:tocdepth: 4

.. set default highlighting language for this document:

.. highlight:: c

**The Generic Mapping Tools**

**C/C++ Application Programming Interface**

**Pål (Paul) Wessel**

**SOEST, University of Hawai'i at Manoa**

**Walter H. F. Smith**

**Laboratory for Satellite Altimetry, NOAA/NESDIS/STAR**

**Remko Scharroo**

**EUMETSAT, Darmstadt, Germany**

**Joaquim F. Luis**

**Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal**

**Florian Wobbe**

**Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany**

Introduction
============

.. index:: ! API

Preamble
--------

.. figure:: /_images/GMT4_mode.png
   :height: 535 px
   :width: 1013 px
   :align: center
   :scale: 50 %

   GMT 4 programs contain all the high-level functionality.


Prior to version 5, the bulk of GMT functionality was coded directly
in the standard GMT C program modules (e.g., ``surface.c``, ``psxy.c``, ``grdimage.c``, etc.). The
GMT library only offered access to low-level functions from which
those high-level GMT programs were built. The standard GMT programs
have been very successful, with tens of thousands of users world-wide.
However, the design of the main programs prevented developers from
leveraging GMT functionality from within other programming
environments since access to GMT tools could only be achieved via
system calls [1]_. Consequently, all data i/o had to be done via
temporary files. The design also prevented the GMT developers
themselves from taking advantage of these modules directly. For
instance, the tool :doc:`pslegend` needed to
make extensive use of system calls to :doc:`psxy` and
:doc:`pstext` in order to plot the lines,
symbols and text that make up a map legend, making it a very awkward
program to maintain.

.. figure:: /_images/GMT5_mode.png
   :height: 569 px
   :width: 1013 px
   :align: center
   :scale: 50 %

   GMT 5 programs contain all the high-level functionality.


Starting with GMT version 5, all standard GMT programs have been
split into a short driver program (the "new" GMT  programs) and a
function "module". The drivers simply call the corresponding
GMT modules; it is these modules that do all the work. These new
functions have been placed in a new GMT high-level API library and can
be called from a variety of environments (C/C++, Fortran, Julia, Python,
Matlab, Visual Basic, R, etc.) [2]_. For example, the main
program ``blockmean.c`` has been reconfigured as a high-level function
``GMT_blockmean()``, which does the actual spatial averaging and can
pass the result back to the calling program (or write it to file). The
previous behavior of ``blockmean.c`` is replicated by a short driver program that simply
collects user arguments and then calls ``GMT_blockmean()``. Indeed, the
driver programs for all the standard GMT programs are identical so
that the makefile generates them on-the-fly when it compiles and links
them with the GMT library into executables. Thus, ``blockmean.c`` and others do in
fact no longer exist.

The i/o abstraction layer
-------------------------

In order for this interface to be as flexible as possible we have
generalized the notion of input and output. Data that already reside in
an application's memory may serve as input to a GMT function. Other
sources of input may be file pointers and file descriptors (as well as
the already-supported mechanism for passing file names). For standard
data table i/o, the GMT API takes care of the task of assembling any
combination of files, pointers, and memory locations into *a single
virtual data set* from which the GMT function may read (a) all
records at once into memory, or (b) read one record at a time. Likewise,
GMT functions may write their output to a virtual destination, which
might be a memory location in the user's application, a file pointer or
descriptor, or an output file. The GMT functions are unaware of these
details and simply read from a "source" and write to a "destination".

Our audience
------------

Here, we document the new functions in the GMT API library for
application developers who wish to call these functions from their own
custom programs. At this point, only the new high-level GMT API is
fully documented and intended for public use. The structure and
documentation of the under-lying lower-level GMT library is not
finalized. Developers using these functions may risk disruption to their
programs due to changes we may make in the library in support of the
GMT API. However, developers who wish to make supplemental packages to
be distributed as part of GMT will (other than talk to us) probably
want to access the entire low-level GMT library as well. It is
unlikely that the low-level library will ever be fully documented.

Definitions
-----------

For the purpose of this documentation a few definitions are needed:

#. "Standard GMT program" refers to one of the traditional stand-alone
   command-line executables known to all GMT users, e.g.,
   :doc:`blockmean`, :doc:`psxy`,
   :doc:`grdimage`, etc. Prior to version 5,
   these were the only GMT executables available.

#. "\ GMT module" refers to the function in the GMT API library that
   is responsible for all the action taken by the corresponding
   GMT program. All such modules are given the same name as the
   corresponding program but carry the prefix ``GMT_``, e.g.,
   ``GMT_blockmean``.

#. "\ GMT application" refers to a new application written by any
   developer and may call one or more GMT functions to create a new
   GMT-compatible executable.

#. In the API description that follows we will use the type ``int`` to
   mean a 4-byte integer. All integers used in the API are 4-byte
   integers with the exception of one function where a longer integer is
   used. Since different operating systems have their own way of
   defining 8-byte integers we use C99's ``int64_t`` for this purpose;
   it is guaranteed to yield the correct type that the GMT function
   expect.

In version 5, the standard GMT programs are themselves specific but
overly simple examples of GMT applications that only call the single
GMT function they are associated with. However, some programs such as
:doc:`pslegend`, :doc:`gmtconvert`,
:doc:`grdblend`,
:doc:`grdfilter` and others call several modules.

Recognized resources
--------------------

The GMT API knows how to read and write five types of data common to
GMT operations: CPT palette tables, data tables (ASCII or binary),
text tables, GMT grids and images (reading only). In addition, we
present two data types to facilitate the passing of simple user arrays
(one or more equal-length data columns of any data type, e.g., double,
char) and 2-D or 3-D user matrices (of any data type and column/row
organization [3]_). We refer to these data types as GMT *resources*.
There are many attributes for each of these resources and therefore we
use a top-level structure for each type to keep them all in one
container. These containers are given or returned by the GMT API
functions using opaque pointers (``void *``). Below we discuss these
containers in some detail; we will later present how they are used when
importing or exporting them to or from files, memory locations, or
streams. The first five are the standard GMT objects, while the latter
two are the special user data containers to facilitate passing user
data into and out of GMT modules. These resources are defined in the include
file ``gmt_resources.h``; please consult this file to ensure correctness
in case the documentation is not up-to-date.

Data tables
~~~~~~~~~~~

Much data processed in GMT come in the form of ASCII, netCDF, or
native binary data tables. These may have any number of header records
(ASCII files only) and perhaps segment headers. GMT programs will read
one or more such tables when importing data. However, to avoid memory
duplication or data limitations some programs may prefer to read records one
at the time. The GMT API has functions that let you read
record-by-record by presenting a virtual data set that combines all the
data tables specified as input. This simplifies record processing
considerably. A ``struct GMT_DATASET`` may contain any number of tables,
each with any number of segments, each segment with any number of
records, and each record with any number of columns. Thus, the arguments
to GMT API functions that handle such data sets expect this type of
variable. All segments are expected to have the same number of columns.

.. _struct-dataset:

.. code-block:: c

   struct GMT_DATASET {	/* Single container for an array of GMT tables (files) */
       /* Variables we document for the API: */
       uint64_t               n_tables;     /* The total number of tables (files) contained */
       uint64_t               n_columns;    /* The number of data columns */
       uint64_t               n_segments;   /* The total number of segments across all tables */
       uint64_t               n_records;    /* The total number of data records across all tables */
       double                *min;          /* Minimum coordinate for each column */
       double                *max;          /* Maximum coordinate for each column */
       struct GMT_DATATABLE **table;        /* Pointer to array of tables */
       /* ---- Variables "hidden" from the API ---- */
       uint64_t               id;           /* The internal number of the data set */
       size_t                 n_alloc;      /* The current allocation length of tables */
       uint64_t               dim[4];       /* Only used by GMT_Duplicate_Data to override dimensions */
       unsigned int           geometry;     /* The geometry of this dataset */
       unsigned int           alloc_level;  /* The level it was allocated at */
       enum GMT_enum_dest     io_mode;      /* -1 means write OGR format (requires proper -a),
                                               0 means write everything to one destination [Default],
                                               1 means use table->file[GMT_OUT] to write separate table,
                                               2 means use segment->file[GMT_OUT] to write separate segments.
                                               3 is same as 2 but with no filenames we create filenames from
                                                 tbl and seg numbers */
       enum GMT_enum_alloc    alloc_mode;   /* Allocation mode [GMT_ALLOCATED_BY_GMT] */
       char                  *file[2];      /* Name of file or source [0 = in, 1 = out] */
   };

Text tables
~~~~~~~~~~~

Some data needed by GMT are simply free-form ASCII text tables. In many respects these
are handled similarly to data tables. E.g., they may have any number of
header records and even segment headers, and GMT programs can read one
or more tables or get text records one at the time. A
``struct GMT_TEXTSET`` may contain any number of tables, each with any
number of segments, and each segment with any number of records. Thus,
the arguments to GMT API functions that handle such data sets expect
this type of variable. The user's program may then parse and process
such text records as required. This resources is particularly useful
when your data consist of a mix or data coordinates and ordinary text
since regular data tables will be parsed for floating-point columns
only.

.. _struct-textset:

.. code-block:: c

   struct GMT_TEXTSET {	/* Single container for an array of GMT text tables (files) */
       /* Variables we document for the API: */
       uint64_t               n_tables;     /* The total number of tables (files) contained */
       uint64_t               n_segments;   /* The total number of segments across all tables */
       uint64_t               n_records;    /* The total number of data records across all tables */
       struct GMT_TEXTTABLE **table;        /* Pointer to array of tables */
       /* ---- Variables "hidden" from the API ---- */
       uint64_t               id;           /* The internal number of the data set */
       size_t                 n_alloc;      /* The current allocation length of tables */
       unsigned int           geometry;     /* The geometry of this dataset */
       unsigned int           alloc_level;  /* The level it was allocated at */
       enum GMT_enum_dest     io_mode;      /* -1 means write OGR format (requires proper -a),
                                               0 means write everything to one destination [Default],
                                               1 means use table->file[GMT_OUT] to write separate table,
                                               2 means use segment->file[GMT_OUT] to write separate segments.
                                               3 is same as 2 but with no filenames we create filenames */
                                                 from tbl and seg numbers */
       enum GMT_enum_alloc    alloc_mode;   /* Allocation mode [GMT_ALLOCATED_BY_GMT] */
       char                  *file[2];      /* Name of file or source [0 = in, 1 = out] */
   };

GMT grids
~~~~~~~~~

GMT grids are used to represent equidistant and organized 2-D
surfaces. These can be plotted as contour maps, color images, or as
perspective surfaces. Because the native GMT grid is simply a 1-D
float array with all the metadata kept in a separate header, we pass
this information via a ``struct GMT_GRID``, which is a container that
holds both items. Thus, the arguments to GMT API functions that handle
GMT grids expect this type of variable.

.. _struct-grid:

.. code-block:: c

   struct GMT_GRID {                        /* To hold a GMT float grid and its header in one container */
       struct GMT_GRID_HEADER *header;      /* Pointer to full GMT header for the grid */
       float                  *data;        /* Pointer to the float grid */
       /* ---- Variables "hidden" from the API ---- */
       unsigned int            id;          /* The internal number of the grid */
       unsigned int            alloc_level; /* The level it was allocated at */
       enum GMT_enum_alloc     alloc_mode;  /* Allocation mode [GMT_ALLOCATED_BY_GMT] */
       void                   *extra;       /* Row-by-row machinery information [NULL] */
   };

GMT images
~~~~~~~~~~

GMT images are used to represent bit-mapped images typically obtained
via the GDAL bridge. These can be reprojected internally, such as when
used in grdimage. Since images and grids share the concept of a header,
we use the same header structure for grids as for images; however, some
additional metadata attributes are also needed. Finally, the image
itself may be of any data type and have more than one band (channel).
Both image and header information are passed via a ``struct GMT_IMAGE``,
which is a container that holds both items. Thus, the arguments to
GMT API functions that handle GMT images expect this type of
variable. Unlike the other objects, writting images has only partial
support via ``GMT_grdimage`` [4]_.

.. _struct-image:

.. code-block:: c

  struct GMT_IMAGE {
      enum GMT_enum_type      type;           /* Data type, e.g. GMT_FLOAT */
      int                    *ColorMap;       /* Array with color lookup values */
      struct GMT_GRID_HEADER *header;         /* Pointer to full GMT header for the image */
      unsigned char          *data;           /* Pointer to actual image */
      /* ---- Variables "hidden" from the API ---- */
      uint64_t                id;             /* The internal number of the data set */
      unsigned int            alloc_level;    /* Level of initial allocation */
      enum GMT_enum_alloc     alloc_mode;     /* Allocation info [0] */
      const char             *ColorInterp;
  };

CPT palette tables
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The color palette table files, or just CPT tables, contain colors and
patterns used for plotting data such as surfaces (i.e., GMT grids) or
symbols, lines and polygons (i.e., GMT tables). GMT programs will
generally read in a CPT palette table, make it the current palette, do
the plotting, and destroy the table when done. The information is
referred to via a pointer to ``struct GMT_PALETTE``. Thus, the arguments
to GMT API functions that handle palettes expect this type of
variable. It is not expected that users will wish to manipulate a CPT
table directly, but rather use this mechanism to hold them in memory and
pass as arguments to GMT modules.

