On 1/7/2018 12:38 PM, William F Pokorny wrote:
> The BITMAP_TYPE nomenclature is used for bump_map, image_map, 
> image_pattern and material_map. HF_TYPE is used for height_fields. Over 
> time I think the documentation has gotten somewhat scrambled with 
> respect to current functionality.
> 
> bump_map:
>    http://wiki.povray.org/content/Reference:Bump_Map
> 
> height_field:
> http://wiki.povray.org/content/Reference:Height_Field
> 
> image_pattern:
>    http://wiki.povray.org/content/Reference:Image_Pattern
> 
> image_map:
>    http://wiki.povray.org/content/Reference:Image_Map
> 
> material_map:
>    
> http://wiki.povray.org/content/Reference:Patterned_Textures#Material_Maps
> 
> We sometimes mark BITMAP_TYPE | HF_TYPE as optional when I believe from 
> 3.7 onward it is everywhere optional.  When specified, this is the file 
> type POV-Ray will try and read no matter the filename given or the 
> output file type.
> 
> Our docs often specify the filename as "bitmap.ext" or "bitmap[.ext]" 
> except for height_fields where it is "filename".  I think "filename" is 
> best because that string needs to be the filename POV-Ray looks to read 
> no matter format.
> 
> If the user has not specified an explicit BITMAP_TYPE | HF_TYPE, POV-Ray 
> will first look for any known extension in the "filename" string.  If 
> found, that extension is the image format POV-Ray will try and read.
> 
> Where the filename has no recognizable extension and BITMAP_TYPE | 
> HF_TYPE has not been specified, POV-Ray will try and read the "filename" 
> as whatever the current output image format is. Only the image_map 
> documentation mentions this latter behavior.
> 
> There is too in some documentation - material_map for example - this note:
> 
> "Note: Earlier versions of POV-Ray allowed some modifiers before the 
> BITMAP_TYPE but that syntax is being phased out in favor of the syntax 
> described here."
> 
> which probably we can drop. At least for the modifiers I tried before 
> BITMAP_TYPE, I got parser errors in 3.7 and 3.8.

i'll follow up when i have more than a few moments ... which hasn't been 
very often lately

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