[Insight-developers] File suffixes ... and questions about utility of octree representation

[kent williams]

Well I guess the answer is no, there is no definitive list ;-)  But I have
an idea  now of the range of suffixes, and I'll work with Hans as we go
forward on the octree file implementation.  We have existing files it would
be good to be able to bring in, but perhaps we can deal with those at the
application level.

Another issue with adding the new file format for which I'm interested in
feedback: ITK file I/O has a paradigm of files as images -- you read a file,
you get an image you can push into a pipeline.  In brains2, the Octree is
retained in-memory, for, among other things, rendering.  An octree image
representation lends itself to rendering since you can walk the tree and
render rectangle.  I can certainly think of cases where the octree would be
a more useful representation for algorithms than a uniform array of pixels.

So the question is this: would it be useful to retain and expose the octree?
And more important, what would be the best way to expose the octree?

This might be a case for another pending Iowa ITK project of enhancing
itk::Image by adding a general data dictionary -- a place to retain things
like the orientation of scan that Analyze scan, but could conceivably
encompass secondary data representations, like Octrees.  Hans Johnson and I
have been discussing the dictionary idea, but more on that when Hans has a
preliminary specification for it to disseminate for review.