The mcx convert manual
Keywords: manual

16 May 2014 mcx convert 14-137

1.
NAME
2.
SYNOPSIS
3.
DESCRIPTION
4.
OPTIONS
5.
AUTHOR
6.
SEE ALSO

## NAME

mcx convert — convert between mcx storage types

## SYNOPSIS

mcx convert <matrix-file-in> <matrix-file-out>
mcx convert [--write-binary] --cone-to-stack <cat-file-in> <cat-file-out>
mcx convert [--write-binary] --stack-to-cone <cat-file-in> <cat-file-out>

mcxconvert is not in actual fact a program. This manual page documents the behaviour and options of the mcx program when invoked in mode convert. The options -h, --apropos, --version, -set, --nop, -progress <num> are accessible in all mcx modes. They are described in the mcx manual page.

mcx convert [--cone-to-stack (transform cone file to stack file)] [--stack-to-cone (transform stack file to cone file)] [--write-binary (output native binary format)] [--cat (read and write cat format)] [-cat-max <num> (limit the stack conversion to <num> matrices)]

In the two-argument invocation without additional arguments, mcx convert converts from the format found in the first file to the other format, i.e. from native interchange to native binary format or the other way around. When querying with the -q option, mcx{convert} will output a one-line synopsis describing the matrix in the argument. The --cone-to-stack and --stack-to-cone options convert between the two types of concatenated output provided by mclcm.

## DESCRIPTION

The mcl libraries make extensive use of matrices. Matrices are used to encode graphs, matrices and clusterings. They can be stored either in interchange or in binary format. The latter is somewhat more efficient in storage and much faster in both reading and writing, but the default is interchange format.

The mcl input routines recognize the type of storage they are dealing with. If you want to convert a matrix to the other storage type, simply specify the file name of the matrix you want to convert. mcx convert will recognize its type, and write the other type to the file specified as the second argument.

## OPTIONS

--cone-to-stack (transform cone file to stack file)

This option requires two trailing options, the names of respectively the source cone file and the target stack file.

--stack-to-cone (transform stack file to cone file)

This option requires two trailing options, the names of respectively the source stack file and the target cone file.

--cat (read and write cat format)
-cat-max <num> (limit the stack conversion to <num> matrices)
--write-binary (output native binary format)

This option is only useful with either of the options --cone-to-stack, --stack-to-cone, or --cat.

## AUTHOR

Stijn van Dongen.

## SEE ALSO

mcxio, and mclfamily for an overview of all the documentation and the utilities in the mcl family.