National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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                       RELEASE NOTES FOR HEASOFT 6.1.2
                              December 6, 2006
******************************************************************************

The HEASoft 6.1.2 release is primarily driven by the release of the Swift 
(version 2.6) and Suzaku (version 3), but also includes updates to several 
tasks in the attitude subpackage, and in the FTOOLS, XANADU, HEAGEN, & RXTE  
utilities which have been revised to mirror the current development versions 
in use at the HEASARC.  This release also includes CFITSIO v3.02 and a new
version of the parameter interface APE (version 1.1) to more closely align
its behavior with PIL and XPI.

As before, configuration-related changes thoughout the package means that
users who already have HEASoft v6.x.x installed will need to completely
replace their software installation; there is no clean way to simply
overlay this new release or to update an existing installation.

New with the HEASOFT 6.1.2 release are pre-compiled binaries for the
64-bit Linux architecture.  Support for the OSF/Alpha architecture
has been dropped.

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                                   ATTITUDE
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Attitude software changes since HEASoft v6.1:

 coordinator:
    
  - Include DATE* keywords by default in CALDB query.

 tristarid:
	
  - Record correction details in FITS keywords.


******************************************************************************
                                   HEACORE
******************************************************************************

- Added another copy of tai-utc.dat decoupled from the XTE software, i.e.
  so that it is installed in $LHEA_DATA for all downloads.


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                                   CFITSIO
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CFITSIO Version 3.02 -  Main changes since the HEASOFT 6.1 release

  - Includes support for new hcompress image compression algorithm. Several 
    minor bug fixes related to: support of 64-bit integer columns; the command 
    line parser; displaying large numeric values; and reading a vector column 
    in a table as an image.

  See the file headas-6.1.2/heacore/cfitsio/changes.txt for more details.


******************************************************************************
                                   CCFITS
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CCFITS Version 1.6 -

  - Added capbility to write compressed images.  Assorted bug fixes.
    See the file headas-6.1.2/heacore/CCfits/CHANGES for more details.


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                                   HEAGEN
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Heagen software changes since HEASoft v6.1:
	
 barycorr:

  - Changed file opens to READONLY whenever possible

  - Deleted outdated check of orbit file gaps (Swift only)

  - Perform clock correction before barycentering times (Swift only)

  - Remove UTCFINIT keyword from final output file if TIMESYS=TDB

	
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                                   HEASARC
******************************************************************************
HEASARC changes since HEAsoft v6.1
	
 extractor (v4.71):
	
  - Added support for ds9 regions in physical coordinates in addition to those 
    in image, fk4, or fk5 (the latter two in either degrees or hms).

  - Fixed unusual case that causes divide-by-zero error.
		
  - Adjusted behavior when TIME is used in a filename filter expression.
		
  - Fixed the case where event files have differing WCS and the user does an 
    extract events so that sky positions are corrected to the same WCS.

 rbnpha :

  - Fix memory error on Intel Mac.


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                                   HEATOOLS
******************************************************************************
HEATOOLS software changes since HEASoft v6.1:

 ftimgcalc:

  - Bug fix: for the handling of bunit or otherext parameters when numbers 
    were specified but not parsed correctly.

  - Add warning message if users pick 'T' or 'F' for variable names; these 
    are not allowed by the CFITSIO calculator,
		
  - Remove old CFITSIO library checks; remove the CREATOR keyword.

  - Documentation fixes.

 ftmerge:

  - Fixed crash on x86_64 platform.


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                                   RXTE
******************************************************************************
RXTE software changes since HEASoft v6.1:
		
 fgabor:

  - Added WCS keywords to output image.

 hextebackest: 

  - NEW TOOL. Estimate background for HEXTE Cluster A.
	
 hxtrsp:

  - Corrected marfrmf call.

*****************************************************************************
                                  SUZAKU
*****************************************************************************
Suzaku software changes since HEASoft v6.1.1:

----------------------
XIS Specific tools
----------------------

 mkphlist:

  - Update.  Added a 'GEOMAREA' keyword in the output photon file.

 xiscontamicalc:
	
  - Update. Users can multiply the transmission of the XIS OBF
    contaminant to the specified ARF file. The column density of
    C and O for the contaminant are shown separately.

 xisrmfgen:
	
  - NEW TOOL. Generate XIS responses

 xissim:
	
  - Update.Bug fix in the calculation of aberration (parallax) correction.
    On-the-fly photon generation is capable by setting the parameter,
    'enable_photongen=yes'

 xissimarfgen:

  - Several built-in energy steps are recognized for the 'estepfile' parameter.
   'full' : calculate effective area in each RMF energy bins. Very slow.
   'dense' or 'default' : dense sampling (2303 steps). Slow.
   'medium' : medium sampling (157 steps). Moderate.
   'sparse' : sparse sampling (55 steps). Fast.

