StartGLVisServer in MFEM

examples/ex10p.cpp

@@ -180,6 +180,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    real_t K = 5.0;
    bool adaptive_lin_rtol = true;
    bool visualization = true;
+   const char *glvis = "";
    int vis_steps = 1;
 
    OptionsParser args(argc, argv);
@@ -209,6 +210,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    args.AddOption(&visualization, "-vis", "--visualization", "-no-vis",
                   "--no-visualization",
                   "Enable or disable GLVis visualization.");
+   args.AddOption(&glvis, "-glvis", "--glvis",
+                  "Path to GLVis binary to start a server.");
    args.AddOption(&vis_steps, "-vs", "--visualization-steps",
                   "Visualize every n-th timestep.");
    args.Parse();
@@ -220,6 +223,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
       }
       return 1;
    }
+   if (*glvis) { visualization = true; }
    if (myid == 0)
    {
       args.PrintOptions(cout);
@@ -310,20 +314,47 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    {
       char vishost[] = "localhost";
       int  visport   = 19916;
-      vis_v.open(vishost, visport);
-      vis_v.precision(8);
-      visualize(vis_v, pmesh, &x_gf, &v_gf, "Velocity", true);
-      // Make sure all ranks have sent their 'v' solution before initiating
-      // another set of GLVis connections (one from each rank):
-      MPI_Barrier(pmesh->GetComm());
-      vis_w.open(vishost, visport);
-      if (vis_w)
+
+      if (*glvis)
       {
-         oper.GetElasticEnergyDensity(x_gf, w_gf);
-         vis_w.precision(8);
-         visualize(vis_w, pmesh, &x_gf, &w_gf, "Elastic energy density", true);
+         int port = StartGLVisServer(glvis, visport);
+         if (port > 0) { visport = port; }
+         else { visualization = false; }
       }
-      if (myid == 0)
+
+      if (visualization)
+      {
+         vis_v.open(vishost, visport);
+      }
+
+      if (visualization && !vis_v)
+      {
+         if (myid == 0)
+         {
+            cout << "Unable to connect to GLVis server at "
+                 << vishost << ':' << visport << endl;
+            cout << "GLVis visualization disabled.\n";
+         }
+         visualization = false;
+      }
+
+      if (visualization)
+      {
+         vis_v.precision(8);
+         visualize(vis_v, pmesh, &x_gf, &v_gf, "Velocity", true);
+         // Make sure all ranks have sent their 'v' solution before initiating
+         // another set of GLVis connections (one from each rank):
+         MPI_Barrier(pmesh->GetComm());
+         vis_w.open(vishost, visport);
+         if (vis_w)
+         {
+            oper.GetElasticEnergyDensity(x_gf, w_gf);
+            vis_w.precision(8);
+            visualize(vis_w, pmesh, &x_gf, &w_gf, "Elastic energy density",
+                      true);
+         }
+      }
+      if (visualization && myid == 0)
       {
          cout << "GLVis visualization paused."
               << " Press space (in the GLVis window) to resume it.\n";

examples/ex16.cpp

@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    real_t kappa = 0.5;
 
    bool visualization = true;
+   const char *glvis = "";
    bool visit = false;
    int vis_steps = 5;
    bool solve_implicit_state = false;
@@ -133,6 +134,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    args.AddOption(&visualization, "-vis", "--visualization", "-no-vis",
                   "--no-visualization",
                   "Enable or disable GLVis visualization.");
+   args.AddOption(&glvis, "-glvis", "--glvis",
+                  "Path to GLVis binary to start a server.");
    args.AddOption(&visit, "-visit", "--visit-datafiles", "-no-visit",
                   "--no-visit-datafiles",
                   "Save data files for VisIt (visit.llnl.gov) visualization.");
@@ -144,6 +147,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
       args.PrintUsage(cout);
       return 1;
    }
+   if (*glvis) { visualization = true; }
    args.PrintOptions(cout);
 