.. _struct-palette:

.. code-block:: c

   struct GMT_PALETTE {		/* Holds all pen, color, and fill-related parameters */
       /* Variables we document for the API: */
       unsigned int          n_headers;          /* Number of CPT file header records (0 if no header) */
       unsigned int          n_colors;           /* Number of colors in CPT lookup table */
       unsigned int          cpt_flags;          /* Flags controling use of BFN colors */
       struct GMT_LUT       *range;              /* CPT lookup table read by GMT_read_cpt */
       struct GMT_BFN_COLOR  patch[3];           /* Structures with back/fore/nan colors */
       char **header;                            /* Array with all CPT file header records, if any) */
       /* ---- Variables "hidden" from the API ---- */
       uint64_t              id;                 /* The internal number of the data set */
       enum GMT_enum_alloc   alloc_mode;         /* Allocation mode [GMT_ALLOCATED_BY_GMT] */
       unsigned int          alloc_level;        /* The level it was allocated at */
       unsigned int          model;              /* RGB, HSV, CMYK */
       unsigned int          is_gray;            /* true if only grayshades are needed */
       unsigned int          is_bw;              /* true if only black and white are needed */
       unsigned int          is_continuous;      /* true if continuous color tables have been given */
       unsigned int          has_pattern;        /* true if cpt file contains any patterns */
       unsigned int          skip;               /* true if current z-slice is to be skipped */
       unsigned int          categorical;        /* true if CPT applies to categorical data */
       unsigned int          z_adjust[2];        /* 1 if +u<unit> was parsed and scale set, 3 if z has been adjusted, 0 otherwise */
       unsigned int          z_mode[2];          /* 1 if +U<unit> was parsed, 0 otherwise */
       unsigned int          z_unit[2];          /* Unit enum specified via +u<unit> */
       double                z_unit_to_meter[2]; /* Scale, given z_unit, to convert z from <unit> to meters */
   };

User data columns (GMT vectors)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Programs that wish to call GMT modules may hold data in their own
particular data structures. For instance, the user's program may have
three column arrays of type float and wishes to use these as the input
source to the ``GMT_surface`` module, which normally expects double
precision triplets via a ``struct GMT_DATASET`` read from a file or
given by memory reference. Simply create a new ``struct GMT_VECTOR``
(see section :ref:`Create empty resources <sec-create>`) and assign the union array pointers (see
:ref:`univector <struct-univector>`) to your data columns and provide the required
information on length, data types, and optionally range (see
:ref:`GMT_VECTOR <struct-vector>`). By letting the GMT module know you are passing a
data set *via* a ``struct GMT_VECTOR`` it will know how to read the data correctly.

.. _struct-univector:

.. code-block:: c

  union GMT_UNIVECTOR { 
      uint8_t  *uc1;       /* Pointer for unsigned 1-byte array */ 
      int8_t   *sc1;       /* Pointer for signed 1-byte array */
      uint16_t *ui2;       /* Pointer for unsigned 2-byte array */
      int16_t  *si2;       /* Pointer for signed 2-byte array */
      uint32_t *ui4;       /* Pointer for unsigned 4-byte array */
      int32_t  *si4;       /* Pointer for signed 4-byte array */
      uint64_t *ui8;       /* Pointer for unsigned 8-byte array */
      int64_t  *si8;       /* Pointer for signed 8-byte array */
      float    *f4;        /* Pointer for float array */
      double   *f8;        /* Pointer for double array */
  };


Table 1.1: Definition of the ``GMT_UNIVECTOR`` union that holds a pointer to any array type.


.. _struct-vector:

.. code-block:: c

  struct GMT_VECTOR {
      uint64_t             n_columns;     /* Number of vectors */
      uint64_t             n_rows;        /* Number of rows in each vector */
      enum GMT_enum_reg    registration;  /* 0 for gridline and 1 for pixel registration */
      enum GMT_enum_type  *type;          /* Array with data type for each vector */
      union GMT_UNIVECTOR *data;          /* Array with unions for each column */
      double               range[2];      /* The min and max limits on t-range (or 0,0) */
      char command[GMT_GRID_COMMAND_LEN320]; /* name of generating command */
      char remark[GMT_GRID_REMARK_LEN160];   /* comments re this data set */
      /* ---- Variables "hidden" from the API ---- */ 
      uint64_t             id;            /* An identification number */
      unsigned int         alloc_level;   /* Level of initial allocation */
      enum GMT_enum_alloc  alloc_mode;    /* Determines if we may free the vectors or not */
  };


User data matrices (GMT matrices)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Likewise, programs may have an integer 2-D matrix in memory and wish to
use that as the input grid to the ``GMT_grdfilter`` module, which
normally expects a ``struct GMT_GRID`` with floating point data via a
file or provided by memory reference. As for user vectors, we create a
``struct GMT_MATRIX`` (see :ref:`Create empty resources <sec-create>`), assign the appropriate
union pointer to your data matrix and provide information on dimensions
and data type. Let the GMT module know you
are passing a grid via a ``struct GMT_MATRIX`` and it will know how to
read the matrix properly.

.. _struct-matrix:

.. code-block:: c

  struct GMT_MATRIX {
      uint64_t             n_rows;        /* Number of rows in the matrix */
      uint64_t             n_columns;     /* Number of columns in the matrix */
      uint64_t             n_layers;      /* Number of layers in a 3-D matrix */
      enum GMT_enum_fmt    shape;         /* 0 = C (rows) and 1 = Fortran (cols) */
      enum GMT_enum_reg    registration;  /* 0 for gridline and 1 for pixel registration  */
      size_t               dim;           /* Allocated length of longest C or Fortran dim */
      size_t               size;          /* Byte length of data */
      enum GMT_enum_type   type;          /* Data type, e.g. GMT_FLOAT */
      double               range[6];      /* Contains xmin/xmax/ymin/ymax[/zmin/zmax] */
      union GMT_UNIVECTOR  data;          /* Union with pointer to actual matrix of the chosen type */
      char command[GMT_GRID_COMMAND_LEN320]; /* name of generating command */
      char remark[GMT_GRID_REMARK_LEN160];   /* comments re this data set */      
      /* ---- Variables "hidden" from the API ---- */
      uint64_t             id;            /* The internal number of the data set */
      unsigned int         alloc_level;   /* The level it was allocated at */
      enum GMT_enum_alloc  alloc_mode;    /* Allocation mode [GMT_ALLOCATED_BY_GMT] */
  };

The ``enum`` types referenced in :ref:`GMT_VECTOR <struct-vector>` and
Table :ref:`GMT_MATRIX <struct-matrix>` and summarized in Table :ref:`types <tbl-types>`.

.. _tbl-types:

+--------------+------------------------------------------+
| constant     | description                              |
+==============+==========================================+
| GMT_CHAR     | int8_t, 1-byte signed integer type       |
+--------------+------------------------------------------+
| GMT_UCHAR    | int8_t, 1-byte unsigned integer type     |
+--------------+------------------------------------------+
| GMT_SHORT    | int16_t, 2-byte signed integer type      |
+--------------+------------------------------------------+
| GMT_USHORT   | uint16_t, 2-byte unsigned integer type   |
+--------------+------------------------------------------+
| GMT_INT      | int32_t, 4-byte signed integer type      |
+--------------+------------------------------------------+
| GMT_UINT     | uint32_t, 4-byte unsigned integer type   |
+--------------+------------------------------------------+
| GMT_LONG     | int64_t, 8-byte signed integer type      |
+--------------+------------------------------------------+
| GMT_ULONG    | uint64_t, 8-byte unsigned integer type   |
+--------------+------------------------------------------+
| GMT_FLOAT    | 4-byte data float type                   |
+--------------+------------------------------------------+
| GMT_DOUBLE   | 8-byte data float type                   |
+--------------+------------------------------------------+
+--------------+------------------------------------------+

.. _chapter-overview:

Overview of the GMT C Application Program Interface
===================================================

Users who wish to create their own GMT application based on the API
must make sure their program goes through the steps below; details for
each step will be revealed in the following chapter. We have kept the
API simple: In addition to the GMT modules, there are only 52 public
functions to become familiar with, but most applications will only use a
small subset of this selection. Functions either return an integer error
code (when things go wrong; otherwise it is set to ``GMT_OK (0)``), or they
return a void pointer to a GMT resources (or NULL if things go wrong).
In either case the API will report what the error is. The layout here
assumes you wish to use data in memory as input sources; if the data are
simply command-line files then things simplify considerably.

#. Initialize a new GMT session with GMT_Create_Session_, which
   allocates a hidden GMT API control structure and returns an opaque
   pointer to it. This pointer is the first argument to all subsequent
   GMT API function calls within the session.

#. For each intended call to a GMT module, several steps are involved:

   a. Register input sources and output destination with GMT_Register_IO_.

   b. Each resource registration generates a unique ID number. For
      memory resources, we embed these numbers in unique filenames of
      the form "@GMTAPI@-######" with GMT_Encode_ID_. When GMT i/o library
      functions encounter such filenames they extract the ID and make a
      connection to the corresponding resource. Multiple table data or text
      sources are combined into a single virtual source for GMT modules to
      operate on. In contrast, CPT, Grid, and Image resources are
      operated on individually.

   c. Enable data import once all registrations are complete
      (:ref:`Resources init <sec-res_init>`).

   d. Read data into memory. You may choose to read everything at once
      or read record-by-record.

   e. Prepare required arguments and call the GMT module you wish to use.

   f. For non-mapping modules, process any results returned to memory via
      pointers rather than written to files.

   g. Destroy the resources allocated by GMT modules to hold results,
      or let the garbage collector do this automatically at the end of
      the session.

#. Repeat steps a–f as many times as your application requires.

#. We terminate the GMT session by calling GMT_Destroy_Session_.

The steps a–d collapse into a single step if data are simply read from files.

Advanced programs may be calling more than one GMT session and thus
run several sessions, perhaps concurrently as different threads on
multi-core machines. We will now discuss these steps in more detail.
Throughout, we will introduce upper-case GMT C enum constants *in
lieu* of simple integer constants. These are considered part of the API
and are available for developers via the ``gmt_resources.h`` include file.

The C/C++ API is deliberately kept small to make it easy to use.
Next table gives a list of all the functions and their purpose.

.. _tbl-API:

+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| constant                | description                                       |
+=========================+===================================================+
| GMT_Append_Option_      | Append new option structure to linked list        |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Begin_IO_           | Enable record-by-record i/o                       |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Call_Module_        | Call any of the GMT modules                       |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Create_Args_        | Convert linked list of options to text array      |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Create_Cmd_         | Convert linked list of options to command line    |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Create_Data_        | Create an empty data resource                     |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Create_Options_     | Convert command line options to linked list       |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Create_Session_     | Initialize a new GMT session                      |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Delete_Option_      | Delete an option structure from the linked list   |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Destroy_Args_       | Delete text array of arguments                    |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Destroy_Cmd_        | Delete text command of arguments                  |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Destroy_Data_       | Delete a data resource                            |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Destroy_Options_    | Delete the linked list of option structures       |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Destroy_Session_    | Terminate a GMT session                           |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Duplicate_Data_     | Make an identical copy of a data resources        |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Encode_ID_          | Encode a resources ID as a special filename       |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_End_IO_             | Disable further record-by-record i/o              |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_FFT_                | Take the Fast Fourier Transform of data object    |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_FFT_1D_             | Take the Fast Fourier Transform of 1-D float data |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_FFT_2D_             | Take the Fast Fourier Transform of 2-D float data |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_FFT_Create_         | Initialize the FFT machinery                      |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_FFT_Destroy_        | Terminate the FFT machinery                       |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_FFT_Option_         | Explain the FFT options and modifiers             |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_FFT_Parse_          | Parse argument with FFT options and modifiers     |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_FFT_Wavenumber_     | Return wavenumber given data index                |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Find_Option_        | Find an option in the linked list                 |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Get_Common_         | Determine if a GMT common option was set          |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Get_Coord_          | Create a coordinate array                         |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Get_Data_           | Import a registered data resources                |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Get_Default_        | Obtain as string one of the GMT default settings  |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Get_ID_             | Obtain the ID of a given resource                 |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Get_Index_          | Convert row, col into a grid or image index       |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Get_Record_         | Import a single data record                       |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Get_Row_            | Import a single grid row                          |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Get_Value_          | Convert string into coordinates or dimensions     |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Init_IO_            | Initialize i/o given registered resources         |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Make_Option_        | Create an option structure                        |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Message_            | Issue a message, optionally with time stamp       |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Option_             | Explain one or more GMT common options            |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Parse_Common_       | Parse the GMT common options                      |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Put_Data_           | Export to a registered data resource given by ID  |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Put_Record_         | Export a data record                              |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Put_Row_            | Export a grid row                                 |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Read_Data_          | Import a data resource or file                    |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Register_IO_        | Register a resources for i/o                      |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Report_             | Issue a message contingent upon verbosity level   |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Retrieve_Data_      | Obtained link to data in memory via ID            |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Set_Comment_        | Assign a comment to a data resource               |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Status_IO_          | Check status of record-by-record i/o              |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Update_Option_      | Modify an option structure                        |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_Write_Data_         | Export a data resource                            |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+


The GMT C Application Program Interface
=======================================

Initialize a new GMT session
----------------------------

Most applications will need to initialize only a single GMT session.
This is true of all the standard GMT programs since they only call one
GMT module and then exit. Most user-developed GMT applications are
likely to only initialize one session even though they may call many
GMT modules. However, the GMT API supports any number of
simultaneous sessions should the programmer wish to take advantage of
it. This might be useful when you have access to several CPUs and want
to spread the computing load [5]_. In the following discussion we will
simplify our treatment to the use of a single session only.

