Bio-Formats is a standalone Java library for reading and writing life sciences
image file formats. It is capable of parsing both pixels and metadata for a
large number of formats, as well as writing to several formats.


Purpose
-------

Bio-Formats's primary purpose is to convert proprietary microscopy data into an
open standard called the OME data model, particularly into the OME-TIFF file
format. See the statement of purpose for a thorough explanation and rationale:
   http://loci.wisc.edu/bio-formats/about


Supported formats
-----------------

For a complete list of supported formats, See the list online at:
   http://loci.wisc.edu/bio-formats/formats


For users
---------

Many software packages use Bio-Formats to read and write microscopy formats:
   http://loci.wisc.edu/bio-formats/applications


For developers
--------------

You can use Bio-Formats to easily support these formats in your software:
   http://loci.wisc.edu/bio-formats/bio-formats-java-library


More information
----------------

For more information, see the Bio-Formats web site:
   http://loci.wisc.edu/software/bio-formats

Pull request testing
--------------------

We welcome pull requests from anyone, but ask that you please verify the
following before submitting a pull request:

 * verify that the branch merges cleanly into ```develop```
 * verify that the branch compiles with the ```clean jars tools``` Ant targets
 * verify that the branch compiles using Maven
 * verify that the branch does not use syntax or API specific to Java 1.6+
 * if you are making any build system or packaging changes, verify that
   OMERO (openmicroscopy/openmicroscopy) builds when the components/bioformats
   submodule is pointed to your branch
 * run the unit tests (```ant test```) and correct any failures
 * test at least one file in each affected format, using the ```showinf```
   command
 * internal developers only: run the data tests as described here:
    http://trac.openmicroscopy.org.uk/ome/wiki/BioFormats-CommitTesting
   against directories corresponding to the affected format(s), as well as
   the test_per_commit directory
 * make sure that your commits contain the correct authorship information and,
   if necessary, a signed-off-by line
 * make sure that the commit messages or pull request comment contains
   sufficient information for the reviewer(s) to understand what problem was
   fixed and how to test it