NAME

PDL::Io::FastRaw -- A simple, fast and convenient io format for PerlDL.

SYNOPSIS

        use PDL;
        use PDL::Io::FastRaw;

        writefraw($pdl,"fname");

        $pdl2 = readfraw("fname");

        $pdl3 = mapfraw("fname");
        $pdl3 = createmapfraw("fname",@dims);

DESCRIPTION

This is a very simple and fast io format for PerlDL. The disk data consists of two files, a header metadata file in ASCII and a binary file consisting simply of consecutive bytes, shorts or whatever.

It is hoped that this will not only make for a simple PerlDL module for saving and retrieving these files but also make it easy for other programs to use these files.

The format for the header is simply

        <typeid>
        <ndims>
        <dim0> <dim1> ...

These files are NOT interchangeable over network since the binary file is simply dumped from the memory region of the piddle. This is also what makes the approach efficient.

IF YOU HAVE TOO MUCH SPARE TIME

You could implement an interface using mmap for this module. In the case of huge data sets that you usually only need parts of, the benefit would be immense. Contact the author for instructions.

BUGS

None known.

AUTHOR

Copyright (C) Tuomas J. Lukka 1997. Redistribution in printed form forbidden.