This page documents string formatting arguments that affect ParaView behavior at runtime. These arguments can be used to format formattable strings.
The class that is responsible for handling the pushing/popping of scopes (set of arguments) is vtkPVStringFormatter. vtkPVStringFormatter uses the {fmt} library to format strings that utilize named arguments.
The following arguments are part of the initial argument scope. This scope is pushed and popped inside vtkInitializerHelper, therefore the values of those arguments do NOT change at runtime. The arguments of this scope can be used in all formattable strings.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
{ENV_username} | std::string | The computer's username. Extracted from vtksys::SystemInformation. |
{username} | std::string | The computer's username. Extracted from vtksys::SystemInformation. |
{ENV_hostname} | std::string | The computer's hostname. Extracted from vtksys::SystemInformation. |
{hostname} | std::string | The computer's hostname. Extracted from vtksys::SystemInformation. |
{ENV_os} | std::string | The computer's operating system. Extracted from vtksys::SystemInformation. |
{os} | std::string | The computer's operating system. Extracted from vtksys::SystemInformation. |
{GLOBAL_date} | std::chrono::time_point | The date that ParaView started its execution. Extracted from std::chrono::system_clock::now(). For further formatting options see fmt/chrono.h. |
{date} | std::chrono::time_point | The date that ParaView started its execution. Extracted from std::chrono::system_clock::now(). For further formatting options see fmt/chrono.h. |
{GLOBAL_appname} | std::string | The application name. Extracted from vtkInitializationHelper::ApplicationName. |
{appname} | std::string | The application name. Extracted from vtkInitializationHelper::ApplicationName. |
{GLOBAL_appversion} | std::string | The application version. Extracted from PARAVIEW_VERSION_FULL. |
{appversion} | std::string | The application version. Extracted from PARAVIEW_VERSION_FULL. |
The following arguments are part of a scope that is used in Views. vtkPVXYChartView and vtkPVPlotMatrixView are responsible for pushing and popping the scope.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
{VIEW_time} | double | The time of the VIEW. |
{time} | double | The time of the VIEW. |
The following arguments are part of a scope that is used in Views also. vtkPVBagPlotMatrixView is responsible for pushing and popping the scope. vtkPVBagPlotMatrixView can also use the scope that is pushed by its superclass, vtkPVPlotMatrixView.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
{VIEW_variance} | int | The explained variance. Extracted from vtkPVBagPlotMatrixRepresentation. |
{variance} | int | The explained variance. Extracted from vtkPVBagPlotMatrixRepresentation. |
The following arguments are part of a scope that is used in vtkTimeToTextConvertor. This class is responsible for pushing and popping the scope.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
{TEXT_time} | double | The time. Extracted from vtkDataObject::DATA_TIME_STEP() / vtkStreamingDemandDrivenPipeline::UPDATE_TIME_STEP(). |
{time} | double | The time. Extracted from vtkDataObject::DATA_TIME_STEP() / vtkStreamingDemandDrivenPipeline::UPDATE_TIME_STEP(). |
The following arguments are part of a scope that is used in extract_writers. vtkSMExtractsController is responsible for pushing and popping the scope.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
{EXTRACT_timestep} | int | The time-step of the extraction. Extracted from GetTimeStep(). |
{timestep} | int | The time-step of the extraction. Extracted from GetTimeStep(). |
{EXTRACT_time} | double | The time of the extraction. Extracted from GetTime(). |
{time} | double | The time of the extraction. Extracted from GetTime(). |
The following arguments are part of a scope that is used also in extract_writers. vtkSMImageExtractWriterProxy is responsible for pushing and popping the scope. vtkSMImageExtractWriterProxy can also utilize the scope pushed by vtkSMExtractsController.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
{EXTRACT_camera} | std::string | The camera parameters. Extracted from GetActiveCamera(). |
{camera} | std::string | The camera parameters. Extracted from GetActiveCamera(). |
The following arguments are part of a scope that is used in PythonAnnotation. vtkPythonAnnotationFilter is responsible for pushing and popping the scope.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
{ANNOTATE_timevalue} | double | The time-value of the information. Extracted from vtkDataObject::DATA_TIME_STEP(). |
{timestep} | double | The time-value of the information. Extracted from vtkDataObject::DATA_TIME_STEP(). |
{ANNOTATE_timesteps} | std::vector<double> | The time-step values. Extracted from vtkStreamingDemandDrivenPipeline::TIME_STEPS(). |
{timesteps} | std::vector<double> | The time-step values. Extracted from vtkStreamingDemandDrivenPipeline::TIME_STEPS(). |
{ANNOTATE_timerange} | std::vector<double> | The time-range of time-steps. Extracted from vtkStreamingDemandDrivenPipeline::TIME_RANGE(). |
{timerange} | std::vector<double> | The time-range of time-steps. Extracted from vtkStreamingDemandDrivenPipeline::TIME_RANGE(). |
{ANNOTATE_timeindex} | int | The index of the time-steps element which is equal to time-value. |
{timeindex} | int | The index of the time-steps element which is equal to time-value. |
The following arguments are part of a scope that is used in PythonCalculator. vtkPythonCalculator is responsible for pushing and popping the scope.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
{CALCULATOR_timevalue} | double | The time-value of the information. Extracted from vtkDataObject::DATA_TIME_STEP(). |
{timevalue} | double | The time-value of the information. Extracted from vtkDataObject::DATA_TIME_STEP(). |
{CALCULATOR_timeindex} | int | The index of the time-steps element which is equal to time-value. time-steps are extracted from vtkStreamingDemandDrivenPipeline::TIME_STEPS(). |
{timeindex} | int | The index of the time-steps element which is equal to time-value. time-steps are extracted from vtkStreamingDemandDrivenPipeline::TIME_STEPS(). |
All the aforementioned arguments can be used in appropriate ParaView use cases to format formattable strings. If a user wants to see which are the available arguments that he can use, he can try to type a wrong argument in the formattable field, e.g. {test123}. In output messages of ParaView, the user will see a message like below:
1.8.13 on Wed Dec 10 2025