Previously, coordinate systems in a DataSet simply pointed to field data
specifying the coordinate information (although the ability to get that
back out of the DataSet was missing). This makes sense since point
coordinates are in fact just fields with a particular semantic meaning
to them.
However, there is an issue with this approach. It turns out that there
are special representations that are very common for point coordinates
and very uncommon for other types of fields. For example, a uniform
(a.k.a. regular or image) grid has point coordinates that are easily
derived from the point index, but such fields are quite uncommon
elsewhere.
Representing this kind of structure in the Field list of a DataSet is
problematic. Either all fields have to check to see if they are this
type, which will cause an explosion of unnecessary generated code, or
you will have to actually write out the coordinates in memory, which is
really wasteful but what was done previously.
However, by storing fields representing coordinate systems in a separate
batch, we can use these special types without the stated explosion.
Move ArrayPortalUniformPointCoordinates to the vtkm::internal namespace
since it is going to be actively used in both control and execution
environments.
Replace usage of extent with simple dimensions. We have decided that
there is not a lot of value in supporting extent in VTK-m.
The UserPortal in ArrayHandle was used to copy a pointer the user
created into an ArrayHandle to use in VTK-m algorithms. However, this is
only really valid for a basic storage, so the functionality has been
moved there, and you have to construct an ArrayHandle with a storage
instead of an array portal.
Providing these types tends to "lock in" the precision of the algorithms
used in VTK-m. Since we are using templating anyway, our templates
should be generic enough to handle difference precision in the data.
Usually the appropriate type can be determined by the data provided. In
the case where there is no hint on the precision of data to use (for
example, in the code that provides coordinates for uniform data), there
is a vtkm::FloatDefault.
After a talk with Robert Maynard, we decided to change the name
ArrayContainerControl to Storage. There are several reasons for this
change.
1. The name ArrayContainerControl is unwieldy. It is long, hard for
humans to parse, and makes for long lines and wraparound. It is also
hard to distinguish from other names like ArrayHandleFoo and
ArrayExecutionManager.
2. The word container is getting overloaded. For example, there is a
SimplePolymorphicContainer. Container is being used for an object that
literally acts like a container for data. This class really manages
data.
3. The data does not necessarily have to be on the control side.
Implicit containers store the data nowhere. Derivative containers might
have all the real data on the execution side. It is possible in the
future to have storage on the execution environment instead of the
control (think interfacing with a simulator on the GPU).
Storage is not a perfect word (what does implicit storage really mean?),
but its the best English word we came up with.
