| 32 | | the release page. GDAL support is *not* provided with either package, however. |
| 33 | | We hope to resolve this by the 1.0.0 final release. |
| 34 | | |
| 35 | | FAQ |
| 36 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 37 | | |
| 38 | | The FAQ is available from http://liblas.org/wiki/FAQ |
| 39 | | |
| 40 | | State of the Library |
| 41 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 42 | | |
| 43 | | libLAS provides excellent coverage of the ASPRS LAS 1.0 and 1.1 specifications, |
| 44 | | and it provides support for copying variable length records from one file to |
| 45 | | another. As of 1.0.0-beta-3, support for creating your own variable length records |
| 46 | | is limited to the C and C++ APIs. libLAS concentrates on reading and writing |
| 47 | | point data for processing pipelines from C++, C, and Python. Contact the |
| 48 | | `Authors`_ if you have money burning a hole in your pocket to implement more |
| 49 | | sophisticated support for LAS format items. |
| 50 | | |
| 51 | | libLAS also provides support for reading and writing spatial reference system descriptions |
| 52 | | from LAS 1.0 and 1.1 files as of version 1.0.0-beta-1. `libgeotiff`_ 1.2.5 |
| 53 | | (released in `7/28/2008`_) must be linked with libLAS to provide reading support |
| 54 | | for spatial reference systems. `GDAL`_ is required to use the las2ogr command-line |
| 55 | | utility for creating shapefiles, etc out of a .LAS file. |
| 56 | | |
| 57 | | Features of libLAS |
| 58 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 59 | | |
| 60 | | Open Source |
| 61 | | .............................................................................. |
| 62 | | |
| 63 | | libLAS is open source software. You can embed it in your own applications |
| 64 | | (and even resell it) as long as you follow the crediting restriction of the BSD |
| 65 | | license. |
| 66 | | |
| 67 | | Multiple APIs |
| 68 | | .............................................................................. |
| 69 | | |
| 70 | | libLAS supports has C, C++, and Python APIs. This allows you to easily embed |
| 71 | | libLAS in your own programs, or use the Python API for some one-off scripting. |
| 72 | | |
| 73 | | Spatial Reference System Support |
| 74 | | .............................................................................. |
| 75 | | |
| 76 | | Linked against the latest version of `libgeotiff`_, you can set and get the spatial reference |
| 77 | | systems of LAS files using simple `proj.4`_ coordinate system definitions. |
| 78 | | |
| 79 | | Simple Variable Length Record Abstraction |
| 80 | | .............................................................................. |
| 81 | | |
| 82 | | libLAS provides a sensible abstraction for working with variable length records (VLR) |
| 83 | | in LAS files, and it transparently manages the VLRs related to spatial referencing |
| 84 | | systems for you. |
| 85 | | |
| 86 | | Command-line Utilities |
| 87 | | .............................................................................. |
| 88 | | |
| 89 | | libLAS provides ports of the `LAStools`_ utilities by Martin Isenburg for doing |
| 90 | | things like translating from one version of the LAS format to another, inspecting |
| 91 | | header information, and translating LAS data to and from text. |
| 92 | | |
| 93 | | Cross-platform operation |
| 94 | | .............................................................................. |
| 95 | | |
| 96 | | libLAS is known to work on MSVC 7.1+ (Windows) and GCC4.1+ (OS X and Linux) platforms |
| 97 | | on both big- and little-endian architectures. |
| 98 | | |
| | 34 | the release page. GDAL support is only provided with the `OSGeo4W`_ package, however. |
| | 35 | |
| | 36 | Linux, Mac OS X, and Solaris binaries are not provided. The source code |
| | 37 | uses the standard GNU autotools/automake stack for compilation and installation. |
| 104 | | LAS Format Specifications |
| 105 | | .............................................................................. |
| 106 | | |
| 107 | | The LAS Format Standard is maintained by `ASPRS Standards Committee`_. LAS |
| 108 | | format standard documents are available in PDF format: |
| 109 | | |
| 110 | | * `LAS 2.0 Format Standard`_ (2007-08-17) - *Proposed* |
| 111 | | * `LAS 1.2 Format Standard`_ (2008-05-02) - *Proposed* |
| 112 | | * `LAS 1.1 Format Standard`_ (2005-05-07) |
| 113 | | * `LAS 1.0 Format Standard`_ (2003-05-09) |
