Design and implementation of SPIDER - A transportable image processing software package

Abstract SPIDER is a general-purpose image processing software package which consists of over 400 FORTRAN IV subroutines for various image processing algorithms and several utility programs for managing them. The package was developed for the benefit of extensive interchange and accumulation of programs among research groups. Thus, high transportability of software is emphasized above all in its design concept. In effect, all the image processing subroutines are implemented to be completely free of I/O work such as file access or driving peripheral image devices. The specifications of SPIDER programs also regulate the style of comments in source programs and documentation for the user's manual. SPIDER may also be very useful as a research tool in other scientific disciplines as well as integrating fundamental algorithms in the image processing community. The design concepts, specifications, and contents of SPIDER are described.