    // 2. Read the mesh from the given mesh file. We can handle triangular,
@@ -213,15 +217,24 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    {
       char vishost[] = "localhost";
       int  visport   = 19916;
-      sout.open(vishost, visport);
-      if (!sout)
+      if (*glvis)
+      {
+         int port = StartGLVisServer(glvis, visport);
+         if (port > 0) { visport = port; }
+         else { visualization = false; }
+      }
+      if (visualization)
+      {
+         sout.open(vishost, visport);
+      }
+      if (visualization && !sout)
       {
          cout << "Unable to connect to GLVis server at "
               << vishost << ':' << visport << endl;
          visualization = false;
          cout << "GLVis visualization disabled.\n";
       }
-      else
+      else if (visualization)
       {
          sout.precision(precision);
          sout << "solution\n" << *mesh << u_gf;

examples/ex1p.cpp

@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    bool fa = false;
    const char *device_config = "cpu";
    bool visualization = true;
+   const char *visserver = "";
    bool algebraic_ceed = false;
 
    OptionsParser args(argc, argv);
@@ -106,6 +107,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    args.AddOption(&visualization, "-vis", "--visualization", "-no-vis",
                   "--no-visualization",
                   "Enable or disable GLVis visualization.");
+   args.AddOption(&visserver, "-glvis", "--glvis",
+                  "Path to GLVis binary to start a server.");
    args.Parse();
    if (!args.Good())
    {
@@ -115,6 +118,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
       }
       return 1;
    }
+   if (*visserver) { visualization = true; }
    if (myid == 0)
    {
       args.PrintOptions(cout);
@@ -301,6 +305,14 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    {
       char vishost[] = "localhost";
       int  visport   = 19916;
+
+      if (*visserver)
+      {
+         int port = StartGLVisServer(visserver, visport);
+         if (port > 0) { visport = port; }
+         else { visualization = false; }
+      }
+
       socketstream sol_sock(vishost, visport);
       sol_sock << "parallel " << num_procs << " " << myid << "\n";
       sol_sock.precision(8);

examples/ex35p.cpp

@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    bool herm_conv = true;
    bool slu_solver  = false;
    bool visualization = 1;
+   const char *glvis = "";
    bool mixed = true;
    bool pa = false;
    const char *device_config = "cpu";
@@ -126,6 +127,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    args.AddOption(&visualization, "-vis", "--visualization", "-no-vis",
                   "--no-visualization",
                   "Enable or disable GLVis visualization.");
+   args.AddOption(&glvis, "-glvis", "--glvis",
+                  "Path to GLVis binary to start a server.");
    args.AddOption(&mixed, "-mixed", "--mixed-mesh", "-hex",
                   "--hex-mesh", "Mixed mesh of hexahedral mesh.");
    args.AddOption(&pa, "-pa", "--partial-assembly", "-no-pa",
@@ -141,6 +144,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
       }
       return 1;
    }
+   if (*glvis) { visualization = true; }
 
    if (!mixed || pa)
    {
@@ -171,6 +175,15 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
       args.PrintOptions(cout);
    }
 
+   char vishost[] = "localhost";
+   int  visport   = 19916;
+   if (*glvis)
+   {
+      int port = StartGLVisServer(glvis, visport);
+      if (port > 0) { visport = port; }
+      else { visualization = false; }
+   }
+
    MFEM_VERIFY(prob >= 0 && prob <=2,
                "Unrecognized problem type: " << prob);
 
@@ -293,8 +306,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    // 8c. Send the port bc, computed on the SubMesh, to a GLVis server.
    if (visualization && dim == 3)
    {
-      char vishost[] = "localhost";
-      int  visport   = 19916;
       socketstream port_sock(vishost, visport);
       port_sock << "parallel " << num_procs << " " << myid << "\n";
       port_sock.precision(8);
@@ -336,8 +347,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
       if (visualization)
       {
-         char vishost[] = "localhost";
-         int  visport   = 19916;
          socketstream full_sock(vishost, visport);
          full_sock << "parallel " << num_procs << " " << myid << "\n";
          full_sock.precision(8);
@@ -549,8 +558,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    // 17. Send the solution by socket to a GLVis server.
    if (visualization)
    {
-      char vishost[] = "localhost";
-      int  visport   = 19916;
       socketstream sol_sock_r(vishost, visport);
       sol_sock_r << "parallel " << num_procs << " " << myid << "\n";
       sol_sock_r.precision(8);
@@ -571,8 +578,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    {
       ParGridFunction u_t(&fespace);
       u_t = u.real();
-      char vishost[] = "localhost";
-      int  visport   = 19916;
       socketstream sol_sock(vishost, visport);
       sol_sock << "parallel " << num_procs << " " << myid << "\n";
       sol_sock.precision(8);

examples/ex5p.cpp

@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    bool pa = false;
    const char *device_config = "cpu";
    bool visualization = 1;
+   const char *glvis = "";
    bool adios2 = false;
 
