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LoadPICT

LoadPICT [/M=promptStr /O /P=pathName /Q /Z] [fileNameStr ] [, pictName ]

The LoadPICT operation loads a picture from a file or from the Clipboard into Igor. Once you have loaded a picture, you can append it to graphs and page layouts.

Parameters

The file to be loaded is specified by fileNameStr and /P=pathName where pathName is the name of an Igor symbolic path. fileNameStr can be a full path to the file, in which case /P is not needed, a partial path relative to the folder associated with pathName, or the name of a file in the folder associated with pathName. If Igor cannot determine the location of the file from fileNameStr and pathName, it displays a dialog allowing you to specify the file.

If you use a full or partial path for fileNameStr, see Path Separators for details on forming the path.

If you want to force a dialog to select the file, omit the fileNameStr parameter.

If fileNameStr is "Clipboard" and /P=pathName is omitted, LoadPICT loads its data from the Clipboard rather than from a file.

pictName is the name that you want to give to the newly loaded picture. You can refer to the picture by its name to append it to graphs and page layouts. LoadPICT generates an error if the name conflicts with some other type of object (e.g., wave or variable) or if the name conflicts with a built-in name (e.g., the name of an operation or function).

If you omit pictName, LoadPICT automatically names the picture as explained in the Details section below.

Flags

/M=promptStrSpecifies a prompt to use if LoadPICT needs to put up a dialog to find the file.
/OOverwrites an existing picture with the same name.
If /O is omitted and there is an existing picture with the same name, LoadPICT displays a dialog in which you can resolve the name conflict.
/P=pathNameSpecifies the folder to look in for the file. pathName is the name of an existing symbolic path.
/QQuiet mode: suppresses the insertion of picture info into the history area.
/ZDoesn't actually load the picture, just checks for its existence.

Details

If the picture file is not fully specified then LoadPICT presents a dialog from which you can select the file. "Fully specified" means that LoadPICT can determine the name of the file (from the fileNameStr parameter) and the folder containing the file (from the flag /P=pathName flag or from the fileNameStr parameter). If you want to force a dialog, omit the fileNameStr parameter.

If you use /P=pathName , note that it is the name of an Igor symbolic path, created via NewPath. It is not a file system path like "hd:Folder1:" or "C:\Folder1\". See Symbolic Paths for details.

If you omit pictName, LoadPICT automatically names the picture as follows:

If the picture was loaded from a file, LoadPICT uses the file name. If necessary, it makes it into a legal name by replacing illegal characters or shortening it.

Otherwise, LoadPICT uses a name of the form "PICT_n ".

If the resulting name is in conflict with an existing picture name, Igor puts up a name conflict resolution dialog.

LoadPICT sets the variable V_flag to 1 if the picture exists and fits in available memory or to 0 otherwise.

It also sets the string variable S_info to a semicolon-separated list of values:

KeywordInformation Following Keyword
NAMEThe name of the loaded pict, often "PICT_0", etc.
SOURCE"Data fork" or "Clipboard".
RESOURCENAMEObsolete - always "".
RESOURCEIDObsolete - always 0.
TYPEOne of the following types:
DIB
Encapsulated PostScript
Enhanced metafile
JPEG
PDF
PNG
SVG
TIFF
Windows bitmap
Windows metafile
Unknown type
BYTESAmount of memory used by the picture.
WIDTHWidth of the picture in pixels.
HEIGHTHeight of the picture in pixels.
PHYSWIDTHPhysical width of the picture in points.
PHYSHEIGHTPhysical height of the picture in points.

See Also

The ImageLoad operation for loading PICT and other image file types into waves, and the PICTInfo function.

Pictures