To initiate the new session we use

.. _GMT_Create_Session:

  ::

    void *GMT_Create_Session (char *tag, unsigned int pad, unsigned int mode,
                              int (*print_func) (FILE *, const char *));

and you will typically call it thus:

  ::

    void *API = NULL;
    API = GMT_Create_Session ("Session name", 2, 0, NULL);

where :ref:`API <struct-API>` is an opaque pointer to the hidden GMT API control
structure. You will need to pass this pointer to *all* subsequent
GMT API functions; this is how essential internal information is
passed from module to module. The key task of this initialization is to
set up the GMT machinery and its internal variables used for map
projections, plotting, i/o, etc. The initialization also allocates space
for internal structures used to register resources. The ``pad`` argument
sets how many rows and columns should be used as padding for grids and
images so that boundary conditions can be applied. GMT uses 2 so we
recommend that value. The ``mode`` argument is only used for external APIs
that need to replace GMT's calls to a hard exit upon failure with a soft return. Likewise,
the ``print_func`` argument is a pointer to a function that is used to print
messages via GMT_Message_ or GMT_Report_ from APIs that cannot use the
standard printf (this is the case for the Matlab API, for instance).
All other uses should simply pass 0 and NULL for these two arguments.
Should something go wrong then ``API`` will be returned as ``NULL``.

.. _struct-API:

.. code-block:: c

   struct GMTAPI_CTRL {
       /* Master controller which holds all GMT API related information at run-time for a single session.
        * Users can run several GMT sessions concurrently; each session requires its own structure.
        * Use GMTAPI_Create_Session to initialize a new session and GMTAPI_Destroy_Session to end it. */
       uint64_t     current_rec[2];    /* Current record number >= 0 in the combined virtual dataset (in and out) */
       unsigned int n_objects;         /* Number of currently active input and output data objects */
       unsigned int unique_ID;         /* Used to create unique IDs for duration of session */
       unsigned int session_ID;        /* ID of this session */
       unsigned int unique_var_ID;     /* Used to create unique object IDs (grid,dataset, etc) for duration of session */
       unsigned int current_item[2];   /* Array number of current dataset being processed (in and out)*/
       unsigned int pad;               /* Session default for number of rows/cols padding for grids [2] */
       unsigned int mode;              /* 1 if called via external API (Matlab, Python) [0] */
       unsigned int leave_grid_scaled; /* 1 if we dont want to unpack a grid after we packed it for writing [0] */
       bool         registered[2];     /* true if at least one source/destination has been registered (in and out) */
       bool         io_enabled[2];     /* true if access has been allowed (in and out) */
       size_t       n_objects_alloc;   /* Allocation counter for data objects */
       int          error;             /* Error code from latest API call [GMT_OK] */
       int          last_error;        /* Error code from previous API call [GMT_OK] */
       int          shelf;             /* Place to pass hidden values within API */
       unsigned int io_mode[2];        /* 1 if access as set, 0 if record-by-record */
       struct       GMT_CTRL *GMT;     /* Key structure with low-level GMT internal parameters */
       struct       GMTAPI_DATA_OBJECT **object; /* List of registered data objects */
       char        *session_tag;       /* Name tag for this session (or NULL) */
       bool         internal;          /* true if session was initiated by gmt.c */
       bool         deep_debug;        /* temporary for debugging */
       int (*print_func) (FILE *, const char *); /* Pointer to fprintf function (may be reset by external APIs like MEX) */
       unsigned int do_not_exit;       /* 0 by default, meaning it is OK to call exit (otherwise call return instead) */
       struct       Gmt_libinfo *lib;  /* List of shared libs to consider */
       unsigned int n_shared_libs;     /* How many in lib */
   };

.. code-block:: c

   struct GMTAPI_DATA_OBJECT {
       /* Information for each input or output data entity, including information
        * needed while reading/writing from a table (file or array) */
       uint64_t               n_rows;            /* Number or rows in this array [GMT_DATASET and GMT_TEXTSET to/from MATRIX/VETOR only] */
       uint64_t               n_columns;         /* Number of columns to process in this dataset [GMT_DATASET only] */
       uint64_t               n_expected_fields; /* Number of expected columns for this dataset [GMT_DATASET only] */
       size_t                 n_alloc;           /* Number of items allocated so far if writing to memory */
       unsigned int           ID;                /* Unique identifier which is >= 0 */
       unsigned int           alloc_level;       /* Nested module level when object was allocated */
       unsigned int           status;            /* 0 when first registered, 1 after reading/writing has started, 2 when finished */
       bool                   selected;          /* true if requested by current module, false otherwise */
       bool                   close_file;        /* true if we opened source as a file and thus need to close it when done */
       bool                   region;            /* true if wesn was passed, false otherwise */
       bool                   no_longer_owner;   /* true if the data pointed to by the object was passed on to another object */
       bool                   messenger;         /* true for output objects passed from the outside to receive data from GMT. */
                                                    If true we destroy data pointer before writing */
       enum GMT_enum_alloc    alloc_mode;        /* GMT_ALLOCATED_{BY_GMT|EXTERNALLY} */
       enum GMT_io_enum       direction;         /* GMT_IN or GMT_OUT */
       enum GMT_enum_family   family;            /* One of GMT_IS_{DATASET|TEXTSET|CPT|IMAGE|GRID|MATRIX|VECTOR|COORD} */
       enum GMT_enum_family   actual_family;     /* May be GMT_IS_MATRIX|VECTOR when one of the others are created via those */
       unsigned               method;            /* One of GMT_IS_{FILE,STREAM,FDESC,DUPLICATE,REFERENCE} or sum with enum */
                                                    GMT_enum_via (GMT_VIA_{NONE,VECTOR,MATRIX,OUTPUT}); using unsigned type
                                                    because sum exceeds enum GMT_enum_method */
       enum GMT_enum_geometry geometry;          /* One of GMT_IS_{POINT|LINE|POLY|PLP|SURFACE|NONE} */
       double wesn[GMTAPI_N_GRID_ARGS];          /* Grid domain limits */
       void                  *resource;          /* Points to registered filename, memory location, etc., where data can be */
                                                    obtained from with GMT_Get_Data. */
       void                  *data;              /* Points to GMT object that was read from a resource */
       FILE                  *fp;                /* Pointer to source/destination stream [For rec-by-rec procession, NULL if mem location] */
       char                  *filename;          /* Filename, stream, of file handle (otherwise NULL) */
       void *(*import) (struct GMT_CTRL *, FILE *, uint64_t *, int *);  /* Pointer to input function (for DATASET/TEXTSET only) */
   #ifdef DEBUG
       struct GMT_GRID *G;
       struct GMT_DATASET *D;
       struct GMT_TEXTSET *T;
       struct GMT_PALETTE *C;
       struct GMT_MATRIX *M;
       struct GMT_VECTOR *V;
   #endif
   #ifdef HAVE_GDAL
       struct GMT_IMAGE *I;
   #endif
   };

Register input or output resources
----------------------------------

When using the standard GMT programs, you specify input files on the
command line or via special program options (e.g.,
**-I**\ *intensity.nc*). The output of the programs are either written
to standard output (which you redirect to files or pipe to other
programs) or to files specified by specific program options (e.g.,
**-G**\ *output.nc*). Alternatively, the GMT API allows you to specify
input (and output) to be associated with open file handles or program
variables. We will examine this more closely below. Registering a
resource is a required step before attempting to import or export data
that *do not* come from files or standard input/output.

Resource registration
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Registration involves a direct or indirect call to

.. _GMT_Register_IO:

  ::

    int GMT_Register_IO (void *API, unsigned int family, unsigned int method,
                         unsigned int geometry, unsigned int direction, 
                         double wesn[], void *ptr);

where :ref:`family <tbl-family>` specifies what kind of resource is to be registered,
:ref:`method <tbl-methods>` specifies
how we to access this resource (see Table :ref:`methods <tbl-methods>` for recognized
methods), :ref:`geometry <tbl-geometry>` specifies the geometry of the data, ``ptr`` is the address of the
pointer to the named resource. If ``direction`` is ``GMT_OUT`` and the
``method`` is not related to a file (filename, stream, or handle), then
``ptr`` must be NULL. After the GMT module has written the data you
can use GMT_Retrieve_Data_ to assign a pointer to the memory location
(variable) where the output was allocated. For grid (and image)
resources you may request to obtain a subset via the :ref:`wesn <tbl-wesn>` array; otherwise, pass NULL
(or an array with at least 4 items all set to 0) to obtain the
entire grid (or image). The ``direction`` indicates input or output and
is either ``GMT_IN`` or ``GMT_OUT``. Finally, the function returns a
unique resource ID, or ``GMT_NOTSET`` if there was an error.

Object ID encoding
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To use registered resources as program input or output arguments you
must pass them via a text string that acts as a special file name
(Chapter :ref:`Overview <chapter-overview>`). The proper filename formatting is guaranteed by
using the function

.. _GMT_Encode_ID:

  ::

    int GMT_Encode_ID (void *API, char *filename, int ID);

which accepts the unique ``ID`` and writes the corresponding
``filename``. The variable ``filename`` must have enough space to hold
16 bytes. The function returns 1 if there is an error; otherwise
it returns 0.


.. _tbl-family:

+------------------+--------------------------------+
| family           | source points to               |
+==================+================================+
| GMT_IS_DATASET   | A [multi-segment] table file   |
+------------------+--------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_TEXTSET   | A [multi-segment] text file    |
+------------------+--------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_GRID      | A GMT grid file                |
+------------------+--------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_CPT       | A CPT file                     |
+------------------+--------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_IMAGE     | A GMT image                    |
+------------------+--------------------------------+


.. _tbl-methods:

+-------------------------------+-------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| method                        | value | how to read/write data                                       | 
+===============================+=======+==============================================================+
| GMT_IS_FILE                   | 0     | Pointer to name of a file                                    |
+-------------------------------+-------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_STREAM                 | 1     | Pointer to open stream (or process)                          |
+-------------------------------+-------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_FDESC                  | 2     | Pointer to integer file descriptor                           |
+-------------------------------+-------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_DUPLICATE              | 3     | Pointer to memory we may *duplicate* data from               |
+-------------------------------+-------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_REFERENCE              | 4     | Pointer to memory we may *reference* data from               |
+-------------------------------+-------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_DUPLICATE_VIA_VECTOR   | 103   | Pointer to memory we may *duplicate* data from via vectors   |
+-------------------------------+-------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_REFERENCE_VIA_VECTOR   | 104   | Pointer to memory we may *reference* data from via vectors   |
+-------------------------------+-------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_DUPLICATE_VIA_MATRIX   | 203   | Pointer to memory we may *duplicate* data from via a matrix  |
+-------------------------------+-------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_REFERENCE_VIA_MATRIX   | 204   | Pointer to memory we may *reference* data from via a matrix  |
+-------------------------------+-------+--------------------------------------------------------------+



.. _tbl-via:

+------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| approach         | how method is modified                                       |
+==================+==============================================================+
| GMT_VIA_VECTOR   | User's data columns are accessed via a GMT_VECTOR structure  |
+------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_VIA_MATRIX   | User's matrix is accessed via a GMT_MATRIX structure         |
+------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------+



.. _tbl-geometry:

+------------------+-------------------------------------------+
| geometry         |  description                              |
+==================+===========================================+
| GMT_IS_TEXT      | Not a geographic item                     |
+------------------+-------------------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_POINT     | Multi-dimensional point data              |
+------------------+-------------------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_LINE      | Geographic or Cartesian line segments     |
+------------------+-------------------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_POLYGON   | Geographic or Cartesian closed polygons   |
+------------------+-------------------------------------------+
| GMT_IS_SURFACE   | 2-D gridded surface                       |
+------------------+-------------------------------------------+


.. _tbl-wesn:

+---------+-------------------------------------------------+
| index   |   description                                   |
+=========+=================================================+
| GMT_XLO |  x_min (west) boundary of grid subset           |
+---------+-------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_XHI |  x_max (east) boundary of grid subset           |
+---------+-------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_YLO |  y_min (south) boundary of grid subset          |
+---------+-------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_YHI |  y_max (north) boundary of grid subset          |
+---------+-------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_ZLO |  z_min (bottom) boundary of 3-D matrix subset   |
+---------+-------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_ZHI |  z_max (top) boundary of 3-D matrix subset      |
+---------+-------------------------------------------------+

.. _sec-res_init:

