.. _vector.selafin:

Selafin files
=============

.. shortname:: Selafin

.. built_in_by_default::

OGR supports reading from 2D Selafin/Seraphin files. Selafin/Seraphin is
the generic output and input format of geographical files in the
open-source `Telemac hydraulic model <http://www.opentelemac.org>`__.
The file format is suited to the description of numerical attributes for
a set of point features at different time steps. Those features usually
correspond to the nodes in a finite-element model. The file also holds a
connectivity table which describes the elements formed by those nodes
and which can also be read by the driver.

The driver supports the use of VSI virtual files as Selafin datasources.

The driver offers full read-write support on Selafin files. However, due
to the particular nature of Selafin files where element (polygon)
features and node (point) features are closely related, writing on
Selafin layers can lead to counter-intuitive results. In a general way,
writing on any layer of a Selafin data-source will cause side effects on
all the other layers. Also, it is very important **not to open the same
datasource more than once in update mode**. Having two processes write
at the same time on a single datasource can lead to irreversible data
corruption. The driver issues a warning each time a datasource is opened
in update mode.

Driver capabilities
-------------------

.. supports_create::

.. supports_georeferencing::

.. supports_virtualio::

Magic bytes
-----------

There is no generic extension to Selafin files. The adequate format is
tested by looking at a dozen of magic bytes at the beginning of the
file:

-  The first four bytes of the file should contain the values (in
   hexadecimal): 00 00 00 50. This actually indicates the start of a
   string of length 80 in the file.
-  At position 84 in the file, the eight next bytes should read (in
   hexadecimal): 00 00 00 50 00 00 00 04.

Files which match those two criteria are considered to be Selafin files
and the driver will report it has opened them successfully.

Format
------

Selafin format is designed to hold data structures in a portable and
compact way, and to allow efficient random access to the data. To this
purpose, Selafin files are binary files with a generic structure.

