Man Linux: Main Page and Category List

NAME

       arch2rad - convert Architrion text file to RADIANCE description

SYNOPSIS

       arch2rad [ -n ][ -m mapfile ] [ input ]

DESCRIPTION

       Arch2rad   converts  an  Architrion  text  file  to  a  RADIANCE  scene
       description.  The material names for the surfaces will  assigned  based
       on  the  default  mapping  or  the  mapping  rules file given in the -m
       option.  A mapping file contains a list of materials  followed  by  the
       conditions a surface must satisfy in order to have that material.

       For  example,  if we wanted all surfaces for blocks with RefId "thingy"
       and Color 152 to use the material "wood", and all other surfaces to use
       the material "default", we would create the following mapping file:

            default ;
            wood (RefId "thingy") (Color 152) ;

       All  surfaces  would  satisfy  the  first  set  of conditions (which is
       empty), but only the surfaces in blocks with RefId "thingy"  and  Color
       152 would satisfy the second set of conditions.

       Each  rule  can  have  up to one condition per qualifier, and different
       translators  use  different  qualifiers.   In   arch2rad,   the   valid
       qualifiers  are  Layer, Color, Face and RefId.  A condition is either a
       single value for a specific attribute, or an integer range  of  values.
       (Integer ranges are specified in brackets and separated by a colon, eg.
       [-15:27], and are always inclusive.)  A semicolon is used  to  indicate
       the end of a rule, which can extend over several lines if necessary.

       The  semantics  of  the  rule  are  such  that  "and"  is  the  implied
       conjunction between conditions.  Thus, it makes no sense to  have  more
       than  one condition in a rule for a given qualifier.  If the user wants
       the same material to  be  used  for  surfaces  that  satisfy  different
       conditions,  they simply add more rules.  For example, if the user also
       wanted surfaces in blocks with RefId "yohey" with Colors between 50 and
       100  to use "wood", they would add the following rule to the end of the
       example above:

            wood (Color [50:100]) (RefId "yohey") ;

       Note that the order of conditions in a rule  is  irrelevant.   However,
       the  order  of  rules  is very important, since the last rule satisfied
       determines which material a surface is assigned.

       By convention,  the  identifier  "void"  is  used  to  delete  unwanted
       surfaces.   A  surfaces  is also deleted if it fails to match any rule.
       Void is used in a rule as any other material, but it has the effect  of
       excluding  all  matching  surfaces  from  the  translator  output.  For
       example, the following mapping would delete all surfaces in the Layer 2
       except  those  with  the  color  "beige",  to which it would assign the
       material "beige_cloth", and all other surfaces would be "tacky":

            tacky ;
            void (Layer 2) ;
            beige_cloth (Layer 2) (Color "beige") ;

       If neither the -m nor the -n options are not used,  arch2rad  uses  the
       default  mapping  file  "/usr/share/radiance/lib/arch.map".   This file
       simply assigns materials based on color,  using  the  identifiers  "c0"
       through  "c255".   Appropriate  materials  for  these  identifiers  are
       contained in "/usr/share/radiance/lib/arch.mat".

       The -n option may be used to produce a list of qualifiers from which to
       construct a mapping for the given Architrion file.  If the -m option is
       used also, only those blocks matched in the mapping file will be  added
       to the qualifier list.

DETAILS

       Architrion  blocks  are  divided into about 6 polygons.  The reference,
       opposite and end faces must  all  be  quadrilaterals  (ie.   four-sided
       polygons), though one or more faces may disappear in certain degenerate
       cases.  The bottom face will usually be a quadrilateral, though it  may
       be  written  out  as  two  triangles  if  the face is non-planar or one
       triangle if there is a degenerate side.  The top face  is  treated  the
       same as the bottom face.

       Openings  are currently handled using the antimatter material type.  An
       antimatter material called "opening" is defined that "clips" all  faces
       for  the  current  block,  and  patches  the edges of the hole with the
       material defined for the face "sill".  If no rule is given specifically
       for the sill face, then the most specific material (ie. the material in
       the latest rule) for this block is used.  An  antimatter  opening  will
       not  function  properly if there is another surface intersecting it, or
       rendering is attempted from within the opening.   Overlapping  openings
       or  openings with shared boundaries will also fail.  There is currently
       no support of Architrion "frame" libraries.

       Naming of the output faces is based on layer number, reference  id  and
       output  block  number  (sequential from 1 to the total number of output
       blocks).  If there is no reference id name, the layer name is used  (if
       available)  instead  of  the  layer number.  If there is a reference id
       number but no name, that is added as well.  Names are truncated to  the
       first  12  characters,  so  the  ends of long names may be lost.  Also,
       spaces in names are replaced by underscores (’_’).  Finally,  the  face
       id  is  added to the end of the block name for each output polygon.  An
       example identifier for a polygon is:

            l3.window_overh.3155.ref

       This would be the reference face of output block number 3155, reference
       id name "window overhangs" in layer number 3.

EXAMPLE

       To create a qualifier list for building.txt:

         arch2rad -n building.txt > building.qual

       To  translate  building.txt  into  a  RADIANCE  file  using the mapping
       building.map:

         arch2rad -m building.map building.txt > building.rad

       To create an octree directly from an Architrion file using the  default
       mapping and materials:

         oconv    source.rad    /usr/share/radiance/lib/arch.mat   ’\!arch2rad
         building.txt’ > building.oct

FILES

       /usr/share/radiance/lib/arch.map /usr/share/radiance/lib/arch.mat

AUTHOR

       Greg Ward

SEE ALSO

       ies2rad(1), oconv(1), thf2rad(1), xform(1)