    OptionsParser args(argc, argv);
@@ -89,6 +90,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    args.AddOption(&visualization, "-vis", "--visualization", "-no-vis",
                   "--no-visualization",
                   "Enable or disable GLVis visualization.");
+   args.AddOption(&glvis, "-glvis", "--glvis",
+                  "Path to GLVis binary to start a server.");
    args.AddOption(&adios2, "-adios2", "--adios2-streams", "-no-adios2",
                   "--no-adios2-streams",
                   "Save data using adios2 streams.");
@@ -101,6 +104,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
       }
       return 1;
    }
+   if (*glvis) { visualization = true; }
    if (verbose)
    {
       args.PrintOptions(cout);
@@ -449,19 +453,28 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    {
       char vishost[] = "localhost";
       int  visport   = 19916;
-      socketstream u_sock(vishost, visport);
-      u_sock << "parallel " << num_procs << " " << myid << "\n";
-      u_sock.precision(8);
-      u_sock << "solution\n" << *pmesh << *u << "window_title 'Velocity'"
-             << endl;
-      // Make sure all ranks have sent their 'u' solution before initiating
-      // another set of GLVis connections (one from each rank):
-      MPI_Barrier(pmesh->GetComm());
-      socketstream p_sock(vishost, visport);
-      p_sock << "parallel " << num_procs << " " << myid << "\n";
-      p_sock.precision(8);
-      p_sock << "solution\n" << *pmesh << *p << "window_title 'Pressure'"
-             << endl;
+      if (*glvis)
+      {
+         int port = StartGLVisServer(glvis, visport);
+         if (port > 0) { visport = port; }
+         else { visualization = false; }
+      }
+      if (visualization)
+      {
+         socketstream u_sock(vishost, visport);
+         u_sock << "parallel " << num_procs << " " << myid << "\n";
+         u_sock.precision(8);
+         u_sock << "solution\n" << *pmesh << *u << "window_title 'Velocity'"
+                << endl;
+         // Make sure all ranks have sent their 'u' solution before initiating
+         // another set of GLVis connections (one from each rank):
+         MPI_Barrier(pmesh->GetComm());
+         socketstream p_sock(vishost, visport);
+         p_sock << "parallel " << num_procs << " " << myid << "\n";
+         p_sock.precision(8);
+         p_sock << "solution\n" << *pmesh << *p << "window_title 'Pressure'"
+                << endl;
+      }
    }
 
    // 20. Free the used memory.

examples/ex6p.cpp

@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    bool smooth_rt = true;
    bool restart = false;
    bool visualization = true;
+   const char *glvis = "";
    bool rebalance = true;
    bool usePRefinement = false;
 
@@ -108,6 +109,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    args.AddOption(&visualization, "-vis", "--visualization", "-no-vis",
                   "--no-visualization",
                   "Enable or disable GLVis visualization.");
+   args.AddOption(&glvis, "-glvis", "--glvis",
+                  "Path to GLVis binary to start a server.");
    args.Parse();
    if (!args.Good())
    {
@@ -117,6 +120,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
       }
       return 1;
    }
+   if (*glvis) { visualization = true; }
    if (myid == 0)
    {
       args.PrintOptions(cout);
@@ -236,8 +240,17 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    socketstream sout;
    if (visualization)
    {
-      sout.open(vishost, visport);
-      if (!sout)
+      if (*glvis)
+      {
+         int port = StartGLVisServer(glvis, visport);
+         if (port > 0) { visport = port; }
+         else { visualization = false; }
+      }
+      if (visualization)
+      {
+         sout.open(vishost, visport);
+      }
+      if (visualization && !sout)
       {
          if (myid == 0)
          {
@@ -248,7 +261,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
          visualization = false;
       }
 
