--- name: "las2txt" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "liblas-bin" version: "1.8.1-10" release: "Debian 10 (Buster)" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/las2txt" --- # las2txt(1) output ASRPS LAS files into ASCII text ## NAME las2txt - output ASRPS LAS files into ASCII text ## SYNOPSIS **las2txt** \[**-h** \| **-i** *\* **-o** *\* **-t** *\* \| **-formats**\] ## DESCRIPTION **las2txt** allows you to output ASRPS LAS files into ASCII text. The 'FC**-parse txyz**F\[0\]' flag specifies how to format each line of the ASCII file. For example, 'FCtxyziaF\[0\]' means that the first number of each line should be the gpstime, the next three numbers should be the x, y, and z coordinate, the next number should be the intensity and the next number should be the scan angle. Supported entries - • a - scan angle - • i - intensity - • n - number of returns for given pulse - • r - number of this return - • c - classification - • u - user data - • p - point source ID - • e - edge of flight line flag - • d - direction of scan flag - • R - red channel of RGB color - • G - green channel of RGB color - • B - blue channel of RGB color - • M - vertex index number Separators The 'FC**-sep space**F\[0\]' flag specifies what separator to use. The default is a space. The following list is valid for separator characters (case sensitive): - • tab - • comma - • colon - • hyphen - • dot - • semicolon Header Separators The 'FC**-header pound**F\[0\]' flag results in the header information being printed at the beginning of the ASCII file in form of a comment that starts with the special character '#'. Other possible special characters include (case sensitive): - • percent - • dollar - • semicolon - • comma - • star - • colon - • semicolon ## OPTIONS las2txt options: - FC**-h**F\[0\], FC**--help**F\[0\] produce help message - FC**-i**F\[0\] *arg*, FC**--input**F\[0\] *arg* input LAS file. - FC**-o**F\[0\] *arg*, FC**--output**F\[0\] *arg* output text file. Use 'stdout' if you want it written to the standard output stream - FC**--parse**F\[0\] *arg* The 'FC**--parse txyz**F\[0\]' flag specifies how to format each line of the ASCII file. For example, 'FCtxyziaF\[0\]' means that the first number of each line should be the gpstime, the next three numbers should be the x, y, and z coordinate, the next number should be the intensity and the next number should be the scan angle. The supported entries are: - • x - x coordinate as a double - • y - y coordinate as a double - • z - z coordinate as a double - • X - x coordinate as unscaled integer - • Y - y coordinate as unscaled integer - • Z - z coordinate as unscaled integer - • a - scan angle - • i - intensity - • n - number of returns for given pulse - • r - number of this return - • c - classification number - • C - classification name - • u - user data - • p - point source ID - • e - edge of flight line - • d - direction of scan flag - • R - red channel of RGB color - • G - green channel of RGB color - • B - blue channel of RGB color - • M - vertex index number - FC**--precision**F\[0\] *arg* The number of decimal places to use for x,y,z,\[t\] output. FC**--precision 7 7 3**F\[0\] FC**--precision 3 3 4 6**F\[0\] If you don't specify any precision, las2txt uses the implicit values defined by the header's scale value (and a precision of 8 is used for any time values.) - FC**--delimiter**F\[0\] *arg* The character to use for delimiting fields in the output. FC**--delimiter ","**F\[0\] FC**--delimiter ""**F\[0\] FC**--delimiter " "**F\[0\] - FC**--labels**F\[0\] Print row of header labels - FC**--header**F\[0\] Print header information - FC**-v**F\[0\], FC**--verbose**F\[0\] Verbose message output - FC**--xml**F\[0\] Output as XML. No formatting given by FC**--parse**F\[0\] is respected in this case. - FC**--stdout**F\[0\] Output data to stdout Filtering options: - FC**-e**F\[0\] *arg*, FC**--extent**F\[0\] *arg* Extent window that points must fall within to keep. Use a comma-separated or quoted, space-separated list, for example, FC**-e minx, miny, maxx, maxy**F\[0\] or FC**-e minx, miny, minz, maxx, maxy, maxz**F\[0\] FC**-e "minx miny minz maxx maxy maxz"**F\[0\] - FC**--minx**F\[0\] *arg* Extent must be greater than or equal to minx to be kept. FC**--minx 1234.0**F\[0\] - FC**--miny**F\[0\] *arg* Extent must be greater than or equal to miny to be kept. FC**--miny 5678.0**F\[0\] - FC**--minz**F\[0\] *arg* Extent must be greater than or equal to minz to be kept. If maxx and maxy are set but not minz \*and maxz, all z values are kept. FC**--minz 0.0**F\[0\] - FC**--maxx**F\[0\] *arg* Extent must be less than or equal to maxx to be kept. FC**--maxx 