Command-line tools

TerminalConverterApp

The Swift converter reads DICOM directories, QVIS, NRRD/NHDR, and PVM files, exports BorgVR datasets, or creates reproducible synthetic volumes. Import and generation write the bricked BorgVR format.

TerminalConverterApp D <input-directory> <output.data> <description> <brick-size> <overlap>
TerminalConverterApp Q <input-file>      <output.data> <description> <brick-size> <overlap>
TerminalConverterApp N <input-file>      <output.data> <description> <brick-size> <overlap>
TerminalConverterApp P <input-file>      <output.data> <description> <brick-size> <overlap>

Mode P reads PVM, PVM2, and PVM3, including the DDS v3d and DDS v3e compression wrappers. Relative PVM voxel spacing is preserved proportionally and normalized to a longest total extent of one meter.

Descriptions containing spaces must be quoted. brick-size and overlap are positive integers.

Exporting a flat volume

TerminalConverterApp E <input.data> <output.nrrd> <lod>

Export reconstructs the selected level of detail as an uncompressed inline NRRD file. LoD 0 contains the full resolution; higher values select the stored downsampled levels. Brick overlap and boundary padding are removed, and physical voxel spacing is adjusted for the selected level.

Synthetic datasets

TerminalConverterApp C <algorithm[,algorithm...]> <bytes-per-component> <components> \
  <size-x> <size-y> <size-z> <output.data> <description> \
  <brick-size> <overlap>

GPU generators operate slice by slice, allowing large volumes to be created without keeping the complete result in GPU memory. For multi-channel data, provide one comma-separated generator identifier per channel in channel order; one identifier is applied to every channel. Multi-channel data supports 8 or 16 bits per channel, while scalar data additionally supports 32 bits.

TerminalConverterApp C F,J 2 2 512 512 512 MandelbulbJulia.data \
  "Mandelbulb and quaternion Julia set" 64 2

TerminalConverterApp --help shows complete syntax; --version prints the tool version.

TerminalServerApp

The Swift server publishes .data, .tf1d, .mesh, .marker, and .measurement files from one directory. By default, it refreshes the catalog every ten seconds.

TerminalServerApp --directory /path/to/datasets \
  --port 12345 --web-port 8080

--directory, -d

Directory containing datasets, transfer functions, meshes, object files, and measurements; defaults to the home directory.

--port, -p

Native BorgVR protocol port.

--max-bricks, -m

Maximum number of bricks per GETBRICKS request.

--password

Optional password for native and WebGPU clients.

--scan-interval

Catalog refresh interval in seconds; 0 disables rescanning.

--web-port

Enables the embedded WebGPU server on this port.

--web-http

Uses local HTTP instead of HTTPS and binds only to localhost.

--web-certificate

PKCS#12 certificate as .p12 or .pfx; supply its password with --web-certificate-password.

--log-file

Also appends log output to the specified file.

Synchronization

TerminalServerApp --directory /srv/borgvr \
  --sync-server server-a.example 12345 300 secret \
  --sync-server server-b.example 12345 300

--sync-server is repeatable. The interval must be at least ten seconds; the optional password is not echoed in runtime output. Datasets, transfer functions, marker files, and mesh assets are synchronized, incomplete dataset transfers resume, and alternate sources are tried after a stall.

BORGVRServerCPP

The C++17 server is the cross-platform alternative for macOS, Linux, and Windows. On macOS or Linux, make first builds a small bootstrap program that embeds the contents of web/ into the server using LZ4 compression.

cd BORGVRServerCPP
make
make CONFIG=debug
make run ARGS="--directory /path/to/datasets --port 12345 --max-bricks 64 --web-port 8080"

The C++ server uses the same option names as the Swift server, including --directory, --port, --max-bricks, --log-file, and repeatable --sync-server entries.

BORGVRServerCPP --directory /data/BorgVR --port 12345 --max-bricks 64 \
  --sync-server 192.168.1.10 12345 300 secret

A Visual Studio solution is also included for Windows. The generated files src/GeneratedWebAssets.cpp and src/GeneratedWebAssets.h are build artifacts and are not tracked in the repository.

Output and automation

While either server is running, l0 selects developer/debug output, l1 normal information, l2 warnings, and l3 errors only. l lists the available datasets; i repeats the startup and configuration information.

Both Swift tools report their version with --version and return a non-zero exit status for invalid arguments. The converter logs dimensions, brick counts, compression statistics, value range, metadata, file size, and elapsed time, making it suitable for reproducible pipelines.