MESH2NODAL
Convert Finite Element Mesh to Nodal Graph

MESH2NODAL is a C program which converts a finite element mesh to a nodal graph.

The mesh file is stored in the METIS MESH format, and the resulting graph file is stored in the METIS GRAPH format.

This operation simplifies the use of the METIS partitioning program, which can work directly on the resulting graph. If the same finite element mesh is being used a number of times, it is more efficient for the user to convert the mesh once to a graph, rather than having METIS do it each time.

Usage:

To convert a finite element mesh file into the graph format preferred by METIS:

mesh2nodal mesh_file

reads the mesh information in mesh_file, constructs and writes the nodal graph.

Related Programs:

GRAPHCHK is an executable C program which can read a METIS GRAPH file and verify that it has the proper format.

KMETIS is an executable C program, using METIS, which can partition the nodes of a graph.

MESH2DUAL is an executable C program which converts a finite element mesh to a graph, for further processing by KMETIS or PMETIS.

METIS is a C library of routines for partitioning the nodes of a graph, or the elements of a finite element mesh, or for reordering the variables in a sparse matrix.

METIS_GRAPH is a data directory contains examples of the graph files used to describe a graph to the METIS family of programs.

METIS_MESH is a data directory contains examples of the mesh files used to describe a finite element mesh to the METIS family of programs.

MPI is a message passing interface that allows programs to be written for execution on parallel computers.

NEIGHBORS_TO_METIS_GRAPH is an executable C program which reads information describing the adjacency relations in a tet mesh, and writes out essentially the same information, but in a format that METIS will accept.

OEMETIS is an executable C program which reads the adjacency graph of a sparse matrix, stored in METIS GRAPH format, and produces a reordering of the nodes to minimize fill.

ONMETIS is an executable C program which reads the adjacency graph of a sparse matrix, stored in METIS GRAPH format, and produces a reordering of the nodes to minimize fill.

PARTDMESH is an executable C program, using METIS, which can partition the elements of a finite element mesh, by working with the dual graph of the mesh.

PARTNMESH is an executable C program, using METIS, which can partition the elements of a finite element mesh, by working with the nodal graph of the mesh.

PETSC is a library of high level mathematical software for the analysis of partial differential equations on parallel systems. PETSC supports and works with the METIS package.

PMETIS is an executable C program, using METIS, which can partition the nodes of a graph.

Reference:

1. metis.pdf,
   George Karypis, Vipin Kumar,
   METIS, a Software Package for Partitioning Unstructured Graphs and Computing Fill-Reduced Orderings of Sparse Matrices;
2. George Karypis, Vipin Kumar,
   A fast and high quality multilevel scheme for partitioning irregular graphs,
   SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing,
   Volume 20, Number 1, 1998, pages 359-392;
3. http://www.cs.umn.edu/~metis,
   The METIS home page;

Source Code:

• mesh2nodal.c
• mesh2nodal.csh, commands to compile the source code and create the library.

Examples and Tests:

• metis.mesh, a sample finite element grid.
• metis.mesh.ngraph, the dual graph computed by MESH2NODAL.
• mesh2nodal_prb.csh, commands to compile, link, load and run the test problem.
• mesh2nodal_prb_output.txt, the output file.

You can go up one level to the C source codes.