Resource initialization
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All GMT programs dealing with input or output files given on the
command line, and perhaps defaulting to the standard input or output
streams if no files are given, must call the i/o initializer function
GMT_Init_IO_ once for each direction required (i.e., input and output
separately). For input it determines how many input sources have already
been registered. If none has been registered then it scans the program
arguments for any filenames given on the command line and register these
input resources. Finally, if we still have found no input sources we
assign the standard input stream as the single input source. For output
it is similar: If no single destination has been registered we specify
the standard output stream as the output destination. Only one main
output destination is allowed to be active when a module writes data
(some modules also write additional output via program-specific
options). The prototype for this function is

.. _GMT_Init_IO:

  ::

    int GMT_Init_IO (void *API, unsigned int family, unsigned int geometry,
                     unsigned int direction, unsigned int mode,
                     unsigned int n_args, void *args);

where :ref:`family <tbl-family>` specifies what kind of resource is to be registered,
:ref:`geometry <tbl-geometry>` specifies the geometry of the data, ``direction`` is either
``GMT_IN`` or ``GMT_OUT``, and ``mode`` is a bit flag that determines
what we do if no resources have been registered. The choices are

    **GMT_ADD_FILES_IF_NONE** (1) means "add command line (option)
    files if none have been registered already"

    **GMT_ADD_FILES_ALWAYS** (2) means "always add any command line files"

    **GMT_ADD_STDIO_IF_NONE** (4) means "add std\* if no other
    input/output have been specified"

    **GMT_ADD_STDIO_ALWAYS** (8) means "always add std\* even if
    resources have been registered".

    **GMT_ADD_EXISTING** (16) means "only use already registered resources".

The standard behavior is ``GMT_REG_DEFAULT`` (5). Next, ``n_args`` is 0
if ``args`` is the head of a linked list of options (further discussed
in :ref:`Prepare modules opts <sec-func>`); otherwise ``args`` is an array of ``n_args``
strings (i.e., the int argc, char \*argv[] model)

Many programs will register an export location where results of a
GMT function (say, a filtered grid) should be returned, but may then
wish to use that variable as an *input* resource in a subsequent module
call. This is accomplished by re-registering the resource as an *input*
source, thereby changing the *direction* of the data set. The function
returns 1 if there is an error; otherwise it returns 0.

Dimension parameters for user 1-D column vectors
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We refer to Table :ref:`vector <struct-vector>`. The ``type`` array must hold the data
type of each data column in the user's program. All types other than
GMT_DOUBLE will be converted internally in GMT to ``double``, thus
possibly increasing memory requirements. If the type is ``GMT_DOUBLE`` then
GMT will be able to use the column directly by reference. The
``n_columns`` and ``n_rows`` parameters indicate the number of vectors
and their common length. For output these may not yet be known so you should
pass 0 for these values.

Dimension parameters for user 2-D table arrays
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We refer to Table :ref:`matrix <struct-matrix>`. The ``type`` parameter specifies the
data type used for the array in the user's program. All types other than
GMT_FLOAT will be converted internally in GMT to ``float``, thus
possibly increasing memory requirements. If the type is ``GMT_FLOAT`` then
GMT may be able to use the matrix directly by reference. The
``n_rows`` and ``n_columns`` parameters indicate the dimensions of the
matrix. If these are not yet known you may pass 0 for these values and
set ``alloc_mode`` to ``GMT_ALLOCATED_BY_GMT``; this will make sure GMT will
allocate the necessary memory at the location you specify. Fortran users
will instead have to specify a size large enough to hold the anticipated
output data. The ``registration`` and ``range`` gives the grid
registration and domain. Finally, use ``dim`` to indicate if the memory
matrix has a dimension that exceeds that of the leading row (or column)
dimension. Note: For ``GMT_IS_TEXTSET`` the user matrix is expected to be
a 2-D character array with a fixed row length of ``dim`` but we only
consider the first ``n_columns`` characters. For data grids you will
also need to specify the ``registration`` (see the GMT Cookbook and
Reference, :ref:`App-file-formats` for description of the two forms of registration)
and data domain ``range``.

.. _sec-create:

Create empty resources
----------------------

If your application needs to build and populate GMT resources in ways
that do not depend on external resources (files, memory locations,
etc.), then you can obtain a "blank slate" by calling

.. _GMT_Create_Data:

  ::

    void *GMT_Create_Data (void *API, unsigned int family, unsigned int geometry,
                           unsigned int mode, uint64_t par[], double *wesn, 
                           double *inc, unsigned int registration, int pad, void *data)

which returns a pointer to the allocated resource. Pass :ref:`family <tbl-family>` as
one of ``GMT_IS_GRID``, ``GMT_IS_IMAGE``, ``GMT_IS_DATASET``,
``GMT_IS_TEXTSET``, or ``GMT_IS_CPT``, or via the modifiers ``GMT_IS_VECTOR``
or ``GMT_IS_MATRIX`` when handling user data. Also pass a compatible
:ref:`geometry <tbl-geometry>`. Depending on the family and your particular way of
representing dimensions you may pass the additional parameters in one of
two ways:

#. Actual integer dimensions of items needed.

#. Physical distances and increments of each dimension.

For the first case pass ``wesn``, ``inc`` as NULL (or arrays with elements all set to 0),
and pass the ``par`` array as indicated below:

  **GMT_IS_GRID**
    An empty :ref:`GMT_GRID <struct-grid>` structure with a header is allocated; the data
    array is NULL. The ``par`` argument is not used. Here ``wesn`` and ``inc`` can
    be NULL but than **-R** and **-I** must have been set because they are inquired to
    get the necessary info. If they were not set, than ``wesn`` and ``inc`` must in
    fact be transmitted.

  **GMT_IS_IMAGE**
    Same as **GMT_IS_GRID** above but return an empty :ref:`GMT_IMAGE <struct-image>`

  **GMT_IS_DATASET**
    An empty :ref:`GMT_DATASET <struct-dataset>` structure consisting of ``par[0]`` tables,
    each with ``par[1]`` segments, each with ``par[2]`` rows, all
    with ``par[3]`` columns, is allocated.
    The ``wesn``, ``inc``, and ``registration`` argument are ignored.  The ``data`` argument should be NULL.

  **GMT_IS_TEXTSET**
    An empty :ref:`GMT_TEXTSET <struct-textset>` structure consisting of ``par[0]`` tables,
    each with ``par[1]`` segments, all with ``par[2]`` text records (rows), is allocated.
    The ``wesn``, ``inc``, and ``registration`` argument are ignored.  The ``data`` argument should be NULL.

  **GMT_IS_CPT**
    An empty :ref:`GMT_PALETTE <struct-palette>` structure with ``par[0]`` palette entries is allocated.
    The ``wesn``, ``inc``, and ``registration`` argument are ignored.  The ``data`` argument should be NULL.

  **GMT_IS_VECTOR**
    An empty :ref:`GMT_VECTOR <struct-vector>` structure with ``par[0]`` column entries is allocated.
    The ``wesn``, ``inc``, and ``registration`` argument are ignored.  The ``data`` argument should be NULL.

  **GMT_IS_MATRIX**
    An empty :ref:`GMT_MATRIX <struct-matrix>` structure is allocated. ``par[2]`` indicates
    the number of layers for a 3-D matrix, or pass 0, 1, or NULL for a 2-D matrix.  Here,
    par[0] is the number of columns while par[1] has the number of rows.  The ``data`` argument should be NULL.

For the second approach, you
instead pass ``wesn``, ``inc``, and ``registration`` and leave ``par`` as NULL
(or with all elements equal 0).
For grids and images you may pass ``pad`` to set the padding, or -1 to
accept the GMT default. The ``mode`` determines what is actually
allocated when you have chosen grids or images. As for GMT_Read_Data_
you can pass ``GMT_GRID_ALL`` to initialize the header and allocate
space for the array; here ``data`` must be NULL. Alternatively, you can pass
``GMT_GRID_HEADER_ONLY`` to just initialize the grid or image header,
and call a second time, passing ``GMT_GRID_DATA_ONLY``, to allocate
space for the array. In that second call you pass the pointer returned
by the first call as ``data`` and specify the family; all other
arguments should be NULL or 0. Normally, resources created by this
function are considered to be input (i.e., have a direction that is ``GMT_IN``).
The exception to this is for vectors and matrices which will have a direction
set to ``GMT_OUT`` when the dimensions specified are not complete (i.e., the
row dimension of vectors is 0 and both dimensions are zero for matrices).
The function returns a pointer to the
data container. In case of an error we return a NULL pointer and pass an
error code via ``API->error``.

Duplicate resources
-------------------

Often you have read or created a data resource and then need an
identical copy, presumably to make modifications to. Or, you want a copy
with the same dimensions and allocated memory, except data values should
not be duplicated. Alternatively, perhaps you just want to duplicate the
header and skip the allocation and duplication of the data. These tasks
are addressed by

.. _GMT_Duplicate_Data:

  ::

    void *GMT_Duplicate_Data (void *API, unsigned int family,
                              unsigned int mode, void *data);

which returns a pointer to the allocated resource. Specify which
:ref:`family <tbl-family>` and select ``mode`` from ``GMT_DUPLICATE_DATA``,
``GMT_DUPLICATE_ALLOC``, and ``GMT_DUPLICATE_NONE``, as discussed above
(also see ``mode`` discussion above). For datasets and textsets you can
add modifiers ``GMT_ALLOC_VERTICAL`` or ``GMT_ALLOC_HORIZONTAL`` if you
wish to put all data in a single long table or to paste all tables
side-by-side, respectively (thus getting one wide table instead).
Additional note for datasets: Normally we allocate the output given the
corresponding input dimensions. You can override these by specifying your
alternative dimensions in the input dataset variable dim[].
The ``data`` is a pointer to the resource you wish to duplicate. In case
of an error we return a NULL pointer and pass an error code via
``API->error``.

Get resource ID
---------------

Resources created by these two methods can be used as in various ways.
Sometimes you want to pass them as input to other modules, in which
case you need to registration ID of that resource. This task
are performed by

.. _GMT_Get_ID:

  ::

    void *GMT_Get_ID (void *API, unsigned int family,
                      unsigned int direction, void *data);

which returns the ID number of the allocated resource. Specify which
:ref:`family <tbl-family>` and select ``direction`` from ``GMT_IN`` or ``GMT_OUT``.
The ``data`` is a pointer to the resource you whose ID you need. In case
of an error we return ``GMT_NOTSET`` and pass an error code via
``API->error``.

Import Data
-----------

If your main program needs to read any of the five recognized data types
(CPT files, data tables, text tables, GMT grids, or images) you will
use the GMT_Get_Data_ or GMT_Read_Data_ functions, which both
return entire data sets. In the case of data and text tables you may
also select record-by-record reading using the GMT_Get_Record_
function. As a general rule, your program development simplifies if you
can read entire resources into memory with GMT_Get_Data_ or
GMT_Read_Data_.  However, if this leads to unacceptable memory usage
or if the program logic is particularly simple, you may obtain one data
record at the time via GMT_Get_Record_.

All input functions takes a parameter called ``mode``. The ``mode``
parameter generally has different meanings for the different data types
and will be discussed below. However, one bit setting is common to all
types: By default, you are only allowed to read a data source once; the
source is then flagged as having been read and subsequent attempts to
read from the same source will result in a warning and no reading takes
place. In the unlikely event you need to re-read a source you can
override this default behavior by adding ``GMT_IO_RESET`` to your ``mode``
parameter. Note that this override does not apply to sources that are
streams or file handles, as it may not be possible to re-read their
contents.

Enable Data Import
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once all input resources have been registered, we signal the API that we
are done with the registration phase and are ready to start the actual
data import. This step is only required when reading one record at the
time. We initialize record-by-record reading by calling
GMT_Begin_IO_ This function enables dataset and textset
record-by-record reading and prepares the registered sources for the
upcoming import. The prototype is

.. _GMT_Begin_IO:

  ::

    int GMT_Begin_IO (void *API, unsigned int family, unsigned int direction,
                      unsigned int mode, unsigned int header);

where :ref:`family <tbl-family>` specifies the resource type to be read or written
(only ``GMT_IS_DATASET`` and ``GMT_IS_TEXTSET`` are
available for record-by-record handling). The ``direction`` is either
``GMT_IN`` or ``GMT_OUT``, so for import we obviously use ``GMT_IN``. The
function determines the first input source and sets up procedures for
skipping to the next input source in a virtual data set. The
GMT_Get_Record_ function will not be able to read any data before
GMT_Begin_IO_ has been called. As you might guess, there is a
companion GMT_End_IO_ function that completes, then disables
record-by-record data access. You can use these several times to switch
modes between registering data resources, doing the importing/exporting,
and disabling further data access, perhaps to do more registration. We
will discuss GMT_End_IO_ once we are done with the data import. The
``mode`` option is used to allow output to write table header
information (``GMT_HEADER_ON``) or not (``GMT_HEADER_OFF``). This is
usually on unless you are writing messages and other non-data. The final
``header`` argument determines if the common header-block should be
written during initialization; choose between ``GMT_HEADER_ON`` and
``GMT_HEADER_OFF``. The function returns 1 if there is an
error; otherwise it returns 0.

Import a data set
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If your program needs to import any of the five recognized data types
(CPT table, data table, text table, GMT grid, or image) you will use
either the GMT_Read_Data_ or GMT_Get_Data_ functions. The former
is typically used when reading from files, streams (e.g., ``stdin``), or
an open file handle, while the latter is only used with a registered
resource via its unique ID. Because of the similarities of these five
import functions we use an generic form that covers all of them.

