r.out.bin - GRASS GIS manual
Author: GRASS Development Team
Description: r.out.bin: Exports a GRASS raster to a binary array.
Keywords: raster, export, output

## NAME

r.out.bin - Exports a GRASS raster to a binary array.

## KEYWORDS

raster, export, output

## SYNOPSIS

r.out.bin
r.out.bin --help
r.out.bin [-ifhbs] input=string [output=string] [null=float] [bytes=integer] [order=string] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

### Flags:

-i
  Generate integer output
-f
  Generate floating-point output
-h
  Export array with GMT compatible header
-b
  Generate BIL world and header files
-s
  Byte swap output
--help
  Print usage summary
--verbose
  Verbose module output
--quiet
  Quiet module output
--ui
  Force launching GUI dialog

### Parameters:

input=string [required]
  Name of input raster map
output=string
  Name for output binary map (use output=- for stdout)
null=float
  Value to write out for null
  Default: 0
bytes=integer
  Number of bytes per cell
  Options: 1, 2, 4, 8
order=string
  Output byte order
  Options: big, little, native, swap
  Default: native

## DESCRIPTION

The r.out.bin program exports a GRASS raster map to a binary array file. Optionally, output can be sent to standard output (stdout) for direct input (pipe) into other applications. Data is exported according to the original GRASS raster type (e.g. float). If the "-i" flag is specified, an integer array is output. The region parameters are printed to stderr.

## NOTES

With the -h flag, data can be directly used by GMT as Grid Format 1 (float) or 2 (short). For example:

    r.out.bin -h input=grass.raster output=new.grd
    grdinfo new.grd=1 (if float)

Exported data can be piped directly into the GMT program xyz2grd.

    r.out.bin input=grass.raster output=- | xyz2grd -R....  -ZTLf -

The example uses the GMT program xyz2grd with the -ZTLf flag indicating that a float array was output.

## SEE ALSO

r.in.bin, r.in.ascii, r.in.gdal, r.out.ascii

## AUTHOR

This program is derived from r.out.ascii with a few modifications.
Author: Bob Covill

## SOURCE CODE

Available at: r.out.bin source code (history)

Accessed: Monday Jul 13 00:50:59 2026

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© 2003-2023 GRASS Development Team, GRASS GIS 7.8.8 Reference Manual