Differences between revisions 2 and 3
Revision 2 as of 2008-07-11 21:32:09
Size: 4976
Editor: SteveLudtke
Comment:
Revision 3 as of 2008-07-11 21:38:50
Size: 5719
Editor: SteveLudtke
Comment:
Deletions are marked like this. Additions are marked like this.
Line 37: Line 37:

{{{
e2.py
img=EMData()
img.read_image("test.hdf",5) # reads the 6th image from test.hdf (first image is 0)
img.write_image("test2.hdf",-1) # appends (-1) the image to the end of test2.hdf
img_list=EMData.read_images("test.hdf",(0,50)) # reads the first 50 images from test.hdf into a list of EMData objects
n=EMUtil.get_image_count("test.hdf") # counts the number of images in test.hdf
}}}

Similar operations can be performed with databases, such as :
{{{
img.read_image("bdb:test",5)
img.write_image("bdb:test2",-1)
}}}

However, this is not the preferred mechanism for using the database interface, since there are many more powerful operations which
can be performed. This:
{{{
e2.py
db.open_dict("test")
}}}

Dealing with image data on disk in EMAN2

EMAN2 supports a variety of mechanisms for dealing with your data on disk. Virtually all cryo-EM file formats are supported as well as some good generic formats. In addition, EMAN2 has a local embedded database storage scheme used heavily during processing. This mechanism is faster than typical direct file access, and permits easy logging of tasks and book-keeping. Finally, we support communications with the EMEN2 OODB, permitting things like directly reading image data from a centralized database for processing.

File Formats

EMAN2 supports the following file formats:

HDF5

R/W

MRC/CCP4

R/W

IMAGIC

R/W

SPIDER

R/W

PIF

R/W

ICOS

R/W

VTK

R/W

PGM

R/W

Amira

R/W

Xplor

W

Gatan DM2

R

Gatan DM3

R

TIFF

R/W

Scans-a-lot

R

LST

R/W

PNG

R/W

Video-4-Linux

R

JPEG

W

To convert from one format to another, the e2proc2d.py and e2proc3d.py programs can be used for 2-D and 3-D images respectively. The basic usage proc2d.py <infile> <outfile> will simply convert from one file format to another. By default, image type for the output file is recognized by file extension. Both programs also have options for specifying file type when it would otherwise be ambiguous.

Any program in EMAN should be able to read/write any of the above file formats seamlessly, though each format may have its own limitations. We attempt to preserve as much metadata as possible, but some formats simply aren't very flexible in this regard. The only format supporting EMAN2's full model for associating attributes with individual images is HDF5, which is the format we encourage for general use and file interchange moving forward. This would be considered the default format for EMAN2. Unfortunately, while HDF5 is exceptionally flexible and portable, its performance on large image stacks is substantially worse than the simpler flat-file formats. For this reason, the primary storage mechanism in EMAN2 for internal processing is a BerkeleyDB-based embedded database system.

EMAN2 Embedded Database

You'll note that whenever you run and EMAN2 program in a new directory, a subdirectory called EMAN2DB is also created. In EMAN1, a hidden file '.emanlog' was created, and this simple file contained a history of all of the EMAN1 commands run in that directory. In EMAN2, we have converted to a model where most of the image data being processed is stored in and 'embedded database' in the local directory rather than in the traditional MRC/IMAGIC/SPIDER files. Files may still be copied into and out of this database into conventional files, but by storing data internally, we gain a (sometimes substantial) performance benefit, have much more flexibility in how metadata (known as 'header information') is stored, and permit much better tracking of what tasks have been completed on each data item. This idea might take some getting used to, and we hope you will appreciate its elegance once you do.

The files contained in the database directory (EMAN2DB) should never be manipulated by hand. Don't rename or copy files. This could cause errors or data loss. The entire directory can be safely moved from one directory to another, but its contents must not be altered. If you need to extract data for use with another program or somesuch, you MUST use an EMAN2 program to copy the data into a standard disk file. If you want to insure there is no loss of metadata, use the HDF format for this purpose.

Using the database with normal EMAN2 programs

The database can be accessed by any of the EMAN2 programs. Normally you would specify a file as 'test.hdf' or '/home/stevel/test.hdf'. To access the database, simply specify 'bdb:test' or 'bdb:/home/stevel/data/test'. In the first instance (bdb:test), the named database 'test' will be accessed in the EMAN2DB database in the local directory. Specifying 'bdb:/home/stevel/data/test' will access the database named test in /home/stevel/data/EMAN2DB. Each of the EMAN2DB directories can contain an unlimited number of individual named databases. The EMAN2 GUI interface will provide tools for browsing these databases interactively, and you can find all of their names by listing the 'EMAN2DB/*.bdb' files. Please note that when specifying database names, you don't use the '.bdb' extension. There is more to the database than just the '.bdb' file you see.

For example, say you have a database called 'averages' containing 200 class-averages, and you want to get them out for processing in Spider. Just:

e2proc2d.py bdb:averages averages.spi

and you will end up with a Spider format stack file containing all of the images.

Using the database from Python (for programmers or advanced users)

The normal method for accessing image data on disk is using the read_image, read_images and write_image methods, for example:

e2.py
img=EMData()
img.read_image("test.hdf",5)  # reads the 6th image from test.hdf (first image is 0)
img.write_image("test2.hdf",-1)   # appends (-1) the image to the end of test2.hdf
img_list=EMData.read_images("test.hdf",(0,50))   # reads the first 50 images from test.hdf into a list of EMData objects
n=EMUtil.get_image_count("test.hdf")   # counts the number of images in test.hdf

Similar operations can be performed with databases, such as :

img.read_image("bdb:test",5)
img.write_image("bdb:test2",-1)

However, this is not the preferred mechanism for using the database interface, since there are many more powerful operations which can be performed. This:

e2.py
db.open_dict("test")

Eman2DataStorage (last edited 2022-03-08 23:55:01 by SteveLudtke)