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4Using The TIFF Library
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9<H1>
10<IMG SRC=images/cat.gif WIDTH=113 HEIGHT=146 BORDER=2 ALIGN=left HSPACE=6>
11Using The TIFF Library
12</H1>
13
14<P>
15<TT>libtiff</TT> is a set of C functions (a library) that support
16the manipulation of TIFF image files.
17The library requires an ANSI C compilation environment for building
18and presumes an ANSI C environment for use.
19
20<P>
21<TT>libtiff</TT>
22provides interfaces to image data at several layers of abstraction (and cost).
23At the highest level image data can be read into an 8-bit/sample,
24ABGR pixel raster format without regard for the underlying data organization,
25colorspace, or compression scheme.  Below this high-level interface
26the library provides scanline-, strip-, and tile-oriented interfaces that
27return data decompressed but otherwise untransformed.  These interfaces
28require that the application first identify the organization of stored
29data and select either a strip-based or tile-based API for manipulating
30data.  At the lowest level the library
31provides access to the raw uncompressed strips or tiles,
32returning the data exactly as it appears in the file.
33
34<P>
35The material presented in this chapter is a basic introduction
36to the capabilities of the library; it is not an attempt to describe
37everything a developer needs to know about the library or about TIFF.
38Detailed information on the interfaces to the library are given in
39the <A HREF="http://www.libtiff.org/man/index.html">
40UNIX manual pages</A> that accompany this software.
41
42<P>Michael Still has also written a useful introduction to libtiff for the
43IBM DeveloperWorks site available at
44<a href="http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-libtiff">
45http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-libtiff</a>.
46
47<P>
48The following sections are found in this chapter:
49
50<UL>
51<LI><A HREF=#Version>How to tell which version you have</A>
52<LI><A HREF=#Typedefs>Library Datatypes</A>
53<LI><A HREF=#Mman>Memory Management</A>
54<LI><A HREF=#Errors>Error Handling</A>
55<LI><A HREF=#FIO>Basic File Handling</A>
56<LI><A HREF=#Dirs>TIFF Directories</A>
57<LI><A HREF=#Tags>TIFF Tags</A>
58<LI><A HREF=#Compression>TIFF Compression Schemes</A>
59<LI><A HREF=#ByteOrder>Byte Order</A>
60<LI><A HREF=#DataPlacement>Data Placement</A>
61<LI><A HREF=#TIFFRGBAImage>TIFFRGBAImage Support</A>
62<LI><A HREF=#Scanlines>Scanline-based Image I/O</A>
63<LI><A HREF=#Strips>Strip-oriented Image I/O</A>
64<LI><A HREF=#Tiles>Tile-oriented Image I/O</A>
65<LI><A HREF=#Other>Other Stuff</A>
66</UL>
67
68
69<A NAME="Version"><P><HR WIDTH=65% ALIGN=right><H3>How to tell which version you have</H3></A>
70
71The software version can be found by looking at the file named
72<TT>VERSION</TT>
73that is located at the top of the source tree; the precise alpha number
74is given in the file <TT>dist/tiff.alpha</TT>.
75If you have need to refer to this
76specific software, you should identify it as:
77
78<PRE>
79    TIFF &lt;<I>version</I>&gt; &lt;<I>alpha</I>&gt;
80</PRE>
81
82where &lt;<I>version</I>&gt; is whatever you get from
83<KBD>"cat VERSION"</KBD> and &lt;<I>alpha</I>&gt; is
84what you get from <KBD>"cat dist/tiff.alpha"</KBD>.
85
86<P>
87Within an application that uses <TT>libtiff</TT> the <TT>TIFFGetVersion</TT>
88routine will return a pointer to a string that contains software version
89information.
90The library include file <TT>&lt;tiffio.h&gt;</TT> contains a C pre-processor
91define <TT>TIFFLIB_VERSION</TT> that can be used to check library
92version compatiblity at compile time.
93
94<A NAME="Typedefs"><P><HR WIDTH=65% ALIGN=right><H3>Library Datatypes</H3></A>
95
96<TT>libtiff</TT> defines a portable programming interface through the
97use of a set of C type definitions.
