Macro Programming with NIH Image For Implementing ASTM C 457

摘要

Often when automated data collection and analysis is desired, the limiting factor is finding the necessary instrumentation and software to perform the required task. Of these, software is typically the most difficult to obtain. For applications like image analysis of concrete, the market for software is very limited and there is little incentive for commercial instrumentation manufacturers to produce such products. Therefore, it is often left to the researcher to "build their own" from available off the shelf hardware controlled by their own software. Clearly, starting with nothing and generating an operating program is more than most microscopists or analysts desire to undertake. However, often existing software is available that can be "customized" through the use of a macro programming language. Macros are typically easier to write than native computer code (e.g. FORTRAN, Pascal) and make use of existing routines already built into a program. Macros allow for constructing new commands or functions that operate within the defining program. Often, macros can be written simply by enabling a recording mode and selecting menu choices from the program of interest in the proper sequence to complete the required task. Then, the recorded set of menu commands can be executed by a command or key stroke called a "hot key" and the process is repeated under computer control. The purpose of this presentation is to introduce macro programming by demonstrating a set of image analysis routines written for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Image 1.62 program that can be used to perform an ASTM C 457 (1) air void analysis and measure other properties of the concrete microstructure including aggregate gradation.