1 Introduction
Contents
1.1 Document Purpose
1.2 Document Organization
1.3 Conventions, Acronyms and Terms
1.3.1 Conventions
1.3.2 Acronyms and Terms
1.1 Document Purpose
The VICAR User's Guide is designed to instruct the new user in the
use of the VICAR (Video Image Communication and Retrieval) image
processing system and to serve as a reference manual for the
experienced user.
This document is a facility-independent guide to both the UNIX and
VAX/VMS implementations of the VICAR system. Basic knowledge of UNIX
and VAX/VMS is assumed.
The most important and useful user information has been gleaned from
several sources, enhanced and incorporated into this document. The
VICAR User's Guide does not replace these sources, but provides the
central focus of user documentation.
1.2 Document Organization
This document has been divided into eleven sections which introduce
the VICAR system and describe its use.
- Introduction, purpose and organization of the document; document
conventions
- User documentation and references
- VICAR history, applications and acquisition
- Basic VICAR concepts: entering and exiting VICAR; datasets;
labels; procs
- The VICAR environment: libraries; processing modes; subprocesses;
aborting commands
- Methods for obtaining Help; Tutor and Menu modes; explanation of
how to interpret messages
- Use of the VICAR executive: TAE Command Language; VICAR command
structure; Proc Definition Files; media handling; session logging
- Non-standard and non-VICAR topics: hardware and software
assumptions that apply to a subset of the VICAR applications software;
VICAR I/O formats
- Advanced VICAR concepts: dataset and label structure
- Appendices: VICAR application proc functional descriptions and
classification by function; Intrinsic commands; command qualifiers;
intrinsic global variables; Menu and Tutor mode user operations;
special terminal keys; Proc Definition File examples; VICAR label
examples; VICAR message interpretation; New User's Tutorial, VICAR
Sample Session
- Index
1.3 Conventions, Acronyms and Terms
1.3.1 Conventions
Several conventions are utilized throughout this document to ensure
ease and consistency of interpretation.
- VICAR> is the VICAR prompt.
- Double quotes, " ", are used around special characters or
technical terms to avoid confusion with everyday meanings (i.e., "*"
and "help").
- Vertical dots indicate that not all of the required data are
shown.
Example: Use of vertical dots.
Process HELP=help-location
Parm name1 Description1
Parm name2 Description2
.
.
.
End-proc
- Since VICAR makes no distinction between upper and lower case for
user input, both are used in examples. (Note: On UNIX systems,
filenames are still case sensitive, so "
out.img
" is a
different file from "OUT.IMG
".)
- In all examples of user input in this document, VICAR
responses are in bold-faced type and user-typed text is not.
- Brackets, [ ], are used to represent optional entries.
Example:
VICAR> program [parameters]
- Commands that can be abbreviated are shown with sqare
brackets. The brackets indicate which letters do not need to be
included as part of the command (i.e.,
ALLO[C]
can be
ALLOC
or ALLO
).
- In order to make it possible for both new and experienced
users to benefit from this document, the following words in boldfaced
type are used to designate material that is for more advanced users.
When EXPERT appears at the beginning of a
paragraph it warns the new user that this is difficult material and
should be skipped.
Material "for wizards only" is flagged by WIZARD and should be
avoided by all but the very brave.
- Warnings to users regarding hazardous use of commands or
potentially dangerous situations are italicized and are flagged
by BEWARE.
- USERID is used to represent the user's login id.
1.3.2 Acronyms and Terms
Acronyms and terms which are utilized in this document are listed
below:
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ANSI American National Standards Institute
BARC Block Adaptive Rate Compressor
BDV Bad Data Value
BTC Block Truncation Coding
CCSI Cerritos Computer Systems Incorporated
Printronix plotting routines
COSMIC COmputer Software Management and Information Center
DCL Digital Command Language
DDO Data Driven Object
DN Data Number
EBCDIC Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
EDR Experimental Data Record
GUI Graphical User Interface
HIIPS Home Institution Image Processing Subsystem
IBIS Image Based Information System (a subset of VICAR
used as a geographic information system)
IPL Image Processing Laboratory
LFW Low-Full-Pixels
MDF Menu Definition File
MIPS Multimission Image Processing Subsystem
NAG Numerical Algorithms Group
Mathematical subroutine package
NIMS Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer
PDF Proc Definition File
PDS Planetary Data System
PIXEL Picture Element
PROC Process or procedure
RTS Real Time System
SCLK Spacecraft CLocK
SIS Software Interface Specification
TAE Transportable Applications Executive
TCL TAE Command Language
UDR Unprocessed Data Record
UNIX (originally UNICS) Uniplex Information and Computer
Systems
USH User SHell
VAX Virtual Address Extension
VICAR Video Image Communication and Retrieval
VMS Virtual Memory System
WPT Window Programming Tools
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