las2txt(1)

NAME
las2txt - output ASRPS LAS files into ASCII text

SYNOPSIS
las2txt
[-h | -i <infile> -o <outfile> -t <format> | -formats]

DESCRIPTION
las2txt allows you to output ASRPS LAS files into ASCII text.

The '\FC-parse txyz\F[]' flag specifies how to format each line of the ASCII file. For example, '\FCtxyzia\F[]' 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[]' 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[]' 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[], \FC--help\F[]
    produce help message

\FC-i\F[] arg, \FC--input\F[] arg
    input LAS file.

\FC-o\F[] arg, \FC--output\F[] arg
    output text file. Use 'stdout' if you want it written to the standard output stream

\FC--parse\F[] arg
    The '\FC--parse txyz\F[]' flag specifies how to format each line of the ASCII file.

    For example, '\FCtxyzia\F[]' 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[] arg
    The number of decimal places to use for x,y,z,[t] output. \FC--precision 7 7 3\F[] \FC--precision 3 3 4 6\F[] 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[] arg
    The character to use for delimiting fields in the output. \FC--delimiter ","\F[] \FC--delimiter ""\F[] \FC--delimiter " "\F[]

\FC--labels\F[]
    Print row of header labels

\FC--header\F[]
    Print header information

\FC-v\F[], \FC--verbose\F[]
    Verbose message output

\FC--xml\F[]
    Output as XML. No formatting given by \FC--parse\F[] is respected in this case.

\FC--stdout\F[]
    Output data to stdout

Filtering options:

\FC-e\F[] arg, \FC--extent\F[] 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[] or \FC-e minx, miny, minz, maxx, maxy, maxz\F[] \FC-e "minx miny minz maxx maxy maxz"\F[]

\FC--minx\F[] arg
    Extent must be greater than or equal to minx to be kept. \FC--minx 1234.0\F[]

\FC--miny\F[] arg
    Extent must be greater than or equal to miny to be kept. \FC--miny 5678.0\F[]

\FC--minz\F[] 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[]

\FC--maxx\F[] arg
    Extent must be less than or equal to maxx to be kept. \FC--maxx 1234.0\F[]

\FC--maxy\F[] arg
    Extent must be less than or equal to maxy to be kept. \FC--maxy 5678.0\F[]

\FC--maxz\F[] 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[]

\FC-t\F[] arg, \FC--thin\F[] arg (=0)
    Simple decimation-style thinning. Thin the file by removing every t'th point from the file.

\FC--last-return-only\F[]
    Keep last returns (cannot be used with \FC--first-return-only\F[])

\FC--first-return-only\F[]
    Keep first returns (cannot be used with \FC--last-return-only\F[])

\FC--keep-returns\F[] arg
    A list of return numbers to keep in the output file: \FC--keep-returns 1 2 3\F[]

\FC--drop-returns\F[] arg
    Return numbers to drop. For example, \FC--drop-returns 2 3 4 5\F[]

\FC--valid_only\F[]
    Keep only valid points

\FC--keep-classes\F[] arg
    A list of classifications to keep: \FC--keep-classes 2 4 12\F[] \FC--keep-classes 2\F[]

\FC--drop-classes\F[] arg
    A comma-separated list of classifications to drop: \FC--drop-classes 1,7,8\F[] \FC--drop-classes 2\F[]

\FC--keep-intensity\F[] arg
    Range in which to keep intensity. The following expression types are supported: \FC--keep-intensity 0-100\F[] \FC--keep-intensity <200\F[] \FC--keep-intensity >400\F[] \FC--keep-intensity >=200\F[]

\FC--drop-intensity\F[] arg
    Range in which to drop intensity. The following expression types are supported: \FC--drop-intensity <200\F[] \FC--drop-intensity >400\F[] \FC--drop-intensity >=200\F[]

\FC--keep-time\F[] arg
    Range in which to keep time. The following expression types are supported: \FC--keep-time 413665.2336-414092.8462\F[] \FC--keep-time <414094.8462\F[] \FC--keep-time >413665.2336\F[] \FC--keep-time >=413665.2336\F[]

\FC--drop-time\F[] arg
    Range in which to drop time. The following expression types are supported: \FC--drop-time <413666.2336\F[] \FC--drop-time >413665.2336\F[] \FC--drop-time >=413665.2336\F[]

\FC--keep-scan-angle\F[] arg
    Range in which to keep scan angle. The following expression types are supported: \FC--keep-scan-angle 0-100\F[] \FC--keep-scan-angle <100\F[] \FC--keep-scan-angle <=100\F[]

\FC--drop-scan-angle\F[] arg
    Range in which to drop scan angle. The following expression types are supported: \FC--drop-scan-angle <30\F[] \FC--drop-scan-angle >100\F[] \FC--drop-scan-angle >=100\F[]

\FC--keep-color\F[] 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[]

\FC--drop-color\F[] 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[]

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[]

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[]

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[]

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[]

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.