98These definitions, defined in in the files <B>tiff.h</B> and
99<B>tiffio.h</B>,
100isolate the <TT>libtiff</TT> API from the characteristics
101of the underlying machine.
102To insure portable code and correct operation, applications that use
103<TT>libtiff</TT> should use the typedefs and follow the function
104prototypes for the library API.
105
106<A NAME="Mman"><P><HR WIDTH=65% ALIGN=right><H3>Memory Management</H3></A>
107
108<TT>libtiff</TT> uses a machine-specific set of routines for managing
109dynamically allocated memory.
110<TT>_TIFFmalloc</TT>, <TT>_TIFFrealloc</TT>, and <TT>_TIFFfree</TT>
111mimic the normal ANSI C routines.
112Any dynamically allocated memory that is to be passed into the library
113should be allocated using these interfaces in order to insure pointer
114compatibility on machines with a segmented architecture.
115(On 32-bit UNIX systems these routines just call the normal <TT>malloc</TT>,
116<TT>realloc</TT>, and <TT>free</TT> routines in the C library.)
117
118<P>
119To deal with segmented pointer issues <TT>libtiff</TT> also provides
120<TT>_TIFFmemcpy</TT>, <TT>_TIFFmemset</TT>, and <TT>_TIFFmemmove</TT>
121routines that mimic the equivalent ANSI C routines, but that are
122intended for use with memory allocated through <TT>_TIFFmalloc</TT>
123and <TT>_TIFFrealloc</TT>.
124
125<A NAME="Errors"><P><HR WIDTH=65% ALIGN=right><H3>Error Handling</H3></A>
126
127<TT>libtiff</TT> handles most errors by returning an invalid/erroneous
128value when returning from a function call.
129Various diagnostic messages may also be generated by the library.
130All error messages are directed to a single global error handler
131routine that can be specified with a call to <TT>TIFFSetErrorHandler</TT>.
132Likewise warning messages are directed to a single handler routine
133that can be specified with a call to <TT>TIFFSetWarningHandler</TT>
134
135<A NAME="FIO"><P><HR WIDTH=65% ALIGN=right><H3>Basic File Handling</H3></A>
136
137The library is modeled after the normal UNIX stdio library.
138For example, to read from an existing TIFF image the
139file must first be opened:
140
141<UL><LISTING>
142#include "tiffio.h"
143main()
144{
145    TIFF* tif = TIFFOpen("foo.tif", "r");
146    ... do stuff ...
147    TIFFClose(tif);
148}
149</LISTING></UL>
150
151The handle returned by <TT>TIFFOpen</TT> is <I>opaque</I>, that is
152the application is not permitted to know about its contents.
153All subsequent library calls for this file must pass the handle
154as an argument.
155
156<P>
157To create or overwrite a TIFF image the file is also opened, but with
158a <TT>"w"</TT> argument:
159
160<UL><LISTING>
161#include "tiffio.h"
162main()
163{
164    TIFF* tif = TIFFOpen("foo.tif", "w");
165    ... do stuff ...
166    TIFFClose(tif);
167}
168</LISTING></UL>
169
170If the file already exists it is first truncated to zero length.
171
172<P>
173<IMG SRC=images/warning.gif ALIGN=left HSPACE=6>
174<EM>Note that unlike the stdio library TIFF image files may not be
175opened for both reading and writing;
176there is no support for altering the contents of a TIFF file.
177</EM>
178
179<P>
180<TT>libtiff</TT> buffers much information associated with writing a
181valid TIFF image.  Consequently, when writing a TIFF image it is necessary
182to always call <TT>TIFFClose</TT> or <TT>TIFFFlush</TT> to flush any
183buffered information to a file.  Note that if you call <TT>TIFFClose</TT>
184you do not need to call <TT>TIFFFlush</TT>.
185
186<A NAME="Dirs"><P><HR WIDTH=65% ALIGN=right><H3>TIFF Directories</H3></A>
187
188TIFF supports the storage of multiple images in a single file.
189Each image has an associated data structure termed a <I>directory</I>
190that houses all the information about the format and content of the
191image data.
192Images in a file are usually related but they do not need to be; it
193is perfectly alright to store a color image together with a black and
194white image.
