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<bookinfo>
  <title>
    Tutorial
  </title>
</bookinfo>
<chapter><title>Introduction</title>
<section><title>Purpose (foobar)</title>

<para>This page summarizes program operation and command-line usage for ALE
versions 0.8.0 through 0.8.4.  Features specific to a particular version
are annotated (e.g.  [ALE 0.8.1 and later]).</para>

<para>Manual pages linked from this section describe <a href="defaults/">default
settings</a>, <a href="file/">file output</a>, <a
href="alignment/">alignment</a>, <a href="rendering/">rendering</a>, <a
href="exclusion/">exclusion regions</a>, <a href="cp/">control points</a>, <a href="ui/">user interfaces</a>, <a
href="device/">devices</a>, and <a href="3d/">3D scene reconstruction</a>.</para>

<para>For more information on ALE, see the <a
href="http://auricle.dyndns.org/ALE/">ALE Home Page</a>.</para>

</section>
<section><title>Parameter Meta-syntax</title>

<table>
<tr>
<td><code>&lt;foo></code></td>
<td>A required parameter called <i>foo</i>.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>[&lt;foo>]</code></td>
<td>An optional parameter called <i>foo</i>.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>[&lt;foo>]*</code></td>
<td>Zero or more parameters <i>foo</i>.</td>
</tr>
</table>

</section>
<section><title>Command-line syntax for Image Processing</title>

<para>The following command-line invocation can be used to process a series of
frames into an output file:</para>

<pre>ale [&lt;option>]* &lt;original-frame> [&lt;supplemental-frame>]* &lt;output-file></pre>

<h3>Option Arguments</h3>

<para>Certain basic modes of operation, emphasizing image quality, speed, or other
rendering characteristics, are now established in the form of <a
href="defaults/">default settings</a>.</para>

<para>Other options are outlined in the manual pages describing <a
href="file/">file output</a>, <a href="rendering/">rendering</a>, <a
href="alignment/">alignment</a>, <a href="exclusion/">exclusion
regions</a>, <a href="device/">devices</a>, <a href="ui/">user interfaces</a>,
and <a href="3d/">3D scene reconstruction</a>.</para>

<h3>Image Files</h3>

<para>ALE can be configured at compile time to use one of two different file
handlers.  Execute 'ale --version' to determine which file handler is being
used.  The table below outlines the supported formats for each file handler.</para>

<table class="inline">
<td>
<table border="1">
<tr><th>Version Message</th><th>File Types Supported</th></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">
<pre>File handler:     ImageMagick</pre>
</td>

<td>
Input and output files can be any of the <a
href="http://imagemagick.sourceforge.net/www/formats.html">formats</a> supported by
ImageMagick.
</td></tr>

<tr><td valign="top">
<pre>File handler:     PPM</pre>
</td><td>
Input files must be PPM, and output files are written as PPM.
</td></tr>
</table>
</td>
</table>

<para>Note that many external programs, including ImageMagick's <a
href="http://www.imagemagick.org/">command line utilities</a>, can be used to
convert between PPM and other formats.</para>

<para>See the README included in the source distribution of ALE for more information about
compile-time configuration of file handlers.</para>

</section>
<section>
<title>Command-line syntax for Version Information</title>

<para>The following command-line invocation can be used to print version
information and build options:</para>

<pre>ale --version</pre>

<para>The following is sample output from this invocation:</para>

<pre>
ALE Version:      0.8.4
File handler:     ImageMagick
Color data:       SINGLE
Coordinate data:  SINGLE
DFT:              FFTW3
Assertions:       Enabled
Optimizations:    Enabled
</pre>

<para>The first line of output indicates the version of ALE source code being
used; the remaining lines reflect the build options selected at compile
time.</para>

<para>For more information about build options, see the README file included in
the ALE source distribution.</para>

</section>
<section>
<title>Command-line syntax for Help Output</title>

<para>When invoked with no arguments, or an insufficient number of file arguments,
ALE outputs a help message specifying command-line usage and available help
topics.  The following is a sample invocation:</para>

<pre>ale</pre>

<h3>Help Topics</h3>

<para>More information about specific help topics can be obtained with an invocation
of the following form:</para>

<pre>ale &lt;help option&gt;</pre>

<para>Available help options, and their corresponding help topics, are outlined
below:</para>

<pre>
--hu              Usage.
--hq              Default settings.
--hf              Image files.
--he              Exclusion regions.
--ha              Alignment (not exposure-related).
--hr              Rendering (not exposure-related).
--hx              Exposure.
--ht              Transformation data files.
--hc              Control points.  [0.8.1 and later]
--hl              Filtering (PSFs, rendering chains).
--hd              Devices.
--hi              User Interfaces.
--hv              Video stream processing (Experimental).
--h3              3D Modeling.
--hz              Undocumented options.
--hA              Concatenate all help pages.
</pre>

</section>
<section>
<title>Related Manual Pages</title>
<ul>
<li><a href="defaults/">Default Settings</a></li>
<li><a href="file/">File Output</a></li>
<li><a href="rendering/">Rendering</a></li>
<li><a href="alignment/">Alignment</a></li>
<li><a href="exclusion/">Exclusion Regions</a></li>
<li><a href="cp/">Control Points (0.8.1 and later)</a></li>
<li><a href="device/">Devices</a></li>
<li><a href="ui/">User Interfaces</a></li>
<li><a href="3d/">3D Scene Reconstruction</a></li>
</ul>

</section>

<br/>
<hr/>
<i>Copyright 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 <a href="mailto:dhilvert@auricle.dyndns.org">David Hilvert</a></i>
<para class="footer">Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.</para>
</chapter>
</book>