---
name: "gmtconvert"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "gmt-manpages"
version: "3.4-1"
release: "Debian 3.0 (Woody)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/gmtconvert"
---

# gmtconvert(1)

Convert between ASCII and binary 1-D tables

## NAME

gmtconvert - Convert between ASCII and binary 1-D tables

## SYNOPSIS

**gmtconvert** \[ *inputfiles*\] \[ **-H**\[*nrec*\] \] \[ **-M**\[*flag*\] \] \[ **-V** \] \[ **-:** \] \[ **-bi**\[**s**\]*n* \] \[ **-bo**\[**s**\] \]

## DESCRIPTION

**gmtconvert** reads its standard input \[or inputfiles\] and writes out the information to standard output. Its main purpose is to convert between binary and ASCII data tables. Input (and hence output) may have multiple subheaders if **-M** is selected.

- *datafile(s)*

  ASCII (or binary, see **-bi**) file(s) holding a number of data columns.

## OPTIONS

- **-H**

  Input file(s) has Header record(s). Number of header records can be changed by editing your .gmtdefaults file. If used, **GMT** default is 1 header record.

- **-M**

  Multiple segment file(s). Segments are separated by a special record. For ASCII files the first character must be *flag* \[Default is '\>'\]. For binary files all fields must be NaN.

- **-V**

  Selects verbose mode, which will send progress reports to stderr \[Default runs "silently"\].

- **-:**

  Toggles between (longitude,latitude) and (latitude,longitude) input/output. \[Default is (longitude,latitude)\]. Applies to geographic coordinates only.

- **-bi**

  Selects binary input. Append **s** for single precision \[Default is double\]. Append *n* for the number of columns in the binary file(s).

- **-bo**

  Selects binary output. Append **s** for single precision \[Default is double\].

## EXAMPLES

To convert the binary file test.b (single precision) with 4 columns to ASCII, try\

gmtconvert test.b **-bis**4 \> test.dat\

To convert the multiple segment ASCII table test.d to a double precision binary file, try\

gmtconvert test.d **-M -bo** \> test.b

## SEE ALSO

*gmt*(l), *minmax*(l)