195Note however that while images may be related their directories are
196not.
197That is, each directory stands on its own; their is no need to read
198an unrelated directory in order to properly interpret the contents
199of an image.
200
201<P>
202<TT>libtiff</TT> provides several routines for reading and writing
203directories.  In normal use there is no need to explicitly
204read or write a directory: the library automatically reads the first
205directory in a file when opened for reading, and directory information
206to be written is automatically accumulated and written when writing
207(assuming <TT>TIFFClose</TT> or <TT>TIFFFlush</TT> are called).
208
209<P>
210For a file open for reading the <TT>TIFFSetDirectory</TT> routine can
211be used to select an arbitrary directory; directories are referenced by
212number with the numbering starting at 0.  Otherwise the
213<TT>TIFFReadDirectory</TT> and <TT>TIFFWriteDirectory</TT> routines can
214be used for sequential access to directories.
215For example, to count the number of directories in a file the following
216code might be used:
217
218<UL><LISTING>
219#include "tiffio.h"
220main(int argc, char* argv[])
221{
222    TIFF* tif = TIFFOpen(argv[1], "r");
223    if (tif) {
224	int dircount = 0;
225	do {
226	    dircount++;
227	} while (TIFFReadDirectory(tif));
228	printf("%d directories in %s\n", dircount, argv[1]);
229	TIFFClose(tif);
230    }
231    exit(0);
232}
233</LISTING></UL>
234
235<P>
236Finally, note that there are several routines for querying the
237directory status of an open file:
238<TT>TIFFCurrentDirectory</TT> returns the index of the current
239directory and
240<TT>TIFFLastDirectory</TT> returns an indication of whether the
241current directory is the last directory in a file.
242There is also a routine, <TT>TIFFPrintDirectory</TT>, that can
243be called to print a formatted description of the contents of
244the current directory; consult the manual page for complete details.
245
246<A NAME="Tags"><P><HR WIDTH=65% ALIGN=right><H3>TIFF Tags</H3></A>
247
248Image-related information such as the image width and height, number
249of samples, orientation, colorimetric information, etc.
250are stored in each image
251directory in <I>fields</I> or <I>tags</I>.
252Tags are identified by a number that is usually a value registered
253with the Aldus (now Adobe) Corporation.
254Beware however that some vendors write
255TIFF images with tags that are unregistered; in this case interpreting
256their contents is usually a waste of time.
257
258<P>
259<TT>libtiff</TT> reads the contents of a directory all at once
260and converts the on-disk information to an appropriate in-memory
261form.  While the TIFF specification permits an arbitrary set of
262tags to be defined and used in a file, the library only understands
263a limited set of tags.
264Any unknown tags that are encountered in a file are ignored.
265There is a mechanism to extend the set of tags the library handles
266without modifying the library itself;
267this is described <A HREF=../contrib/tags/README>elsewhere</A>.
268
269<P>
270<TT>libtiff</TT> provides two interfaces for getting and setting tag
271values: <TT>TIFFGetField</TT> and <TT>TIFFSetField</TT>.
272These routines use a variable argument list-style interface to pass
273parameters of different type through a single function interface.
274The <I>get interface</I> takes one or more pointers to memory locations
275where the tag values are to be returned and also returns one or
276zero according to whether the requested tag is defined in the directory.
277The <I>set interface</I> takes the tag values either by-reference or
278by-value.
279The TIFF specification defines
280<I>default values</I> for some tags.
281To get the value of a tag, or its default value if it is undefined,
282the <TT>TIFFGetFieldDefaulted</TT> interface may be used.
283
284<P>
285The manual pages for the tag get and set routines specifiy the exact data types
286and calling conventions required for each tag supported by the library.
287
288<A NAME="Compression"><P><HR WIDTH=65% ALIGN=right><H3>TIFF Compression Schemes</H3></A>
289
290<TT>libtiff</TT> includes support for a wide variety of
291data compression schemes.
292In normal operation a compression scheme is automatically used when
293the TIFF <TT>Compression</TT> tag is set, either by opening a file
294for reading, or by setting the tag when writing.
