diff --git a/include/pdal/Schema.hpp b/include/pdal/Schema.hpp
index 68179b111c..af97a53c67 100644
--- a/include/pdal/Schema.hpp
+++ b/include/pdal/Schema.hpp
@@ -101,6 +101,13 @@ typedef boost::uint32_t size_type;
 
 typedef std::map<Dimension const*, Dimension const*> DimensionMap;
 
+enum Orientation
+{
+    POINT_INTERLEAVED = 1,
+    DIMENSION_INTERLEAVED = 2,
+    UNKNOWN_INTERLEAVED = 256
+};    
+
 }
 
 /// A pdal::Schema is a composition of pdal::Dimension instances that form
@@ -216,6 +223,11 @@ class PDAL_DLL Schema
         return m_index.get<schema::name>().size();
     }
 
+    inline schema::Orientation getOrientation() const
+    {
+        return m_orientation;
+    }
+    
 /// @name Summary and serialization
     /// @return  a boost::property_tree representing the Schema
     /*!
@@ -256,7 +268,7 @@ class PDAL_DLL Schema
 private:
 
     schema::size_type m_byteSize;
-
+    schema::Orientation m_orientation;
     schema::Map m_index;
 
 };
diff --git a/src/Schema.cpp b/src/Schema.cpp
index 91b93642b0..cb0fc81a04 100644
--- a/src/Schema.cpp
+++ b/src/Schema.cpp
@@ -61,12 +61,14 @@ namespace pdal
 
 Schema::Schema()
     : m_byteSize(0)
+    , m_orientation(schema::POINT_INTERLEAVED)
 {
     return;
 }
 
 Schema::Schema(std::vector<Dimension> const& dimensions)
     : m_byteSize(0)
+    , m_orientation(schema::POINT_INTERLEAVED)
 {
 
     for (std::vector<Dimension>::const_iterator i = dimensions.begin();
@@ -80,6 +82,8 @@ Schema::Schema(std::vector<Dimension> const& dimensions)
 Schema::Schema(Schema const& other)
     : m_byteSize(other.m_byteSize)
     , m_index(other.m_index)
+    , m_orientation(other.m_orientation)
+        
 {
 
 }
@@ -92,6 +96,7 @@ Schema& Schema::operator=(Schema const& rhs)
     {
         m_byteSize = rhs.m_byteSize;
         m_index = rhs.m_index;
+        m_orientation = rhs.m_orientation;
     }
 
     return *this;
@@ -103,6 +108,8 @@ bool Schema::operator==(const Schema& other) const
     if (m_byteSize != other.m_byteSize) return false;
 
     if (m_index.size() != other.m_index.size()) return false;
+    
+    if (m_orientation != other.m_orientation) return false;
 
     schema::index_by_index const& idx = m_index.get<schema::index>();
     schema::index_by_index const& idx2 = other.m_index.get<schema::index>();
@@ -242,7 +249,7 @@ const Dimension* Schema::getDimensionPtr(string_ref nameIn, string_ref namespc,
         std::string* errorMsg) const
 {
     // getDimensionPtr is implemented in terms of string_ref so that we
-    // can guarentee not to allocate memory unless we really need to.
+    // can guarantee not to allocate memory unless we really need to.
     string_ref name = nameIn;
     string_ref ns = namespc;
     if (ns.empty())