NAME

Image::Xbm - Load, create, manipulate and save xbm image files.

SYNOPSIS 

    use Image::Xbm ;
    my $j = Image::Xbm->new( -file, 'balArrow.xbm' ) ;
    my $i = Image::Xbm->new( -width => 10, -height => 16 ) ;
    my $h = $i->new ; # Copy of $i
    my $p = Image::Xbm->new_from_string( "###\n#-#\n###" ) ;
    my $q = $p->new_from_string( "H##", "#-#", "###" ) ;
    my $s = $q->serialse ; # Compresses a little too.
    my $t = Image::Xbm->new_from_serialsed( $s ) ;
    $i->xybit( 5, 8, 1 ) ;           # Set a bit
    print '1' if $i->xybit( 9, 3 ) ; # Get a bit
    print $i->xy( 4, 5 ) ;           # Will print black or white
    $i->vec( 24, 0 ) ;            # Set a bit using a vector offset
    print '1' if $i->vec( 24 ) ;  # Get a bit using a vector offset
    print $i->get( -width ) ;     # Get and set object and class attributes
    $i->set( -height, 15 ) ;
    $i->load( 'test.xbm' ) ;
    $i->save ;
    print "equal\n" if $i->is_equal( $j ) ; 
    print $j->as_string ;
    #####-
    ###---
    ###---
    #--#--
    #---#-
    -----#
    print $j->as_binstring ;
    1111101110001110001001001000100000010000

View an xbm file from the command line: 

    % perl -MImage::Xbm -e'print Image::Xbm->new(-file,shift)->as_string' file

Create an xbm file from the command line: 

    % perl -MImage::Xbm -e'Image::Xbm->new_from_string("###\n#-#\n-#-")->save("test.xbm")'

DESCRIPTION

This class module provides basic load, manipulate and save functionality for the xbm file format. It inherits from Image::Base which provides additional manipulation functionality, e.g. new_from_image(). See the Image::Base pod for information on adding your own functionality to all the Image::Base derived classes.

new() 

    my $i = Image::Xbm->new( -file => 'test.xbm' ) ;
    my $j = Image::Xbm->new( -width => 12, -height => 18 ) ;
    my $k = $i->new ;

We can create a new xbm image by reading in a file, or by creating an image from scratch (all the bits are unset by default), or by copying an image object that we created earlier.

If we set -file then all the other arguments are ignored (since they're taken from the file). If we don't specify a file, -width and -height are mandatory.

-file
The name of the file to read when creating the image. May contain a full path. This is also the default name used for loading and saveing, though it can be overridden when you load or save.
-width
The width of the image; taken from the file or set when the object is created; read-only.
-height
The height of the image; taken from the file or set when the object is created; read-only.
-hotx
The x-coord of the image's hotspot; taken from the file or set when the object is created. Set to -1 if there is no hotspot.
-hoty
The y-coord of the image's hotspot; taken from the file or set when the object is created. Set to -1 if there is no hotspot.
-bits
The bit vector that stores the image; read-only.

new_from_string() 

    my $p = Image::Xbm->new_from_string( "###\n#-#\n###" ) ;
    my $q = $p->new_from_string( "H##", "#-#", "###" ) ;
    my $r = $p->new_from_string( $p->as_string ) ;

Create a new bitmap from a string or from an array or list of strings. If you want to use different characters you can: 

    Image::Xbm->set( -setch => 'X', -unsetch => ' ' ) ;
    my $s = $p->new_from_string( "XXX", "X X", "XhX" ) ;

You can also specify a hotspot by making one of the characters a 'H' (set bit hotspot) or 'h' (unset bit hotspot) -- you can use different characters by setting -sethotch and -unsethotch respectively.

new_from_serialised() 

    my $i = Image::Xbm->new_from_serialised( $s ) ;

Creates an image from a string created with the serialse() method. Since such strings are a little more compressed than xbm files or Image::Xbm objects they might be useful if storing a lot of bitmaps, or for transferring bitmaps over comms links.

serialise() 

    my $s = $i->serialise ;

Creates a string version of the image which can be completed recreated using the new_from_serialised method.

get() my $width = $i->get( -width ) ; my( $hotx, $hoty ) = $i->get( -hotx, -hoty ) ;

Get any of the object's attributes. Multiple attributes may be requested in a single call.