295
296<P>
297Compression schemes are implemented by software modules termed <I>codecs</I>
298that implement decoder and encoder routines that hook into the
299core library i/o support.
300Codecs other than those bundled with the library can be registered
301for use with the <TT>TIFFRegisterCODEC</TT> routine.
302This interface can also be used to override the core-library
303implementation for a compression scheme.
304
305<A NAME="ByteOrder"><P><HR WIDTH=65% ALIGN=right><H3>Byte Order</H3></A>
306
307The TIFF specification says, and has always said, that
308<EM>a correct TIFF
309reader must handle images in big-endian and little-endian byte order</EM>.
310<TT>libtiff</TT> conforms in this respect.
311Consequently there is no means to force a specific
312byte order for the data written to a TIFF image file (data is
313written in the native order of the host CPU unless appending to
314an existing file, in which case it is written in the byte order
315specified in the file).
316
317
318<A NAME="DataPlacement"><P><HR WIDTH=65% ALIGN=right><H3>Data Placement</H3></A>
319
320The TIFF specification requires that all information except an
3218-byte header can be placed anywhere in a file.
322In particular, it is perfectly legitimate for directory information
323to be written after the image data itself.
324Consequently TIFF is inherently not suitable for passing through a
325stream-oriented mechanism such as UNIX pipes.
326Software that require that data be organized in a file in a particular
327order (e.g. directory information before image data) does not
328correctly support TIFF.
329<TT>libtiff</TT> provides no mechanism for controlling the placement
330of data in a file; image data is typically written before directory
331information.
332
333<A NAME="TIFFRGBAImage"><P><HR WIDTH=65% ALIGN=right><H3>TIFFRGBAImage Support</H3></A>
334
335<TT>libtiff</TT> provides a high-level interface for reading image
336data from a TIFF file.  This interface handles the details of
337data organization and format for a wide variety of TIFF files;
338at least the large majority of those files that one would normally
339encounter.  Image data is, by default, returned as ABGR
340pixels packed into 32-bit words (8 bits per sample).  Rectangular
341rasters can be read or data can be intercepted at an intermediate
342level and packed into memory in a format more suitable to the
343application.
344The library handles all the details of the format of data stored on
345disk and, in most cases, if any colorspace conversions are required:
346bilevel to RGB, greyscale to RGB, CMYK to RGB, YCbCr to RGB, 16-bit
347samples to 8-bit samples, associated/unassociated alpha, etc.
348
349<P>
350There are two ways to read image data using this interface.  If
351all the data is to be stored in memory and manipulated at once,
352then the routine <TT>TIFFReadRGBAImage</TT> can be used:
353
354<UL><LISTING>
355#include "tiffio.h"
356main(int argc, char* argv[])
357{
358    TIFF* tif = TIFFOpen(argv[1], "r");
359    if (tif) {
360	uint32 w, h;
361	size_t npixels;
362	uint32* raster;
363
364	TIFFGetField(tif, TIFFTAG_IMAGEWIDTH, &w);
365	TIFFGetField(tif, TIFFTAG_IMAGELENGTH, &h);
366	npixels = w * h;
367	raster = (uint32*) _TIFFmalloc(npixels * sizeof (uint32));
368	if (raster != NULL) {
369	    if (TIFFReadRGBAImage(tif, w, h, raster, 0)) {
370		...process raster data...
371	    }
372	    _TIFFfree(raster);
373	}
374	TIFFClose(tif);
375    }
376    exit(0);
377}
378</LISTING></UL>
379
380Note above that <TT>_TIFFmalloc</TT> is used to allocate memory for
381the raster passed to <TT>TIFFReadRGBAImage</TT>; this is important
382to insure the ``appropriate type of memory'' is passed on machines
383with segmented architectures.
