ASC2DSP(1)

NAME

asc2dsp - convert an ASCII displacement map file to BRL-CAD binary dsp format

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SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
OPTIONS
EXAMPLES
SEE ALSO
DIAGNOSTICS
AUTHOR
COPYRIGHT
BUG REPORTS

SYNOPSIS

asc2dsp [-h] file.asc file.dsp

asc2dsp converts ASCII (decimal integer) point data files to the BRL-CAD binary dsp (displacement map) format. The input file should contain whitespace-delimited, unsigned decimal integers ranging from 0 to 65535. The output is a dsp binary file containing one network unsigned short integer per cell.

When used to create a dsp object in mged(1), the grid is oriented in the X-Y plane. The first cell defined in the ASCII file becomes the bottom-left cell (X=0, Y=0), with its bottom at Z=0 and its top at Z equal to the input value. Data is read from bottom to top, left to right, similar to the pix(5) format. Since whitespace is ignored, you can format the input grid row by row for readability.

To author an input file in a natural top-down viewing order, create it row by row from top to bottom, and then reverse the lines using the tac(1) utility before processing with asc2dsp.

The total number of input cells must match the product of the width and length intended for the dsp object.

OPTIONS

-h, -?, --help: Print a usage message and exit.

EXAMPLES

Example 1. Converting an ASCII displacement map to binary dsp

$ asc2dsp terrain.asc terrain.dsp

Converts the ASCII file 'terrain.asc' to the binary displacement map format and saves it as 'terrain.dsp'.

Example 2. Creating a dsp file using tac for proper row order

$ tac top_down.asc > bottom_up.asc
$ asc2dsp bottom_up.asc terrain.dsp

Reverses the row order of 'top_down.asc' to align with the bottom-to-top layout required by mged(1), and then converts it to 'terrain.dsp'.