Question

I have a text file being saved by a matrix library containing a 2D matrix as such:

1 0 0 
6 0 4
0 1 1

Where each number is represented with a colored pixel. I am looking for some insight as to how I’d go about solving this problem. If any more information is required, do not hesitate to ask.

EDIT: Another approach I’ve tried is: fwrite(&intmatrix, size,1, bmp_ptr); where I pass in the matrix pointer, which does not seem to output a readable BMP file. The value of size is the rows*cols of course, and the type of matrix is arma::Mat<int> which is a matrix from the Armadillo Linear Algebra Library.

EDIT II: Reading this indicated that my size should probably be rows*cols*4 given the size of the rows if I am not mistaken, any guidance on this point as well would be great.

Answer 1

Here’s an app which generates a text file of random integers, reads them back, and writes them to disk as a (roughly square) 32-bit-per-pixel .BMP image.

Note, I made a number of assumptions on things like the format of the original text file, the range of numbers, etc., but they are documented in the code. With this working example you should be able to tweak them easily, if necessary.

// IntToBMP.cpp : Defines the entry point for the console application.
//

#include "stdafx.h"
#include <cstdint>
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
#include <random>
#include <ctime>
#include <memory>

#pragma pack( push, 1 ) 
struct BMP
{
    BMP();
    struct
    {
        uint16_t ID;
        uint32_t fileSizeInBytes;
        uint16_t reserved1;
        uint16_t reserved2;
        uint32_t pixelArrayOffsetInBytes;
    } FileHeader;

    enum class CompressionMethod : uint32_t {   BI_RGB              = 0x00, 
                                                BI_RLE8             = 0x01,
                                                BI_RLE4             = 0x02,
                                                BI_BITFIELDS        = 0x03,
                                                BI_JPEG             = 0x04,
                                                BI_PNG              = 0x05,
                                                BI_ALPHABITFIELDS   = 0x06 };

    struct
    {
        uint32_t headerSizeInBytes;
        uint32_t bitmapWidthInPixels;
        uint32_t bitmapHeightInPixels;
        uint16_t colorPlaneCount;
        uint16_t bitsPerPixel;
        CompressionMethod compressionMethod;
        uint32_t bitmapSizeInBytes;
        int32_t horizontalResolutionInPixelsPerMeter;
        int32_t verticalResolutionInPixelsPerMeter;
        uint32_t paletteColorCount;
        uint32_t importantColorCount;
    } DIBHeader;
};
#pragma pack( pop )

BMP::BMP()
{
    //Initialized fields
    FileHeader.ID                                   = 0x4d42; // == 'BM' (little-endian)
    FileHeader.reserved1                            = 0;
    FileHeader.reserved2                            = 0;
    FileHeader.pixelArrayOffsetInBytes              = sizeof( FileHeader ) + sizeof( DIBHeader );
    DIBHeader.headerSizeInBytes                     = 40;
    DIBHeader.colorPlaneCount                       = 1;
    DIBHeader.bitsPerPixel                          = 32;
    DIBHeader.compressionMethod                     = CompressionMethod::BI_RGB;
    DIBHeader.horizontalResolutionInPixelsPerMeter  = 2835; // == 72 ppi
    DIBHeader.verticalResolutionInPixelsPerMeter    = 2835; // == 72 ppi
    DIBHeader.paletteColorCount                     = 0;
    DIBHeader.importantColorCount                   = 0;
}

void Exit( void )
{
    std::cout << "Press a key to exit...";
    std::getchar();

    exit( 0 );
}

void MakeIntegerFile( const std::string& integerFilename )
{
    const uint32_t intCount = 1 << 20; //Generate 1M (2^20) integers
    std::unique_ptr< int32_t[] > buffer( new int32_t[ intCount ] ); 

    std::mt19937 rng;
    uint32_t rngSeed = static_cast< uint32_t >( time( NULL ) );
    rng.seed( rngSeed );

    std::uniform_int_distribution< int32_t > dist( INT32_MIN, INT32_MAX );

    for( size_t i = 0; i < intCount; ++i )
    {
        buffer[ i ] = dist( rng );
    }

    std::ofstream writeFile( integerFilename, std::ofstream::binary );

    if( !writeFile )
    {
        std::cout << "Error writing " << integerFilename << ".\n";
        Exit();
    }

    writeFile << buffer[ 0 ];
    for( size_t i = 1; i < intCount; ++i )
    {
        writeFile << " " << buffer[ i ];
    }
}

int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])  //Replace with int main( int argc, char* argv[] ) if you're not under Visual Studio
{
    //Assumption: 32-bit signed integers
    //Assumption: Distribution of values range from INT32_MIN through INT32_MAX, inclusive
    //Assumption: number of integers contained in file are unknown
    //Assumption: source file of integers is a series of space-delimitied strings representing integers
    //Assumption: source file's contents are valid
    //Assumption: non-rectangular numbers of integers yield non-rectangular bitmaps (final scanline may be short)
    //            This may cause some .bmp parsers to fail; others may pad with 0's.  For simplicity, this implementation
    //            attempts to render square bitmaps.

    const std::string integerFilename = "integers.txt";
    const std::string bitmapFilename = "bitmap.bmp";

    std::cout << "Creating file of random integers...\n";
    MakeIntegerFile( integerFilename );

    std::vector< int32_t >integers; //If quantity of integers being read is known, reserve or resize vector or use array

    //Read integers from file
    std::cout << "Reading integers from file...\n";
    {   //Nested scope will release ifstream resource when no longer needed
        std::ifstream readFile( integerFilename );

        if( !readFile )
        {
            std::cout << "Error reading " << integerFilename << ".\n";
            Exit();
        }

        std::string number;
        while( readFile.good() )
        {
            std::getline( readFile, number, ' ' );
            integers.push_back( std::stoi( number ) );
        }

        if( integers.size() == 0 )
        {
            std::cout << "No integers read from " << integerFilename << ".\n";
            Exit();
        }
    }

    //Construct .bmp
    std::cout << "Constructing .BMP...\n";
    BMP bmp;
    size_t intCount = integers.size();
    bmp.DIBHeader.bitmapSizeInBytes = intCount * sizeof( integers[ 0 ] );
    bmp.FileHeader.fileSizeInBytes = bmp.FileHeader.pixelArrayOffsetInBytes + bmp.DIBHeader.bitmapSizeInBytes;
    bmp.DIBHeader.bitmapWidthInPixels = static_cast< uint32_t >( ceil( sqrt( intCount ) ) );
    bmp.DIBHeader.bitmapHeightInPixels = static_cast< uint32_t >( ceil( intCount / static_cast< float >( bmp.DIBHeader.bitmapWidthInPixels ) ) );

    //Write integers to .bmp file
    std::cout << "Writing .BMP...\n";
    {
        std::ofstream writeFile( bitmapFilename, std::ofstream::binary );

        if( !writeFile )
        {
            std::cout << "Error writing " << bitmapFilename << ".\n";
            Exit();
        }

        writeFile.write( reinterpret_cast< char * >( &bmp ), sizeof( bmp ) );
        writeFile.write( reinterpret_cast< char * >( &integers[ 0 ] ), bmp.DIBHeader.bitmapSizeInBytes );
    }

    //Exit
    Exit();
} 

Hope this helps.