What does SWC stand for?

[basjanzandt]

The .SWC file format is a widely used open format, and describes a reconstruction as a list of points with a.o. their coordinates, diameter and parent.
Out of curiosity, does anyone know what SWC stands for? I cannot seem to find this anywhere. My guess would be the C stands for Cvapp?

Best regards,
Bas-Jan

[ted]

SWC are the initials of the last names of E.W. Stockley, H.V. Wheal, and H.M. Cole, who developed a system for generating morphometric reconstructions of neurons that is described in

Stockley, E. W.; Cole, H. M.; Brown, A. D. & Wheal, H. V.
A system for quantitative morphological measurement and electronic modelling of neurons: three-dimensional reconstruction.
J Neurosci Methods, 1993, 47, 39-51

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SWC FILE FORMAT IS NOT DESCRIBED IN THAT PAPER!
Indeed, I have not been able to find a paper by any one, two, or three of these authors, alone or with other co-authors, that describes an "SWC file format." It should come as no surprise that there is a bit of uncertainty about the SWC file format itself. In particular, there is some ambiguity about how the soma should be handled.

[basjanzandt]

Thanks Ted!

[ted]

Different groups use slightly different standards for SWC. See
http://www.neuromorpho.org/myfaq.jsp
under the question "What is SWC format?"
and also
http://research.mssm.edu/cnic/swc.html
and
http://www.neuronland.org/NLMorphologyC ... /Spec.html