pylas.lib module

‘Entry point’ of the library, Contains the various functions meant to be used directly by a user

pylas.lib.convert(source_las, *, point_format_id=None, file_version=None)

Converts a Las from one point format to another Automatically upgrades the file version if source file version is not compatible with the new point_format_id

convert to point format 0

>>> las = read_las('pylastests/simple.las')
>>> las.header.version
'1.2'
>>> las = convert(las, point_format_id=0)
>>> las.header.point_format_id
0
>>> las.header.version
'1.2'

convert to point format 6, which need version >= 1.4 then convert back to point format 0, version is not downgraded

>>> las = read_las('pylastests/simple.las')
>>> las.header.version
'1.2'
>>> las = convert(las, point_format_id=6)
>>> las.header.point_format_id
6
>>> las.header.version
'1.4'
>>> las = convert(las, point_format_id=0)
>>> las.header.version
'1.4'

an exception is raised if the requested point format is not compatible with the file version

>>> las = read_las('pylastests/simple.las')
>>> convert(las, point_format_id=6, file_version='1.2')
Traceback (most recent call last):
 ...
pylas.errors.PylasError: Point format 6 is not compatible with file version 1.2

Parameters:

• source_las (pylas.lasdatas.base.LasBase) – The source data to be converted
• point_format_id (int, optional) – The new point format id (the default is None, which won’t change the source format id)
• file_version (str, optional,) – The new file version. None by default which means that the file_version may be upgraded for compatibility with the new point_format. The file version will not be downgraded.

Returns:

Return type:

pylas.lasdatas.base.LasBase

pylas.lib.create_from_header(header)

Creates a File from an existing header, allocating the array of point according to the provided header. The input header is copied.

Parameters:header (existing header to be used to create the file) – Returns: Return type:pylas.lasdatas.base.LasBase

pylas.lib.create_las(*, point_format_id=0, file_version=None)

Function to create a new empty las data object

Note

If you provide both point_format and file_version an exception will be raised if they are not compatible

>>> las = create_las(point_format_id=6,file_version="1.2")
Traceback (most recent call last):
 ...
pylas.errors.PylasError: Point format 6 is not compatible with file version 1.2

If you provide only the point_format the file_version will automatically selected for you.

>>> las = create_las(point_format_id=0)
>>> las.header.version == '1.2'
True

>>> las = create_las(point_format_id=6)
>>> las.header.version == '1.4'
True

Parameters:

• point_format_id (int) – The point format you want the created file to have
• file_version (str, optional, default=None) – The las version you want the created las to have

Returns:

A new las data object

Return type:

pylas.lasdatas.base.LasBase

pylas.lib.merge_las(*las_files)

Merges multiple las files into one

merged = merge_las(las_1, las_2) merged = merge_las([las_1, las_2, las_3])

Parameters:las_files (Iterable of LasData or LasData) – Returns:The result of the merging Return type:pylas.lasdatas.base.LasBase

pylas.lib.mmap_las(filename)

MMap a file, much like laspy did, very experimental not well tested

pylas.lib.open_las(source, closefd=True)

Opens and reads the header of the las content in the source

>>> with open_las('pylastests/simple.las') as f:
...     print(f.header.point_format_id)
3

>>> f = open('pylastests/simple.las', mode='rb')
>>> with open_las(f, closefd=False) as flas:
...     print(flas.header)
<LasHeader(1.2)>
>>> f.closed
False

>>> f = open('pylastests/simple.las', mode='rb')
>>> with open_las(f) as flas:
...    las = flas.read()
>>> f.closed
True

Parameters:

• source (str or io.BytesIO) – if source is a str it must be a filename a stream if a file object with the methods read, seek, tell
• closefd (bool) – Whether the stream/file object shall be closed, this only work when using open_las in a with statement. An exception is raised if closefd is specified and the source is a filename

Returns:

Return type:

pylas.lasreader.LasReader

pylas.lib.read_las(source, closefd=True)

Entry point for reading las data in pylas

Reads the whole file into memory.

>>> las = read_las("pylastests/simple.las")
>>> las.classification
array([1, 1, 1, ..., 1, 1, 1], dtype=uint8)

Parameters:

• source (str or io.BytesIO) – The source to read data from
• closefd (bool) – if True and the source is a stream, the function will close it after it is done reading

Returns:

The object you can interact with to get access to the LAS points & VLRs

Return type:

pylas.lasdatas.base.LasBase

pylas.lib.write_then_read_again(las, do_compress=False)

writes the given las into memory using BytesIO and reads it again, returning the newly read file.

Mostly used for testing purposes, without having to write to disk