Skip to main content

​
Overview

pdal.dimensions provides access to all valid dimension names recognized by PDAL. This is useful for validating dimension names before using them in pipelines or for discovering what dimensions are available.

​
Usage

import pdal

# Access the dimensions list
dims = pdal.dimensions

# Check the number of available dimensions
print(len(dims))  # Returns a positive integer

# Check if a specific dimension exists
if 'Intensity' in dims:
    print("Intensity dimension is supported")

​
Common dimensions

PDAL supports many standard dimensions for point cloud data:
  • X, Y, Z - Spatial coordinates
  • Intensity - Return intensity value
  • ReturnNumber - Pulse return number
  • NumberOfReturns - Total returns for the pulse
  • Classification - Point classification
  • Red, Green, Blue - RGB color values
  • GpsTime - GPS timestamp
The complete list includes over 100 dimension types for various point cloud attributes.

​
Implementation

From __init__.py: 
dimensions = libpdalpython.getDimensions()
The dimensions list is populated when the PDAL module is imported and remains constant throughout the session.

​
Example from tests

def test_dimensions():
    """Ask PDAL for its valid dimensions list"""
    dims = pdal.dimensions
    assert len(dims) > 0
See test/test_pipeline.py:test_dimensions for the complete test.

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us