Import from a file, stream, or handle
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

To read an entire resource from a file, stream, or file handle, use

.. _GMT_Read_Data:

  ::

    void *GMT_Read_Data (void *API, unsigned int family, unsigned int method,
                         unsigned int geometry, unsigned int mode, double wesn[],
                         char *input, void *ptr);

* :ref:`API <GMT_Create_Session>`
* :ref:`family <tbl-family>`
* :ref:`method <tbl-methods>`
* :ref:`geometry <tbl-geometry>`
* mode -- *see below*
* :ref:`wesn <tbl-wesn>`
* input -- a pointer to char holding the file name to read.
* ptr -- NULL or the pointer returned by this function after a first call (when reading grids in two steps)
* Return: Pointer to data container, or NULL if there were errors (passed back via API->error)


where ``ptr`` is NULL except when reading grids in two steps (i.e.,
first get a grid structure with a header, then read the data). Most of
these arguments have been discussed earlier. This function can be called
in three different situations:

#. If you have a single source (filename, stream pointer, etc.) you can
   call GMT_Read_Data_ directly; there is no need to first register
   the source with GMT_Register_IO_ or gather the sources with
   GMT_Init_IO_. However, if you did register a single source you can
   still pass it via an encoded filename (see GMT_Encode_ID_) or you
   can instead use GMT_Get_Data_ using the integer ID directly (see
   next section).

#. If you want to specify ``stdin`` as source then use ``input`` as NULL.

#. If you already registered all desired sources with GMT_Init_IO_
   then you indicate this by passing ``geometry`` = 0.

Space will be allocated to hold the results, if needed, and a pointer to
the object is returned. If there are errors we simply return NULL and
report the error. The ``mode`` parameter has different meanings for
different data types.

**CPT table**
    ``mode`` contains bit-flags that control how the CPT file's back-,
    fore-, and NaN-colors should be initialized. Select 0 to use the CPT
    file's back-, fore-, and NaN-colors, 2 to replace these with the
    GMT default values, or 4 to replace them with the color table's
    entries for highest and lowest value.

**Data table**
    ``mode`` is currently not used.

**Text table**
    ``mode`` is currently not used.

**GMT grid**
    Here, ``mode`` determines how we read the grid: To read the entire
    grid and its header, pass ``GMT_GRID_ALL``. However, if you need to
    extract a sub-region you must first read the header by passing
    ``GMT_GRID_HEADER_ONLY``, then examine the header structure range
    attributes and to specify a subset via the array ``wesn``, and
    finally call GMT_Read_Data_ a second time, now with ``mode`` =
    ``GMT_GRID_DATA_ONLY`` and passing your ``wesn`` array and the grid
    structure returned from the first call as ``ptr``. In the event your
    data array should be allocated to hold both the real and imaginary
    parts of a complex data set you must add either
    ``GMT_GRID_IS_COMPLEX_REAL`` or ``GMT_GRID_IS_COMPLEX_IMAG`` to
    ``mode`` so as to allow for the extra memory needed and to stride
    the input values correctly. If your grid is huge and you must read
    it row-by-row, set ``mode`` to ``GMT_GRID_HEADER_ONLY`` \|
    ``GMT_GRID_ROW_BY_ROW``. You can then access the grid row-by-row
    using GMT_Get_Row_ By default the rows will be automatically
    processed in order. To completely specify which row to be read, use
    ``GMT_GRID_ROW_BY_ROW_MANUAL`` instead.

Import from a memory location
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

If you are importing via variables or prefer to first register the
source, then you should use GMT_Get_Data_ instead. This function
requires fewer arguments since you simply pass the unique ID number of
the resource. The function is described as follows:

.. _GMT_Get_Data:

  ::

    void *GMT_Get_Data (void *API, int ID, unsigned int mode, void *ptr);

The ``ID`` is the unique object ID you received when registering the
resource, ``mode`` controls some aspects of the import (see
GMT_Read_Data_ above), while ``ptr`` is NULL except when reading
grids in two steps (i.e., first get a grid structure with a header, then
read the data). Other arguments have been discussed earlier. Space will
be allocated to hold the results, if needed, and a pointer to the object
is returned. If there are errors we simply return NULL and report the error.

Retrieve an allocated result
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Finally, if you need to access the result that a GMT module wrote to a
memory location, then you must register an output destination with
GMT_Register_IO_ first (passing ``ptr`` == NULL). The GMT module will
then allocate space to hold the output and let the API know where this
memory resides. You can then use GMT_Retrieve_Data_ to get a pointer
to the container where the data set was stored. This function requires
fewer arguments since you simply pass the unique ID number of the
resource. The function is described as follows:

.. _GMT_Retrieve_Data:

  ::

    void *GMT_Retrieve_Data (void *API, int ID);

The ``ID`` is the unique object ID you received when registering the
NULL resource earlier, Since this container has already been created, a
pointer to the object is returned. If there are errors we simply return
NULL and report the error.

Importing a data record
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If your program will read data table records one-by-one you must first
enable this input mechanism with GMT_Begin_IO_ and then read the
records in a loop using

.. _GMT_Get_Record:

  ::

    void *GMT_Get_Record (void *API, unsigned int mode, int *nfields);

where the returned value is either a pointer to a double array with the
current row values or to a character string with the current row,
depending on ``mode``. In either case these pointers point to memory
internal to GMT and should be considered read-only. When we reach
end-of-file, encounter conversion problems, read header comments, or
identify segment headers we return a NULL pointer. The ``nfields``
pointer will return the number of fields returned; pass NULL if your
program should ignore this information.

Normally (``mode`` == ``GMT_READ_DOUBLE``), we return a pointer to
the double array. To read text records, supply instead ``mode`` ==
``GMT_READ_TEXT`` and we instead return a pointer to the text
record. However, if you have input records that mixes organized
floating-point columns with text items you could pass ``mode`` ==
``GMT_READ_MIXED``. Then, GMT will attempt to extract the
floating-point values; you can still access the record string, as
discussed below. Finally, if your application needs to be notified when
GMT closes one file and opens the next, add ``GMT_FILE_BREAK`` to
``mode`` and check for the status code ``GMT_IO_NEXT_FILE`` (by default,
we treat the concatenation of many input files as a single virtual
file). Using GMT_Get_Record_ requires you to first initialize the
source(s) with GMT_Init_IO_. For certain records, GMT_Get_Record_
will return NULL and sets status codes that your program will need to
examine to take appropriate response. Table [tbl:iostatus] list the
various status codes you can check for, using ``GMT_Status_IO`` (see
next section).

Examining record status
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Programs that read record-by-record must be aware of what the current
record represents. Given the presence of headers, data gaps, NaN-record,
etc., the developer will want to check the status after reading the next
record. The internal i/o status mode can be interrogated with the function

.. _GMT_Status_IO:

  ::

    int GMT_Status_IO (void *API, unsigned int mode);

which returns 0 (false) or 1 (true) if the current status is reflected
by the specified ``mode``. There are 11 different modes available to
programmers; for a list see Table :ref:`IO-status <tbl-iostatus>` For an example of how
these may be used, see the test program ``testgmtio.c``. Developers who plan to import
data on a record-by-record basis may also consult the source code of,
say, ``blockmean.c`` or ``pstext.c``, to see examples of working code.

.. _tbl-iostatus:

+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| mode                        | description and return value                             |
+=============================+==========================================================+
|   GMT_IO_DATA_RECORD        | 1 if we read a data record                               |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
|   GMT_IO_TABLE_HEADER       | 1 if we read a table header                              |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
|   GMT_IO_SEGMENT_HEADER     | 1 if we read a segment header                            |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
|   GMT_IO_ANY_HEADER         | 1 if we read either header record                        |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
|   GMT_IO_MISMATCH           | 1 if we read incorrect number of columns                 |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
|   GMT_IO_EOF                | 1 if we reached the end of the file (EOF)                |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
|   GMT_IO_NAN                | 1 if we only read NaNs                                   |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
|   GMT_IO_GAP                | 1 if this record implies a data gap                      |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
|   GMT_IO_NEW_SEGMENT        | 1 if we enter a new segment                              |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
|   GMT_IO_LINE_BREAK         | 1 if we encountered a segment header, EOF, NaNs or gap   |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
|   GMT_IO_NEXT_FILE          | 1 if we finished one file but not the last               |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+


Importing a grid row
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If your program must read a grid file row-by-row you must first enable
row-by-row reading with :ref:`GMT_Read_Data <GMT_Read_Data>` and then use the
``GMT_Get_Row`` function in a loop; the prototype is

.. _GMT_Get_Row:

  ::

    int GMT_Get_Row (void *API, int row_no, struct GMT_GRID *G, float *row);

where ``row`` is a pointer to a single-precision array to receive the
current row, ``G`` is the grid in question, and ``row_no`` is the number
of the current row to be read. Note this value is only considered if the
row-by-row mode was initialized with ``GMT_GRID_ROW_BY_ROW_MANUAL``.
The user must allocate enough space to hold the entire row in memory.

Disable Data Import
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once the record-by-record input processing has completed we disable
further input to prevent accidental reading from occurring (due to poor
program structure, bugs, etc.). We do so by calling ``GMT_End_IO``. This
function disables further record-by-record data import; its prototype is

.. _GMT_End_IO:

  ::

    int GMT_End_IO (void *API, unsigned int direction, unsigned int mode);

and we specify ``direction`` = ``GMT_IN``. At the moment, ``mode`` is not
used. This call will also reallocate any arrays obtained into their
proper lengths. The function returns 1 if there is an error
(which is passed back with ``API->error``), otherwise it returns 0.

.. _sec-manipulate:

Manipulate data
---------------

Once you have created and allocated empty resources, or read in
resources from the outside, you will wish to manipulate their contents.
This section discusses how to set up loops and access the important
variables for the various data families. For grids and images it may
be required to know what the coordinates are at each node point. This
can be obtained via arrays of coordinates for each dimension, obtained by

.. _GMT_Get_Coord:

  ::

    double *GMT_Get_Coord (void *API, unsigned int family, unsigned int dim, void *data);

where :ref:`family <tbl-family>` must be ``GMT_IS_GRID`` or ``GMT_IS_DATASET``, ``dim`` is either
``GMT_IS_X`` or ``GMT_IS_Y``, and ``data`` is the grid or image pointer.  This
function will be used below in our example on grid manipulation.

Another aspect of dealing with grids and images is to convert a row and column
2-D reference to our 1-D array index.  Because of grid and image boundary padding
the relationship is not straightforward, hence we supply

.. _GMT_Get_Index:

  ::

    int64_t GMT_Get_Index (struct GMT_GRID_HEADER *header, int row, int col);

where the ``header`` is the header of either a grid or image, and ``row`` and
``col`` is the 2-D position in the grid or image.  We return the 1-D array
position; again this function is used below in our example.


Manipulate grids
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most applications wishing to manipulate grids will want to loop over all
the nodes, typically in a manner organized by rows and columns. In doing
so, the coordinates at each node may also be required for a calculation.
Below is a snippet of code that shows how to do visit all nodes in a
grid and assign each node the product x \* y:

  ::

    int row, col, node;
    double *x_coord = NULL, *y_coord = NULL;
    < ... create a grid G or read one ... >
    x_coord = GMT_Get_Coord (API, GMT_IS_GRID, GMT_X, G);
    y_coord = GMT_Get_Coord (API, GMT_IS_GRID, GMT_Y, G);
    for (row = 0; row < G->header->ny) {
        for (col = 0; col < G->header->nx; col++) {
            node = GMT_Get_Index (G->header, row, col);
            G->data[node] = x_coord[col] * y_coord[row];
        }
    }

Note the use of :ref:`GMT_Get_Index <GMT_Get_Index>` to get the grid node number associated
with the ``row`` and ``col`` we are visiting. Because GMT grids have
padding (for boundary conditions) the relationship between rows,
columns, and node indices is more complicated and hence we hide that
complexity in :ref:`GMT_Get_Index <GMT_Get_Index>`. Note that for trivial procedures such
setting all grid nodes to a constant (e.g., -9999.0) where the row and
column does not enter you can instead do a single loop:

  ::

    int node;
    < ... create a grid G or read one ... >
    for (node = 0; node < G->header->size) G->data[node] = -9999.0;

Note we must use ``G->header->size`` (size of allocated array) and not
``G->header->nm`` (number of nodes in grid) since the latter is smaller
due to the padding and a single loop like the above treats the pad as
part of the "inside" grid.

