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SDS scalar map options

The SDS scalar object in a HDF file can be visualized as a map of colors. The user has some control on the appearence of the map, like changing the legend values, choosing another font or palette. All options are available on the Options menu item.

Draw options

In the Draw options dialog box the user can choose to draw the color of each cell and to draw a grid surrounding each cell.

The map grid feature

When this option is enabled each cell is surrounded by a rectangle. This option is useful to visualize grids with variable dimensions.

Fill options

In the Fill options dialog box the user can choose to ignore or not a SDS fill value. If a SDS contains a fill value, by default HdfExplorer ignores this value in the making of the map, that is, the fill value is not translated to a color. The user also has an option to draw the fill value border in the grid.

Fill value example

In this example (salinity map of the Mediterranean Sea), a fill value was assigned to the land values.

Dimension options

In the Dimensions options dialog box the user can choose to visualize or not the SDS dimensions in the map. It is also possible to invert the heigth scale. By default the height origin is placed in the bottom left corner of the map.

Axis options

In the Axis options dialog box the user can choose to visualize the space legend in the map.

Size options

In the Size options dialog box it is possible to change the size of the image.

Legend options

In the Legend options dialog box it is possible to change the values of the legend. To change a value, click on the color, and the enter the new value in the input box. This option is only available for the SDS discrete map view.

Choosing another palette

To select another palette into the map choose the Options Palette menu item. HdfExplorer has two built in palettes, but it is possible to load a palette from a file (PAL files), which is a standard format in the Microsoft Windows environment.

The PAL format

The PAL format stores the RGB values of the palette in ASCII file. An example of the format of the file is

CWPAL File ident string

100 version number

256 number of colors N

0 0 0 Array of RGB Nvalues

128 0 0

0 128 0

...........

Choosing another font

To select another font into the map choose the Options Font menu item.