384
385<P>
386Alternatively, <TT>TIFFReadRGBAImage</TT> can be replaced with a
387more low-level interface that permits an application to have more
388control over this reading procedure.  The equivalent to the above
389is:
390
391<UL><LISTING>
392#include "tiffio.h"
393main(int argc, char* argv[])
394{
395    TIFF* tif = TIFFOpen(argv[1], "r");
396    if (tif) {
397	TIFFRGBAImage img;
398	char emsg[1024];
399
400	if (TIFFRGBAImageBegin(&img, tif, 0, emsg)) {
401	    size_t npixels;
402	    uint32* raster;
403
404	    npixels = img.width * img.height;
405	    raster = (uint32*) _TIFFmalloc(npixels * sizeof (uint32));
406	    if (raster != NULL) {
407		if (TIFFRGBAImageGet(&img, raster, img.width, img.height)) {
408		    ...process raster data...
409		}
410		_TIFFfree(raster);
411	    }
412	    TIFFRGBAImageEnd(&img);
413	} else
414	    TIFFError(argv[1], emsg);
415	TIFFClose(tif);
416    }
417    exit(0);
418}
419</LISTING></UL>
420
421However this usage does not take advantage of the more fine-grained
422control that's possible.  That is, by using this interface it is
423possible to:
424
425<UL>
426<LI>repeatedly fetch (and manipulate) an image without opening
427   and closing the file
428<LI>interpose a method for packing raster pixel data according to
429   application-specific needs (or write the data at all)
430<LI>interpose methods that handle TIFF formats that are not already
431   handled by the core library
432</UL>
433
434The first item means that, for example, image viewers that want to
435handle multiple files can cache decoding information in order to
436speedup the work required to display a TIFF image.
437
438<P>
439The second item is the main reason for this interface.  By interposing
440a ``put method'' (the routine that is called to pack pixel data in
441the raster) it is possible share the core logic that understands how
442to deal with TIFF while packing the resultant pixels in a format that
443is optimized for the application.  This alternate format might be very
444different than the 8-bit per sample ABGR format the library writes by
445default.  For example, if the application is going to display the image
446on an 8-bit colormap display the put routine might take the data and
447convert it on-the-fly to the best colormap indices for display.
448
449<P>
450The last item permits an application to extend the library
451without modifying the core code.
452By overriding the code provided an application might add support
453for some esoteric flavor of TIFF that it needs, or it might
454substitute a packing routine that is able to do optimizations
455using application/environment-specific information.
456
457<P>
458The TIFF image viewer found in <B>tools/sgigt.c</B> is an example
459of an application that makes use of the <TT>TIFFRGBAImage</TT>
460support.
461
462<A NAME="Scanlines"><P><HR WIDTH=65% ALIGN=right><H3>Scanline-based Image I/O</H3></A>
463
464The simplest interface provided by <TT>libtiff</TT> is a
465scanline-oriented interface that can be used to read TIFF
466images that have their image data organized in strips
467(trying to use this interface to read data written in tiles
468will produce errors.)
469A scanline is a one pixel high row of image data whose width
470is the width of the image.
471Data is returned packed if the image data is stored with samples
472packed together, or as arrays of separate samples if the data
473is stored with samples separated.
474The major limitation of the scanline-oriented interface, other
475than the need to first identify an existing file as having a
476suitable organization, is that random access to individual
477scanlines can only be provided when data is not stored in a
478compressed format, or when the number of rows in a strip
479of image data is set to one (<TT>RowsPerStrip</TT> is one).
480
481<P>
482Two routines are provided for scanline-based i/o:
483<TT>TIFFReadScanline</TT>
484and
485<TT>TIFFWriteScanline</TT>.
486For example, to read the contents of a file that
487is assumed to be organized in strips, the following might be used:
488
489<UL><LISTING>
490#include "tiffio.h"
491main()
492{
493    TIFF* tif = TIFFOpen("myfile.tif", "r");
494    if (tif) {
495	uint32 imagelength;
496	tdata_t buf;
497	uint32 row;
498
499	TIFFGetField(tif, TIFFTAG_IMAGELENGTH, &imagelength);
500	buf = _TIFFmalloc(TIFFScanlineSize(tif));
501	for (row = 0; row < imagelength; row++)
502	    TIFFReadScanline(tif, buf, row);
503	_TIFFfree(buf);
504	TIFFClose(tif);
505    }
506}
507</LISTING></UL>
508
509<TT>TIFFScanlineSize</TT> returns the number of bytes in
510a decoded scanline, as returned by <TT>TIFFReadScanline</TT>.