-      sout.precision(8);
+      if (visualization) { sout.precision(8); }
    }
 
    // 14. Set up an error estimator. Here we use the Zienkiewicz-Zhu estimator

examples/ex9.cpp

@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    real_t t_final = 10.0;
    real_t dt = 0.01;
    bool visualization = true;
+   const char *glvis = "";
    bool visit = false;
    bool paraview = false;
    bool binary = false;
@@ -194,6 +195,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    args.AddOption(&visualization, "-vis", "--visualization", "-no-vis",
                   "--no-visualization",
                   "Enable or disable GLVis visualization.");
+   args.AddOption(&glvis, "-glvis", "--glvis",
+                  "Path to GLVis binary to start a server.");
    args.AddOption(&visit, "-visit", "--visit-datafiles", "-no-visit",
                   "--no-visit-datafiles",
                   "Save data files for VisIt (visit.llnl.gov) visualization.");
@@ -211,6 +214,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
       args.PrintUsage(cout);
       return 1;
    }
+   if (*glvis) { visualization = true; }
    args.PrintOptions(cout);
 
    Device device(device_config);
@@ -347,15 +351,24 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    {
       char vishost[] = "localhost";
       int  visport   = 19916;
-      sout.open(vishost, visport);
-      if (!sout)
+      if (*glvis)
+      {
+         int port = StartGLVisServer(glvis, visport);
+         if (port > 0) { visport = port; }
+         else { visualization = false; }
+      }
+      if (visualization)
+      {
+         sout.open(vishost, visport);
+      }
+      if (visualization && !sout)
       {
          cout << "Unable to connect to GLVis server at "
               << vishost << ':' << visport << endl;
          visualization = false;
          cout << "GLVis visualization disabled.\n";
       }
-      else
+      else if (visualization)
       {
          sout.precision(precision);
          sout << "solution\n" << mesh << u;

examples/ex9p.cpp

@@ -252,6 +252,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    real_t t_final = 10.0;
    real_t dt = 0.01;
    bool visualization = true;
+   const char *glvis = "";
    bool visit = false;
    bool paraview = false;
    bool adios2 = false;
@@ -299,6 +300,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    args.AddOption(&visualization, "-vis", "--visualization", "-no-vis",
                   "--no-visualization",
                   "Enable or disable GLVis visualization.");
+   args.AddOption(&glvis, "-glvis", "--glvis",
+                  "Path to GLVis binary to start a server.");
    args.AddOption(&visit, "-visit", "--visit-datafiles", "-no-visit",
                   "--no-visit-datafiles",
                   "Save data files for VisIt (visit.llnl.gov) visualization.");
@@ -322,6 +325,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
       }
       return 1;
    }
+   if (*glvis) { visualization = true; }
    if (Mpi::Root())
    {
       args.PrintOptions(cout);
@@ -507,31 +511,42 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    {
       char vishost[] = "localhost";
       int  visport   = 19916;
-      sout.open(vishost, visport);
-      if (!sout)
+
+      if (*glvis)
       {
-         if (Mpi::Root())
-         {
-            cout << "Unable to connect to GLVis server at "
-                 << vishost << ':' << visport << endl;
-         }
-         visualization = false;
-         if (Mpi::Root())
-         {
-            cout << "GLVis visualization disabled.\n";
-         }
+         int port = StartGLVisServer(glvis, visport);
+         if (port <= 0) { visualization = false; }
+         else { visport = port; }
       }
-      else
+
+      if (visualization)
       {
-         sout << "parallel " << num_procs << " " << myid << "\n";
-         sout.precision(precision);
-         sout << "solution\n" << *pmesh << *u;
-         sout << "pause\n";
-         sout << flush;
-         if (Mpi::Root())
+         sout.open(vishost, visport);
+         if (!sout)
          {
-            cout << "GLVis visualization paused."
-                 << " Press space (in the GLVis window) to resume it.\n";
+            if (Mpi::Root())
+            {
+               cout << "Unable to connect to GLVis server at "
+                    << vishost << ':' << visport << endl;
+            }
+            visualization = false;
+            if (Mpi::Root())
+            {
+               cout << "GLVis visualization disabled.\n";
+            }
+         }
+         else
+         {
+            sout << "parallel " << num_procs << " " << myid << "\n";
+            sout.precision(precision);
+            sout << "solution\n" << *pmesh << *u;
+            sout << "pause\n";
+            sout << flush;
+            if (Mpi::Root())
+            {
+               cout << "GLVis visualization paused."
+                    << " Press space (in the GLVis window) to resume it.\n";
+            }
          }
       }
    }
@@ -634,7 +649,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    return 0;
 }
 
