itaps-parallel getVtxCoordIndex

[Lori A. Diachin]

Hi All,

I came across an issue with the getVtxCoordIndex function while I was 
testing my finite element solver code with the GRUMMP implementation of 
iMesh.  In talking it over with Carl, we realized that we had very 
different interpretations of what should be returned from the function 
and that the documentation was unclear.  So we are pinging the group for 
feedback so that we can clarify the documentation and ensure that 
implementations are compliant...

In particular, I am attempting to request the vertices associated with 
triangular faces and so I set the requested_entity_type to FACE, 
requested_entity_topology to TRIANGLE, and entity_adjacency_type to 
VERTEX.  I expect to get back 3 indices per face so that the offset 
array is set to 0,3,6,...  This is how it's implemented in 'simple 
mesh'.  I do not use the entity_adjacency_type argument for much of 
anything.

Carl had a different interpretation of the spec.  As he understands it,  
getVtkCoordIndex first grabs a bunch of adjacent entities, then makes a 
list of the vertex indices for the verts of -those- entities.  So for my 
request above, he returns individual vertices as the requested adjacency 
type and sets the offset array to 0,1,2,3,....   To get the information 
I want, he changes the arguments so that the entity_adjacency_type is 
FACE to get faces adjacent to TRIANGLES..

Thoughts on these interpretations?  We need to be sure that the 
documentation (user guide and man pages are both vague on this) and 
compliance test codes are clear on this.

Thanks,
Lori