GeographicLib: Utility programs (original) (raw)

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Various utility programs are provided with GeographicLib. These should be installed in a directory included in your PATH (e.g., /usr/local/bin). These programs are wrapper programs that invoke the underlying functionality provided by the library.

The utilities are

• GeoConvert: convert geographic coordinates using GeoCoords. See GeoConvert.cpp.
• GeodSolve: perform geodesic calculations using Geodesic and GeodesicLine. See GeodSolve.cpp.
• Planimeter: compute the area of geodesic polygons using PolygonAreaT. See Planimeter.cpp.
• TransverseMercatorProj: convert between geographic and transverse Mercator. This is for testing TransverseMercatorExact and TransverseMercator. See TransverseMercatorProj.cpp.
• CartConvert: convert geodetic coordinates to geocentric or local cartesian using Geocentric and LocalCartesian. See CartConvert.cpp.
• GeodesicProj: perform projections based on geodesics using AzimuthalEquidistant, Gnomonic, and CassiniSoldner. See GeodesicProj.cpp.
• ConicProj: perform conic projections using LambertConformalConic and AlbersEqualArea. See ConicProj.cpp.
• GeoidEval: look up geoid heights using Geoid. See GeoidEval.cpp.
• Gravity: compute the earth's gravitational field using GravityModel and GravityCircle. See Gravity.cpp.
• MagneticField: compute the earth's magnetic field using MagneticModel and MagneticCircle. See MagneticField.cpp.
• RhumbSolve: perform rhumb line calculations using Rhumb and RhumbLine. See RhumbSolve.cpp.
• IntersectTool: find intersections between two geodesics. See IntersectTool.cpp.

The documentation for these utilities is in the form of man pages. This documentation can be accessed by clicking on the utility name in the list above, running the man command on Unix-like systems, or by invoking the utility with the --help option. A brief summary of usage is given by invoking the utility with the -h option. The version of the utility is given by the --version option.

The utilities all accept data on standard input, transform it in some way, and print the results on standard output. This makes the utilities easy to use within scripts to transform tabular data; however they can also be used interactively, often with the input supplied via a pipe, e.g.,

• echo 38SMB4488 | GeoConvert -d

Online versions of four of these utilities are provided:

• GeoConvert
• GeodSolve
• Planimeter
• GeoidEval
• RhumbSolve

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