Index PIX File Creator module

Description

The Index PIX File Creator module job reads the source folder for files that match the specified pattern and creates an index.pix file containing footprints of all valid GDB raster files.

Parameters

Name	Caption
Source Folder	Input folder
Search Pattern	Pattern for file searching
Overwrite Results	Overwrite existing results
Indexing Method	Method used for generating the index
Stored Path Type	Path type of files stored in index
Horizontal Accuracy	Theoretical horizontal accuracy of reference image

Parameter descriptions

Source Folder

The path and name of the folder containing reference imagery to include in the index files. Subfolders are included in the search.

Note: This folder must be write-enabled; that is, it cannot have a read-only attribute.

This parameter is mandatory.

Search Pattern

The search pattern to use when scanning the folder of reference imagery.

For example, to search PCIDSK files, you can specify *.pix, or to search .TIFF (or .tif) files, you can specify *.tiff or *.tif, as applicable. You can also combine two or more patterns separated by a comma, such as *.pix, *.tif.

Overwrite Results

Select this check box to overwrite the existing output files, if any exist. If this check box is left clear, and an output file exists in the relevant folder, the status of the job displays a message informing you of the existence and name of the output file. The message is also written to the event log of the job.

Indexing Method

There are two options available for indexing: Fast and Accurate. With the Fast option selected, the four corners of the scene are detected, including areas where there is no data. This option performs indexing the fastest. With the Accurate option selected, the system attempts to find the inner four corners where data exists, and excludes most of the no-data area.

When indexing orthos that have no-data values in the corners, choosing the Accurate option is recommended, though it takes longer than the Fast option.

Stored Path Type

From the list, select one of the following:

Relative: stores the relative path in the attribute table of the vector segment created.
Absolute: stores the absolute path in the attribute table of the vector segment created.

The benefit of using a relative path is that you can move the index along with the images to another folder or computer, and the files are still be recognized. With an absolute path, the exact path of the image must always exist.

Horizontal Accuracy

The horizontal accuracy of a given pixel in the reference image data. Units for this value are the same as the map units of the source files.

For example, X,Y defines the coordinates of a specific pixel in the reference-image data. However, because there is always some margin of error in image data, the eX and eY coordinates define the level of horizontal accuracy in the reference imagery.

The specified accuracy levels are included as ORTHO_X_ACCURACY and ORTHO_Y_ACCURACY metadata tags in the output index file. These tags are read and interpreted by other CATALYST Enterprise modules.

Details

General job details

Preprocessing requirements

Before running this module, the following requirements must be met to ensure the job processes successfully and produces accurate results:

The processing server must have write access to the input folder
Files must be GDB-supported file types
GDB must be able to read metadata, such as, extent, datatype, and so forth

Module details

The Index PIX File Creator module reads the specified source folder for the given file pattern. For each GDB-supported file type found, the module extracts the metadata extent information to build the index.pix file. This file is used by other CATALYST Enterprise modules.

Job results

All valid files and their footprints are added to the index.pix file. The index file created by the Index PIX File Creator module is created in the specified source folder.