National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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                          Release Notes For Swift v1.2
                                 March 2, 2005 
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The release includes : 
 - Updates of the Swift software
 - Additional Packages: Attitude, which includes a new tool, and Heatools
 - HEASoft 5.3.1 with a change in xselect.mdb (v2.2a)

This document contains notes about the content of the Swift
software and a change to xselect.  For details about installing
the Swift software, please see:

   For the source code distribution:
   http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/lheasoft/install_swift_src.html

   For the pre-compiled binary distribution:
   http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/lheasoft/install_swift_bin.html

Below are listed the Swift specific tools and their updates, 
the multi-mission tasks related to attitude, tools to manipulate FITS 
files and the change to xselect. 

More information of the individual tasks can be obtained using the
fhelp utility.  Type "fhelp ftools" to obtain a full listing of all the
tools available, or "fhelp <sub-package-name>" to list all of the tools
in a particular subpackage, e.g., "fhelp swift".  Finally, type
"fhelp <toolname>" for more detailed help on a particular tool.

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                                     SWIFT
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BAT-SPECIFIC TOOLS

  - batbinevt - Compute mask weighted light curves or spectra from BAT event
    data.
    * BUG FIX for improper exposure written to header.  This 
      keyword was being carried over from the input erroneously.
    * BUG FIX for reading floating point input data.  The task
      was causing the data to be truncated: bad for baterebin'd data.
    * Small bug fixes and improvements.   
  - batcelldetect - Perform source detection using the sliding cell method.
    * BUG FIX for position and flux error estimates being too
      small by a factor of four.
    * Significant new features regarding source detection.
    * Add new output catalog columns which give the matrix coordinate
      conversion coefficients from IMX/Y to RA/DEC
    * Add 'bkgpcodethresh' parameter, which allows the user to separate
      the background analysis region from the source region.
    * A new parameter 'nullborder' will remove sources which touch the
      border of the image (default = "NO")
    * A new parameter 'psfshape' used to select either the GAUSSIAN or
      PYRAMID shapes (default="PYRAMID").
    * A new parameter 'bkgfit'.  When set to true, the background of
      each source is fitted individually.
    * More flexible control over which iamge keywords are copied to the
      output catalog table (new 'keepkeywords' parameter).
    * Some optimizations and robustifications.
    * Some memory leaks were plugged (thanks to Valgrind).
  - batclean - Read in a DPI and clean out a fit to the diffuse background.
    * BUG FIX that was causing the code to crash when there were catalog
      sources below the threshold for cleaning ('cleansnr' parameter).
  - batdph2dpi - Compress a 3-d image cube along the first (energy) dimension
    to create a 2-d image.
  - batdph2pha - Read in a DPH and output a file containing a spectrum for each
    detector.
  - batdrmgen - Compute BAT detector response matrix for a known source
    position.
    * INTERFACE CHANGE: New parameter 'hkfile' is an "ask" parameter.
      This should be the name of a DAP housekeeping file.  NONE is
      allowed, and then default values for the bias voltages and
      electronics threshold settings are used (using the new "hv_def" and
      "vthr_def" parameters).
    * The names of the calibration files used to generate the response
      file are now written to keywords in the response file headers.  
  - bateconvert - Read in an event file and apply energy conversions.
  - batfftimage - Make sky image from detector plane image by FFT deconvolution.
    * BUG FIX for when negative right ascension was being reported in
      the WCS keywords.
    * New keyword in output FLUXMETH = 'WEIGHTED' describes the flux
      extraction technique.
    * New keywords APERTURE and BTELDEF describe which calibration
      files were used to make the image.
    * The task now copies other non-image extensions to the output file
      (such as GTIs and EBOUNDs) if the new parameter copyall="YES".
    * A unique  EXTNAME keyword is written to each output extension.
    * It is now possible to say pcodemap=APPEND_LAST or APPEND_ALL and
      the partial coding maps will be appended to the output file.
    * Fix memory leaks.
  - bathotpix - Locate and mask out hot pixels in a BAT detector image.
  - batid2xy - Convert between detector ID and x/y position in the BAT array.
  - batmasktaglc - Derive light curves from mask tagged rate packets.
    * BUG FIX Corrected code so that no rows are written to the RATE
      extension when either (a) there are counts in one of the input
      rate files, but not the other, or (b) when there is not a valid
      mask weight map covering the time period.  The times in the GTI
      extension indicate the valid times according to these criteria.
    * Added check to make sure that the catalog number of the mask
      weight map matches that of the rate file.
    * Error bars were being underestimated; they are now more correct.
    * Added calculation and writing out of GTI extension.
    * Added some more keywords indicating what corrections have 
      been applied (e.g. ndets)
    * Fixed the code so that either type of detector mask (image or
      table) can be read into the code.
  - batmaskwtevt - Compute mask weights for an event file.
    * BUG FIX when events with TIME=0 were at the beginning of the file.
      This would cause the slewing/raytracing to choke and not recover.
    * BUG FIX regarding the balancing of the mask weights, which would
      cause background contamination (esp. at high energies).
    * New keywords APERTURE and BTELDEF describe which calibration
      files were used to make the image.
    * The task now accepts flight-format enable/disable maps.
  - batmaskwtimg - Compute mask weights for the entire detector BAT plane.
    * BUG FIX regarding the balancing of the mask weights, which would
      cause background contamination (esp. at high energies).
    * BUG FIX for when user attempts to place the source "behind" the
      BAT.
    * INTERFACE CHANGE: users should now use the 'infile' parameter, to
      give the task enough information to properly access CALDB.
    * New keywords APERTURE and BTELDEF describe which calibration
      files were used to make the image.
    * The task now accepts flight-format enable/disable maps.
  - batrebin - Read in a survey DPH and rebin the energy spectra using
    quadratic corrections.
  - batsumdph - Add specified rows in a BAT_DPH table and generate a new,
    single-row BAT_DPH extension.
  - battblocks - Estimate interesting GTIs for time-variable data.
    * BUG FIX regarding how durations were reported for light curves
      with finite bin sizes.  The reported durations (and error bars)
      should be more robust now.
    * Now background GTIs are also written to the 'durfile' output.  The
      extension names are GTI_BKG1 and GTI_BKG2.

