Provided by:
libgetdata-dev_0.7.3-6_i386 
NAME
gd_getdata -- retrieve data from a dirfile database
SYNOPSIS
#include <getdata.h>
size_t gd_getdata(DIRFILE *dirfile, const char *field_code, off_t
first_frame, off_t first_sample, size_t num_frames, size_t
num_samples, gd_type_t return_type, void *data_out);
DESCRIPTION
The gd_getdata() function queries a dirfile(5) database specified by
dirfile for the field field_code. It fetches num_frames frames plus
num_samples samples from this field, starting first_sample samples past
frame first_frame. The data is converted to the data type specified by
return_type, and stored in the user-supplied buffer data_out.
The field_code may contain one of the representation suffixes listed in
dirfile-format(5). If it does, gd_getdata() will compute the
appropriate complex norm before returning the data.
The dirfile argument must point to a valid DIRFILE object previously
created by a call to gd_open(3). The argument data_out must point to a
valid memory location of sufficient size to hold all data requested.
The first sample returned will be
first_frame * samples_per_frame + first_sample
as measured from the start of the dirfile, where samples_per_frame is
the number of samples per frame as returned by gd_spf(3). The number
of samples fetched is, similarly,
num_frames * samples_per_frame + num_samples.
Although calling gd_getdata() using both samples and frames is
possible, the function is typically called with either num_samples and
first_sample, or num_frames and first_frames, equal to zero.
The return_type argument should be one of the following symbols, which
indicates the desired return type of the data:
GD_UINT8 unsigned 8-bit integer
GD_INT8 signed (two's complement) 8-bit integer
GD_UINT16 unsigned 16-bit integer
GD_INT16 signed (two's complement) 16-bit integer
GD_UINT32 unsigned 32-bit integer
GD_INT32 signed (two's complement) 32-bit integer
GD_UINT64 unsigned 64-bit integer
GD_INT64 signed (two's complement) 64-bit integer
GD_FLOAT32 IEEE-754 standard 32-bit single precision floating
point number
GD_FLOAT64 IEEE-754 standard 64-bit double precision floating
point number
GD_COMPLEX64
C99-conformant 64-bit single precision complex number
GD_COMPLEX128
C99-conformant 128-bit double precision complex
number
GD_NULL the null type: the database is queried as usual, but
no data is returned. In this case, data_out is
ignored and may be NULL.
The return type of the data need not be the same as the type of the
data stored in the database. Type conversion will be performed as
necessary to return the requested type. If the field_code does not
indicate a representation, but conversion from a complex value to a
purely real one is required, only the real portion of the requested
vector will be returned.
RETURN VALUE
In all cases, gd_getdata() returns the number of samples (not bytes)
successfully read from the database. If the end-of-field is
encountered before the requested number of samples have been read, a
short count will result. The library does not consider this an error.
Requests for data before the beginning-of-field marker, which may have
been shifted from frame zero by the presence of a FRAMEOFFSET
directive, will result in the the data being padded at the front by NaN
or zero depending on whether the return type is of floating point or
integral type.
If an error has occurred, zero is returned and the dirfile error will
be set to a non-zero value. Possible error values are:
GD_E_ALLOC
The library was unable to allocate memory.
GD_E_BAD_CODE
The field specified by field_code, or one of the fields it uses
for input, was not found in the database.
GD_E_BAD_DIRFILE
An invalid dirfile was supplied.
GD_E_BAD_FIELD_TYPE
The supplied field_code referred to a CONST, CARRAY, or STRING
field. The caller should use
gd_get_constant(3), gd_get_carray(3), or gd_get_string(3)
instead.
GD_E_BAD_REPR
The representation suffix specified in field_code, or in one of
the field codes it uses for input, was invalid.
GD_E_BAD_SCALAR
A scalar field used in the definition of the field was not
found, or was not of scalar type.
GD_E_BAD_TYPE
An invalid return_type was specified.
GD_E_DIMENSION
A scalar field was found where a vector field was expected.
GD_E_INTERNAL_ERROR
An internal error occurred in the library while trying to
perform the task. This indicates a bug in the library. Please
report the incident to the maintainer.
GD_E_OPEN_LINFILE
An error occurred while trying to read a LINTERP table from
disk.
GD_E_RAW_IO
An error occurred while trying to open or read from a file on
disk containing a raw field.
GD_E_RECURSE_LEVEL
Too many levels of recursion were encountered while trying to
resolve field_code. This usually indicates a circular
dependency in field specification in the dirfile.
GD_E_UNKNOWN_ENCODING
The encoding scheme of a RAW field could not be determined.
This may also indicate that the binary file associated with the
RAW field could not be found.
GD_E_UNSUPPORTED
Reading from dirfiles with the encoding scheme of the specified
dirfile is not supported by the library. See dirfile-
encoding(5) for details on dirfile encoding schemes.
The dirfile error may be retrieved by calling gd_error(3). A
descriptive error string for the last error encountered can be obtained
from a call to gd_error_string(3).
LIMITATIONS
The PHASE field type is poorly defined, since a forward-shifted PHASE
field will always encounter the end-of-field marker before its input
field does. This has ramifications when using gd_getdata() with
streaming data. The Dirfile Standards make tacit admission to this
problem by indicating the results of reading a PHASE field beyond the
beginning- or end-of-field is "implementation dependent" (see dirfile-
format(5)). As with any other field, gd_getdata() will return a short
count whenever a read from a PHASE field encounters the end-of-field
marker.
Backward-shifted PHASE fields do not suffer from this problem, since
gd_getdata() pads reads past the beginning-of-field marker with NaN or
zero as appropriate. Database creators who wish to use the PHASE field
type with streaming data are encouraged to work around this limitation
by only using backward-shifted PHASE fields, by writing RAW data at the
maximal time lag, and then back-shifting all data which should have
been written earlier. Another possible work-around is to write
systematically less data to the first RAW field in proportion to the
maximal forward phase shift. This method will work with applications
which respect the database size reported by gd_nframes(3) resulting in
these applications effectively ignoring all frames past the frame
containing the maximally forward-shifted PHASE field's end-of-field
marker.
SEE ALSO
dirfile(5), dirfile-encoding(5), gd_open(3), gd_get_constant(3),
gd_error(3), gd_error_string(3), gd_nframes(3), gd_spf(3),
gd_get_string(3), gd_putdata(3)