<div dir="ltr">It would be great to have a "libxtf" library. Yet I'm not such an expert C programmer, so I can't contribute very much to it...<br>Anyway I'll promote the idea inside the research institue to verify if it would be possible to support the development.<br>
<br>XTF is not a very simple format to parse, so for now I will look for other formats converions to see if it would be possible to analyze my KEB datas using the code of MBsystem.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2008/8/3 Hamish <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:hamish_b@yahoo.com">hamish_b@yahoo.com</a>></span><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">G. Allegri a écrit :<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d">> > I'm facing the need to process some sonar files in XTF (eXtensible<br>
> > Triton Format), but I can't find anything as OS to do it.<br>
> > Does anyone have experience with such a format?<br>
> ><br>
> > XTF References:<br>
> <a href="http://www.tritonimaginginc.com/site/content/public/downloads/FileFormatInfo/Xtf%20File%20Format_X24.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.tritonimaginginc.com/site/content/public/downloads/FileFormatInfo/Xtf%20File%20Format_X24.pdf</a><br>
> <a href="http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/sfmapping/sonar_xtf.htm" target="_blank">http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/sfmapping/sonar_xtf.htm</a><br>
> ><br>
> > Free (as free beer) reader:<br>
> <a href="http://www.knudsenengineering.com/html/software/postsurvey.htm" target="_blank">http://www.knudsenengineering.com/html/software/postsurvey.htm</a><br>
<br>
</div><div class="Ih2E3d">Thierry Schmitt wrote:<br>
> There is nothing free to read XTF format that I know of.<br>
> The format is freely available on triton's website. The format has<br>
> become a standard de facto. However it is still difficult to get a<br>
> really standard xtf file in between the manufacturer of sonar<br>
> processing software.<br>
> My advice would be<br>
><br>
> 1) knowing the name of the application that acquired the sonar data.<br>
> 2) have a quick look at MBsystem which is the only sonar processing<br>
> software free as free beer!! It won't read xtf but you might find a<br>
> way to find a common denominator.<br>
><br>
> I ll be glad to know how you proceed as I might be of better help if<br>
> you are more specific (acquisition software, sonar....)<br>
<br>
<br>
</div>Hi,<br>
<br>
Some months ago I had a look at doing this, partly out of need, partly as a learning experience. From a search of the mailing list archives I don't think I posted anything public about it.<br>
<br>
I am keen to see this happen, but am stalled until our new multibeam system is fully commissioned and I find some funding/time/cirtical need to justify the effort. A motivating factor is the effort to remove all software<br>
dongles. To me they just represent pain, satellite phone calls in the middle of the night, and lost ship time+data. For zero science gain.<br>
grumble grumble grumble. Something similar might be said for OS lock-in.<br>
<br>
<br>
But sounding out a plan of action doesn't cost much, so...<br>
<br>
I had considered a few alternatives:<br>
<br>
- create a generic libxtf (LGPL?)<br>
- GRASS support via a new C module (without a libxtf)<br>
- postgis import tool<br>
- sqlite import tool<br>
- stand alone command line converter to csv or xml ascii format<br>
(then shell script or python script importer to GIS)<br>
- volunteer to hack support for it into MBSystems (see libxtf above)<br>
(then work on MBSystems -> GRASS workflow code)<br>
<br>
A hard part for me will be fighting the urge to write the prototype as<br>
a Matlab script and only writing enough to get what we need from our particular instrument. I'd hope to leverage the power of FOSS to solve<br>
those and create a generic solution, rather than going the lone coder<br>
route with code useful only to our particular setup and needs.<br>
<br>
please do add ideas+needs here:<br>
<a href="http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/Marine_Science#Sidescan_sonar_processing" target="_blank">http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/Marine_Science#Sidescan_sonar_processing</a><br>
<br>
<br>
comments, criticisms, ideas?<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
Hamish<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</font></blockquote></div><br></div>