| 114 | | |
| 115 | | Library Documents |
| 116 | | .............................................................................. |
| 117 | | |
| 118 | | * `LAS Format Elements`_ - comparison of elements of LAS Format 1.0 and 1.1 |
| 119 | | * `Software`_ - list of geospatial software with reading and writing capabilities of LAS Format |
| 120 | | * `Resources`_ - list of LiDAR/LAS resources |
| 121 | | * `Tutorials`_ - Tutorials on using libLAS from C++, Python and .NET/Mono languages |
| 122 | | |
| 123 | | Utilities |
| | 43 | `LAStools`_ / libLAS Command-line Utilities |
| | 52 | Software Development with libLAS |
| | 53 | .............................................................................. |
| | 54 | |
| | 55 | * `FOSS4G 2008`_ presentation that provides a basic overview of the design |
| | 56 | and philosophy of libLAS |
| | 57 | * `LAS Format Elements`_ - comparison of elements of LAS Format 1.0 and 1.1 |
| | 58 | * `Software`_ - a list of geospatial software with reading and writing capabilities of LAS Format |
| | 59 | * `Resources`_ - a list of general LiDAR/LAS resources |
| | 60 | * `Tutorials`_ - tutorials on using libLAS from C++, Python and .NET/Mono languages |
| | 61 | * `LAS C API`_- doxygen docs that describe the libLAS C API |
| | 62 | * `dotnetLibLAS API`_ - docs for the .NET API |
| | 63 | * `LAS Doxygen Docs`_ - doxygen docs of the entire C/C++ API |
| | 64 | |
| | 65 | LAS Format Specifications |
| | 66 | .............................................................................. |
| | 67 | |
| | 68 | The LAS Format Standard is maintained by `ASPRS Standards Committee`_. LAS |
| | 69 | format standard documents are available in PDF format: |
| | 70 | |
| | 71 | * `LAS 2.0 Format Standard`_ (2007-08-17) - *Proposed* |
| | 72 | * `LAS 1.2 Format Standard`_ (2008-05-02) - *Proposed* |
| | 73 | * `LAS 1.1 Format Standard`_ (2005-05-07) |
| | 74 | * `LAS 1.0 Format Standard`_ (2003-05-09) |
| | 75 | |
| | 76 | License |
| | 77 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| | 78 | |
| | 79 | libLAS is available under the terms of the `BSD License`_. |
| | 80 | See `License`_ for a copy. |
| | 81 | |
| | 82 | FAQ |
| | 83 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| | 84 | |
| | 85 | The FAQ is available from http://liblas.org/wiki/FAQ |
| | 86 | |
| | 87 | Features of libLAS |
| | 88 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| | 89 | |
| | 90 | Open Source |
| | 91 | .............................................................................. |
| | 92 | |
| | 93 | libLAS is open source software. You can embed it in your own applications |
| | 94 | (and even resell it) as long as you follow the crediting restriction of the BSD |
| | 95 | license. |
| | 96 | |
| | 97 | Multiple APIs |
| | 98 | .............................................................................. |
| | 99 | |
| | 100 | libLAS has C, C++, .NET, and Python APIs. |
| | 101 | |
| | 102 | Spatial Reference System Support |
| | 103 | .............................................................................. |
| | 104 | |
| | 105 | Linked against the latest version of `libgeotiff`_, you can set and get the spatial reference |
| | 106 | systems of LAS files using simple `proj.4`_ coordinate system definitions. |
| | 107 | |
| | 108 | Simple Variable Length Record Abstraction |
| | 109 | .............................................................................. |
| | 110 | |
| | 111 | libLAS provides a sensible abstraction for working with variable length records (VLR) |
| | 112 | in LAS files, and it transparently manages the VLRs related to spatial referencing |
| | 113 | systems for you. |
| | 114 | |
| | 115 | Command-line Utilities |
| | 116 | .............................................................................. |
| | 117 | |
| | 118 | libLAS provides ports of the `LAStools`_ utilities by Martin Isenburg for doing |
| | 119 | things like translating from one version of the LAS format to another, inspecting |
| | 120 | header information, and translating LAS data to and from text. |
| | 121 | |
| | 122 | Cross-platform operation |
| | 123 | .............................................................................. |
| | 124 | |
| | 125 | libLAS is known to work on MSVC 7.1+ (Windows) and GCC4.1+ (OS X and Linux) platforms |
| | 126 | on both big- and little-endian architectures. |
| | 127 | |
| | 128 | |