-
 // Implementation of class FE_Evolution
 FE_Evolution::FE_Evolution(ParBilinearForm &M_, ParBilinearForm &K_,
                            const Vector &b_, PrecType prec_type)

general/socketstream.cpp

@@ -18,12 +18,18 @@
 
 #include <cstring>      // memset, memcpy, strerror
 #include <cerrno>       // errno
+#include <cstdio>
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <memory>
+#include <sstream>
+#include <string>
 #ifndef _WIN32
 #include <netdb.h>      // getaddrinfo
 #include <arpa/inet.h>  // htons
 #include <sys/types.h>  // socket, setsockopt, connect, recv, send
 #include <sys/socket.h> // socket, setsockopt, connect, recv, send
 #include <unistd.h>     // close
+#include <poll.h>
 #define closesocket (::close)
 #else
 #include <winsock2.h>
@@ -44,6 +50,10 @@ typedef int socklen_t;
 // #define MFEM_USE_GNUTLS_DEBUG
 #endif
 
+#ifdef MFEM_USE_MPI
+#include "communication.hpp"
+#endif
+
 namespace mfem
 {
 
@@ -1086,4 +1096,105 @@ socketstream::~socketstream()
 #endif
 }
 
+#ifndef _WIN32
+namespace
+{
+
+// Keep the popen() handle alive; popen() must be closed with pclose()
+struct GLVisServerDeleter
+{
+   void operator()(FILE *f) const
+   {
+      if (f != nullptr)
+      {
+         const int ierr = pclose(f);
+         if (ierr != 0)
+         {
+            mfem::err << "GLVis server pclose() returns: " << ierr << std::endl;
+         }
+      }
+   }
+};
+
+// Store the server handle
+std::unique_ptr<FILE, GLVisServerDeleter> glvis_server;
+
+}
+#endif
+
+int StartGLVisServer(const char *glvis_path, int preferred_port, int timeout_ms)
+{
+   if (!glvis_path || !*glvis_path) { return -1; }
+   if (preferred_port <= 0) { return -1; }
+   if (timeout_ms < 0) { timeout_ms = 0; }
+
+   int port = -1;
+
+#ifdef MFEM_USE_MPI
+   const bool use_mpi = Mpi::IsInitialized() && !Mpi::IsFinalized();
+   if (use_mpi && !Mpi::Root())
+   {
+      MPI_Bcast(&port, 1, MPI_INT, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+      return port;
+   }
+#endif
+
+#ifndef _WIN32
+   if (GetEnv("MFEM_GLVIS_DEBUG"))
+   {
+      mfem::out << "MFEM_GLVIS_DEBUG: starting GLVis: " << glvis_path
+                << " -p " << preferred_port << " -no-pr -no-ex" << std::endl;
+   }
+
+   // Keep the shell-based startup path, but wait with poll() so startup failure
+   // does not block indefinitely.
+   std::stringstream ss;
+   ss << "trap '' SIGPIPE && " << glvis_path
+      << " -p " << preferred_port
+      << " -no-pr -no-ex 2>&1 | grep -m 1 ^GLVIS_SERVER_PORT";
+   glvis_server.reset(popen(ss.str().c_str(), "r"));
+   FILE *fglvis = glvis_server.get();
+   if (fglvis)
+   {
+      pollfd pfd{};
+      pfd.fd = fileno(fglvis);
+      pfd.events = POLLIN;
+
+      int pr = -1;
+      do
+      {
+         pr = poll(&pfd, 1, timeout_ms);
+      }
+      while (pr < 0 && errno == EINTR);
+
+      constexpr size_t ssize = 256;
+      char line[ssize];
+      if (pr > 0 && fgets(line, ssize, fglvis) &&
+          strncmp(line, "GLVIS_SERVER_PORT=", 18) == 0)
+      {
+         port = std::atoi(line + 18);
+      }
+      else
+      {
+         glvis_server.reset();
+      }
+   }
+#endif // !_WIN32
+
+   if (port <= 0)
+   {
+      mfem::err << "Failed to start GLVis server '" << glvis_path
+                << "'. Disabling visualization." << std::endl;
+   }
+
+#ifdef MFEM_USE_MPI
+   if (use_mpi)
+   {
+      MPI_Bcast(&port, 1, MPI_INT, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+   }
+#endif
+
+   return port;
+}
+
 } // namespace mfem

