BIN

Description of the BIN V1 file format

(See the BinFilter class as an example of C++ code for reading/writing BIN files)

Warning: this is the old version that was coming with version 1 of CloudCompare!

The new BIN format is the serialization of CC's structures in memory and is too complex to detail. Consider using the SBF (Simplified BIN Format) format instead: SBF

Header & data

Description	Type	Size (bits)	Expected value
Number of clouds	unsigned integer	32	generally <100
... for each cloud ...
Number of points	unsigned integer	32	up to 4.294.967.296 :)
Flags	unsigned char	8	See description below
... if cloud name flag is ON ...
Cloud name	unsigned char [array]	?	cloud name stops at the first byte equal to 0
... for each point ...
X	float	32
Y	float	32
Z	float	32
... if color flag is ON ...
Red	unsigned char	8	0-255
Green	unsigned char	8	0-255
Blue	unsigned char	8	0-255
... if normal flag is ON ...
Nx	float	32	[-1.0;1.0]
Ny	float	32	[-1.0;1.0]
Nz	float	32	[-1.0;1.0]
... if scalar field flag is ON ...
Scalar value	double	64

Flags

Bit	Decimal value	Description
1	1	always ON
2	2	colors
3	4	normals
4	8	scalar field
5	16	cloud name
6	32	Ignored
7	64	Ignored
8	128	Ignored