RAS_FORMATS(1NCAR)

NAME
ras_formats - Information on raster formats supported by NCAR Graphics and NCAR View.

SYNOPSIS
Abekas A60, AVS, Generic Binary, HDF, HPPCL, NRIF, Sun, SGI, and XWD.

DESCRIPTION
NCAR Graphics and NCAR View applications are built upon a common library that provides read and write access to raster imagery. The table below summarizes the support that is provided for all the different formats. Note that a format may be writeable but not readable, and that a compressed image may be readable but not writeable. By default, a raster image is written as compressed if possible. For those applications that key upon the filename to determine the raster format, or allow a -ifmt or -ofmt, the extension, as listed below, should be used without the "." in front (e.g. use "hdf", not ".hdf").

Format(extensions) | Encoding | Input | Output | Compression
Abekas A60(.a60) | RGB24 | Yes | Yes | None
AVS(.avs) | RGB24 | Yes | Yes | None
HDF(.hdf) | Indexed-8 | Yes | Yes | In/Out
HDF(.hdf) | Direct-24 | Yes | Yes | In/Out
HPPCL(.hppcl) | Indexed-8 | No | Yes | Out
NRIF(.nrif) | Bilevel | No | No | None
NRIF(.nrif) | Indexed-8 | Yes | Yes | In/Out |
NRIF(.nrif) | Direct-24 | Yes | Yes | In/Out |
Sun(.sun) | Indexed-8 | Yes | Yes | In |
Sun(.sun) | Direct-24 | Yes | No | In |
SGI(.sgi,.rgb) | Direct-24 | Yes | Yes | In |
XWD(.xwd) | Indexed-8 | Yes | Yes | None |

CAVEATS

Not all formats and encodings that are supported for output are supported for input; the software has separate input and output drivers for format/encoding pair.

For all the formats listed below, only 8-bit pixels and 8-bit run-lengths (where applicable) are supported.

Experience with HDF's "advanced" compression option indicates that you should use it only if you consider random pixels an advanced-appearing image.

SEE ALSO

rasview(1NCARG), rasls(1NCARG), rascat(1NCARG), rasgetpal(1NCARG), rassplit(1NCARG)

Hardcopy: NCAR Graphics Fundamentals, UNIX Version

COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1987-2009
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
The use of this Software is governed by a License Agreement.