mesh_plan_clip output field plot is always showing nan

[kmahajan-cadfem]

Before submitting the issue

• I have checked for Compatibility issues
• I have searched among the existing issues
• I am using a Python virtual environment

Description of the bug

• clip the field using a plane
• plane is defined using origin and normal
• mesh_plan_clip is clipping the mesh correctly

• original displacement plot

• unfortunately if, we try to plot any field that is clipped using the operator, it show nan overall

after inspecting the data it seems that there is no data for the field output of the operator

Steps To Reproduce

• use newest dpf server
• set context to premium

from ansys.dpf import core as dpf 
fp = dpf.examples.download_crankshaft()
model = dpf.Model(fp)
disp = model.results.displacement.eval()[0]
normal = dpf.field.Field(location="overall")        
normal.append([0.0, 1.0, 0.0], 1)
origin = dpf.field.Field(location="overall")
origin.append([0.0, 0.0, 0.0], 1)
op = dpf.operators.mesh.mesh_plan_clip() # operator instantiation
op.inputs.mesh_or_field.connect(disp)
op.inputs.normal.connect(normal)
op.inputs.origin.connect(origin)
my_field = op.outputs.field()
my_field.plot()

Which Operating System are you using?

Windows

Which DPF/Ansys version are you using?

DPF Server as standalone

Which Python version are you using?

3.7

Installed packages

Package	Version	Editable project location
aiofiles	22.1.0
aiosqlite	0.18.0
ansys-api-mapdl	0.5.1
ansys-api-platform-instancemanagement	1.0.0b3
ansys-corba	0.1.0
ansys-dpf-core	0.7.4
ansys-dpf-gate	0.3.0
ansys-dpf-gatebin	0.3.0
ansys-dpf-post	0.2.5
ansys-dpf-server-2023-2-pre0	2023.2rc0	< local-path >\ansys_dpf_server_win_v2023.2.pre
ansys-grpc-dpf	0.7.0
ansys-grpc-mapdl	0.4.0
ansys-mapdl-core	0.64.0
ansys-mapdl-reader	0.52.8
ansys-platform-instancemanagement	1.0.3
anyio	3.6.2
appdirs	1.4.4
argon2-cffi	21.3.0
argon2-cffi-bindings	21.2.0
arrow	1.2.3
attrs	22.2.0
Babel	2.11.0
backcall	0.2.0
beautifulsoup4	4.11.2
black	23.1.0
bleach	6.0.0
cached-property	1.5.2
cachetools	5.3.0
certifi	2022.12.7
cffi	1.15.1
charset-normalizer	3.0.1
click	8.1.3
clr-loader	0.2.5
colorama	0.4.6
cycler	0.11.0
debugpy	1.6.6
decorator	5.1.1
defusedxml	0.7.1
entrypoints	0.4
fastjsonschema	2.16.2
fonttools	4.38.0
fqdn	1.5.1
geomdl	5.3.1
google-api-core	2.11.0
google-api-python-client	2.76.0
google-auth	2.16.0
google-auth-httplib2	0.1.0
googleapis-common-protos	1.58.0
grpcio	1.51.1
httplib2	0.21.0
idna	3.4
imageio	2.25.0
importlib-metadata	6.0.0
importlib-resources	5.10.2
ipykernel	6.16.2
ipython	7.34.0
ipython-genutils	0.2.0
ipywidgets	8.0.4
isoduration	20.11.0
jedi	0.18.2
Jinja2	3.1.2
json5	0.9.11
jsonpointer	2.3
jsonschema	4.17.3
jupyter	1.0.0
jupyter_client	7.4.9
jupyter-console	6.4.4
jupyter_core	4.12.0
jupyter-events	0.5.0
jupyter-server	1.23.5
jupyter_server_fileid	0.6.0
jupyter_server_ydoc	0.6.1
jupyter-ydoc	0.2.2
jupyterlab	3.6.0
jupyterlab-pygments	0.2.2
jupyterlab_server	2.19.0
jupyterlab-widgets	3.0.5
kiwisolver	1.4.4
MarkupSafe	2.1.2
matplotlib	3.5.3
matplotlib-inline	0.1.6
mistune	2.0.4
mypy-extensions	0.4.3
nbclassic	0.5.1
nbclient	0.7.2
nbconvert	7.2.9
nbformat	5.7.3
nest-asyncio	1.5.6
notebook	6.5.2
notebook_shim	0.2.2
numpy	1.21.6
packaging	23.0
pandocfilters	1.5.0
parso	0.8.3
pathspec	0.11.0
pickleshare	0.7.5
Pillow	9.4.0
pip	23.0
pkgutil_resolve_name	1.3.10
platformdirs	2.6.2
pooch	1.6.0
prometheus-client	0.16.0
prompt-toolkit	3.0.36
protobuf	3.20.3
protoc-gen-swagger	0.1.0
psutil	5.9.4
pyansys-tools-versioning	0.3.3
pyasn1	0.4.8
pyasn1-modules	0.2.8
pycparser	2.21
Pygments	2.14.0
pyiges	0.2.1
pyparsing	3.0.9
pyrsistent	0.19.3
python-dateutil	2.8.2
python-json-logger	2.0.4
pythonnet	3.0.1
pytz	2022.7.1
pyvista	0.38.1
pywin32	305
pywinpty	2.0.10
PyYAML	6.0
pyzmq	25.0.0
qtconsole	5.4.0
QtPy	2.3.0
requests	2.28.2
rfc3339-validator	0.1.4
rfc3986-validator	0.1.1
rsa	4.9
scipy	1.7.3
scooby	0.7.1
Send2Trash	1.8.0
setuptools	47.1.0
six	1.16.0
sniffio	1.3.0
soupsieve	2.3.2.post1
terminado	0.17.1
tinycss2	1.2.1
tomli	2.0.1
tornado	6.2
tqdm	4.64.1
traitlets	5.9.0
typed-ast	1.5.4
typing_extensions	4.4.0
uri-template	1.2.0
uritemplate	4.1.1
urllib3	1.26.14
vtk	9.2.5
wcwidth	0.2.6
webcolors	1.12
webencodings	0.5.1
websocket-client	1.5.0
widgetsnbextension	4.0.5
y-py	0.5.5
ypy-websocket	0.8.2
zipp	3.12.0

[PProfizi]

Hi @kmahajan-cadfem,

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention!
It seems the operator mesh.mesh_plan_clip does indeed return an empty clipped Field as 1st output.
From what I gathered, the operator was originally intended only for clipping a mesh.
I'll see how to fix that, be it either by modifying this operator, or by creating a new field_plan_clip operator dedicated to that while removing the field output from the mesh.mesh_plan_clip operator as this is rather confusing.
FYI @rlagha

[kmahajan-cadfem]

@PProfizi, I have related comment.

should the operator be called mesh_plan_clip?
if the mesh or field is clipped by a plane, shouldn't this be mesh_plane_clip ?

[PProfizi]

@kmahajan-cadfem, indeed, it seems the developer was french! (plane=plan in French)

[kmahajan-cadfem]

@PProfizi, is there any update on this issue, would this be supported going forward from server side or should I open a Service Request since it is a product (DPF Server) issue?