output_selection.rst

.. Output selection

.. _Output_list_label:

Output List
~~~~~~~~~~~

In the sections ``Snapshots``, ``Statistics`` and ``StructureFinding``, you can
specify the options ``output_list_on`` and ``output_list`` which receive an int
and a filename.  The ``output_list_on`` enable or not the output list and
``output_list`` is the filename containing the output times.  With the file
header, you can choose between writing redshifts, scale factors or times.

Example of file containing with times (in internal units)::

  # Time
  0.5
  1.5
  3.0
  12.5

Example of file with scale factors::

  # Scale Factor
  0.1
  0.2
  0.3

Example of file with redshift::

  # Redshift
  20
  15
  10
  5

If an output list is specified, the basic values for the first
snapshot (``time_first``, ``scale_factor_first``) and difference
(``delta_time``) are ignored.

When an output list is used SWIFT will not write a "0th" snapshot
straight after having read the ICs. Similarly, SWIFT will also *not*
write a snapshot at the end of a simulation unless a snapshot at the
final time is specified in the list.

.. _Output_selection_label:

Output Selection
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Users can generate a ``yaml`` file containing all the possible fields
available for a given configuration of SWIFT by running
``./swift --output-params output.yml`` or equivalently ``./swift -o
output.yml``. The file generated contains the list of fields that a
simulation running with this config would output in each snapshot. It
also lists the description string of each field and the unit
conversion string to go from internal comoving units to physical
CGS. Entries in the file look like:

.. code:: YAML

  Default:
    # Particle Type Gas
    Coordinates_Gas: off  # Co-moving positions of the particles : a U_L  [ cm ]
    Velocities_Gas: on  # Peculiar velocities of the stars. This is (a * dx/dt) where x is the co-moving positions of the particles : U_L U_t^-1  [ cm s^-1 ]
    Masses_Gas: on  # Masses of the particles : U_M  [ g ]
    SmoothingLengths_Gas: on  # Co-moving smoothing lengths (FWHM of the kernel) of the particles : a U_L  [ cm ]
    ...

For cosmological simulations, users can optionally add the ``--cosmology`` flag
to generate the field names appropriate for such a run.

Users can select the particle fields to output in snapshot using a (separate)
YAML parameter file. By default, you can define a section `Default` at the
top level of this file (in the exact same way as the file dumped by using the
`-o` option in SWIFT). By default, all fields are written, but by using the
"off" string, you can force the code to skip over unwanted outputs.

Users must then, in the regular SWIFT parameter file, select the following
options:

.. code:: YAML

  Snapshots:
    select_output_on: 1
    select_output: your_select_output_yaml.yml

This field is mostly used to remove unnecessary output by listing them as
"off". A classic use-case for this feature is a DM-only simulation (pure
N-body) where all particles have the same mass. Outputting the mass field in
the snapshots results in extra i/o time and unnecessary waste of disk space.
The corresponding section of the YAML file would look like:

.. code:: YAML

  Default:
    Masses_DM: off

Entries can simply be copied from the ``output.yml`` generated by the
``-o`` runtime flag. 

Alternatively, instead of "on" or "off", users can also provide the name of
one of the :ref:`Compression_filters` to write the field with reduced
accuracy and reduced disk space. The corresponding YAML file would, for
example, look like:

.. code:: YAML

  Default:
    Coordinates_Gas: DScale6
    Masses_Gas: off
    Velocities_Gas: DScale1
    Densities_Gas: FMantissa9
    ParticleIDs_Gas: IntegerNBits
	 

For convenience, there is also the option to set a default output status for
all fields of a particular particle type. This can be used, for example, to
skip an entire particle type in certain snapshots (see below for how to define
per-snapshot output policies). This is achieved with the special ``Standard``
field for each particle type:

.. code:: YAML

   BlackHolesOnly:
     Standard_Gas: off
     Standard_DM: off
     Standard_DMBackground: off
     Standard_Stars: off
     Standard_BH: on  # Not strictly necessary, on is already the default


Combining Output Lists and Output Selection
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is possible to combine the behaviour of the output list and the select
output file. To do so, you will need to enable both the ``select_output`` and
``output_list`` options in your main ``parameter_file.yml`` as follows:

.. code:: YAML

  Snapshots:
    output_list_on: 1
    output_list: "output_list.txt"
    select_output_on: 1
    select_output: "select_output.yml"

A typical use case for such a scenario is the dumping of 'snapshots' and
so-called 'snipshots', containing less information than their full snapshot
cousins. To do this, we will define two top-level sections in our
``select_output.yml`` file as follows:

.. code:: YAML

  # Only turn off DM masses in snapshots, everything else is turned on
  Snapshot:
    Masses_DM: off

  # Turn off and compress lots of stuff in snipshots!
  Snipshot:
    Metal_Mass_Fractions_Gas: off
    Element_Mass_Fractions_Gas: off
    Densities_Gas: FMantissa9
    ...

To then select which outputs are 'snapshots' and which are 'snipshots', you
will need to add the ``Select Output`` column to the ``output_list.txt`` as
follows::

  # Redshift, Select Output
  100.0, Snapshot
  90.0, Snipshot
  80.0, Snipshot
  70.0, Snipshot
  60.0, Snapshot
  ...

This will enable your simulation to perform partial dumps only at the outputs
labelled as ``Snipshot``. The name of the output selection that corresponds
to your choice in the output list will be written to the snapshot header as
``Header/SelectOutput``.