vmspan(1)

PROGRAM
vmspan - Dilate a binary image region by a single pixel

SYNTAX

vmspan

-i  input image

-o  output image

[-s]
    source value

[-m]
    medium value

[-w]
    wave value

[-iter]
    iterations

[-V]
    Gives the version for vmspan

[-U]
    Gives the usage for vmspan

[-P]
    Prompts for command line options

[-A [file1]]
    Creates the answer file called vmspan.ans or file1

[-a [file1]]
    Uses vmspan.ans or file1 as the answer file

DESCRIPTION
Although classified with the morphological routines, this does not fit the classical theory of mathematical morphology. It is a simplified version of a conditional dilation.

    vmspan takes three integer arguments which are pixel values or colors: a source, a medium and a wave. Image regions where a pixel with a value equal to source lie next to a pixel with value medium, the medium pixel is replaced with the value wave. This is like a conditional morphological dilation with a fixed, 3x3 square kernel. The process is repeated iter times. Spanning an image twice is equivalent to dilating with a 5x5 kernel;
     spanning three times is equivalent to dilating with a 7x7 kernel, etc.

    This routine is patterned after the span routine in the C4PL image processing lanuage developed by the Evironmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM), Ann Arbor, Michigan.

REQUIRED ARGUMENTS

-i  type: infile
    desc: input image

-o  type: outfile
    desc: output image

OPTIONAL ARGUMENTS

-s  type: integer
    desc: source value
    default: 255
    bounds: 0 < [-s] < 255

-m  type: integer
    desc: medium value
    default: 0
    bounds: 0 < [-m] < 255

-w  type: integer
    desc: wave value
    default: 255
    bounds: 0 < [-w] < 255

-iter
    type: integer
    desc: iterations
    default: 1
    bounds: no range checking

EXAMPLES

vmspan -i image1 -o image2 -s 128 -m 0 -w 255
Dilates or grows regions of value 128 over regions of value 0, replacing them by the value 255.

SEE ALSO
intro(1), verror(3), vgparms(3), vutils(3), lvmspan(3) lvmspan(3), vmdilate(1), vmerode(1)

RESTRICTIONS
vmspan accepts only BYTE images. The structuring element is an image file, but it should always be created by vmcustom.

COPYRIGHT
Copyright 1991, University of New Mexico. All rights reserved.