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12 <chapter><title>Introduction</title>
13 <section><title>Purpose (foobar)</title>
15 <para>This page summarizes program operation and command-line usage for ALE
16 versions 0.8.0 through 0.8.4. Features specific to a particular version
17 are annotated (e.g. [ALE 0.8.1 and later]).</para>
19 <para>Manual pages linked from this section describe <a href="defaults/">default
20 settings</a>, <a href="file/">file output</a>, <a
21 href="alignment/">alignment</a>, <a href="rendering/">rendering</a>, <a
22 href="exclusion/">exclusion regions</a>, <a href="cp/">control points</a>, <a href="ui/">user interfaces</a>, <a
23 href="device/">devices</a>, and <a href="3d/">3D scene reconstruction</a>.</para>
25 <para>For more information on ALE, see the <a
26 href="http://auricle.dyndns.org/ALE/">ALE Home Page</a>.</para>
29 <section><title>Parameter Meta-syntax</title>
33 <td><code><foo></code></td>
34 <td>A required parameter called <i>foo</i>.</td>
37 <td><code>[<foo>]</code></td>
38 <td>An optional parameter called <i>foo</i>.</td>
41 <td><code>[<foo>]*</code></td>
42 <td>Zero or more parameters <i>foo</i>.</td>
47 <section><title>Command-line syntax for Image Processing</title>
49 <para>The following command-line invocation can be used to process a series of
50 frames into an output file:</para>
52 <pre>ale [<option>]* <original-frame> [<supplemental-frame>]* <output-file></pre>
54 <h3>Option Arguments</h3>
56 <para>Certain basic modes of operation, emphasizing image quality, speed, or other
57 rendering characteristics, are now established in the form of <a
58 href="defaults/">default settings</a>.</para>
60 <para>Other options are outlined in the manual pages describing <a
61 href="file/">file output</a>, <a href="rendering/">rendering</a>, <a
62 href="alignment/">alignment</a>, <a href="exclusion/">exclusion
63 regions</a>, <a href="device/">devices</a>, <a href="ui/">user interfaces</a>,
64 and <a href="3d/">3D scene reconstruction</a>.</para>
68 <para>ALE can be configured at compile time to use one of two different file
69 handlers. Execute 'ale --version' to determine which file handler is being
70 used. The table below outlines the supported formats for each file handler.</para>
72 <table class="inline">
75 <tr><th>Version Message</th><th>File Types Supported</th></tr>
77 <pre>File handler: ImageMagick</pre>
81 Input and output files can be any of the <a
82 href="http://imagemagick.sourceforge.net/www/formats.html">formats</a> supported by
87 <pre>File handler: PPM</pre>
89 Input files must be PPM, and output files are written as PPM.
95 <para>Note that many external programs, including ImageMagick's <a
96 href="http://www.imagemagick.org/">command line utilities</a>, can be used to
97 convert between PPM and other formats.</para>
99 <para>See the README included in the source distribution of ALE for more information about
100 compile-time configuration of file handlers.</para>
104 <title>Command-line syntax for Version Information</title>
106 <para>The following command-line invocation can be used to print version
107 information and build options:</para>
109 <pre>ale --version</pre>
111 <para>The following is sample output from this invocation:</para>
115 File handler: ImageMagick
117 Coordinate data: SINGLE
120 Optimizations: Enabled
123 <para>The first line of output indicates the version of ALE source code being
124 used; the remaining lines reflect the build options selected at compile
127 <para>For more information about build options, see the README file included in
128 the ALE source distribution.</para>
132 <title>Command-line syntax for Help Output</title>
134 <para>When invoked with no arguments, or an insufficient number of file arguments,
135 ALE outputs a help message specifying command-line usage and available help
136 topics. The following is a sample invocation:</para>
142 <para>More information about specific help topics can be obtained with an invocation
143 of the following form:</para>
145 <pre>ale <help option></pre>
147 <para>Available help options, and their corresponding help topics, are outlined
152 --hq Default settings.
154 --he Exclusion regions.
155 --ha Alignment (not exposure-related).
156 --hr Rendering (not exposure-related).
158 --ht Transformation data files.
159 --hc Control points. [0.8.1 and later]
160 --hl Filtering (PSFs, rendering chains).
162 --hi User Interfaces.
163 --hv Video stream processing (Experimental).
165 --hz Undocumented options.
166 --hA Concatenate all help pages.
171 <title>Related Manual Pages</title>
173 <li><a href="defaults/">Default Settings</a></li>
174 <li><a href="file/">File Output</a></li>
175 <li><a href="rendering/">Rendering</a></li>
176 <li><a href="alignment/">Alignment</a></li>
177 <li><a href="exclusion/">Exclusion Regions</a></li>
178 <li><a href="cp/">Control Points (0.8.1 and later)</a></li>
179 <li><a href="device/">Devices</a></li>
180 <li><a href="ui/">User Interfaces</a></li>
181 <li><a href="3d/">3D Scene Reconstruction</a></li>
188 <i>Copyright 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 <a href="mailto:dhilvert@auricle.dyndns.org">David Hilvert</a></i>
189 <para class="footer">Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.</para>