511Note however that if the file had been create with samples
512written in separate planes, then the above code would only
513read data that contained the first sample of each pixel;
514to handle either case one might use the following instead:
515
516<UL><LISTING>
517#include "tiffio.h"
518main()
519{
520    TIFF* tif = TIFFOpen("myfile.tif", "r");
521    if (tif) {
522	uint32 imagelength;
523	tdata_t buf;
524	uint32 row;
525
526	TIFFGetField(tif, TIFFTAG_IMAGELENGTH, &imagelength);
527	TIFFGetField(tif, TIFFTAG_PLANARCONFIG, &config);
528	buf = _TIFFmalloc(TIFFScanlineSize(tif));
529	if (config == PLANARCONFIG_CONTIG) {
530	    for (row = 0; row < imagelength; row++)
531		TIFFReadScanline(tif, buf, row);
532	} else if (config == PLANARCONFIG_SEPARATE) {
533	    uint16 s, nsamples;
534
535	    TIFFGetField(tif, TIFFTAG_SAMPLESPERPIXEL, &nsamples);
536	    for (s = 0; s < nsamples; s++)
537		for (row = 0; row < imagelength; row++)
538		    TIFFReadScanline(tif, buf, row, s);
539	}
540	_TIFFfree(buf);
541	TIFFClose(tif);
542    }
543}
544</LISTING></UL>
545
546Beware however that if the following code were used instead to
547read data in the case <TT>PLANARCONFIG_SEPARATE</TT>,
548
549<UL><LISTING>
550	    for (row = 0; row < imagelength; row++)
551		for (s = 0; s < nsamples; s++)
552		    TIFFReadScanline(tif, buf, row, s);
553</LISTING></UL>
554
555then problems would arise if <TT>RowsPerStrip</TT> was not one
556because the order in which scanlines are requested would require
557random access to data within strips (something that is not supported
558by the library when strips are compressed).
559
560<A NAME="Strips"><P><HR WIDTH=65% ALIGN=right><H3>Strip-oriented Image I/O</H3></A>
561
562The strip-oriented interfaces provided by the library provide
563access to entire strips of data.  Unlike the scanline-oriented
564calls, data can be read or written compressed or uncompressed.
565Accessing data at a strip (or tile) level is often desirable
566because there are no complications with regard to random access
567to data within strips.
568
569<P>
570A simple example of reading an image by strips is:
571
572<UL><LISTING>
573#include "tiffio.h"
574main()
575{
576    TIFF* tif = TIFFOpen("myfile.tif", "r");
577    if (tif) {
578	tdata_t buf;
579	tstrip_t strip;
580
581	buf = _TIFFmalloc(TIFFStripSize(tif));
582	for (strip = 0; strip < TIFFNumberOfStrips(tif); strip++)
583		TIFFReadEncodedStrip(tif, strip, buf, (tsize_t) -1);
584	_TIFFfree(buf);
585	TIFFClose(tif);
586    }
587}
588</LISTING></UL>
589
590Notice how a strip size of <TT>-1</TT> is used; <TT>TIFFReadEncodedStrip</TT>
591will calculate the appropriate size in this case.
592
593<P>
594The above code reads strips in the order in which the
595data is physically stored in the file.  If multiple samples
596are present and data is stored with <TT>PLANARCONFIG_SEPARATE</TT>
597then all the strips of data holding the first sample will be
598read, followed by strips for the second sample, etc.
599
600<P>
601Finally, note that the last strip of data in an image may have fewer
602rows in it than specified by the <TT>RowsPerStrip</TT> tag.  A
603reader should not assume that each decoded strip contains a full
604set of rows in it.