general/socketstream.hpp

@@ -294,6 +294,28 @@ public:
    ~socketserver() { close(); }
 };
 
+/** @brief Start a GLVis server process and return the selected port.
+
+    This is the library version of the old `examples/ex1p.cpp` helper.
+    It starts GLVis with `-no-ex` so it can take the first available port at
+    or above `preferred_port`. The selected port is expected to be printed as
+    `GLVIS_SERVER_PORT=<port>` on stderr.
+
+    Compared to the old `VisServer::Open()`, this helper does not create a
+    log file and uses `timeout_ms` to bound the wait for the port line.
+
+    When MPI is enabled and initialized, this function starts GLVis on rank 0
+    and broadcasts the selected port to all ranks in `MPI_COMM_WORLD`.
+
+    @param glvis_path Path to the GLVis executable.
+    @param preferred_port Initial port to try (default: 19916).
+    @param timeout_ms Max time (milliseconds) to wait for port capture.
+    On failure, this function prints a diagnostic message and returns -1.
+    @return The selected port (>0) on success, or -1 on failure. */
+MFEM_EXPORT int StartGLVisServer(const char *glvis_path,
+                                 int preferred_port = 19916,
+                                 int timeout_ms = 5000);
+
 } // namespace mfem
 
 #endif

miniapps/electromagnetics/joule.cpp

@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    int amr = 0;
    int debug = 0;
    int visport = 19916;
+   const char *glvis = "";
    const char *problem = "rod";
 
    OptionsParser args(argc, argv);
@@ -182,6 +183,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    args.AddOption(&visualization, "-vis", "--visualization", "-no-vis",
                   "--no-visualization",
                   "Enable or disable GLVis visualization.");
+   args.AddOption(&glvis, "-glvis", "--glvis",
+                  "Path to GLVis binary to start a server.");
    args.AddOption(&visit, "-visit", "--visit", "-no-visit", "--no-visit",
                   "Enable or disable VisIt visualization.");
    args.AddOption(&vis_steps, "-vs", "--visualization-steps",
@@ -210,6 +213,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
       }
       return 1;
    }
+   if (*glvis) { visualization = true; }
    if (Mpi::Root())
    {
       args.PrintOptions(cout);
@@ -522,6 +526,12 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
    socketstream vis_T, vis_E, vis_B, vis_w, vis_P;
    char vishost[] = "localhost";
+   if (*glvis)
+   {
+      int port = StartGLVisServer(glvis, visport);
+      if (port > 0) { visport = port; }
+      else { visualization = false; }
+   }
    if (visualization)
    {
       // Make sure all ranks have sent their 'v' solution before initiating

miniapps/tools/display-basis.cpp

@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    bool visualization = true;
    int onlySome = -1;
 
+   const char *glvis = "";
    int visport = 19916;
    vector<socketstream*> sock;
 
@@ -159,6 +160,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                   "Enable or disable GLVis visualization.");
    args.AddOption(&onlySome, "-only", "--onlySome",
                   "Only view 10 dofs, starting with the specified one.");
+   args.AddOption(&glvis, "-glvis", "--glvis",
+                  "Path to GLVis binary to start a server.");
    args.AddOption(&visport, "-p", "--send-port", "Socket for GLVis.");
    args.Parse();
    if (!args.Good())
@@ -166,9 +169,16 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
       args.PrintUsage(cout);
       return 1;
    }
+   if (*glvis) { visualization = true; }
    {
       args.PrintOptions(cout);
    }
+   if (*glvis)
+   {
+      int port = StartGLVisServer(glvis, visport);
+      if (port > 0) { visport = port; }
+      else { visualization = false; }
+   }
    if ( eInt > 0 && eInt < 7 )
    {
       eType = (Element::Type)eInt;

