FlipDCD is a software that reverses the endianism of binary DCD molecular dynamics trajectory files.
FlipDCD is a software utility that can reverse the endianism of binary DCD trajectory files from Charmm and NAMD. The primary purpose of this tool is to help users who run simulations on one architecture but wish to visualize or analyze the results on another. This is achieved through a relatively high-performance endianness conversion method that uses memory mapping to flip the endianism in-place.
The utility provides a mechanism for converting the byte ordering of CHARMM, X-PLOR, and NAMD DCD trajectory files so that they can be loaded by visualization and analysis programs on platforms with the opposite byte ordering of the origin platform. FlipDCD is capable of converting DCD files generated on a Windows PC to be readable on a Sun or an SGI and vice versa. The tool can also be used to report the endian status of DCD files or to force a particular endianness without regard for the origin of the DCD files.
The usage of FlipDCD is simple and straightforward. Users can specify a list of files as input and then use the command line options to specify the desired behavior. By default, FlipDCD will flip the byte ordering of the input files. Other options include reporting the byte-order status of each file without changing it, making/keeping each file big-endian, or making/keeping each file little-endian. The options are mutually exclusive, and the last one read is used.
Another tool included in the software is FixDCD. This is a tiny utility that modifies the header of an X-PLOR DCD file to make it readable by programs that expect Charmm DCD files. However, this conversion is not reversible, so users may wish to make a backup copy of their file(s) before using FixDCD. Similar to FlipDCD, FixDCD performs the conversion in-place.
Overall, FlipDCD and FixDCD are effective and useful software utilities for converting the endianism of binary DCD trajectory files. They provide a quick and efficient way for users to work with their simulation results on different platforms without the need for complicated and time-consuming conversion processes.
The utility provides a mechanism for converting the byte ordering of CHARMM, X-PLOR, and NAMD DCD trajectory files so that they can be loaded by visualization and analysis programs on platforms with the opposite byte ordering of the origin platform. FlipDCD is capable of converting DCD files generated on a Windows PC to be readable on a Sun or an SGI and vice versa. The tool can also be used to report the endian status of DCD files or to force a particular endianness without regard for the origin of the DCD files.
The usage of FlipDCD is simple and straightforward. Users can specify a list of files as input and then use the command line options to specify the desired behavior. By default, FlipDCD will flip the byte ordering of the input files. Other options include reporting the byte-order status of each file without changing it, making/keeping each file big-endian, or making/keeping each file little-endian. The options are mutually exclusive, and the last one read is used.
Another tool included in the software is FixDCD. This is a tiny utility that modifies the header of an X-PLOR DCD file to make it readable by programs that expect Charmm DCD files. However, this conversion is not reversible, so users may wish to make a backup copy of their file(s) before using FixDCD. Similar to FlipDCD, FixDCD performs the conversion in-place.
Overall, FlipDCD and FixDCD are effective and useful software utilities for converting the endianism of binary DCD trajectory files. They provide a quick and efficient way for users to work with their simulation results on different platforms without the need for complicated and time-consuming conversion processes.
What's New
Version 1.1: N/A