There are two types of files: data files, and communication files. Data files may contain one of scene, structure, and display data. Communication files are used for the exchange of some common information, such as color maps, between independent programs.
The names of all 3DVIEWNIX files have a main part and an extension that
are separated by a dot. All communication files have an extension COM.
Data file extensions depend on the type of the data.
5.1 Data Files
3DVIEWNIX assigns a default main part to the names of files created by
its various commands. This part can be changed by the user. The
extensions are automatically assigned by the programs and cannot be
changed by the user. The name of the extensions and the type of data
files they represent are described below. Detailed description of the
format of these in which additionally describes in full detail our
multidimensional generalization of the ACR-NEMA standards.
Files with this extension contain scene data. In our generalization of the ACR-NEMA standards, we identify two types of scene data, the first called scene data of Image0 type which represents a scene as we defined in Section 3.1, and the second of type called Image1 which is more general than the first type. Image1 type does not assume a rectangular array form for the cells (as Image0 does), but it allows any geometric arrangement of cells in the n-dimensional space. At present only the Image0 type has been implemented. IM0 is an abbreviation for Image0.
Files with this extension contain Image0 type scene data wherein the cells have equal size in all dimensions. For example, if the data represent a 3D scene, the cells are cubes of identical size. Although 3DVIEWNIX can handle scenes with non-cubic cells, in some programs, processing can be done faster if the fact that the cells are cubes is known.
They represent binary scenes of type IMAGE0. Although almost all of the operations done on scenes can be done on binary scenes, sometimes the operations can be done more efficiently and appropriately if it is known that the data represent a binary scene. This extension is a quick way of indicating this fact to the programs.
Files with this extension contain binary scenes of Image0 type with cells that are of equal size in all dimensions. In the 3D case, this means that all cells are cubes of identical size.
They represent structure data of type Shell0. Any Shell0 type shell, binary or non-binary, can be represented in these files. For every SH0 file there is an icon file with the same name but extension SHI. This file contains Shell0 structures representing the same objects at a lower resolution. The file is used for displaying in real time the icons so that the user can interactively select object orientations. Recall that (Section 3.1) Shell0 structures are represented as sets of voxels wherein every voxel has a set of attributes associated with it.
These files contain structure data of type Shell1. Any Shell1 type shell, binary or non-binary, can be represented in these files. Recall that (Section 3.1) Shell1 structures are represented as sets of voxel faces wherein every face has a set of attributes associated with it.
Such files contain structure data of type Shell0. In particular, they represent binary shells. BS0 is an abbreviation for binary Shell0. This type is created for quickly recognizing the fact that the file contains binary Shell0 and because certain operations can be done only on binary shells. For every BS0 file there is an icon file with the same name but extension BSI. This file contains binary Shell0 structures representing the same objects at a lower resolution. The file is used for displaying in real time the icons so that the user can interactively select object orientations. Recall that (Section 3.1) binary Shell0 structures are represented as sets of voxels wherein every voxel has a set of attributes associated with it.
Such files contain structure data of type Shell1. In particular, they represent binary shells. BS1 is an abbreviation for binary Shell1. This type is created for quickly identifying the fact that the file represents binary Shell1 and because certain operations can be done only on binary shells. Recall that (Section 3.1) binary Shell1 structures are represented as sets of voxel faces wherein every face has a set of attributes associated with it.
Files with this extension contain structure plans.
Files with this extension contain structure data of type Curve0. Curve0 structures are represented as a set of closed 2D contours in parallel slice planes.
Files with this data contain display data. At present we identify one
type of display data called Movie0. MV0 is an abbreviation for Movie0.
5.2 Communication Files
All communication files have the same extension COM and a fixed main
part. Casual users of 3DVIEWNIX do not need to know about these files.
Systems Managers or those who install and maintain 3DVIEWNIX at user
sites may find this information useful.
Some of the programs in 3DVIEWNIX allow carrying out computations, especially those that are time-consuming, in a background mode. The idea is for the user to continue the interactive session with 3DVIEWNIX for carrying out other operations that can be executed with interactive response. This ASCII file contains the following information related to the background process: the name of the command that triggered the background process, the current process identification, and current data.
It is an ASCII file that contains the following color-related information about the display device: the visual class, number of overlays used, the number of entries in the color map, the number of reserved entries in the color map (these are used for assigning colors to the various entities such as windows, buttons, switches, and text).
This ASCII file contains the color map ID of the main 3DVIEWNIX process. All other processes inherit this ID when they install their own color map.
This is an ASCII file created by the installer of 3DVIEWNIX at the user site. 3DVIEWNIX looks for information about fonts to be used for the various windows in this file. The fonts are specified in this file in the following order:
Line 1: Image window font
Line 2: Dialog window font
Line 3: Mouse window font
Line 4: Title window font
This is an ASCII file that contains information about the files that are currently selected by the user as input files to various processes. The first line contains the first input file name and a number that indicates how many lines follow that contain information about this file. This number is relevant only for files containing scene data. For others, it has a zero or negative value. For scene data the subsequent lines contain information about the starting and ending indexes for each dimension above 2 and the increment of the index in that direction. To make this description clear consider the following example:
BRAIN.IM0 2 0191 071 skull.BS0 --2 heart.SH0 --1There are three input files selected. BRAIN.IM0 is a scene data file. The following 2 lines (3rd and 4th) relate to this data. It is a 4D scene data set. The 3rd line indicates the 3rd dimension starts with slice 0 and ends with slice 19 at an increment of 1. The 4th dimension starts with (time) index 0 and ends with (time) index 7 at an increment of 1. Thus, altogether 160 slices are to be input. The remaining two files are a binary shell BS0 and a non-binary shell SH0.
This is a binary file that contains information related to horizontal and vertical menus. It contains the following information: vertical menu information, horizontal menu information, the current command, the current process, the current function, the types of data files to be used with this process.
This is also a binary file which contains information about the menu tree structure.
This is an ASCII file that contains the ID of all windows created in 3DVIEWNIX. It also contains information about the subwindows created in the image window including their number, and for each, its ID, location, width, and height in pixels.