On 17/03/10 15:43, Howard Butler wrote: > If we think this is legal, it would be a simple extension to allow the > LASSchema to be written into a VLR that describes the layout of this > extra data *within* the LAS file (as well as coincidently help me > describe data in OPC, but that's an unrelated issue).
This sounds like a very neat extension to the LAS format that doesn't break the existing specification. In terms of liblas / reading standard LAS files though, what would the purpose of this be? I can see it definitely helps with your OPC problem and suggests a (nice) possible future path for a new LAS [12].x, but I'm not sure if it'd currently add to the fragmentation of formats problem that others have mentioned. If this were part of an official, well defined and well-considered new specification, it sounds like a nice generic solution to the variability of point data formats. As an extra libLAS-only format it risks being another variation, and one that might be overridden by a LAS 1.4 / 2.0 spec at any time. On that note, Martin's call for a 1.4 workshop also sounds interesting, but I'd politely suggest avoiding getting a new spec done quickly - that seems to have been the problem with 1.3. Take the time to get feedback, get community support and get it right. As someone not particularly versed in all the various LIDAR formats, it'd also be really interesting to see a consolidated list of issues that need addressing - and hopefully would help form an agenda for the workshop. Pardon the notes of caution - as someone that's got LAS 1.3 files to handle, I'm feeling a little burnt ;) Cheers, Mike. P.S. we're going to provide a LAS 1.3 file for the sample archive soon, though I understand we may not be able to read it for a long time! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Plymouth Marine Laboratory Registered Office: Prospect Place The Hoe Plymouth PL1 3DH Website: www.pml.ac.uk Registered Charity No. 1091222 PML is a company limited by guarantee registered in England & Wales company number 4178503 PML is a member of the Plymouth Marine Sciences Partnership Website: www.pmsp.org.uk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This e-mail, its content and any file attachments are confidential. If you have received this e-mail in error please do not copy, disclose it to any third party or use the contents or attachments in any way. Please notify the sender by replying to this e-mail or e-mail [email protected] and then delete the email without making any copies or using it in any other way. The content of this message may contain personal views which are not the views of Plymouth Marine Laboratory unless specifically stated. You are reminded that e-mail communications are not secure and may contain viruses. Plymouth Marine Laboratory accepts no liability for any loss or damage which may be caused by viruses. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Liblas-devel mailing list [email protected] http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/liblas-devel