Elements
~~~~~~~~

Selafin files are made of the juxtaposition of elements. Elements have
one of the following types:

-  integer,
-  string,
-  floating point values,
-  arrays of integers,
-  arrays of floating point values.

+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Element               | Internal              | Comments              |
|                       | representation        |                       |
+=======================+=======================+=======================+
| Integer               | a b c d               | Integers are stored   |
|                       |                       | on 4 bytes in         |
|                       |                       | big-endian format     |
|                       |                       | (most significant     |
|                       |                       | byte first). The      |
|                       |                       | value of the integer  |
|                       |                       | is                    |
|                       |                       | 2\ :sup:`24`.a+2\ :su |
|                       |                       | p:`16`.b+2\ :sup:`8`. |
|                       |                       | c+d.                  |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Floating point        | a b c d               | Floating point values |
|                       |                       | are stored on 4 bytes |
|                       |                       | in IEEE 754 format    |
|                       |                       | and under big-endian  |
|                       |                       | convention (most      |
|                       |                       | significant byte      |
|                       |                       | first). Endianness is |
|                       |                       | detected at run time  |
|                       |                       | only once when the    |
|                       |                       | first floating point  |
|                       |                       | value is read.        |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| String                | Length 1 2 ... Length | Strings are stored in |
|                       |                       | three parts:          |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       |                       | -  an integer holding |
|                       |                       |    the length (in     |
|                       |                       |    characters) of the |
|                       |                       |    string, over 4     |
|                       |                       |    bytes;             |
|                       |                       | -  the sequence of    |
|                       |                       |    characters of the  |
|                       |                       |    string, each       |
|                       |                       |    character on one   |
|                       |                       |    byte;              |
|                       |                       | -  the same integer   |
|                       |                       |    with the length of |
|                       |                       |    the string         |
|                       |                       |    repeated           |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Array of integers     | Length 1 2 ... Length | Arrays of integers    |
|                       |                       | are stored in three   |
|                       |                       | parts:                |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       |                       | -  an integer holding |
|                       |                       |    the length (in     |
|                       |                       |    bytes, thus 4      |
|                       |                       |    times the number   |
|                       |                       |    of elements) of    |
|                       |                       |    the array, over 4  |
|                       |                       |    bytes;             |
|                       |                       | -  the sequence of    |
|                       |                       |    integers in the    |
|                       |                       |    array, each        |
|                       |                       |    integer on 4 bytes |
|                       |                       |    as described       |
|                       |                       |    earlier;           |
|                       |                       | -  the same integer   |
|                       |                       |    with the length of |
|                       |                       |    the array repeated |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Array of floating     | Length 1 2 ... Length | Arrays of floating    |
| point values          |                       | point values are      |
|                       |                       | stored in three       |
|                       |                       | parts:                |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       |                       | -  an integer holding |
|                       |                       |    the length (in     |
|                       |                       |    bytes, thus 4      |
|                       |                       |    times the number   |
|                       |                       |    of elements) of    |
|                       |                       |    the array, over 4  |
|                       |                       |    bytes;             |
|                       |                       | -  the sequence of    |
|                       |                       |    floating point     |
|                       |                       |    values in the      |
|                       |                       |    array, each one on |
|                       |                       |    4 bytes as         |
|                       |                       |    described earlier; |
|                       |                       | -  the same integer   |
|                       |                       |    with the length of |
|                       |                       |    the array repeated |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

Full structure
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The header of a Selafin file holds the following elements in that exact
order:

-  a *string* of 80 characters with the title of the study; the last 8
   characters shall be "SERAPHIN" or "SERAFIN" or "SERAFIND";
-  an *array of integers* of exactly 2 elements, the first one being the
   number of variables (attributes) *nVar*, and the second is ignored;
-  *nVar strings* with the names of the variables, each one with length
   32;
-  an *array of integers* of exactly 10 elements:

   -  the third element is the x-coordinate of the origin of the model;
   -  the fourth element is the y-coordinate of the origin of the model;
   -  the tenth element *isDate* indicates if the date of the model has
      to be read (see later);
   -  in addition, the second element being unused by hydraulic software
      at the moment, it is used by the driver to store the spatial
      reference system of the datasource, in the form of a single
      integer with the EPSG number of the projection;

-  if *isDate*\ =1, an *array of integers* of exactly 6 elements, with
   the starting date of the model (year, month, day, hour, minute,
   second);
-  an *array of integers* of exactly 4 elements:

   -  the first element is the number of elements *nElements*,
   -  the second element is the number of points *nPoints*,
   -  the third element is the number of points per
      element\ *nPointsPerElement*,
   -  the fourth element must be 1;

-  an *array of integers* of exactly *nElements*nPointsPerElement*
   elements, with each successive set of *nPointsPerElement* being the
   list of the number of the points (number starting with 1)
   constituting an element;
-  an *array of integers* of exactly *nPoints* elements ignored by the
   driver (the elements shall be 0 for inner points and another value
   for the border points where a limit condition is applied);
-  an *array of floating point values* of exactly *nPoints* elements
   with the x-coordinates of the points;
-  an *array of floating point values* of exactly *nPoints* elements
   with the y-coordinates of the points;

The rest of the file actually holds the data for each successive time
step. A time step contains the following elements:

-  a *array of floating point values* of exactly 1 element, being the
   date of the time step relative to the starting date of the simulation
   (usually in seconds);
-  *nVar array of floating point values*, each with exactly *nPoints*
   elements, with the values of each attribute for each point at the
   current time step.

Mapping between file and layers
-------------------------------

Layers in a Selafin datasource
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Selafin driver accepts only Selafin files as data sources.

Each Selafin file can hold one or several time steps. All the time steps
are read by the driver and two layers are generated for each time step:

-  one layer with the nodes (points) and their attributes: its name is
   the base name of the data source, followed by "_p" (for Points);
-  one layer with the elements (polygons) and their attributes
   calculated as the averages of the values of the attributes of their
   vertices: its name is the base name of the data source, followed by
   "_e" (for Elements).

Finally, either the number of the time step, or the calculated date of
the time step (based on the starting date and the number of seconds
elapsed), is added to the name. A data source in a file called Results
may therefore be read as several layers:

-  ``Results_p2014_05_01_20_00_00``, meaning that the layers holds the
   attributes for the nodes and that the results hold for the time step