1234.0**F\[0\] - FC**--maxy**F\[0\] *arg* Extent must be less than or equal to maxy to be kept. FC**--maxy 5678.0**F\[0\] - FC**--maxz**F\[0\] *arg* Extent must be less than or equal to maxz to be kept. If maxx and maxy are set but not maxz \*and minz, all z values are kept. FC**--maxz 10.0**F\[0\] - FC**-t**F\[0\] *arg*, FC**--thin**F\[0\] *arg* (=0) Simple decimation-style thinning. Thin the file by removing every t'th point from the file. - FC**--last-return-only**F\[0\] Keep last returns (cannot be used with FC**--first-return-only**F\[0\]) - FC**--first-return-only**F\[0\] Keep first returns (cannot be used with FC**--last-return-only**F\[0\]) - FC**--keep-returns**F\[0\] *arg* A list of return numbers to keep in the output file: FC**--keep-returns 1 2 3**F\[0\] - FC**--drop-returns**F\[0\] *arg* Return numbers to drop. For example, FC**--drop-returns 2 3 4 5**F\[0\] - FC**--valid\_only**F\[0\] Keep only valid points - FC**--keep-classes**F\[0\] *arg* A list of classifications to keep: FC**--keep-classes 2 4 12**F\[0\] FC**--keep-classes 2**F\[0\] - FC**--drop-classes**F\[0\] *arg* A comma-separated list of classifications to drop: FC**--drop-classes 1,7,8**F\[0\] FC**--drop-classes 2**F\[0\] - FC**--keep-intensity**F\[0\] *arg* Range in which to keep intensity. The following expression types are supported: FC**--keep-intensity 0-100**F\[0\] FC**--keep-intensity \<200**F\[0\] FC**--keep-intensity \>400**F\[0\] FC**--keep-intensity \>=200**F\[0\] - FC**--drop-intensity**F\[0\] *arg* Range in which to drop intensity. The following expression types are supported: FC**--drop-intensity \<200**F\[0\] FC**--drop-intensity \>400**F\[0\] FC**--drop-intensity \>=200**F\[0\] - FC**--keep-time**F\[0\] *arg* Range in which to keep time. The following expression types are supported: FC**--keep-time 413665.2336-414092.8462**F\[0\] FC**--keep-time \<414094.8462**F\[0\] FC**--keep-time \>413665.2336**F\[0\] FC**--keep-time \>=413665.2336**F\[0\] - FC**--drop-time**F\[0\] *arg* Range in which to drop time. The following expression types are supported: FC**--drop-time \<413666.2336**F\[0\] FC**--drop-time \>413665.2336**F\[0\] FC**--drop-time \>=413665.2336**F\[0\] - FC**--keep-scan-angle**F\[0\] *arg* Range in which to keep scan angle. The following expression types are supported: FC**--keep-scan-angle 0-100**F\[0\] FC**--keep-scan-angle \<100**F\[0\] FC**--keep-scan-angle \<=100**F\[0\] - FC**--drop-scan-angle**F\[0\] *arg* Range in which to drop scan angle. The following expression types are supported: FC**--drop-scan-angle \<30**F\[0\] FC**--drop-scan-angle \>100**F\[0\] FC**--drop-scan-angle \>=100**F\[0\] - FC**--keep-color**F\[0\] *arg* Range in which to keep colors. Define colors as two 3-tuples (R,G,B-R,G,B): FC**--keep-color '0,0,0-125,125,125'**F\[0\] - FC**--drop-color**F\[0\] *arg* Range in which to drop colors. Define colors as two 3-tuples (R,G,B-R,G,B): FC**--drop-color '255,255,255-65536,65536,65536'**F\[0\] For more information, see the full documentation for lasinfo at: ⟨http://liblas.org/utilities/las2txt.html⟩ ## EXAMPLE **Simple conversion to text file** ``` FC $ las2txt -i lidar.las -o lidar.txt -parse xyz F[0] ``` converts LAS file to ASCII and places the x, y, and z coordinate of each point at the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd entry of each line. The entries are separated by a space. **Specifying a separator** ``` FC $ las2txt -i lidar.las -o lidar.txt -parse txyzr -sep komma F[0] ``` converts LAS file to ASCII and places the gps\_time as the first entry, the x, y, and z coordinates at the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th entry and the number of the return as the 5th entry of each line. The entries are separated by a komma. **Altering the header separator** ``` FC $ las2txt -i lidar.las -o lidar.txt -parse xyzia -sep semicolon -header pound F[0] ``` converts LAS file to ASCII and places the x, y, and z coordinate at the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd entry, the intensity at the 4th and the scan angle as the 5th entry of each line. The entries are separated by a semicolon. At the beginning of the file we print the header information as a comment starting with a '#' symbol. **Altering the coordinate order** ``` FC $ las2txt -i lidar.las -o lidar.txt -parse xyzcu -sep tab -header percent F[0] ``` converts LAS file to ASCII and places the x, y, and z coordinate at the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd entry, the classification at the 4th and the user data as the 5th entry of each line. The entries are separated by a semicolon. At the beginning of the file we print the header information as a comment starting with a '%' symbol.