Syntax:
custom style attribute action args ... keyword value ...
name = custom vector attribute with name name[N] = Nth column of custom array attribute with name
set args = v_name subset-ID region-ID
v_name = equal-, particle-, grid-, or surf-style variable with name
subset-ID = mixture ID (particles) or group ID (grid cells or surf elements)
region-ID = only apply to particle/grid/surf in region, NULL to not test
remove args = none
keyword = type or size type arg = int or float size arg = M for number of columns in a new custom array
Examples:
variable ivec particle id/100000 variable sdvec surf c_1*10+3.5 variable sdarray1 surf s_dvec+1 variable sdarray2 surf v_sdarray1+1
custom particle ivec set v_ivec air NULL type int custom surf dvec set v_sdvec all NULL custom surf darray[1] set v_sdarray1 all NULL size 2 custom surf darray[2] set v_sdarray2 all NULL custom particle ivec remove custom surf darray remove
Description:
Create or reset or remove a custom attribute for individual particles, grid cells, or surface elements. To create or reset an attribute a variable is specified and evaluated. Custom attributes can be can be vectors (single value per entity) or arrays (mutiple values per entity). They can also be integer or floating point values. See Section 6.17 for more discussion of custom attributes.
The specified style setting is particle or grid or surf for per-particle, per-grid, or per-surf attributes.
The attribute specifies the name of the attribute to operate on. The same name can be used for attributes of different styles. E.g. there can be a custom attribute with the name "flag" for both particles and surface elements. If the attribute name is specified without brackets, it refers to a custom vector (single value per entity). If the attribute name is specified with a bracketed integer, it refers to the column of a custom array (one or more values per entity). The integer N must be between 1 and M = # of columns in the array (values per entity). See the size keyword discussion below for how to specify M if it is a new custom array.
The action is specified as set or remove.
If remove is used, then the attribute should be simply the name of the attribute, whether it is a vector or array. No trailing brackets are specified. The attribute will be removed from the system. No further arguments can be specified.
If set is used, then the attribute is created if it does not already exist and its values are initialized. If it already exists, its values are reset. Custom attributes can be vectors (single value per entity) or arrays (mutiple values per entity). To set the values for a custom vector, use an attribute name without brackets, e.g. temperature. To set the values for a single column of a custom array, use an attribute name suffixed by a bracketed integer, e.g. dipole[3]. The integer must be a value from 1 to M, where M is the number of columns (values per entity) in the array.
The specified v_name is the name of a previously defined variable which this command will evaluate. It must be either an equal-style or particle-style or grid-style or surf-style variable. All of these styles define a mathematical formula which is used to compute the value(s) of the variable. See the variable for details.
If an equal-style variable is specified, it produces a single value which will be assigned as the custom value to all particles or grid cells or surface elements. Otherwise a particle-style variable must be used for style = particle, a grid-style variable for style = grid, or a surf-style variable for style = surf. When it is evaluated it generates one value for each particle, grid cell, or surface element, which is assigned to the custom vector or to a column of the custom array.
Note that the latter 3 variable styles can include outputs from compute or fix commands. They can also include the current timestep or the spatial position of a particle, grid cell, or surface element in their formula. So it is easy to calculate values for each entity which vary spatially or which depend on the current timestep.
The next two arguments, subset-ID and region-ID, can limit which particles, grid cells, or surface elements are assigned a custom value. An individual particle, grid cell, or surface element must meet both criteria to have its custom value set, otherwise its value is set to zero.
The subset-ID is the ID of a mixture for particles or the ID of a group of grid cells or surface elements. Only particles in the mixture or grid cells/surface elements in the group will be assigned a value. See the mixture and group commands for more details. Note that "all" is a pre-defined mixture ID which contains all particles. Likewise "all" is the name of a pre-defined group with all grid cells or surface elements.
The region-ID is the ID of a geometric region defined by the region command. Only particles or grid cells or surface elements in the region will have their values set. The center point of a grid cell or surface element is used for the region check. If region-ID is specified as NULL, then the region criterion is not applied.
Two optional keywords affect the creation of a new custom vector or array. They are ignored if the custom vector or array already exists.
The type keyword can be used with int or float as its arg. The created custom attribute will then store either integer or floating-point values. Floating point values are the default.
The size keyword can be used with arg = 0 to create a custom vector (which is the default). It can also be used with an arg M >= 1 to create an array with M columns (values per entity). This means that if a new attribute name is specified with no brackets, the size keyword is not necessary, because it's default value refers to a custom vector. But if a new attribute name with a bracket is used, the size keyword must be used so that the column dimension of the array is known.
Restrictions: none
Related commands:
Default:
The default settings for creation of a new custom attibute are type = float and size = 0.