The SEPlib software package evolved at the Stanford Exploration Project over the last decade as a partial solution to this problem. SEPlib is organized like UNIX; most programs perform relatively basic operations. Complex manipulations are performed by stringing these simple programs together via pipes and files. If you like this philosophy of programming you will probably find SEPlib easy and natural to use. Advanced users fluent in FORTRAN or C can quickly write their own SEPlib utilities; if well written, these can be added to the pool of common programs available for all to use.
While documentation does exist for SEPlib, it is minimal and mostly intended for users already familiar with UNIX, FORTRAN, and C. Traditionally, beginning SEPlib users have learned the basics directly from more experienced users, and only later with experience are they able to use the software-locating utilities and documentation that exists to discover and use new programs on their own. You may not have the opportunity to learn SEPlib this way, so we have prepared this document to help get you started.
Accessing SEPlib depends on your site, so we have relegated this information to an Appendix. Assuming you can type the name of a SEPlib program and have it run and have some sort of graphical output device available, this document will take you on a ``guided tour'' through several of the most important SEPlib programs and utilities. On the way, if you pay close attention, you should be able to pick up the basic knowledge you will need to proceed further on your own. There will be a brief summary of the important points at the end.
After you have finished reading and trying out the examples in this document, try reading Claerbout (1990), and at a more advanced level Claerbout (1986) to learn more.