605
606<P>
607The following is an example of how to read raw strips of data from
608a file:
609
610<UL><LISTING>
611#include "tiffio.h"
612main()
613{
614    TIFF* tif = TIFFOpen("myfile.tif", "r");
615    if (tif) {
616	tdata_t buf;
617	tstrip_t strip;
618	uint32* bc;
619	uint32 stripsize;
620
621	TIFFGetField(tif, TIFFTAG_STRIPBYTECOUNTS, &bc);
622	stripsize = bc[0];
623	buf = _TIFFmalloc(stripsize);
624	for (strip = 0; strip < TIFFNumberOfStrips(tif); strip++) {
625		if (bc[strip] > stripsize) {
626			buf = _TIFFrealloc(buf, bc[strip]);
627			stripsize = bc[strip];
628		}
629		TIFFReadRawStrip(tif, strip, buf, bc[strip]);
630	}
631	_TIFFfree(buf);
632	TIFFClose(tif);
633    }
634}
635</LISTING></UL>
636
637As above the strips are read in the order in which they are
638physically stored in the file; this may be different from the
639logical ordering expected by an application.
640
641<A NAME="Tiles"><P><HR WIDTH=65% ALIGN=right><H3>Tile-oriented Image I/O</H3></A>
642
643Tiles of data may be read and written in a manner similar to strips.
644With this interface, an image is
645broken up into a set of rectangular areas that may have dimensions
646less than the image width and height.  All the tiles
647in an image have the same size, and the tile width and length must each
648be a multiple of 16 pixels.  Tiles are ordered left-to-right and
649top-to-bottom in an image.  As for scanlines, samples can be packed
650contiguously or separately.  When separated, all the tiles for a sample
651are colocated in the file.  That is, all the tiles for sample 0 appear
652before the tiles for sample 1, etc.
653
654<P>
655Tiles and strips may also be extended in a z dimension to form
656volumes.  Data volumes are organized as "slices".  That is, all the
657data for a slice is colocated.  Volumes whose data is organized in
658tiles can also have a tile depth so that data can be organized in
659cubes.
660
661<P>
662There are actually two interfaces for tiles.
663One interface is similar to scanlines,  to read a tiled image,
664code of the following sort might be used:
665
666<UL><LISTING>
667main()
668{
669    TIFF* tif = TIFFOpen("myfile.tif", "r");
670    if (tif) {
671	uint32 imageWidth, imageLength;
672	uint32 tileWidth, tileLength;
673	uint32 x, y;
674	tdata_t buf;
675
676	TIFFGetField(tif, TIFFTAG_IMAGEWIDTH, &imageWidth);
677	TIFFGetField(tif, TIFFTAG_IMAGELENGTH, &imageLength);
678	TIFFGetField(tif, TIFFTAG_TILEWIDTH, &tileWidth);
679	TIFFGetField(tif, TIFFTAG_TILELENGTH, &tileLength);
680	buf = _TIFFmalloc(TIFFTileSize(tif));
681	for (y = 0; y < imageLength; y += tileLength)
682	    for (x = 0; x < imageWidth; x += tileWidth)
683		TIFFReadTile(tif, buf, x, y, 0);
684	_TIFFfree(buf);
685	TIFFClose(tif);
686    }
687}
688</LISTING></UL>
689
690(once again, we assume samples are packed contiguously.)
691
692<P>
693Alternatively a direct interface to the low-level data is provided
694a la strips.  Tiles can be read with
695<TT>TIFFReadEncodedTile</TT> or
696<TT>TIFFReadRawTile</TT>,
697and written with
698<TT>TIFFWriteEncodedTile</TT> or
699<TT>TIFFWriteRawTile</TT>.
700For example, to read all the tiles in an image:
701
702<UL><LISTING>
703#include "tiffio.h"
704main()
705{
706    TIFF* tif = TIFFOpen("myfile.tif", "r");
707    if (tif) {
708	tdata_t buf;
709	ttile_t tile;
710
711	buf = _TIFFmalloc(TIFFTileSize(tif));
712	for (tile = 0; tile < TIFFNumberOfTiles(tif); tile++)
713		TIFFReadEncodedTile(tif, tile, buf, (tsize_t) -1);
714	_TIFFfree(buf);
715	TIFFClose(tif);
716    }
717}
718</LISTING></UL>
719
720
721
722<A NAME="Other"><P><HR WIDTH=65% ALIGN=right><H3>Other Stuff</H3></A>
723
724<P>
725<I>Some other stuff will almost certainly go here...</I>
726
727<P>
728<HR>
729
730Last updated: $Date: 2002-07-09 16:21:58 $
731
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733</HTML>
734