miniapps/tools/plor-transfer.cpp

@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    int lorder = 0;
    bool vis = true;
    bool useH1 = false;
+   const char *glvis = "";
    int visport = 19916;
    bool use_pointwise_transfer = false;
    const char *device_config = "cpu";
@@ -97,6 +98,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    args.AddOption(&vis, "-vis", "--visualization", "-no-vis",
                   "--no-visualization",
                   "Enable or disable GLVis visualization.");
+   args.AddOption(&glvis, "-glvis", "--glvis",
+                  "Path to GLVis binary to start a server.");
    args.AddOption(&useH1, "-h1", "--use-h1", "-l2", "--use-l2",
                   "Use H1 spaces instead of L2.");
    args.AddOption(&use_pointwise_transfer, "-t", "--use-pointwise-transfer",
@@ -108,6 +111,13 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                   "--no-ea-version", "Use element assembly version.");
    args.ParseCheck();
 
+   if (*glvis)
+   {
+      int port = StartGLVisServer(glvis, visport);
+      if (port > 0) { visport = port; vis = true; }
+      else { vis = false; }
+   }
+
    // Configure device
    Device device(device_config);
    if (Mpi::Root()) { device.Print(); }

run-glvis-samples.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+set -eu
+
+ROOT=$(CDPATH= cd -- "$(dirname -- "$0")" && pwd)
+
+run_step()
+{
+   dir=$1
+   cmd=$2
+   expect=$3
+
+   printf '\nDirectory: %s\n' "$dir"
+   printf 'Command: %s\n' "$cmd"
+   printf 'Check/: %s\n' "$expect"
+   printf 'Press Enter to start (Ctrl-C to stop)... '
+   IFS= read -r _
+
+   (
+      cd "$ROOT/$dir"
+      sh -c "$cmd"
+   )
+}
+
+run_step \
+   examples \
+   "mpirun -np 4 ./ex1p -glvis ../../glvis/glvis" \
+   "Expect one parallel GLVis window. Close it when done."
+
+run_step \
+   examples \
+   "mpirun -np 4 ./ex5p -m ../data/square-disc.mesh -glvis ../../glvis/glvis" \
+   "Expect velocity and pressure GLVis windows. Close both when done."
+
+run_step \
+   examples \
+   "mpirun -np 4 ./ex6p -m ../data/amr-quad.mesh -glvis ../../glvis/glvis" \
+   "Expect one persistent AMR GLVis window. Close it when done."
+
+run_step \
+   examples \
+   "./ex9 -glvis ../../glvis/glvis" \
+   "Expect one GLVis window that starts paused. Press space to start, then close it when done."
+
+run_step \
+   examples \
+   "mpirun -np 4 ./ex9p -glvis ../../glvis/glvis" \
+   "Expect one parallel GLVis window that starts paused. Press space to start, then close it when done."
+
+run_step \
+   examples \
+   "mpirun -np 4 ./ex10p -glvis ../../glvis/glvis" \
+   "Expect velocity and elastic-energy windows that start paused. Press space in each as needed, then close them."
+
+run_step \
+   examples \
+   "./ex16 -glvis ../../glvis/glvis" \
+   "Expect one GLVis window that starts paused. Press space to start, then close it when done."
+
+run_step \
+   examples \
+   "mpirun -np 4 ./ex35p -glvis ../../glvis/glvis" \
+   "Expect multiple GLVis windows, including a paused harmonic animation window. Press space there to start, then close all windows."
+
+run_step \
+   miniapps/electromagnetics \
+   "mpirun -np 8 ./joule -m cylinder-hex.mesh -p rod -glvis ../../../glvis/glvis" \
+   "Expect several GLVis field windows. Close them when done."
+
+run_step \
+   miniapps/tools \
+   "./display-basis -glvis ../../../glvis/glvis" \
+   "Expect several basis-function windows plus a terminal prompt. Use 'c' in the terminal menu to close windows and quit."
+
+run_step \
+   miniapps/tools \
+   "mpirun -np 4 ./plor-transfer -glvis ../../../glvis/glvis" \
+   "Expect multiple GLVis windows showing the transfer fields. Close them when done."