   at 8:00 PM, on May 1st, 2014;
-  ``Results_e2014_05_01_20_00_00``, meaning that the layers holds the
   attributes for the elements and that the results hold for the time
   step at 8:00 PM, on May 1st, 2014;
-  ``Results_p2014_05_01_20_15_00``, meaning that the layers holds the
   attributes for the elements and that the results hold for the time
   step at 8:15 PM, on May 1st, 2014;
-  ...

Constraints on layers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Because of the `format of the Selafin file <#format>`__, the layers in a
single Selafin datasource are not independent from each other. Changing
one layer will most certainly have side effects on all other layers. The
driver updates all the layers to match the constraints:

-  All the point layers have the same number of features. When a feature
   is added or removed in one layer, it is also added or removed in all
   other layers.
-  Features in different point layers share the same geometry. When the
   position of one point is changed, it is also changed in all other
   layers.
-  All the element layers have the same number of features. When a
   feature is added or removed in one layer, it is also added or removed
   in all other layers.
-  All the polygons in element layers have the same number of vertices.
   The number of vertices is fixed when the first feature is added to an
   element layer, and can not be changed afterwards without recreating
   the datasource from scratch.
-  Features in different element layers share the same geometry. When an
   element is added or removed in one layer, it is also added or removed
   in all other layers.
-  Every vertex of every feature in an element layer has a corresponding
   point feature in the point layers. When an element feature is added,
   if its vertices do not exist yet, they are created in the point
   layers.
-  Points and elements layers only support attributes of type "REAL".
   The format of real numbers (width and precision) can not be changed.

Layer filtering specification
-----------------------------

As a single Selafin files may hold millions of layers, and the user is
generally interested in only a few of them, the driver supports
syntactic sugar to filter the layers before they are read.

When the datasource is specified, it may be followed immediately by a
*layer filtering specification.*, as in ``Results[0:10]``. The effects
of the layer filtering specification is to indicate which time steps
shall be loaded from all Selafin files.

The layer filtering specification is a comma-separated sequence of range
specifications, delimited by square brackets and maybe preceded by the
character 'e' or 'p'. The effect of characters 'e' and 'p' is to select
respectively either only elements or only nodes. If no character is
added, both nodes and elements are selected. Each range specification
is:

-  either a single number, representing one single time step (whose
   numbers start with 0),
-  or a set of two numbers separated by a colon: in that case, all the
   time steps between and including those two numbers are selected; if
   the first number is missing, the range starts from the beginning of
   the file (first time step); if the second number is missing, the
   range goes to the end of the file (last time step);

Numbers can also be negative. In this case, they are counted from the
end of the file, -1 being the last time step.

Some examples of layer filtering specifications:

============ =================================================================================
[0]          First time step only, but return both points and elements
[e:9]        First 10 time steps only, and only layers with elements
[p-4:]       Last 4 time steps only, and only layers with nodes
[3,10,-2:-1] 4\ :sup:`th`, 11\ :sup:`th`, and last two time steps, for both nodes and elements
============ =================================================================================

Datasource creation options
---------------------------

Datasource creation options can be specified with the "``-dsco``" flag
in ogr2ogr.

TITLE
   Title of the datasource, stored in the Selafin file. The title must
   not hold more than 72 characters. If it is longer, it will be
   truncated to fit in the file.
DATE
   Starting date of the simulation. Each layer in a Selafin file is
   characterized by a date, counted in seconds since a reference date.
   This option allows providing the reference date. The format of this
   field must be YYYY-MM-DD_hh:mm:ss. The format does not mention the
   time zone.

An example of datasource creation option is:
``-dsco TITLE="My simulation" -dsco DATE=2014-05-01_10:00:00``.

Layer creation options
----------------------

Layer creation options can be specified with the "``-lco``" flag in
ogr2ogr.

DATE
   Date of the time step relative to the starting date of the simulation
   (see `Datasource creation options <#DCO>`__). This is a single
   floating-point value giving the number of seconds since the starting
   date.

An example of datasource creation option is: ``-lco DATE=24000``.

Notes about the creation and the update of a Selafin datasource
---------------------------------------------------------------

The driver supports creating and writing to Selafin datasources, but
there are some caveats when doing so.

When a new datasource is created, it does not contain any layer, feature
or attribute.

When a new layer is created, it automatically inherits the same number
of features and attributes as the other layers of the same type (points
or elements) already in the datasource. The features inherit the same
geometry as their corresponding ones in other layers. The attributes are
set to 0. If there was no layer in the datasource yet, the new layer is
created with no feature and attribute.In any case, when a new layer is
created, two layers are actually added: one for points and one for
elements.

New features and attributes can be added to the layers or removed. The
behaviour depends on the type of layer (points or elements). The
following table explains the behaviour of the driver in the different
cases.

================================== ========================================================================================================================================================================================= ======================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================
Operation                          Points layers                                                                                                                                                                             Element layers
================================== ========================================================================================================================================================================================= ======================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================
Change the geometry of a feature   The coordinates of the point are changed in the current layer and all other layers in the datasource.                                                                                     The coordinates of all the vertices of the element are changed in the current layer and all other layers in the datasource. It is not possible to change the number of vertices. The order of the vertices matters.
Change the attributes of a feature The attributes of the point are changed in the current layer only.                                                                                                                        No effect.
Add a new feature                  A new point is added at the end of the list of features, for this layer and all other layers. Its attributes are set to the values of the new feature.                                    The operation is only allowed if the new feature has the same number of vertices as the other features in the layer. The vertices are checked to see if they currently exist in the set of points. A vertex is considered equal to a point if its distance is less than some maximum distance, approximately equal to 1/1000\ :sup:`th` of the average distance between two points in the points layers. When a corresponding point is found, it is used as a vertex for the element. If no point is found, a new is created in all associated layers.
Delete a feature                   The point is removed from the current layer and all point layers in the datasource. All elements using this point as a vertex are also removed from all element layers in the datasource. The element is removed from the current layer and all element layers in the datasource.
================================== ========================================================================================================================================================================================= ======================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

Typically, this implementation of operations is exactly what you'll
expect. For example, ogr2ogr can be used to reproject the file without
changing the inner link between points and elements.

It should be noted that update operations on Selafin datasources are
very slow. This is because the format does no allow for quick insertions
or deletion of features and the file must be recreated for each
operation.

VSI Virtual File System API support
-----------------------------------

The driver supports reading and writing to files managed by VSI Virtual
File System API, which include "regular" files, as well as files in the
/vsizip/ (read-write) , /vsigzip/ (read-only) , /vsicurl/ (read-only)
domains.

Other notes
-----------

There is no SRS specification in the Selafin standard. The
implementation of SRS is an addition of the driver and stores the SRS in
an unused data field in the file. Future software using the Selafin
standard may use this field and break the SRS specification. In this
case, Selafin files will still be readable by the driver, but their
writing will overwrite a value which may have another purpose.