  - Transmission of the thermal shield and the XIS OBF contaminant are
    treated separately from the XRT effective area, so that even the
    'sparse' energy step gives much better quality ARF response than before.
    This feature is useful in saving the calculation time.

  - The XRT_EFFAREA, SHIELD_TRANSMIS columns are added to the output ARF,
    and the AVGWEI column has been removed.

  - The -1 value is stored to the primary extension image, for the out-of-
    bounds region.  The primary extension image contains  now integers unless
    users provide weighted region file, which had been floating point numbers
    weighted to the transmissions of the thermal shield and the XIS OBF
    contaminant.

  - The SOURCE_RATIO_REG keyword is written to the ARF header, representing
    source image ratio inside the selected region.  This number is useful in
    calculating the flux inside the selected region.

  - Bug fix in reading RA_NOM, DEC_NOM from attitude file.

  - Add WCS keywords to the primary image in the generated ARF.

  - Accept WCS coordinates DS9 region files when region_mode=SKYREG.

	
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                                  SWIFT
******************************************************************************
Swift software changes since HEASoft v6.1

----------------------
General  tools
----------------------

 attjumpcorr:

  - Bug fix: for the case of a "slew in place" which does not reset the 
    '10 arcminute' settling flag.

  - New keyword AJUMPAPP indicates if the task has been run previously.

 swiftxform:

  - Record used UVOT TELDEF file in FITS keywords

----------------------
BAT Specific tools
----------------------
 batbinevt:

  - Now write detector images with BAT_DPI_n extension name instead of
    just BAT_DPI.

  - New task parameters {min,max}dph{time,frac}overlap allow more flexibility 
    to accept individual survey DPHs,but the default is conservative.

 batcelldetect:

  - Bug fix: clusters of point sources were being merged together improperly; 
    affects fluxes of bunches of nearby sources.
	
  - New parameter 'keepbadsources', which when set, removes sources from 
    the output catalog that failed the analysis process.
	
  - New parameter 'sortcolumns' parameter, controls the sort order of the 
    console listing; the FITS file order is unchanged.

  - Improved logic for the handling of non-BAT images (maximum number of 
    pixels per source; Poisson-distributed data).
	
  - New parameter 'imagestatistics'

 batdetmask:

   - NEW TOOL. Establish BAT global good/bad detectors for a given time.

 batdph2dpi:

   - No longer supported for scientific analysis. Use 'batbinevt' to convert 
     a survey DPH to a detector plane image.

 batdph2pha:

   - No longer supported for scientific analysis. Use 'batbinevt' to convert 
     a survey DPH to a spectrum.

 batfftimage:

   - Bug fix: always write BDISTAPP = 'F', even if the input event list has 
     had ray-tracing with a distortion map.

 batglobalgti:

   - NEW TOOL. Establish BAT global good/bad science analysis time filter.

 batgrbproduct:

   - NEW TOOL. Perform fully automatic gamma-ray burst analysis of BAT data.

 bathotpix:

   - Bug fix: documentation of the QUALITY output column has been corrected 
     (no code change).

   - More statistics are provided in the output file: NHOTPIX, NCOLDPIX, 
     NGOODPIX, and NDISPIX which are, respectively, hot, cold, good and 
     disabled pixel counts.

 batmasktaglc:

   - Bug fix: avoid out of bounds memory access when dealing with GTIs.

   - Bug fix: avoid potential string buffer overflows.

   - Task parameters 'maskwt' and 'ebounds' accept both INFILE or FILE.

 batmaskwtevt:

   - New parameter 'filtexpr' allows arbitrary event filtering (used to remove
     multi-hit and calibration events).

   - Bug fix: remove BDISTAPP from output event file, if it should not be
     present.

 batmaskwtimg:

   - Delete the output file if no input file is specified (prevents the user 
     from using the results of an old run).

   - Bug fix: avoid segfault when calling printf().

   - Bug fix: remove BDISTAPP from output event file, if it should not be
     present.
		
