slashmasksort(1) General Commands Manual slashmasksort(1) NAME slashmasksort - Sorts and/or splits contours into a set of new objects based on whether its points fall inside any closed contours in the specified 'mask' object(s). SYNOPSIS slashmasksort -o list -m list [options] input_model output_model DESCRIPTION This program requires you to enter one list of objects with contours you want sorted (eg: '-o 1'), and a second list of closed contour objects (eg: '-m 1,2') where the closed contours form a mask on your different z slices. When the program is run it will generate a series of new objects at the end of the model and will duplicate contours inside a mask into the appropriate new object. Here's an example of new objects generated when given the example input with 1 input object and 2 masks objects: COMMAND_PROMPT> slashmasksort -o 1 -m 2,3 -n in.mod out.mod OBJECT OUTPUT: > "object 1... masked by 'object 2'" 45 conts (35.0%) > "object 1... masked by 'object 3'" 3 conts (2.0%) By default, each contour is kept intact and only duplicated to the new object corresponding to the first mask object it's inside. A contour can only be considered inside one mask object, and if it's outside all objects it won't be duplicated unless you use the '-k' to generate "object 1... masked OUTSIDE" objects for each input object. If, however, you add the '-s' argument, then contour will get split whenever they cross outside or into a new mask object. The splits don't occur where the contours leave (no extra points are added), so that's a feature you'd have to request. The purpose of this program is to help you sort objects such as sub-cellular compartments which you may just mark up as one layer, but then suddenly decide that you would prefer to sort them into the different cells they belong to - or even just delete all compartments / points which happen to fall outside your main compartment of interest. Putting closed contours on every desired slice Please note that if you have a volume/surface that you want to use as a mask your closed mask contour should have (closed) contours on EVERY slice of the desired surface. The slashmasksort program looks only at contours and not surface information. To get closed mask contours on every slice you can use the "Interpolator" window (3dmod >> Special >> Interpolator) or the "imodsortsurf" and "imodfillin" programs. OPTIONS -o #/list A list of "input objects" (eg: '1,4-5') containing con- tours/points that you wish to sort/split into new objects. These objects can be of any type, and you must list at least one. -m #/list A list of closed contour objects to use as "mask objects". Note that you will want to have a closed contour on every slice of your desired mask volume and that during the sorting/splitting phase each input contour only gets sorted into one mask object (never multiple objects). -s Turns on "splitting" such that each point is tested separately against the mask objects and if two consecutive points are in different "areas" then the contour will be split into separate contours either side of these points. If you have a scattered point object and wish every point to be it's own contour (one point per contour) consider using "slashsplitconts" before run- ning this program. -C If the -s option is on, this option will mark any contour which are split open as "open contours". -i Will insert new objects just after the new objects they belong to such that you'd get: "Cell1" "Vesicles... masked by 'Cell1'" <-- new object "Mitochondria... masked by 'Cell1'" <-- new object "Cell2" "Vesicles... masked by 'Cell2'" <-- new object "Mitochondria... masked by 'Cell2'" <-- new object And so on. By default new objects are added to the end of the model file in this order: "Vesicles... masked by 'Cell1'" <-- new object "Vesicles... masked by 'Cell2'" <-- new object "Mitochondria... masked by 'Cell1'" <-- new object "Mitochondria... masked by 'Cell2'" <-- new object If you wish to further reorganize / reorder objects try using 3dmod's "Name Wizard" plugin (3dmod >> Special >> Name Wiz- ard). If desired, the same plugin can also be used to merge objects back together. -d Will delete all objects in the -o list after they are split. It is recommended you only use this option if you have backup. -k Will "keep" contours and/or points which fall outside all mask objects and put them into a separate object which is typically labelled "Object 1... masked OUTSIDE" and put at the end of the IMOD model. -f Will only test the first contour point of each contour in the input object list. This option can help speed things up a lit- tle, but is not relevant if -s is set. -c Will give the newly create objects different colors instead of duplicating the same color as the matching input object. -n Will use object number (eg: "object 1... masked by 'object 2'") instead of objects names (eg: "Vesicles... masked by 'Cell1'") as the names of new objects. Note that if an object name is missing it will also use the object number, so the only time you may want to use this option is if you don't have unique object names for each object. To produce good model files it's recom- mended you use "Name Wizard" to quickly give all your objects unique and meaningful names. AUTHORS Andrew Noske and David Mastronarde SEE ALSO imodfindbeads BUGS Email bug reports to mast at colorado dot edu, and CC to andrew<DOT>noske<AT>gmail<DOT>com. IMOD 5.2.0 slashmasksort(1)