Manipulate data tables
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another common application is to process the records in a data table.
Because GMT consider the ``GMT_DATASET`` resources to contain one or more
tables, each of which may contain one or more segments, all of which may
contain one or more columns, you will need to have multiple loops to
visit all entries. The following code snippet will visit all data
records and add 1 to all columns beyond the first two (x and y):

  ::

    uint64_t tbl, seg, row, col;
    struct GMT_DATATABLE *T = NULL;
    struct GMT_DATASEGMENT *S = NULL;

    < ... create a dataset D or read one ... >
    for (tbl = 0; tbl < D->n_tables; tbl++) {       /* For each table */
      T = D->table[tbl];       /* Convenient shorthand for current table */
      for (seg = 0; seg < T->n_segments; seg++) {   /* For all segments */
        S = T->segment[seg];   /* Convenient shorthand for current segment */
        for (row = 0; row < S->n_rows; row++) {
          for (col = 2; col < T->n_columns; col++) {
            S->coord[col][row] += 1.0;
          }
        }
      }
    }

Manipulate text tables
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When data file contain text mixed in with numbers you must open the file
as a ``GMT_TEXTSET`` and do your own parsing of the data records. The
following code snippet will visit all text records and print them out:

  ::

    uint64_t tbl, seg, row, col;
    struct GMT_TEXTTABLE *T = NULL;
    struct GMT_TEXTSEGMENT *S = NULL;

    < ... create a textset D or read one ... >
    for (tbl = 0; tbl < D->n_tables; tbl++) {   /* For each table */
      T = D->table[tbl];        /* Convenient shorthand for current table */
      for (seg = 0; seg < T->n_segments; seg++) {   /* For all segments */
        S = T->segment[seg];    /* Convenient shorthand for current segment */
        for (row = 0; row < S->n_rows; row++) {
          printf ("T=%d S=%d R=%d : %s\n", tbl, seg, row, S->record[row]);
        }
      }
    }

Message and Verbose Reporting
-----------------------------

The API provides two functions for your program to present information
to the user during the run of the program. One is used for messages that
are always written while the other is used for reports that must exceed
the verbosity settings specified via **-V**.

.. _GMT_Report:

  ::

    int GMT_Report (void *API, unsigned int level, char *message, ...);

This function takes a verbosity level and a multi-part message (e.g., a
format statement and zero or more variables). The verbosity ``level`` is
an integer in the 0–5 range; these are listed in Table [tbl:verbosity].
You assign an appropriate verbosity level to your message, and depending
on the chosen run-time verbosity level set via **-V** your message may
or may not be reported. Only messages whose stated verbosity level is
lower or equal to the **-V**\ *level* will be printed.


.. _tbl-verbosity:

+-------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+
| constant                | description                                      |
+=========================+==================================================+
| GMT_MSG_QUIET           | No messages whatsoever                           |
+-------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_MSG_NORMAL          | Default output, e.g., warnings and errors only   |
+-------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_MSG_COMPAT          | Compatibility warnings                           |
+-------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_MSG_VERBOSE         | Verbose level                                    |
+-------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_MSG_LONG_VERBOSE    | Longer verbose                                   |
+-------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_MSG_DEBUG           | Debug messages for developers mostly             |
+-------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+


.. _GMT_Message:

  ::

    int GMT_Message (void *API, unsigned int mode, char *format, ...);

This function always prints its message to the standard output. Use the
``mode`` value to control if a time stamp should preface the message.
and if selected how the time information should be formatted. See
Table :ref:`timemodes <tbl-timemodes>` for the various modes.


.. _tbl-timemodes:

+--------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| constant           | description                             |
+====================+=========================================+
| GMT_TIME_NONE      | Display no time information             |
+--------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| GMT_TIME_CLOCK     | Display current local time              |
+--------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| GMT_TIME_ELAPSED   | Display elapsed time since last reset   |
+--------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| GMT_TIME_RESET     | Reset the elapsed time to 0             |
+--------------------+-----------------------------------------+

.. _sec-parsopt:

Presenting and accessing GMT options
------------------------------------

As you develop a program you may need to rely on some of
the GMT common options. For instance, you may wish to have your
program present the ``-R`` option to the user, let GMT handle the
parsing, and examine the values. You may also wish to encode your own
custom options that may require you to parse user text into the
corresponding floating point dimensions, constants, coordinates, time, etc.
The API provides several functions to simplify these tedious parsing
tasks. This section is intended to show how the programmer will obtain
information from the user that is necessary to do the task at hand
(e.g., special options to provide values and settings for the program).
In the following section we will concern ourselves with preparing
arguments for calling any of the GMT modules.

Display usage syntax for GMT common options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can have your program menu display the standard usage message for a
GMT common option by calling the function

.. _GMT_Option:

  ::

    int GMT_Option (void *API, char *options);

where ``options`` is a comma-separated list of GMT common options
(e.g., "R,J,O,X"). You can repeat this function with different sets of
options in order to intersperse your own custom options with in an
overall alphabetical order; see any GMT module for examples of typical
layouts.

Parsing the GMT common options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The parsing of all GMT common option is done by

.. _GMT_Parse_Common:

  ::

    int GMT_Parse_Common (void *API, char *args, struct GMT_OPTION *list);

where ``args`` is a string of the common GMT options your program may
use. An error will be reported if any of the common GMT options fail
to parse, and if so we return TRUE; if not errors we return FALSE. All
other options, including file names, will be silently ignored. The
parsing will update the internal GMT information structure that
affects program operations.

Inquiring about the GMT common options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The API provide only a limited window into the full GMT machinery
accessible to the modules. You can determine if a particular common
option has been parsed and in some cases determine the values that was set with

.. _GMT_Get_Common:

  ::

    int GMT_Get_Common (void *API, unsigned int option, double *par);

where ``option`` is a single option character (e.g., 'R') and ``par`` is
a double array with at least a length of 6. If the particular option has
been parsed then the function returns the number of parameters passed
back via ``par``; otherwise we return -1. For instance, to determine if
the ``-R`` was set and what the resulting region was set to you may call

  ::

    if (GMT_Get_Common (API, 'R', wesn)) != -1) {
        /* wesn now contains the boundary information */
    }

The ``wesn`` array could now be passed to the various read and create
functions for GMT resources.

Parsing text values
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your program may need to request values from the user, such as
distances, plot dimensions, coordinates, and other data. The conversion
from such text to actual distances, taking units into account, is
tedious to program. You can simplify this by using

.. _GMT_Get_Value:

  ::

    int GMT_Get_Value (void *API, char *arg, double par[]);

where ``arg`` is the text item with one or more values that are
separated by commas, spaces, tabs, semi-colons, or slashes, and ``par`` is an array long
enough to hold all the items you are parsing. The function returns the
number of items parsed, or -1 if there is an error. For instance, assume
the character string ``origin`` was given by the user as two geographic
coordinates separated by a slash (e.g., ``"35:45W/19:30:55.3S"``). We
obtain the two coordinates as decimal degrees by calling

  ::

    n = GMT_Get_Value (API, origin, pair);

Your program can now check that ``n`` equals 2 and then use the values
in ``pairs``. Note: Dimensions given with units of inches, cm, or points
are converted to the GMT default length unit (:ref:`PROJ_LENGTH_UNIT <PROJ_LENGTH_UNIT>`)
[cm], while distances given in km, nautical miles, miles, feet, or
survey feet are returned in meters. Arc lengths in minutes and seconds
are returned in decimal degrees, and date/time values are returned in
seconds since the epoch (1970).

Inquiring about a GMT default parameter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If your program needs to determine one or more of the current
GMT default settings you can do so via

.. _GMT_Get_Default:

  ::

    int GMT_Get_Default (void *API, char *keyword, char *value);

where ``keyword`` is one such keyword (e.g., :ref:`PROJ_LENGTH_UNIT <PROJ_LENGTH_UNIT>`) and
``value`` must be a character array long enough to hold the answer.
Depending on what parameter you selected you could further convert it to
a numerical value with ``GMT_Get_Value`` or just use it in a text comparison.

.. _sec-func:

Prepare module options
----------------------

One of the advantages of programming with the API is that you
have access to the high-level GMT modules. For example, if your
program must compute the distance from a point to all other points on
the node you can simply set up options and call ``GMT_grdmath`` to do it
for you and accept the result back as an input grid. All the module
interfaces are identical are looks like

.. _GMT_Call_Module:

  ::

    int GMT_Call_Module (void *API, const char *module, int mode, void *args);

Here, ``module`` can be any of the GMT modules, such as
``psxy`` or ``grdvolume``.  All GMT modules may be called with one of
three sets of ``args`` depending on ``mode``. The three modes differ in
how the options are passed to the module:

    *mode* == ``GMT_MODULE_EXIST``
        Return GMT_NOERROR (0) if module exists, GMT_NOT_A_VALID_MODULE otherwise.

    *mode* == ``GMT_MODULE_PURPOSE``
        Just prints the purpose of the module; args should be NULL.

    *mode* == ``GMT_MODULE_OPT``
        Expects ``args`` to be a pointer to a doubly-linked list of objects with individual
        options for the current program. We will see
        how API functions can help prepare such lists.

    *mode* == ``GMT_MODULE_CMD``
        Expects ``args`` to be a single text string with all required options.

    *mode > 0*
        Expects ``args`` to be an array of text options and ``mode`` to be a count of how many
        options are passed (i.e., the ``argc, argv[]`` model used by the GMT programs themselves).


If ``module`` equals NULL and ``mode == GMT_MODULE_PURPOSE`` then we list summaries for all the modules
If no module by the given name is found we return -1.

Set program options via text array arguments
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When ``mode > 0`` we expect an array ``args`` of character
strings that each holds a single command line options (e.g.,
"-R120:30/134:45/8S/3N") and interpret ``mode`` to be the count of how
many options are passed. This, of course, is almost exactly how the
stand-alone GMT programs are called (and reflects how they themselves
are activated internally). We call this the "argc-argv" mode. Depending
on how your program obtains the necessary options you may find that this
interface offers all you need.

Set program options via text command
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If ``mode ==`` 0 then ``args`` will be examined to see if it contains
several options within a single command string. If so we will break
these into separate options. This is useful if you wish to pass a single
string such as "-R120:30/134:45/8S/3N -JM6i mydata.txt -Sc0.2c". We call
this the "command" mode.

Set program options via linked structures
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The third, linked-list interface allows developers using higher-level
programming languages to pass all command options via a pointer to a
NULL-terminated, doubly-linked list of option structures, each
containing information about a single option. Here, instead of text
arguments we pass the pointer to the linked list of options mentioned
above, and ``mode`` must be passed as -1 (or any negative value). Using
this interface can be more involved since you need to generate the
linked list of program options; however, utility functions exist to
simplify its use. This interface is intended for programs whose internal
workings are better suited to generate such arguments -- we call this the
"options" mode. The order in the list is not important as GMT will
sort it internally according to need. The option structure is defined below.

.. _options:

  ::

    struct GMT_OPTION {
        char               option;  /* Single character of the option (e.g., 'G' for -G) */
        char              *arg;     /* String pointer with arguments (NULL if not used) */
        struct GMT_OPTION *next;    /* Pointer to next option (NULL for last option) */
        struct GMT_OPTION *prev;    /* Pointer to previous option (NULL for first option) */
    };

Convert between text and linked structures
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To assist programmers there are also two convenience functions that
allow you to convert between the two argument formats. They are

.. _GMT_Create_Options:

  ::

    struct GMT_OPTION *GMT_Create_Options (void *API, int argc, void *args);

This function accepts your array of text arguments (cast via a void
pointer), allocates the necessary space, performs the conversion, and
returns a pointer to the head of the linked list of program options.
However, in case of an error we return a NULL pointer and set
``API->error`` to indicate the nature of the problem. Otherwise, the
pointer may now be passed to the relevant ``GMT_module``. Note that if
your list of text arguments were obtained from a C ``main()`` function
then ``argv[0]`` will contain the name of the calling program. To avoid
passing this as a file name option, call GMT_Create_Options_ with
``argc-1`` and ``argv+1``. If you wish to pass a single text string with
multiple options (in lieu of an array of text strings), then pass
``argc`` = 0. When no longer needed you can remove the entire list by calling

.. _GMT_Destroy_Options:

  ::

    int GMT_Destroy_Options (void *API, struct GMT_OPTION **list);

The function returns 1 if there is an error (which is passed back
with ``API->error``), otherwise it returns 0.

The inverse function prototype is

.. _GMT_Create_Args:

  ::

    char **GMT_Create_Args (void *API, int *argc, struct GMT_OPTION *list);

which allocates space for the text strings and performs the conversion;
it passes back the count of the arguments via ``argc`` and returns a
pointer to the text array. In the case of an error we return a NULL
pointer and set ``API->error`` to reflect the error type. Note that
``argv[0]`` will not contain the name of the program as is the case the
arguments presented by a C ``main()`` function. When you no longer have
any use for the text array, call

.. _GMT_Destroy_Args:

  ::

    int GMT_Destroy_Args (void *API, int argc, char **argv[]);

to deallocate the space used. This function returns 1 if there is
an error (which is passed back with ``API->error``), otherwise it returns 0.

Finally, to convert the linked list of option structures to a single
text string command, use

.. _GMT_Create_Cmd:

  ::

    char *GMT_Create_Cmd (void *API, struct GMT_OPTION *list);

Developers who plan to import and export GMT shell scripts might find
it convenient to use these functions. In case of an error we return a
NULL pointer and set ``API->error``, otherwise a pointer to an allocated
string is returned.  When you no longer have
any use for the text string, call

.. _GMT_Destroy_Cmd:

  ::

    int GMT_Destroy_Cmd (void *API, char **argv);

to deallocate the space used. This function returns 1 if there is
an error (which is passed back with ``API->error``), otherwise it
returns 0.

