1CTRANS(1NCARG) NCAR GRAPHICS CTRANS(1NCARG)
2
6 ctrans - a Computer Graphics Metafile ( CGM ) translator
7
9 ctrans [ -bell ] [ -d device ] [ -f font ] [ -lmin min ] [ -lmax max ]
10 [ -lscale scale ] [ -movie time ] [ -outfile file ] [ -pal pal_fname ]
11 [ -pause ] [ -quiet ] [ -record record_num ... ] [ -soft ] [ -verbose
12 ] [ -Version ] [ -viewport llx:lly:urx:ury ] [ -wid window_id ] [ -win‐
13 dow llx:lly:urx:ury ] [ device-specific options ] [ - | metafile ... ]
14
16 ctrans is a metafile translator, taking metafile(s), a metafile stored
17 in the NCAR Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) standard, and interpreting
18 its instructions on the device defined by the GRAPHCAP environment
19 variable. Fonts are stroked according to specifications in the Fontcap
20 file defined by the FONTCAP environment variable. ctrans utilizes
21 Graphcaps by default, see graphcap(5NCARG), while providing optional
22 processing by user provided libraries, if that is required by the
23 device or desired by the user. Thus, ctrans is capable of driving any
24 device for which a Graphcap is available; with programming modifica‐
25 tions, ctrans can accommodate any device for which an external library
26 of plotting routines is available. Currently, the following Graphcap
27 independent devices are supported: X11 under release 4 and 5, version
28 11 of X.
29 ctrans can also translate metacode into the following raster formats:
31 a60, avs, hdf, hppcl, nrif, sun and xwd. The device specifier for
32 these raster formats is the name of the format. For example "-d xwd"
33 specifies translation to an xwd formatted raster file. Additionally, a
34 clear text driver, "-d CTXT", is available on any terminal. Not all of
35 the aforementioned devices may be supported by your particular configu‐
36 ration of ctrans. For a list of supported devices see the
37 gcaps(1NCARG) command.
38 ctrans will read from the standard input if no metafile name is speci‐
40 fied or the the name specified is `-'.
41
43 -bell Ring the bell at the end of each frame. The default is to run in
44 silent mode. This option is not supported by all devices.
45 -d device
47 Device name. ctrans will use the Graphcap (if it exists) or the
48 appropriate graphics library indicated by device;
49 If device is preceded by a UNIX directory path then ctrans will
51 look in that directory for the specified graphcap. Otherwise
52 ctrans searches the directory $NCARG_ROOT/lib/ncarg/graphcaps
53 for the graphcap.
54 For all device specifications except X11 output is directed to
56 standard out. In the case of X11 translation results in appro‐
57 priate calls to the X11 libraries. See graphcap(5NCARG) for a
58 description of supported devices. See gcaps(1NCARG) for a list
59 of devices supported by your particular configuration of ctrans.
60 This option overrides the GRAPHCAP environment variable.
62 -f fontcap
64 Fontcap file to be used for stroking text. When interpreting
65 CGM TEXT command elements use fontcap as the default font for
66 textual translation. Note: CGMs may contain textual descriptions
67 which are not embedded in CGM TEXT elements. Hence they are not
68 influenced by fontcap specifications. Note also that a CGM may
69 explicitly specify a named font which may override a font pro‐
70 vided on the command line. The environment variable FONTCAP may
71 also be used to specify a default fontcap.
72 If fontcap is preceded by a UNIX directory path then ctrans will
74 look in that directory for the specified fontcap. Otherwise
75 ctrans searches the directory $NCARG_ROOT/lib/ncarg/fontcaps for
76 the fontcap.
77 See fontcap(5NCARG) for a description of the available fontcaps.
79 See fcap(1NCARG) for a list of the fontcaps installed on your
80 system.
81 This option overrides the FONTCAP environment variable.
83 -lmin min
85 On devices which support line width scaling all lines are guar‐
86 anteed to be scaled at least min times the default line width
87 for that device. This option effectively insures that the mini‐
88 mum value for the CGM element "LINE WIDTH" is min.
