ascii2biff

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Contents

Name

ascii2biff - convert an ascii file to BIFF format

Syntax

 ascii2biff [-title title] [-pt pixel_type]
          <ascii-file> <BIFF-file>

Description

Converts an ascii file to BIFF format.

Options

pixel_type

One of
ub, uns_byte
Unsigned byte, default.

us, uns_short
Unsigned short, 16 bits.

ss, sign_short
Signed short, 16 bits.

i, integer
Signed integer, 32 bits.

r, real
Float, 32 bits.

title
Set the output image title to title

ascii-file
Name of input file, "-" for stdin.

BIFF-file
Name of output file, "-" for stdout.

File format

The file is an ordinary ascii file. Comments start with a # or a ; and stop at end of line. Blank lines or comment lines are ignored. Lines with $ in coloumn 1 are treated as special arguments. The format is 

 $<keyword> <1 or 2 arguments>

where <keyword> is one of "type", "size", "xsize", "ysize", "start", "xstart", "ystart", "mag", "xmag" or "ymag".

The format for each <keyword> is: 
 $type   <uns_byte, uns_short, sign_short, integer, real>
 $size   <xsize> <ysize>
 $xsize  <xsize>
 $ysize  <ysize>
 $start  <xstart> <ystart>
 $xstart <xstart>
 $ystart <ystart>
 $mag    <xmag> <ymag>
 $xmag   <xmag>
 $ymag   <ymag>

The keywords will be used as image band arguments. If the size arguments are omitted, the size is calculated from the organization of the file. Default start arguments are -(size/2), and default mag arguments are 1.

Pixels inside a line are separated by blanks or tabs. Lines are separated by newline. If pixel type is uns_byte, uns_short, sign_short or integer, the special value - means lowest legal value, and + means largest legal value.

Example 1 

 #
 $ size  4 3           ; xsize = 4, ysize = 3
 3 5 6 4 3 2
 7 5 3 2 1 3

The resulting image: 
 #
 # 3 5 6 4
 # 3 2 7 5
 # 3 2 1 3
 #

Example 2 

 #
 3 5 6 4
 3 2 7 5
 3 2 1 3

The resulting image: 
 #
 # 3 5 6 4
 # 3 2 7 5
 # 3 2 1 3

Restrictions

Accepts one band images only.

Author

Otto Milvang, BLAB, Ifi, UiO

Examples

 1. Convert a formatted text file
    ascii2biff -v -pt ss mona.txt mona.img

 2. Convert an unformatted text file without write access.
    First create a file, for example mona.def, containing:
    # Definition file for mona.txt
    $type  sign_short  # set pixeltype
    $size 1666 1230    # set xsize ysize
    # ----------------------------------
    Then convert the file with:
    cat mona.def mona.txt | ascii2biff  -pt ss - mona.img