# tiffdump – View The Data Structure of a TIFF File

Version: 2.1

Part of DaVince Tools

Last Modified: December 1, 2002

## Command Syntax:

(Please note that the square brackets "[" and "]" specify optional parameters; do not enter the brackets as part of the command)

tiffdump [–h] [–i ifdnum] [-?] file

Arguments:

-h: Display numeric values as hexadecimal

-i ifdnum: Display only this IFD (default is to display all IFD’s)

-?: A brief summary of arguments is displayed

file: Specify the name of the TIFF file to generate a tag summary.

## Description:

"tiffdump" is a command line program that views the tag data structure of a TIFF file. This program does not extract image data. To fully understand the output of this program, you should be familiar with the TIFF file format. For more information on the TIFF file data structure, refer to the TIFF 6 specification, which can be found at the Adobe web site http://www.adobe.com.

By default, all image file directories (IFD’s) are displayed. Multiple IFD’s are typically found in multi-page TIFF files and TIFF files with attached thumbnail or mask images. If this is a multi IFD TIFF file, you can display a selected IFD by using the "-i" option.

## Other information displayed by the program:

CPU Byte Order: the byte order used by the hardware executing "tiffdump". For Intel platforms, this value is "little" for little endian. For Macintosh, Solaris and AIX platforms, this value is "big" for big endian.

File Byte Order: the byte order used in the TIFF file. Typically it is the same byte order as the computer that created the file, which may not the same byte order of the computer reading the file. For example, a TIFF file created on a Macintosh will have a file byte order of "Big", and when reading this file on an Intel PC, the CPU byte order will be "Little".

## About DaVince Tools:

Visit the DaVince Tools web site at http://www.davince.com for the latest version of this software and the latest documentation. DaVince Tools is shareware and software registration is urged if you find these programs useful. You can register the software on-line at http://www.davince.com.

DaVince Tools was written in C++ using the DaVince Class Library, written by the same author as this program. The DaVince Class Library is a C++ library for developing PDF and TIFF applications. Contact the author at info@davince.com for more information on the availability of the class library.