89 -lmax max
91 On devices which support line width scaling all lines are guar‐
92 anteed to be scaled at most max times the default line width for
93 that device. This option effectively insures that the maximum
94 value for the CGM element "LINE WIDTH" is max. The results of
95 setting max less then min are undefined.
96 -lscale scale
98 On devices which support line width scaling all line width spec‐
99 ifications within the metafile will be scaled by scale. This
100 option is subject to modification by the -lmin and -lmax
101 options.
102 -movie time
104 Set pause to time seconds. In normal operation mode the transla‐
105 tor requires user interaction after the display of each plot.
106 ctrans will not proceed until the user responds. If movie mode
107 is set ctrans will wait time seconds after the display of each
108 frame and then proceed automatically. This option and the
109 -pause option are mutually exclusive.
110 This option may not behave as expected on slower devices.
112 -outfile file
114 Direct translator output to file. By default translator output
115 is written to the standard output. This option has no effect for
116 devices of which ctrans has a function-callable interface. e.g.
117 X11 .
118 -pal pal_fname
120 Use the color palette defined in the file pal_fname for subse‐
121 quent translation of the metafile. This palette will override
122 any color map defined by the CGM being translated. For a
123 description of the format of pal_fname see ras_palette(5NCARG).
124 -pause Pause after each frame in the metafile is displayed and wait for
126 the user to type a newline before proceding. This option is
127 probably only useful when used in conjunction with the -wid
128 option as this is the normal behaviour for ctrans in most
129 instances. This option and the -movie option are mutually
130 exclusive.
131 -quiet Suppress reporting of non-fatal (warning) error messages; only
133 fatal error messages are reported.
134 -record
136 < record_number... >
137 If processing only single frames of the metafile is desired,
138 this option specifies the record number containing the start of
139 that frame. ctrans assumes the processing is to start at the
140 first BEGIN PICTURE element in that record. The user must per‐
141 form bookkeeping to determine the record that contains the
142 desired frame. Normally, a metafile editor (e.g.,
143 ictrans(1NCARG). may be used as the actual user interface to
144 perform this bookkeeping. Without a specified record number,
145 ctrans processes the entire metafile.
146 -soft Unconditionally perform software filling of all filled polygons.
148 This option may be useful for devices which do not support the
149 filled polygon drawing primitive or have limits on the number of
150 vertices describing a polygon. On some devices this number is
151 known and software filling is performed, as appropriate, without
152 user specification.
153 -verbose
155 Operate in verbose mode.
156 -Version
158 Print the version number and then exit.
159 -viewport llx:lly:urx:ury
161 Set the viewport of the output device. The viewport is the rec‐
162 tangular region of the output device of which the virtual device
163 coordinate system of the metafile is mapped onto. Normally this
164 region is the largest device-addressable square which fits in
165 the center of the device address space. The -viewport option may
166 be used to change the default mapping. llx and lly specify the
167 lower left corner of the device in normalized coordinates. urx
168 and ury specify the upper right corner of the device in normal‐
169 ized coordinates. For example, -viewport 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.5, spec‐
170 ifies the lower left corner of the device.
171 -window llx:lly:urx:ury
173 Specify the workstation window (in the GKS sense). Four coordi‐
174 nates are specified which define a rectangular window which is a
175 subset of the normalized VDC rectangle with corner points (0,0)
176 and (1.0,1.0). llx and lly specify the lower left corner. urx
177 and .ury specify the upper right corner. The specified window
178 is mapped onto the entire display viewport. For example, if the
179 workstation window is defined by the corner points (0,0) and
180 (0.5 0.5) then the lower left quarter of a plot would be blown
181 up to fill the entire viewport. Specification of such a window
182 can be used for zooming and panning.
183 The range with which one may zoom in on a plot may be limited by
185 the integer addressing precision of the device.
186
188 The following options are available when the device is graphcap-driven
189 (See the gcaps(1NCARG) command for a list of graphcap-driven devices):
190 -simulatebg
192 Simulate CGM background color requests by drawing a large filled
193 rectangle of the appropriate color. This option is useful for
194 devices such as color PostScript printers which have no concept
195 of background color.