See xy and vec to get/set bits of the image itself.

set() 

    $i->set( -hotx => 120, -hoty => 32 ) ;

Set any of the object's attributes. Multiple attributes may be set in a single call. Except for -setch and -unsetch all attributes are object attributes; some attributes are read-only.

See xy and vec to get/set bits of the image itself.

class attributes 

    Image::Xbm->set( -setch => 'X' ) ;
    $i->set( -setch => '@', -unsetch => '*' ) ;
-setch
The character to print set bits as when using as_string, default is '#'. This is a class attribute accessible from the class or an object via get and set.
-unsetch
The character to print set bits as when using as_string, default is '-'. This is a class attribute accessible from the class or an object via get and set.
-sethotch
The character to print set bits as when using as_string, default is 'H'. This is a class attribute accessible from the class or an object via get and set.
-unsethotch
The character to print set bits as when using as_string, default is 'h'. This is a class attribute accessible from the class or an object via get and set.

xybit() 

    $i->xy( 4, 11, 1 ) ;      # Set the bit at point 4,11
    my $v = $i->xy( 9, 17 ) ; # Get the bit at point 9,17

Get/set bits using x, y coordinates; coordinates start at 0.

xy() 

    $i->xy( 4, 11, 'black' ) ;  # Set the bit from a colour at point 4,11
    my $v = $i->xy( 9, 17 ) ;   # Get the bit as a colour at point 9,17

Get/set bits using colours using x, y coordinates; coordinates start at 0.

If set with a colour of 'black' or a numeric value > 0 or a string not matching /^#0+$/ then the bit will be set, otherwise it will be cleared.

If you get a colour you will always get 'black' or 'white'.

vec() 

    $i->vec( 43, 0 ) ;      # Unset the bit at offset 43
    my $v = $i->vec( 87 ) ; # Get the bit at offset 87

Get/set bits using vector offsets; offsets start at 0.

load() 

    $i->load ;
    $i->load( 'test.xbm' ) ;

Load the image whose name is given, or if none is given load the image whose name is in the -file attribute.

save() 

    $i->save ;
    $i->save( 'test.xbm' ) ;

Save the image using the name given, or if none is given save the image using the name in the -file attribute. The image is saved in xbm format, e.g. 

    #define test_width 6
    #define test_height 6
    static unsigned char test_bits[] = {
     0x1f, 0x07, 0x07, 0x09, 0x11, 0x20 } ;

is_equal() 

    print "equal\n" if $i->is_equal( $j ) ;

Returns true (1) if the images are equal, false (0) otherwise. Note that hotspots and filenames are ignored, so we compare width, height and the actual bits only.

as_string() 

    print $i->as_string ;

Returns the image as a string, e.g. 

    #####-
    ###---
    ###---
    #--#--
    #---#-
    -----#

The characters used may be changed by setting the -setch and -unsetch characters. If you give as_string a parameter it will print out the hotspot if present using -sethotch or -unsethotch as appropriate, e.g. 

    print $n->as_string( 1 ) ;
    H##
    #-#
    ###

as_binstring() 

    print $i->as_binstring ;

Returns the image as a string of 0's and 1's, e.g. 

    1111101110001110001001001000100000010000

CHANGES

2000/11/09

Added Jerrad Pierce's patch to allow load() to accept filehandles or strings; will document in next release.

2000/05/05

Added new_from_serialised() and serialise() methods.

2000/05/04

Made xy() compatible with Image::Base, use xybit() for the earlier functionality.

2000/05/01

Improved speed of vec(), xy() and as_string().

Tried use integer to improve speed but according to Benchmark it made the code slower so I dropped it; interestingly perl 5.6.0 was around 25% slower than perl 5.004 with and without use integer.

2000/04/30

Created.

AUTHOR

Mark Summerfield. I can be contacted as <summer@perlpress.com> - please include the word 'xbm' in the subject line.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) Mark Summerfield 2000. All Rights Reserved.

This module may be used/distributed/modified under the LGPL.