Manage the linked list of options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several additional utility functions are available for programmers who
wish to manipulate program option structures within their own programs.
These allow you to create new option structures, append them to the
linked list, replace existing options with new values, find a particular
option, and remove options from the list. Note: The order in which the
options appear in the linked list is of no consequence to GMT.
Internally, GMT will sort and process the options in the manner
required. Externally, you are free to maintain your own order.

Make a new option structure
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

``GMT_Make_Option`` will allocate a new option structure, assign it
values given the ``option`` and ``arg`` parameter (pass NULL if there is
no argument for this option), and returns a pointer to the allocated
structure. The prototype is

.. _GMT_Make_Option:

  ::

    struct GMT_OPTION *GMT_Make_Option (void *API, char option, char *arg);

Should memory allocation fail the function will print an error message
set an error code via ``API->error``, and return NULL.

Append an option to the linked list
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


``GMT_Append_Option`` will append the specified ``option`` to the end of
the doubly-linked ``list``. The prototype is

.. _GMT_Append_Option:

  ::

    struct GMT_OPTION *GMT_Append_Option (void *API, struct GMT_OPTION *option,
                                          struct GMT_OPTION *list);

We return the list back, and if ``list`` is given as NULL we return
``option`` as the start of the new list. Any errors results in a NULL
pointer with ``API->error`` holding the error type.

Find an option in the linked list
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

``GMT_Find_Option`` will return a pointer ``ptr`` to the first option in
the linked list starting at ``list`` whose option character equals
``option``. If not found we return NULL. While this is not necessarily
an error we still set ``API->error`` accordingly. The prototype is

.. _GMT_Find_Option:

  ::

    struct GMT_OPTION *GMT_Find_Option (void *API, char option,
                                        struct GMT_OPTION *list);

If you need to look for multiple occurrences of a certain option you
will need to call GMT_Find_Option_ again, passing the option
following the previously found option as the ``list`` entry, i.e.,

  ::

    list = *ptr->next;

Update an existing option in the list
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

GMT_Update_Option_ will replace the argument of ``current`` with the
new argument ``arg`` and otherwise leave the option at its place in the
list. The prototype is

.. _GMT_Update_Option:

  ::

    int GMT_Update_Option (void *API, struct GMT_OPTION *current, char *arg);

An error will be reported if (a) ``current`` is NULL or (b) ``arg`` is
NULL. The function returns 1 if there is an error, otherwise it returns 0.

Delete an existing option in the linked list
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You may use ``GMT_Delete_Option`` to remove ``option`` from the linked
``list``. The prototype is

.. _GMT_Delete_Option:

  ::

    int GMT_Delete_Option (void *API, struct GMT_OPTION *current);

We return TRUE if the option is not found in the list and set
``API->error`` accordingly. Note: Only the first occurrence of the
specified option will be deleted. If you need to delete all such options
you will need to call this function in a loop until it returns a
non-zero status.

Specify a file via an linked option
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

To specify an input file name via an option, simply use < as the
option (this is what GMT_Create_Options_ does when it finds filenames
on the command line). Likewise, > can be used to explicitly
indicate an output file. In order to append to an existing file, use
>>. For example the following command would read from file.A and
append to file.B:

  ::

    gmtconvert -<file.A ->>file.B

These options also work on the command line but usually one would have
to escape the special characters < and > as they are
used for file redirection.

Calling a GMT module
--------------------

Given your linked list of program options (or text array) and possibly
some registered resources, you can now call the required GMT module
using one of the two flavors discussed in :ref:`section <sec-func>` All
modules return an error or status code that your program should consider
before processing the results.

Adjusting headers and comments
------------------------------

All header records in incoming datasets are stored in memory. You may
wish to replace these records with new information, or append new
information to the existing headers. This is achieved with

.. _GMT_Set_Comment:

  ::

    int GMT_Set_Comment (void *API, unsigned int family, unsigned int mode
                         void *arg, void *data)

Again, :ref:`family <tbl-family>` selects which kind of resource is passed via ``data``.
The ``mode`` determines what kind of comment is being considered, how it
should be included, and in what form the comment passed via ``arg`` is.
Table :ref:`comments <tbl-comments>` lists the available options, which may be combined
by adding (bitwise "or"). The ``GMT_Set_Comment`` does not actually
output anything but sets the relevant comment and header records in the
relevant structure. When a file is written out the information will be
output as well (Note: Users can always decide if they wish to turn
header output on or off via the common GMT option ``-h``. For
record-by-record writing you must enable the header block output when
you call GMT_Begin_IO_

.. _tbl-comments:

+---------------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| constant                  | description                                          |
+===========================+======================================================+
| GMT_COMMENT_IS_TEXT       | Comment is a text string                             |
+---------------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_COMMENT_IS_OPTION     | Comment is a linked list of GMT_OPTION structures    |
+---------------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_COMMENT_IS_COMMAND    | Comment is the command                               |
+---------------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_COMMENT_IS_REMARK     | Comment is the remark                                |
+---------------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_COMMENT_IS_TITLE      | Comment is the title                                 |
+---------------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_COMMENT_IS_NAME_X     | Comment is the x variable name (grids only)          |
+---------------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_COMMENT_IS_NAME_Y     | Comment is the y variable name (grids only)          |
+---------------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_COMMENT_IS_NAME_Z     | Comment is the z variable name (grids only)          |
+---------------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_COMMENT_IS_COLNAMES   | Comment is the column names header                   |
+---------------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| GMT_COMMENT_IS_RESET      | Comment replaces existing information                |
+---------------------------+------------------------------------------------------+


The named modes (*command*, *remark*, *title*, *name_x,y,z* and
*colnames* are used to distinguish regular text comments from specific
fields in the header structures of the data resources, such as
``GMT_GRID``. For the various table resources (e.g., ``GMT_DATASET``)
these modifiers result in a specially formatted comments beginning with
"Command: " or "Remark: ", reflecting how this type of information is
encoded in the headers.

Exporting Data
--------------

If your program needs to write any of the four recognized data types
(CPT files, data tables, text tables, or GMT grids) you can use the
GMT_Put_Data_. In the case of data and text tables, you may also
consider the GMT_Put_Record_ function. As a general rule, your
program organization may simplify if you can write and export the entire
resource with GMT_Put_Data_. However, if the program logic is simple
or already involves using GMT_Get_Record_, it may be better to export
one data record at the time via GMT_Put_Record_.

Both of these output functions takes a parameter called ``mode``. The
``mode`` parameter generally takes on different meanings for the
different data types and will be discussed below. However, one bit
setting is common to all types: By default, you are only allowed to
write a data resource once; the resource is then flagged to have been
written and subsequent attempts to write to the same resource will
quietly be ignored. In the unlikely event you need to re-write a
resource you can override this default behavior by adding ``GMT_IO_RESET``
to your ``mode`` parameter.

Enable Data Export
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Similar to the data import procedures, once all output destinations have
been registered, we signal the API that we are done with the
registration phase and are ready to start the actual data export. As for
input, this step is only needed when dealing with record-by-record
writing. Again, we enable record-by-record writing by calling
GMT_Begin_IO_, this time with ``direction`` = ``GMT_OUT``. This function
enables data export and prepares the registered destinations for the
upcoming writing.

Exporting a data set
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To have your program accept results from GMT modules and write them
separately requires you to use the GMT_Write_Data_ or
GMT_Put_Data_ functions. They are very similar to the
GMT_Read_Data_ and GMT_Get_Data_ functions encountered earlier.

Exporting a data set to a file, stream, or handle
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The prototype for writing to a file (via name, stream, or file handle) is

.. _GMT_Write_Data:

  ::

    int GMT_Write_Data (void *API, unsigned int family, unsigned int method,
                        unsigned int geometry, unsigned int mode,
                        double wesn[], void *output, void *data);

* :ref:`API <GMT_Create_Session>`
* :ref:`family <tbl-family>`
* :ref:`method <tbl-methods>`
* :ref:`geometry <tbl-geometry>`
* mode -- specific to each data type (\ *see below*)
* :ref:`wesn <tbl-wesn>`
* output -- 
* data -- A pointer to any of the four structures :ref:`GMT_VECTOR <struct-vector>`,
  :ref:`GMT_MATRIX <struct-matrix>`, :ref:`GMT_GRID <struct-grid>`, :ref:`GMT_PALETTE <struct-palette>`
* Return: 0 on success, otherwise return -1 and set API->error to reflect to cause.

where ``data`` is a pointer to any of the four structures discussed previously.

**CPT table**
    ``mode`` controls if the CPT table's back-, fore-, and NaN-colors
    should be written (1) or not (0).

**Data table**
    If ``method`` is ``GMT_IS_FILE``, then the value of ``mode`` affects
    how the data set is written:

    **GMT_WRITE_SET**
        The entire data set will be written to the single file [0].

    **GMT_WRITE_TABLE**
        Each table in the data set is written to individual files [1].
        You can either specify an output file name that *must* contain
        one C-style format specifier for a int variable (e.g.,
        "New_Table_%06d.txt"), which will be replaced with the table
        number (a running number from 0) *or* you must assign to each
        table *i* a unique output file name via the
        ``D->table[i]->file[GMT_OUT]`` variables prior to calling the
        function.

    **GMT_WRITE_SEGMENT**
        Each segment in the data set is written to an individual file
        [2]. Same setup as for ``GMT_WRITE_TABLE`` except we use
        sequential segment numbers to build the file names.

    **GMT_WRITE_TABLE_SEGMENT**
        Each segment in the data set is written to an individual file
        [3]. You can either specify an output file name that *must*
        contain two C-style format specifiers for two int variables
        (e.g., "New_Table_%06d_Segment_%03d.txt"), which will be
        replaced with the table and segment numbers, *or* you must
        assign to each segment *j* in each table *i* a unique output
        file name via the ``D->table[i]->segment[j]->file[GMT_OUT]``
        variables prior to calling the function.

    **GMT_WRITE_OGR**
        Writes the dataset in OGR/GMT format in conjunction with the
        ``-a`` setting [4].

**Text table**
    The ``mode`` is used the same way as for data tables.

**GMT grid**
    Here, ``mode`` may be ``GMT_GRID_HEADER_ONLY`` to only update a
    file's header structure, but normally it is simply ``GMT_GRID_ALL``
    so the entire grid and its header will be exported (a subset is
    not allowed during export). However, in the event your data array
    holds both the real and imaginary parts of a complex data set you
    must add either ``GMT_GRID_IS_COMPLEX_REAL`` or
    ``GMT_GRID_IS_COMPLEX_IMAG`` to ``mode`` so as to export the
    corresponding grid values correctly. Finally, for native binary
    grids you may skip writing the grid header by adding
    ``GMT_GRID_NO_HEADER``; this setting is ignored for other grid
    formats. If your output grid is huge and you are building it
    row-by-row, set ``mode`` to ``GMT_GRID_HEADER_ONLY`` \|
    ``GMT_GRID_ROW_BY_ROW``. You can then write the grid row-by-row
    using GMT_Put_Row_. By default the rows will be automatically
    processed in order. To completely specify which row to be written,
    use ``GMT_GRID_ROW_BY_ROW_MANUAL`` instead.

Note: If ``method`` is GMT_IS_FILE, :ref:`family <tbl-family>` is ``GMT_IS_GRID``,
and the filename implies a change from NaN to another value then the grid is
modified accordingly. If you continue to use that grid after writing please be
aware that the changes you specified were applied to the grid.

Exporting a data set to memory
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

If writing to a memory destination you will want to first register that
destination and then use the returned ID with ``GMT_Put_Data`` instead:

.. _GMT_Put_Data:

  ::

    int GMT_Put_Data (void *API, int ID, unsigned int mode, void *data);

where ``ID`` is the unique ID of the registered destination, ``mode`` is
specific to each data type (and controls aspects of the output
structuring), and ``data`` is a pointer to any of the four structures
discussed previously. For more detail, see GMT_Write_Data_ above. If
successful the function returns 0; otherwise we return 1
and set ``API->error`` to reflect to cause.

Exporting a data record
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If your program must write data table records one-by-one you must first
enable record-by-record writing with GMT_Begin_IO_ and then use the
``GMT_Put_Record`` function in a loop; the prototype is

.. _GMT_Put_Record:

  ::

    int GMT_Put_Record (void *API, unsigned int mode, void *rec);

where ``rec`` is a pointer to either (a) a double-precision array with
the current row. Then, ``rec`` is expected to hold at least as many
items as the current setting of ``n_col[GMT_OUT]``, which represents the
number of columns in the output destination. Alternatively (b), ``rec``
points to a text string. The ``mode`` parameter must be set to reflect
what is passed. Using GMT_Put_Record_ requires you to first
initialize the destination with GMT_Init_IO_. Note that for families
GMT_IS_DATASET and ``GMT_IS_TEXTSET`` the methods ``GMT_IS_DUPLICATE`` and
GMT_IS_REFERENCE are not supported since you can simply populate the
GMT_DATASET structure directly. As mentioned, ``mode`` affects what is
actually written:

**GMT_WRITE_DOUBLE**
    Normal operation that builds the current output record from the values in ``rec``.

**GMT_WRITE_TEXT**
    For ASCII output mode we write the text string ``rec``. If ``rec``
    is NULL then we use the current (last imported) text record. If
    binary output mode we quietly skip writing this record.