UVOT-SPECIFIC TOOLS

  - uvot2pha - Create a pha file from a UVOT image and region files.
  - uvotbadpix - Create pixel quality map from a bad pixel list.
  - uvotdetect - Detect sources in an UVOT image using XIMAGE.
    * Allow user to provide an SExtractor configuration template.
    * Corrected filter file generation.
  - uvotevgrism - Filter a UVOT grism event list and determine wavelength
  - uvotexpmap - Generate exposure maps for UVOT sky images.
  - uvotflatfield - Perform flatfield correction for UVOT images.
  - uvotimgrism - Extract UVOT grism spectra and calculate wavelength scale.
    * Updated alternate WCS key code for detector to "D".     
  - uvotimsum - Sum UVOT sky images or exposure maps.
    * Allow user to exclude extensions from sum.
    * Corrected summing of exposure maps    
  - uvotmag - Photometrically calibrate sources in a UVOT image.
    * Allow anonymous source table.
    * Subtract out background after coincidence loss correction
      to arrive at source rate. 
  - uvotmaghist - Generate magnitude history for UVOT image file.
    * Compute background rate for each extension.
    * Allow user to specify source and background region files
    * Allow user to specify start time of plot 
  - uvotmodmap - Correct a UVOT image for modulo-8 spatial fixed-pattern noise.
    * Special handling for non-standard image files
  - uvotpict - Creat a finding chart image.
  - uvotrmfgen - Create a UVOT response matrix.
  - uvotscreen - Filter a UVOT event list.
    * Corrected bad pixel list CALDB code name.
  - uvotstarid - Match a source list against a star catalog to identify sources.
  - uvottfc - UVOT TDRSS finding chart processing.

