NAME

       TIFFCustomDirectory - routines to create a custom directory

SYNOPSIS

          #include <tiffio.h>

       int TIFFCreateCustomDirectory(TIFF *tif, const TIFFFieldArray *infoarray)

       int TIFFCreateEXIFDirectory(TIFF *tif)

       int TIFFCreateGPSDirectory(TIFF *tif)

       int TIFFWriteCustomDirectory(TIFF *tif, uint64 *pdiroff)

       int TIFFReadCustomDirectory(TIFF *tif, toff_t diroff, const TIFFFieldArray *infoarray)

       int TIFFReadEXIFDirectory(TIFF *tif, toff_t diroff)

       int TIFFReadGPSDirectory(TIFF *tif, toff_t diroff)

       const TIFFFieldArray *_TIFFGetExifFields(void)

       const TIFFFieldArray *_TIFFGetGpsFields(void)

DESCRIPTION

       The   following  routines  create  a  custom  directory  and  retrieve  information  about
       directories in an open TIFF file.

       TIFFCreateCustomDirectory(),  TIFFCreateEXIFDirectory(),   TIFFCreateGPSDirectory()   will
       setup  a  custom  directory  or  one of the predefined EXIF or GPS directories and set the
       context of the TIFF-handle tif to that custom directory for functions like TIFFSetField().

       TIFFWriteCustomDirectory() will write the contents of the current custom directory to  the
       file  and return the offset to that directory in pdiroff. That offset has to be written to
       the main-IFD:

           /* Go back to the first directory, and add the EXIFIFD pointer. */
          TIFFSetDirectory(tif, 0);
          TIFFSetField(tif, TIFFTAG_EXIFIFD, pdiroff);

       TIFFReadCustomDirectory() will read the custom directory from the  arbitrary  offset  into
       the  infoarray  and  sets  the context of the TIFF-handle tif to that custom directory for
       functions like TIFFReadField(). The TIFFFieldArray  infoarray  has  to  be  according  the
       layout  of the custom directory. For the predefined EXIF and GPS directories, the relevant
       TIFFFieldArray definitions are hidden within  the  functions  TIFFReadEXIFDirectory()  and
       TIFFReadGPSDirectory() The code is very similar to TIFFReadDirectory().  The offset to the
       custom directory diroff has to be read from the relative TIFF tag first.

       _TIFFGetExifFields() and  _TIFFGetGpsFields()   will  return  a  pointer  to  the  libtiff
       internal definition list of the EXIF and GPS tags, respectively.

NOTES

       Be aware

       • that  until  a directory is not written to file AND read back, the query functions won't
         retrieve the correct information!

       • that the newly created directory will not exist on the file  till  TIFFWriteDirectory(),
         TIFFCheckpointDirectory(), TIFFFlush() or TIFFClose() has been called.

       • that  TIFFCreateDirectory()  and  TIFFWriteDirectory()  create a new directory, free the
         *tif structure and set up a new one.

       • that  unlike  TIFFWriteDirectory(),  TIFFCheckpointDirectory()  does  not  free  up  the
         directory data structures in memory.

       • that LibTiff does not support custom directory chains (NextIFD pointing to another IFD).
         NextIFD of custom directories is always set to zero and should be zero when reading.

       Unfortunately to create or read custom directories with predefined fields it is  necessary
       to  include  the  private  tif_dir.h.  However, for EXIF and GPS directories, which have a
       predefined schema within libtiff, this is not necessary. There are  some  test  programmes
       that  briefly  demonstrate  the  creation and reading of EXIF, GPS and custom directories.
       See test/custom_dir.c and test/custom_dir_EXIF_231.c

HINTS AND DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS

       Writing TIFF files with more than one directory  (IFD)  is  not  easy  because  some  side
       effects need to be known.

       The  main  point here is that there can only be one tif structure in the main memory for a
       file, which can only hold the tags of one directory at a time. It is useless to work  with
       two  different  tiffOut1,  tiffOut2  pointers, because there is only ONE TIFF object (TIFF
       directory) within the libtiff. If you want to address a second directory in the file,  the
       tags of the current directory must first be saved in the file, otherwise they will be lost
       (overwritten or mixed). Then the tif structure in the  main  memory  must  be  tidied  up,
       otherwise  the  old tags will beincluded in the new directory.  This can be done either by
       creating a new, empty tif structure or by reading in an directory previously saved in  the
       file.

       A sequence to handle a second (or third) TIFF directory - in this case the GPS IFD - is as
       follows:

       1. Create TIFF file

       2. Complete the "normal" metadata

       3. Set the tag for the custom directory with a “dummy” value  in  order  to  get  the  tag
          reserved.  The  final  value will be inserted lateron. This prevents the main directory
          from being written to the file again at an additional area, leaving  the  first  memory
          area unused:

          TIFFSetField(tiffOut, TIFFTAG_GPSIFD, dir_offset);

       4. Save  current  TIFF-directory  to  file. Otherwise, it will be lost.  Remember also the
          number of the current directory:

          TIFFWriteDirectory(tiffOut);
          dirNum = TIFFCurrentDirectory(tiffOut);

       5. Create the second TIFF-directory (e.g.  custom  directory)  and  set  its  fields.  The
          TIFFFieldArray  infoarray  has  to  be  specified  beforehand somewhere in your private
          include files.  An example is given for the EXIF directory in tif_dirinfo.c

          TIFFCreateCustomDirectory(tiffOut, infoarray);        /* for a real custom directory */
          /* or alternatively, use GPS or EXIF with pre-defined TIFFFieldArray IFD field structure */
          TIFFCreateGPSDirectory(tiffOut);
          TIFFSetField(tiffOut, GPSTAG_VERSIONID, gpsVersion);  /* set fields of the custom directory */

       Be aware that every TIFFCreateDirectory() or  TIFFWriteDirectory()  apparently  frees  the
       *tif structure and sets up a new one!

       6. Write custom directory to file. The offset to that directory in the file is returned in
          dir_offset.

          TIFFWriteCustomDirectory(tiffOut, &dir_offset);

       7. Reload the first directory (i.e. the original TIFF directory).  Apparently, this  reads
          the data back from file.

          TIFFSetDirectory(tiffOut, dirNum);

       8. Set  the  correct offset value of the custom directory IFD tag and save that changes to
          file.

          TIFFSetField(tiffOut, TIFFTAG_GPSIFD, dir_offset);
          TIFFWriteDirectory(tiffOut);

RETURN VALUES

       1 is returned when the contents are successfully written to the  file.   Otherwise,  0  is
       returned if an error was encountered when writing the directory contents.

DIAGNOSTICS

       All  error  messages  are  directed  to  the  TIFFErrorExtR()  routine.  Likewise, warning
       messages are directed to the TIFFWarningExtR() routine.

SEE ALSO

       libtiff (3tiff), TIFFCreateDirectory (3tiff), TIFFquery (3tiff), TIFFSetDirectory (3tiff),
       TIFFWriteDirectory (3tiff)

AUTHOR

       LibTIFF contributors

COPYRIGHT

       1988-2024, LibTIFF contributors