/*=========================================================================

  Program:   Visualization Toolkit
  Module:    $RCSfile: vtkSliceCubes.h,v $

  Copyright (c) Ken Martin, Will Schroeder, Bill Lorensen
  All rights reserved.
  See Copyright.txt or http://www.kitware.com/Copyright.htm for details.

     This software is distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even
     the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
     PURPOSE.  See the above copyright notice for more information.

=========================================================================*/
// .NAME vtkSliceCubes - generate isosurface(s) from volume four slices at a time
// .SECTION Description
// vtkSliceCubes is a special version of the marching cubes filter. Instead
// of ingesting an entire volume at once it processes only four slices at
// a time. This way, it can generate isosurfaces from huge volumes. Also, the 
// output of this object is written to a marching cubes triangle file. That
// way, output triangles do not need to be held in memory.
// 
// To use vtkSliceCubes you must specify an instance of vtkVolumeReader to
// read the data. Set this object up with the proper file prefix, image range,
// data origin, data dimensions, header size, data mask, and swap bytes flag. 
// The vtkSliceCubes object will then take over and read slices as necessary. 
// You also will need to specify the name of an output marching cubes triangle 
// file.
//
// .SECTION Caveats
// This process object is both a source and mapper (i.e., it reads and writes 
// data to a file). This is different than the other marching cubes objects 
// (and most process objects in the system). It's specialized to handle very 
// large data.
//
// This object only extracts a single isosurface. This compares with the other
// contouring objects in vtk that generate multiple surfaces.
//
// To read the output file use vtkMCubesReader.

// .SECTION See Also
// vtkMarchingCubes vtkContourFilter vtkMCubesReader vtkDividingCubes vtkVolumeReader

#ifndef __vtkSliceCubes_h
#define __vtkSliceCubes_h

#include "vtkObject.h"

class vtkVolumeReader;

class VTK_GRAPHICS_EXPORT vtkSliceCubes : public vtkObject
{
public:
  static vtkSliceCubes *New();
  vtkTypeRevisionMacro(vtkSliceCubes,vtkObject);
  void PrintSelf(ostream& os, vtkIndent indent);

  // methods to make it look like a filter
  void Write() {this->Update();};
  void Update();

  // Description:
  // Set/get object to read slices.
  virtual void SetReader(vtkVolumeReader*);
  vtkGetObjectMacro(Reader,vtkVolumeReader);

  // Description:
  // Specify file name of marching cubes output file.
  vtkSetStringMacro(FileName);
  vtkGetStringMacro(FileName);

  // Description:
  // Set/get isosurface contour value.
  vtkSetMacro(Value,double);
  vtkGetMacro(Value,double);

  // Description:
  // Specify file name of marching cubes limits file. The limits file
  // speeds up subsequent reading of output triangle file.
  vtkSetStringMacro(LimitsFileName);
  vtkGetStringMacro(LimitsFileName);

protected:
  vtkSliceCubes();
  ~vtkSliceCubes();

  void Execute();

  vtkVolumeReader *Reader;
  char *FileName;  
  double Value;
  char *LimitsFileName;

private:
  vtkSliceCubes(const vtkSliceCubes&);  // Not implemented.
  void operator=(const vtkSliceCubes&);  // Not implemented.
};

#endif