196 The following options are available when device is CTXT:
198 -Data Suppress display of CGM output primitive data. All other CGM
200 element data is displayed. This may substantially reduce the
201 verbosity of the clear text driver.
202 -Para Suppress display of CGM element data except for output primi‐
204 tives. The -Data combined with the -Para option permit the dis‐
205 play of only the CGM element names.
206 The following options are available when device is X11:
208 -background color
210 Specifies the default window background color for color devices.
211 If the metafile explicitly sets color index 0 then this option
212 is overridden.
213 -foreground color
215 Specifies the default foreground color for color devices. If the
216 metafile explicitly sets color index 1 then this option is over‐
217 ridden.
218 -geometry geometry
220 Specify the size and/or position of the graphics window in the
221 format of an X11 Window System geometry string.
222 -ignorebg
224 Ignore requests to change the background color. This option may
225 be useful when ctrans renders into a X window created by an
226 application other than ctrans. As a side effect of this option
227 the rendering window is not cleared between frames.
228 -reverse
230 On monochrome devices reverse video is simulated by swapping the
231 foreground and background colors.
232 -wid window_id
234 Render into the previously created X window specified by win‐
235 dow_id. Normally ctrans creates its own window for plotting.
236 The window specified by window_id must be of type InputOutput.
237 The window must also have inherited its color map, depth and
238 visual class from the root window.
239 Note also that when this option is used ctrans cannot receive X
241 events from the drawing window. Hence, ctrans cannot use "mouse
242 clicks" as a signal to advance frames. For this reason the
243 -pause option is useful to prevent ctrans from processing the
244 entire metafile without pausing between frames.
245 window_id may be specified as a decimal or hexidecimal integer.
247 The following options apply to the X11 color map management of ctrans
249 when device is X11:
250 ctrans supports three different methods of X11 color map manage‐
252 ment.
253 If the user specifies a shared color map (using the -scmap
255 option), then ctrans will use the default X color map for the
256 screen, that is shared by all applications. If the metafile
257 contains more colors than there are available in the default X
258 color map, then a color matching algorithm is employed. The
259 idea of the algorithm is that the color in the current color ta‐
260 ble that is closest to the requested color will be selected.
261 Closest is defined in terms of the normal distance metric on the
262 RGB cube. If the closest color is equal to or farther away than
263 the percentage error allowed ( -colerr ), then a warning message
264 will be printed. The closest color is still used.
265 If the user specifies a private color map (using the -pcmap
267 option), then ctrans will create a private color map for the
268 graphics window. This will guarantee that 256 distinct colors
269 are available to the window. This means that the X window will
270 have a different color map than all the other windows on the
271 screen. Therefore, you usually have to have the mouse pointer in
272 the window for the correct color table to be installed. One
273 disadvantage to this option is that there is usually a color
274 flashing effect on the screen since the wrong color table will
275 be installed for the other windows on the screen.
276 The default color map management scheme attempts to take the
278 best of the two previous models. It starts out behaving like
279 the shared model, in that it uses the default color map for the
280 screen. It differs in that, once it can't allocate any more
281 colors from the default color map, in allocates its own private
282 color table and starts using it. This way, the color flashing
283 is only present if it absolutely needs to be so that ctrans can
284 display the correct color.
285 -scmap Ask ctrans to use the shared default X color map only.
287 This is the option used if -wid is specified.
289 -colerr n
291 Specifies the percentage color error that is acceptable if the
292 -scmap option is being used. If the color being used is n per‐
293 centage or more different from the color requested, a warning
294 will be reported by ctrans.
295 -pcmap Ask ctrans to create its own X color map and use it exclusively.
297 This option is ignored if the -wid option is present.
299 The following options are available when device is a60, avs, hdf,
301 hppcl, nrif, sun, or xwd:
302 -dpi dpi
304 Specify the number of dots per inch. This option is only mean‐
305 ingful for the HP LaserJet, hppcl, which ignores the -resolution
306 option. dpi may be one of 75, 100, 150, or 300. The default is
307 150.
