mbformat(1)

NAME
mbformat - List information about swath sonar data formats supported by the MBIO library.

VERSION
Version 5.0

SYNOPSISmbformat [ -Fformat -Ifile -L -K -V -H]

DESCRIPTION
mbformat is a utility which identifies the swath sonar data formats associated with mbio format id's. If no format id or input filename is specified, mbformat lists all of the currently supported formats along with short descriptions. If a format id is specified using the -F option, then mbformat prints a short description of that format. If a filename is specified using the -I option, then mbformat attempts to identify a valid format id for that file using swath data filename prefix and suffix conventions embedded in MB-System. The program also determines the filename "root", which is the filename minus whatever format-specific prefix or suffix has been recognized. In no prefix or suffix is recognized, then the root is simply the entire filename. Normally, mbformat prints out a brief description of each identified format. If the -L option is used, mbformat simply prints out the valid format id number, or 0 if a file or format has been specified but no valid id can be identified. If the -K option is used, mbformat will print out the filename "root" followed by the format id number.

AUTHORSHIP
David W. Caress (caress@mbari.org)
  Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Dale N. Chayes (dale@ldeo.columbia.edu)
  Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

OPTIONS

-F  format
    Sets the format id to be listed. If no format is given, all of the currently supported formats will be listed. A list of the swath sonar data formats currently supported by MBIO and their identifier values is given in the MBIO manual page.

-H  This "help" flag cause the program to print out a description of its operation and then exit immediately.

-I  file
    Sets the filename to be tested against known filename prefix and suffix conventions in order to identify the format id.

-K  Causes the fileroot and the format id to be output. The fileroot is the filename with any format specific suffix removed.

-L  Causes the format descriptions to be omitted so that only the MBIO format id numbers are listed.

-V  Normally, mbformat only prints out format descriptions. If the -V flag is given, then mbformat works in a "verbose" mode and also outputs the program version being used.

EXAMPLES
Suppose one wishes to identify the swath sonar data format associated with a format id of 11. The following will suffice:
     mbformat -F11
and the result will be this output:
  MBIO data format id: 11
  Format name: MBF_SBSIOMRG
  Informal Description: SIO merge Sea Beam
  Attributes: Sea Beam, bathymetry, 16 beams, binary, uncentered,
                        SIO. Suppose one wishes to list all of the currently supported data formats. The following will suffice:
     mbformat Suppose one wants to find out what format is associated with a raw SeaBeam 2112 file named sb199811231045.rec:
     mbformat -I sb199811231045.rec
This results in the output:
  MBIO data format id: 41
  Format name: MBF_SB2100RW
  Informal Description: SeaBeam 2100 series vender format
  Attributes: SeaBeam 2100, bathymetry, amplitude
                        and sidescan, 151 beams and 2000 pixels, ascii
                        with binary sidescan, SeaBeam Instruments. Using the -K option:
     mbformat -K -I sb199811231045.rec
will produce the following output:
  sb199811231045 41
where the format id has been identified as 41 because of the ".rec" file suffix and the fileroot has been identified as "sb199811231045" by removing the suffix. Use of the -L option:
     mbformat -L -I sb199811231045.rec
will produce output with just format id:
  41

SEE ALSO
mbsystem(1), mbio(1)

BUGS
No known bugs.