These new names are more consistent and logical because:
primitiveField():
primitiveFieldRef():
Provides low-level access to the Field<Type> (primitive field)
without dimension or mesh-consistency checking. This should only be
used in the low-level functions where dimensional consistency is
ensured by careful programming and computational efficiency is
paramount.
internalField():
internalFieldRef():
Provides access to the DimensionedField<Type, GeoMesh> of values on
the internal mesh-type for which the GeometricField is defined and
supports dimension and checking and mesh-consistency checking.
Non-const access to the internal field now obtained from a specifically
named access function consistent with the new names for non-canst access
to the boundary field boundaryFieldRef() and dimensioned internal field
dimensionedInternalFieldRef().
See also commit 22f4ad32b1
When the GeometricBoundaryField template class was originally written it
was a separate class in the Foam namespace rather than a sub-class of
GeometricField as it is now. Without loss of clarity and simplifying
code which access the boundary field of GeometricFields it is better
that GeometricBoundaryField be renamed Boundary for consistency with the
new naming convention for the type of the dimensioned internal field:
Internal, see commit 4a57b9be2e
This is a very simple text substitution change which can be applied to
any code which compiles with the OpenFOAM-dev libraries.
There is a need to specify const or non-const access to a non-const
object which is not currently possible with the "boundaryField()" access
function the const-ness of the return of which is defined by the
const-ness of the object for which it is called. For consistency with
the latest "tmp" storage class in which non-const access is obtained
with the "ref()" function it is proposed to replace the non-const form
of "boundaryField()" with "boundaryFieldRef()".
Thanks to Mattijs Janssens for starting the process of migration to
"boundaryFieldRef()" and providing a patch for the OpenFOAM and
finiteVolume libraries.