308 -direct
310 By default ctrans outputs raster imagery with 8-bit-indexed
311 encoding. When this option is used, if the raster file format
312 supports it, raster imagery is output in a 24-bit-direct encod‐
313 ing scheme. Be warned: the resultant file is three times the
314 size of its 8-bit-indexed counterpart.
315 -landscape
317 Generate the image in landscape mode. This option is ignored by
318 all raster devices except the HP LaserJet, hppcl. By default
319 the LaserJet uses portrait mode.
320 -resolution widthxheight
322 width and height specify the spatial resolution in pixels of the
323 raster file to be created. The default is 512x512.
324
326 To process a metafile named gmeta and display its contents on the TEK‐
327 TRONIX 4107 terminal, use the following call:
328 % ctrans -d t4107 gmeta
330 If this device is already defined by the GRAPHCAP environment variable,
332 simply call:
333 % ctrans gmeta
335 If you wish to display only the first frame starting in the third
337 record, call:
338 % ctrans -record 3 -d t4107 gmeta
340 To examine the metafile gmeta's contents without CGM element data being
342 displayed:
343 % ctrans -d CTXT -Data -Para gmeta
345 To render the metafile gmeta (under X Windows) in a window that is
347 512x512 pixels in dimension in the lower right corner of your screen
348 % ctrans -d X11 -geometry 512x512-0-0 gmeta
350 To rasterize the contents of the metafile gmeta at a resolution of
352 1024x1024 pixels, call:
353 % ctrans -d xwd -res 1024x1024 > raster.xwd
355 The raster output is in X11 "xwd" format and is sent to the file
357 raster.xwd.
358 To zoom in on the upper right quarter of the metafile gmeta and display
360 it in an X window, call:
361 % ctrans -d X11 -window 0.5:0.5:1.0:1.0
363
366 FONTCAP
367 Default fontcap specifier.
368 GRAPHCAP
370 Default output device specifier.
371 NCARG_ROOT
373 Path to root of NCAR Graphics installation.
374 NCARG_LIB
376 If set this variable contains the path to the installed NCAR
377 Graphics libraries. NCARG_LIB overrides NCARG_ROOT.
378 NCARG_TMP
380 If set, this environment variable contains a directory path to
381 be used for temporary files. On most systems the default is
382 /tmp. On some systems the default is /usr/tmp.
383
385 $NCARG_ROOT/lib/ncarg/graphcaps/*
386 The binary NCAR Graphcap files
387 $NCARG_ROOT/lib/ncarg/fontcaps/*
389 The binary NCAR Fontcap files
390
392 fcaps(1NCARG), fontcap(5NCARG), gcaps(1NCARG), graphcap(5NCARG),
393 idt(1NCARG), ras_palette(5NCARG), med(1NCARG), ictrans(1NCARG)
394 Hardcopy: NCAR Graphics Fundamentals, UNIX Version
396
398 Running in "movie" mode may give surprising results on slower devices,
399 such as dumb terminals. If too short a time interval is specified slow
400 devices may not have finished rendering before the movie timer expires.
401 This results in no pause between frames.
402 Metafiles which reference color table indices that were not previously
404 defined may have varying results from one device to the next.
405 Using the -wid option to have ctrans display its output in a window
407 created by another X application may produce unexpected results, par‐
408 ticularly with regard to color.
409 At ctrans' current level of implementation, the subset of CGM elements
411 supported is closely approximated by the list provided in NCAR's Graph‐
412 ics Installer's Guide, Version 2.00 (August 1987). However, the best
413 way to determine whether a particular CGM element is supported by the
414 translator is feed a metafile containing the element in question to
415 ctrans. Consult the aforementioned publication for a discussion of
416 Graphcaps and Fontcaps as well.
417
419 Copyright (C) 1987-2009
420 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
421 The use of this Software is governed by a License Agreement.
423NCARG January 1993 CTRANS(1NCARG)