   - Bug fix: avoid accessing an already-closed FITS file pointer.

 batoccultgti:
	
   - The task now works with both the prefilter "SAO" file and the regular 
     Swift attitude file (if all you are doing is field of view checking).

 batsumdph:
	
    - No longer supported for scientific analysis. Use 'batbinevt' to sum
     survey DPHs.

 batupdatephakw:
	
   - Bug fix: the task now properly deletes keys when columns of the same
     name are added.

----------------------
UVOT Specific tools
----------------------
 uvotattcorr:

   - Base snapshot determination on time separation of attitude records
		
 uvotdetect/sextractor:
	
   - Patched to allow compiling with gcc 4+ and optimizations

 uvotevtlc:

   - NEW TOOL. Make a background subtracted light curve from event data

 uvotimage:
	
   - Write keyword ASPCORR=NONE to each non-RAW image HDU

    - Record UVOT TELDEF file used with FITS keywords

 uvotimsum:

    - Generate a warning instead of an error if there is nothing to sum

 uvotmag:
	
    - Modified coincidence loss correction

 uvotmaghist:
	
    - Corrections to calculation of RATE_BKG

    - Treat input region file(s) consistently with uvotsource

 uvotskycorr:
	
    - Added support for interpolating aspect corrections

    - Base snapshot determination on time separation of attitude records

 uvotsource:

   - Correction to net error calculation

----------------------
XRT Specific tools
----------------------

 xrtwtcorr:

   - Added a new method (biasmode=M20P) to correct the WT bias subtracted
     on-board.  The new method calculates the median of the last telemetred
     20 pixels using a set of configurable number of consecutive frames
     (nframe); compares the on-ground bias and the median of the last 20
     pixels of the bias row and adjust the bias, if the difference is
     greater then 'biasdiff', using a constant shift for the entire window.

   - Added to the old method (biasmode=SP) the possibility to specify the
     number of consecutive frames for the on-ground median calculation.
	
   - New input parameters 'biasmode' and 'nframe'.

 xrttam:

   - Apply the caldb query for the teldef file depending on the observation
     start time.

 xrthkproc:

   - Apply the caldb query for the teldef file depending on the observation
     start time.
	
   - Update the TSTART and TSTOP keywords also in the primary header.

 xrttimetag: 

   - Apply the caldb query for the teldef file depending on the observation
     start time.

   - Add the 'ATTFLAG'="xxx"  keyword to the file header that specify the
     kind of attitude used for the coordinate transformation. Values possible
     are: "100" for the regular attitude, "110" for the jump attitude, "111"
     for the uvot attitude with the jump and 101 uvot attitude without the jump.

 xrttdrss2:

   - Add the "ATTFLAG" keyword after the coordinates transformation.

   - Apply the caldb query for the teldef file depending on the observation
     start time.
    
   - Fix a bug to keep the correct number of extension whan translating images
     from Raw to Sky coordinates

 xrtexpomap:

   - Apply the caldb query for the teldef file depending on the observation
     start time.

 xrtpipeline:

   - Apply the caldb query for the teldef file depending on the observation
     start time.

   - Add the "ATTFLAG" keyword after the 'coordinator' and 'swiftxform' call.
	
   - Added 2 new input parameters 'wtbiasmode' and 'wtnframe'.
	

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                                   XSELECT
*****************************************************************************
XSELECT software changes since HEASoft v6.1.1:		

   - Filter intensity corrected for half-bin losses at GTI ends.

   - Increased flexibility when reading event files; now both read and choose 
     will work correctly for gti extensions called either GTI or STDGTI 
     regardless of the setting of the gti setting in xselect.mdb.

   - Fixed bug in filter time which was causing an error return if 'r' was 
      given as the end time for the interval.

   - Fixed bug in filter time such that the time input by the user is
      relative to the offset in the plot.

   - xselect mission databse file: Switched Suzaku default WMAP coordinates 
     to DET coordinates and removed references to TIME-OBS and TIME-END 
     which are no longer used in the event file.
	

*****************************************************************************
                                   XIMAGE
******************************************************************************
XIMAGE software changes since HEASoft v6.1:

   - Uses the post-launch version of the Swift PSF released in Caldb 
     with this software realese

	
*****************************************************************************
                                   XRONOS
******************************************************************************
XRONOS software changes since HEASoft v6.1:
	
   - Fix a bug that affect input event file with vector column RATE containing 
     rates at different energy. Rates are now summed instead of averaged if sum
     is requested.

Web page maintained by: Bryan K. Irby