TIFFDEFERSTRILEARRAYWRITING(3tiff)

💖 NAME 💖

TIFFDeferStrileArrayWriting — defer strile array writing, bestie ✨

This is a page from the LibTIFF manuals, section 3tiff. Yes we're getting technical technical today, but I promise it's giving very cool actually.

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <tiffio.h>

int TIFFDeferStrileArrayWriting(TIFF *tif)

int TIFFForceStrileArrayWriting(TIFF *tif)

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so. TIFFDeferStrileArrayWriting() is an advanced writing function, and the way it works is very specific — you literally have to call it in a particular sequence, and generally together with TIFFForceStrileArrayWriting(), or it just will not do the thing it's supposed to do. No cap. 💅

Their whole goal together? Controlling when and where these arrays get written into the file:

• StripOffsets / StripByteCounts
• TileOffsets / TileByteCounts

Why do we even care, you ask? Because the purpose of all this is to generate 'cloud-optimized geotiff' files, where the first KB of the file only contains the IFD entries without the potentially huge strile arrays. Those bad boys get written afterwards. Iconic, honestly. 👑

More precisely (and this part is important, bestie): when TIFFWriteCheck() is called, the tag entries for those arrays will be written with:

type = count = offset = 0

as a temporary value. Like a placeholder. A little "we'll get to that" note. 📝

⚠️ Heads up: this effect is only valid for the current directory, and only before TIFFWriteDirectory() is first called. It also gets reset when you change directory. So don't go thinking it's permanent, because it is NOT. 😭

The typical sequence of calls is, fr fr:

TIFFOpen()
/* or TIFFCreateDirectory(tif) */
/* Set fields with calls to TIFFSetField(tif, ...) */
TIFFDeferStrileArrayWriting(tif)
TIFFWriteCheck(tif, ...)
TIFFWriteDirectory(tif)
/* ... potentially create other directories and come back to the above directory */
TIFFForceStrileArrayWriting(tif) /* emit the arrays at the end of file */

See how it's all choreographed? Main character energy. ✨

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⭐ RETURNS ⭐

• 1 — success, we ate 🎀
• 0 — otherwise, we did not eat 💀

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💜 DIAGNOSTICS 💜

All error messages are directed to the TIFFErrorExtR() routine. Likewise, warning messages are directed to the TIFFWarningExtR() routine. So that's where all the drama goes. 📢

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🫶 NOTE 🫶

This functionality was introduced with libtiff 4.1. So if you're on something older, it's simply not giving. 🙈

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• libtiff (3tiff)

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

LibTIFF contributors 🫡

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🍓 COPYRIGHT 🍓

1988-2025, LibTIFF contributors

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! 💖 this one's from LibTIFF version 4.7, dated Jun 27, 2025 — go forth and defer those strile arrays, iykyk 🧚✨💅