**GMT_WRITE_TABLE_HEADER**
    For ASCII output mode we write the text string ``rec``. If ``rec``
    is NULL then we write the last read header record (and ensures it
    starts with #). If binary output mode we quietly skip writing this record.

**GMT_WRITE_SEGMENT_HEADER**
    For ASCII output mode we use the text string ``rec`` as the
    segment header. If ``rec`` is NULL then we use the current (last
    read) segment header record. If binary output mode instead we write
    a record composed of NaNs.

The function returns 1 if there was an error associated with the
writing (which is passed back with ``API->error``), otherwise it returns
0.

Exporting a grid row
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If your program must write a grid file row-by-row you must first enable
row-by-row writing with GMT_Read_Data_ and then use the
``GMT_Put_Row`` function in a loop; the prototype is

.. _GMT_Put_Row:

  ::

    int GMT_Put_Row (void *API, int row_no, struct GMT_GRID *G, float *row);

where ``row`` is a pointer to a single-precision array with the current
row, ``G`` is the grid in question, and ``row_no`` is the number of the
current row to be written. Note this value is only considered if the
row-by-row mode was initialized with ``GMT_GRID_ROW_BY_ROW_MANUAL``.

Disable Data Export
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once the record-by-record output has completed we disable further output
to prevent accidental writing from occurring (due to poor program
structure, bugs, etc.). We do so by calling ``GMT_End_IO``. This
function disables further record-by-record data export; here, we
obviously pass ``direction`` as ``GMT_OUT``.

Destroy allocated resources
---------------------------

If your session imported any data sets into memory then you may
explicitly free this memory once it is no longer needed and before
terminating the session. This is done with the ``GMT_Destroy_Data``
function, whose prototype is

.. _GMT_Destroy_Data:

  ::

    int GMT_Destroy_Data (void *API, void *data);

where ``data`` is the address of the pointer to a data container.  Note that
when each module completes it will automatically free memory created by
the API; similarly, when the session is destroyed we also automatically
free up memory. Thus, ``GMT_Destroy_Data`` is therefore generally only
needed when you wish to directly free up memory to avoid running out of
it. The function returns 1 if there is an error when trying to
free the memory (the error code is passed back with ``API->error``),
otherwise it returns 0.

Terminate a GMT session
-----------------------

Before your program exits it should properly terminate the
GMT session, which involves a call to

.. _GMT_Destroy_Session:

  ::

    int GMT_Destroy_Session (void *API);

which simply takes the pointer to the GMT API control structure as its
only arguments. It terminates the GMT machinery and deallocates all
memory used by the GMT API book-keeping. It also unregisters any
remaining resources previously registered with the session. The
GMT API will only close files that it was responsible for opening in
the first place. Finally, the API structure itself is freed so your main
program does not need to do so. The function returns 1 if there
is an error when trying to free the memory (the error code is passed
back with ``API->error``), otherwise it returns 0.

The GMT FFT Interface
=====================

While the i/o options presented so far lets you easily read in a data
table or grid and manipulated them, if you need to do so in the
wavenumber domain then this chapter is for you. Here we outline how to
take the Fourier transform of such data, perform calculations in the
wavenumber domain, and take the inverse transform before writing the
results. To assist programmers we also distribute fully functioning
demonstration programs that takes you through the steps we are about to
discuss; these demo programs may be used as your starting point for
further development.

Presenting and Parsing the FFT options
--------------------------------------

Several GMT programs using FFTs present the same unified option and
modifier sets to the user. The API makes these available as well. If
your program needs to present the option usage you can call

.. _GMT_FFT_Option:

  ::

    unsigned int GMT_FFT_Option (void *API, char option, unsigned int dim,
                                 char *string);

Here, ``option`` is the unique character used for this particular
program option (most GMT programs have standardized on using 'N' but
you are free to choose whatever you want except existing GMT common
options). The ``dim`` sets the dimension of the transform, currently you
must choose 1 or 2, while the ``string`` is a one-line message that
states what the option does; you should tailor this to your program. If
NULL then a generic message is placed instead.

To parse the user's selection you call

.. _GMT_FFT_Parse:

  ::

    void *GMT_FFT_Parse (void *API, char option, unsigned int dim, char *args);

which accepts the user's string option via ``args``; the other arguments
are the same as those above. The function returns an opaque pointer to a
structure with the chosen parameters.

Initializing the FFT machinery
------------------------------

Before your can take any transforms you must initialize the FFT
machinery. This process involves a series of preparatory steps that are
conveniently performed for you by

.. _GMT_FFT_Create:

  ::

    void *GMT_FFT_Create (void *API, void *X, unsigned int dim,
                          unsigned int mode, void *F);

Here, ``X`` is either your dataset or grid pointer, ``dim`` is the
dimension of the transform (1 or 2 only), ``mode`` passes various flags to the setup, such as whether
the data is real, imaginary, or complex, and ``F`` is the opaque pointer
returned by GMT_FFT_Parse_. Depending on the options you chose to
pass to GMT_FFT_Parse_, the data may have a constant or a trend
removed, reflected and extended by various symmetries, padded and
tapered to desired transform dimensions, and possibly there are
temporary files written out before the transform takes place. See the :doc:`grdfft`
man page for a full explanation of the options presented by GMT_FFT_Option_.

Taking the FFT
--------------

Now that everything has been set up you can perform the transform with

.. _GMT_FFT:

  ::

    void *GMT_FFT (void *API, void *X, int direction, unsigned int mode, void *K);

which takes as ``direction`` either ``GMT_FFT_FWD`` or ``GMT_FFT_INV``. The
mode is used to specify if we pass a real (GMT_FFT_REAL) or complex
(GMT_FFT_COMPLEX) data set, and ``K`` is the opaque pointer returned
by GMT_FFT_Create_. The transform is performed in place and returned
via ``X``. When done with your manipulations (below) you can call it
again with the inverse flag to recover the corresponding space-domain
version of your data. The FFT is fully normalized so that calling
forward followed by inverse yields the original data set. The information
passed via ``K`` determines if a 1-D or 2-D transform takes place; the
key work is done via ``GMT_FFT_1D`` or ``GMT_FFT_2D`` below.

Taking the 1-D FFT
------------------

A lower-level 1-D FFT is also available via

.. _GMT_FFT_1D:

  ::

    int GMT_FFT_1D (void *API, float *data, uint64_t n, int direction, unsigned int mode);

which takes as ``direction`` either ``GMT_FFT_FWD`` or ``GMT_FFT_INV``. The
mode is used to specify if we pass a real (GMT_FFT_REAL) or complex
(GMT_FFT_COMPLEX) data set, and ``data`` is the 1-D data array of length
``n`` that we wish
to transform. The transform is performed in place and returned
via ``data``. When done with your manipulations (below) you can call it
again with the inverse flag to recover the corresponding space-domain
version of your data. The 1-D FFT is fully normalized so that calling
forward followed by inverse yields the original data set.  Note that unlike
``GMT_FFT``, this function does not do any data extension, mirroring, detrending,
etc. but operates directly on the data array given.

Taking the 2-D FFT
------------------

A lower-level 2-D FFT is also available via

.. _GMT_FFT_2D:

  ::

    int GMT_FFT_2D (void *API, float *data, unsigned int nx, unsigned int ny,
		   int direction, unsigned int mode);

which takes as ``direction`` either ``GMT_FFT_FWD`` or ``GMT_FFT_INV``. The
mode is used to specify if we pass a real (GMT_FFT_REAL) or complex
(GMT_FFT_COMPLEX) data set, and ``data`` is the 2-D data array in
row-major format, with row length ``nx`` and column length ``ny``.
The transform is performed in place and returned
via ``data``. When done with your manipulations (below) you can call it
again with the inverse flag to recover the corresponding space-domain
version of your data. The 2-D FFT is fully normalized so that calling
forward followed by inverse yields the original data set.  Note that unlike
``GMT_FFT``, this function does not do any data extension, mirroring, detrending,
etc. but operates directly on the data array given.

Wavenumber calculations
-----------------------

As your data have been transformed to the wavenumber domain you may wish
to operate on the various values as a function of wavenumber. We will
show how this is done for datasets and grids separately. First, we
present the function that returns an individual wavenumber:

.. _GMT_FFT_Wavenumber:

  ::

    double GMT_FFT_Wavenumber (void *API, uint64_t k, unsigned int mode, void *K);

where ``k`` is the index into the array or grid, ``mode`` specifies
which wavenumber we want (it is not used for 1-D transform but for the
2-D transform we can select either the x-wavenumber (0), the
y-wavenumber (1), or the radial wavenumber (2)), and finally the opaque
vector used earlier.

1-D FFT manipulation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To be added after gmtfft has been added as new module.

2-D FFT manipulation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The number of complex pairs in the grid is given by the header's ``nm``
variable, while ``size`` will be twice that value as it holds the number
of components. To visit all the complex values and obtain the
corresponding wavenumber we simply need to loop over ``size`` and call
``GMT_FFT_Wavenumber``. This code snippet multiples the complex grid by
the radial wavenumber:

  ::

    uint64_t k;
    for (k = 0; k < Grid->header->size; k++) {
        wave = GMT_FFT_Wavenumber (API, k, 2, K);
        Grid->data[k] *= wave;
    }

Alternatively, you may choose to be more specific about which components
are real and imaginary (especially if they are to be treated
differently), and set up the loop this way:

  ::

    uint64_t re, im;
    for (re = 0, im = 1; re < Grid->header->size; re += 2, im += 2) {
        wave = GMT_FFT_Wavenumber (API, re, 2, K);
        Grid->data[re] *= wave;
        Grid->data[im] *= 2.0 * wave;
    }

Destroying the FFT machinery
----------------------------

When done you terminate the FFT machinery with

.. _GMT_FFT_Destroy:

  ::

    double GMT_FFT_Destroy (void *API, void *K);

which simply frees up the memory allocated by the FFT machinery.

FORTRAN interfaces
==================

FORTRAN 90 developers who wish to use the GMT API may use the same
API functions as discussed in Chapter 2. As we do not have much (i.e., any) experience
with modern Fortran we are not sure to what extent you are able to access
the members of the various structures, such as the ``GMT_GRID`` structure. Thus,
this part will depend on feedback and for the time being is to be considered
preliminary and subject to change.  We encourage you to take contact should you
wish to use the API with your Fortran 90 programs.

FORTRAN 77 Grid i/o
-------------------

Because of a lack of structure pointers we can only provide a low level of
support for Fortran 77. This API is limited to help you inquire, read and write
GMT grids directly from Fortran 77.
To inquire about the range of information in a grid, use

.. _GMT_F77_readgrdinfo:

  ::

    int GMT_F77_readgrdinfo (unsigned int dim[], double limits[], double inc[],
                             char *title, char *remark, char *file)

where ``dim`` returns the grid width, height, and registration, ``limits`` returns the min and max values for x, y, and z
as three consecutive pairs, ``inc`` returns the x and y increment, the ``title`` and ``remark``
returns the values of these strings. The ``file``
argument is the name of the file we wish to inquire about. The function returns 0 unless there is an error.
Note that you must declare your variables so that ``limits`` has at least 6 elements and ``inc`` and ``dime`` have at least 2 each.

To actually read the grid, we use

.. _GMT_F77_readgrd:

  ::

    int GMT_F77_readgrd (float *array, unsigned int dim[], double wesn[],
                         double inc[], char *title, char *remark, char *file)

where ``array`` is the 1-D grid data array, ``dim`` returns the grid width, height, and registration,
``limits`` returns the min and max values for x, y, and z, ``inc`` returns the x and y increments,
the ``title`` and ``remark`` returns the values of these strings.  The ``file``
argument is the name of the file we wish to read from.  The function returns 0 unless there is an error.
Note on input, ``dim[2]`` can be set to 1 which means we will allocate the array for you; otherwise
we assume space has already been secured.  Also, if ``dim[3]`` is set to 1 we will in-place transpose
the array from C-style row-major array order to Fortran column-major array order.

Finally, to write a grid to file you can use

.. _GMT_F77_writegrd:

  ::

    int GMT_F77_writegrd_(float *array, unsigned int dim[], double wesn[],
                          double inc[], char *title, char *remark, char *file)

where ``array`` is the 1-D grid data array, ``dim`` specifies the grid width, height, and registration,
``limits`` may be used to specify a subset (normally, just pass zeros), ``inc`` specifies the x and y increments,
the ``title`` and ``remark`` supplies the values of these strings.  The ``file``
argument is the name of the file we wish to write to.  The function returns 0 unless there is an error.
If ``dim[3]`` is set to 1 we will in-place transpose
the array from Fortran column-major array order to C-style row-major array order before writing. Note
this means array will have been transposed when the function returns.


.. [1]
   or via a very confusing and ever-changing myriad of low-level library
   functions for bold programmers.

.. [2]
   Currently, C/C++, FORTRAN, Matlab and Julia are being tested.

.. [3]
   At the moment, GMT does not have native support for 3-D grids.

.. [4]
   This may change in later releases.

.. [5]
   However, there is no thread-support yet.
