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RAVL, Recognition And Vision Library
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Ravl - Core - IO - Formats


File format identification and handling

Normally you don't use these classes directly, but via the Load and Save functions described in Ravl.Core.IO

Suppose we wish to load some data from a file. The first question the program must ask is `What format is this data in ?' There are two ways to approach this. The first is to fix or specify explicitly the format the file is in so the program knows what to expect. Second, we can attempt to identify the file automaticaly.

Having to prepare large data sets for a program can be a headache as for instance, there are dozens of ways of storing an image. Finding a program to convert them between two particular formats can be time consuming and difficult. While it is impossible to write input and output routines for every conceivable format data may be presented in, the user's life is made much easier if there are number of formats to choose from.

Unfortunaly identifying files is not always simple, and in some cases it is actually impossible. It is however possible to make very good guesses, and provide the user is given the option of specifing the format manually, it is a vast improvement over doing so for all operations.

There are several clues that can be used to identify a file: the extension on the filename often gives a good indication, or failing that the first few bytes of the file sometimes contain a unique signature. Despite this there is no single fool-proof method, so we have opted for the most flexible approach, i.e. a method or function call which tells us if a set of Input/Output (IO) routines can handle a particular file.

In order to keep the implementation of new file formats tractable, each format the system recognises is represented by its own class. The class is derived from an abstract representation of the file format, called `FileFormatBaseC'. Each format then provides a method for identifying, reading and writing a file of that format. All the formats known to the system are kept in list, which is used for handling any IO required for the program.

Normal classes:

 FileFormatC Templated File format
 FileFormatStreamC Create an instance of a stream File Format.
 FileFormatBinStreamC Binary stream file format.
 FileFormatGenericC Generic format loader.

Advanced classes:

 FileFormatBaseC File format base handle.
 FileFormatDescC File Format descriptor.
 TypeConverterC Type converter.
 FileFormatRegistryC Registry of file formats.

Advanced functions:

 SystemTypeConverter(void) Default type converter used by the system.
Documentation by CxxDoc: Tue Aug 13 10:00:52 2002