This monograph describes in detail the detection of connected components in binary images. It is assumed that the image is scanned in a raster mode and, at the lowest level, 1-dimensional runs are detected (see Chapter 3). Chapter 4 discusses how adjacent runs are assembled into 2-dimensional objects, blocks, and hinges. The concatenation of adjacent objects produces connected components, as demonstrated in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 describes the output from the program and Appendix A (one-quarter of the book) contains the source code in PASCAL for the entire program. The program allows the user to choose the level of geometric description (full adjacency or restricted adjacency), the level of topological description (full surrounding or restricted surrounding), and the adjacency relationship (4-adjacency or 8-adjacency).

The book is recommended for readers specifically interested in the topic. Additional examples in the derivation of the algorithms, as well as some discussion and examples of its applications, would have made the book of more general interest.