible for a user to end up with invalid point ranges - the software does not check for it). This bug is a result of a change made at the release of version 2.0 for unstructured grids, having to do with element list and element range being taken out. Wedan asked details about the change made, but those present could not remember enough. Wedan will speak to Poirier to get more details on why it was taken out and whether or not it is possible or practical to put back in.
   
   
7. Discussion on extensions:
   
   
   1. Regarding a need for allowing GridLocation and PointRange/PointList under UserDefinedData_t, and also regarding additional specification of GridLocation for data deep under BC_t: these proposals have been posted on the CGNS website under Proposals For Extension. Deadline is 30 Aug 2003 for comments (Bush volunteered as one reviewer, more are needed).
   2. It has come up on cgnstalk: the need to make CGNSLibraryVersion node node mandatory (currently, if it is not present, the MLL assumes a default version of 1.05). The MLL automatically adds this node, but other software may not; and then it runs into trouble if the MLL is used to read the file subsequently. Also, there is the question of a possible need for a node referring to the version of the SIDS, as opposed to the version of the MLL. After discussion, it was decided to make the current CGNSLibraryVersion node mandatory. This will be a change in documentation only. Because the MLL and the SIDS keep identical numbering and stay current of each other, the number to include is either the MLL library version or the SIDS version (they are the exact same number). It was decided that a proposal for a separate node for the SIDS version number was not crucial at this time, because the numbers are identical. The wording "Library" is unfortunate, but is difficult to change; the documentation will hopefully clarify what is meant. Other issues related to this have been brought up on cgnstalk, but it appears possible to work within the current framework for the present. Documentation needs to be added (in SIDS?) to describe the fact that the CGNSLibraryVersion node is mandatory & what it means, and also documentation is needed somewhere (in MLL docs?) to describe how the MLL handles files without the node present. Towne will look into where it is most appropriate to add documentation regarding this policy.
   
   
8. Other issues - Rumsey mentioned two mailing lists for other mesh standards that are under development (mail majordomo@ncsa.uiuc.edu; subscribe hdf5mesh) (mail majordomo@mcs.anl.gov; subscribe tstt-interface) for those people interested in keeping abreast. There has been some communication with these groups, but so far common ground has not been found. They are aware of CGNS.
   
   
9. Next CGNS meeting will be at the Orlando AIAA Meeting in June - anyone is welcome (Tues, June 24 at 7PM in the Jasmine Room). Next Telecon will probably be in Aug-Sept time frame.
   
   
10. Meeting was adjourned at 12:00 PM.
    
    
11. Summary of action items:
    
    
    1. Power to report on his group's assessment of HDF-5 implementation of CGNS.
    2. Bush (and other volunteers) to review 2 new proposals for extension.
    3. Wedan to add comments to website and/or SourceForge regarding policy of "official" release vs. CVS updates.
    4. Towne to propose documentation regarding CGNSLibraryVersion node being mandatory - Rumsey will involve several people (including Robert Magnan, the person who originally pointed out the problem) via e-mail to help wordsmith and agree to it.
    5. Towne to submit latest 2.2 documentation to AIAA to update the recommended practice guideline document.
    6. Wedan to discuss with Poirier the issue of element list and element range.

Attendees