SF2PHA (Mar94)               ftools.heasarc               SF2PHA (Mar94)



NAME
    sf2pha -- converts old-style (SF)  format  PHA  file  to  OGIP  FITS
    format
    
    
USAGE
    sf2pha infil outfil phaversn qoverride
    
    
DESCRIPTION
    
      This  task  converts  a  "Standard  Format"  (SF) PHA file (binary
    files used by XSPEC prior to 1992) into an OGIP-standard FITS  file.
    This   involves   writing   both   general   &   instrument-specific  
    information into the FITS file. The o/p files  are  compatible  with
    XSPEC version >8.2.
    
       A  detailed  description  of the o/p FITS file format is given in
    Arnaud etal (1992 Legacy, 2, 65), and in the OGIP Memos  OGIP/92-007
    &  OGIP/92-007a  available  via  the  OGIP  anonymous ftp account on
    legacy.gsfc.nasa.gov          (in           Postscript)           as         
    caldb/docs/memos/ogip_92_007.ps  & ogip_92_007a.ps respectively. The
    task  is  slowly   evolving   to   deal   with   instrument-specific 
    information  from  more & more instruments. At the current time, the
    task is only able  to  write  such  information  for  the  following
    experiments:
    
    EXOSAT
        Medium Energy (ME)
        
        Gas Scintillation Proportional Counter (GSPC)
        
        Transmission Grating Spectrometer (TGS)
    
    It  is  anticipated that the full task, able to convert PHA datasets
    from any instrument for which  there  are  SF  datasets  within  the
    HEASARC database will be available in the near future.
    
      For    further    information   regarding   this   task,   current  
    plans/schedule, comments  or  bug  reports,  please  contact  Ian  M
    George (http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ftoolshelp).
    
    
    
PARAMETERS
    
    infil [character string]
         The  name  of  the  old-style  (SF) PHA file to be converted to
        OGIP-standard  FITS format.
    
    outfil [character string]
         The name of the OGIP-standard FITS PHA file to be created
    
    phaversn = 1.1.0 [character string]
         The OGIP FITS format version for PHA files  in  which  the  o/p
        FITS   is  to  be   written.  The  default  is  PHAVERSN='1.1.0' 
        (previously known as '1992a'), and is  currently to only  format
        allowed.
    
    qoverride = no  [boolean]
         Logical  indicating  whether  the  user  wishes to override the
        deconvolution  of the mission  and  instrument  strings  derived
        from  the corresponding  string supplied in the SF file. This is
        often necessary since the task  only  performs  a  rather  crude
        deconvolution  itself  and  since  the  RSP  file often contains
        non-OGIP-standard  strings,  and/or  insufficient   information. 
         The default is QOVERRIDE=N
    
    (origin = UNKNOWN) [character string]
         The  name  of  the organization and/or author running the task.
         The default value is ORIGIN=UNKNOWN.
    
    telescop [character string]
         The user-supplied string for the telescope  name,  required  if
        QOVERRIDE=Y
    
    instrume [character string]
         The  user-supplied  string for the instrument name, required if
        QOVERRIDE=Y
    
    filter [character string]
         The user-supplied string for the name of any movable filter  in
        use,   required  if QOVERRIDE=Y.   FILTER=NONE should be used if
        on such movable filter is in use.
    
    detnam [character string]
         The user-supplied string for the sub-instrument name,  required
        if   QOVERRIDE=Y.     DETNAM=NONE   should   be   used   if  the 
        specification of a sub-instrument is  unnecessary.
    
    (chatter =9) [integer]
         Flag to indicate how chatty the task is at execution.  A  value
        of  9  is  the   default,  with  lower/higher  values  producing 
        quieter/verbose output  respectively.
    
    (clobber = no) [boolean]
         Flag specifying whether or not a  pre-existing  file  with  the
        same  name  as that  requested as the output file from this task
        will be overwritten.
    
    
    
BUGS
    This tool may not be used for data file after year 2007.
    
    
SEE ALSO
    CAL/GEN/92-002 (George etal 1992 Legacy, 2, 51),
    CAL/GEN/92-002a
    
    
    
LOG OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES
    
    
    v2.0.0 (1994 Mar)
            Added dynamic memory allocation
    
    v1.4.0 (1994 Feb)
            Added EXOSAT TGS
    
    v1.0.0 (1993 Oct)
            public release version
    
    v1.0.0 (1992 Oct)
            Beta-test version
    
    
    
PRIMARY AUTHOR
    
    Ian M George
    HEASARC
    NASA/GFSC
    http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ftoolshelp
    (301) 286-6094