Using the core tools

The core tools included with the basic MINC software distribution share a number of characteristics. First, they all function correctly with any MINC file, regardless of dimensionality or data type. Second, they are implemented as UNIX ``command line'' tools, with no graphical user interface. While this can make the tools somewhat more difficult to learn, it has the advantage that it is easy to build more complex applications which invoke the tools from within scripting languages or batch programming environments. Lastly, the tools are designed so that the input files are never modified: The result of any MINC tool is always one or more new MINC files, if appropriate.