Using mask_points option in mlab.points3d crashes python about mayavi HOT 8 OPEN

Can reproduce. Investigating.

from mayavi.

This is the report on the console

libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
ERROR: In /Users/vagrant/pisi-64bit/tmp/VTK-6.2.0-1/work/VTK-6.2.0/Common/Core/vtkDataArrayTemplate.txx, line 142
vtkDoubleArray (0x1287fbf00): Unable to allocate 9223372036854775805 elements of size 8 bytes. 

Qt has caught an exception thrown from an event handler. Throwing
exceptions from an event handler is not supported in Qt. You must
reimplement QApplication::notify() and catch all exceptions there.

libc++abi.dylib: terminating with uncaught exception of type std::bad_alloc: std::bad_alloc
Abort trap: 6

from mayavi.

It appears that the initial number of points is completely broken, and gets accepted to size an array.

from mayavi.

Ok, after investigation, a value so high is technically correct, and not the result of junk memory. The default maximum number of points is established in VTK MaskPoints as the VTK_ID_MAX, which is the maximum long value. In practice, that value means: all points.

While not pleasant, it's technically correct. The question is why a vtkDoubleArray is getting allocated with that value, eventually.

from mayavi.

Problem is in VTK. Will obtain enough information to file a bug report.

from mayavi.

For the record, this issue is reproduced with the condition that "Proportional maximum number of points" is set to True when "mask points" is enabled.

As tested today, the default value of "proportional maximum number of points" is False, so the following should work:

from mayavi import mlab
mlab.points3d(range(4), range(4), range(4), mask_points=2)

so is clicking Glyph->Glyph->Masking->"Mask input points".

The seg fault generated by setting the "proportional maximum number of points" to True remains a vtk bug, as explained by @stefanoborini

from mayavi.

This is going to require some frequent compile time so I put it in background as I do something else from the list.

from mayavi.

Found the problem, at vtkMaskPoints.cxx:335

  localMaxPts = this->MaximumNumberOfPoints > numPts ? numPts : this->MaximumNumberOfPoints;
  if(this->ProportionalMaximumNumberOfPoints)
    {
    localMaxPts = this->GetLocalSampleSize(numPts,
                  this->InternalGetNumberOfProcesses());
    }

They are checking the localMaxPts before the splitting among processors. The GetLocalSampleSize returns the MaximumNumberOfPoints, which as we saw, it's a large value.
The first line should go after the if.

Filed bug report on VTK.

from mayavi.