XRT-SPECIFIC TOOLS

  - xrtcalcpi - Fill or update PI column in XRT event files (PC, WT and PD
    modes).
  - xrtcentroid - Calculate source centroid for a given area (box) using XIMAGE.
  - xrtevtrec - Reconstruct events, calculate PHA and assign grade for WT and
    PD modes.
  - xrtfilter - Run 'prefilter' and 'makefilter' to create a filter file from
    housekeeping data.
    * Added screening of the output filter file (mkffile) of records with TIME
      set to NULL (generated by 'xrthkproc' when the input source position is
      out of the CCD)
  - xrtflagpix - Flag events for bad pixels and calibration source location.
  - xrthkproc - Process XRT housekeeping header packets file.
    * Added handling of PHOTODIODE new telemetry format with variable frames
      dimension.
    * Set TIME values to NULL when the input source position results out of
      the CCD for that frame interval.
    * Added 'attinterpol' and aberration' input parameters to calculate X/Y and
      DETX/DETY source position.
  - xrthotpix - Search for hot and flickering pixels for XRT Photon Counting
    mode.
    * Added 'phamax' and 'phamin' input parameters to select the minimum and
      maximum PHA value to accumulate the image to be processed for hot and
      flickering pixels detection.
  - xrtimage - Subtract bias and clean bad pixels in XRT Imaging Mode data.
  - xrtmkarf - Generate an ARF file for an input RMF file.
    * Modified to work with WMAP in sky coordinates (WT and PC modes)
    * Added the input parameter 'inarffile'. If 'inarffile' is not set to NONE 
      the task uses this input file (in place of the 'mirfile' and 'transmfile'
      files) to generate the output arf.
  - xrtpcgrade - Calculate the PHA values and assign event grades.
  - xrtpdcorr - Subtract the bias to the event PHA values taken in Photodiode
    mode.
  - xrtpipeline - Run in sequence the tasks for XRT data processing.
    * Replaced the XRT telescope definition file with the S/C alignment file
      for the xrtfilter task input.
    * Corrected the handle of 'createattgti' input parameter.
    * Added input parameters: 'pntra', 'pntdec', 'pntroll' to allow the user
      to specify the S/C direction.
    * Run fselect on LEVEL 1a WT event files to screen events with GTIs
      computed by 'xrttimetag' and stored in the GTI extension.
    * Changes needed to support the current realesed tasks.
  - xrtproducts - Generate high level product data files from a cleaned event
    file.
    * Modified to support xrtmkarf changes.
    * Fixed bug in the rotation angle of extraction region file (WT mode).
  - xrtscreen - Generate GTIs and use them (and other criteria) to perform
    event screening.
    * Added screening of the input filter file (mkffile) of records with TIME
      set to NULL (generated by 'xrthkproc' when the input source position is
      out of the CCD).
  - xrttam - Perform attitude correction to detector coordinates using the
    TAM device.
    * Erased 'ledfile' input parameter, the information needed are stored in
      the 'tamfile' input file.
  - xrttdrss - Process XRT TDRSS messages.
    * Changed TDRSS image coordinates transformation from raw to sky taking
      into account misalignment of the XRT axes from the S/C ones.
  - xrttimetag - Assign event arrival times and fill DETX/DETY columns for
    Windowed Timing and Photodiode modes.
    * Added handling of PHOTODIODE new telemetry format with variable frames
      dimension.
    * Set pixels TIME values to NULL when the input source position results
      out of the CCD for that pixel.
    * Added 'attinterpol' and 'aberration' input parameters to be used for
      sky coordinates computation.
  - xrtversion - Prints the version and date of the Swift-XRT subpackage.
     

SWIFT GENERAL (NON-INSTRUMENT-SPECIFIC) TOOLS

  - swiftversion - Report overall version number and date of entire
    HEAdas/Swift package.
  - swiftxform - Perform image transformations on a multi-extension Swift
    image file.
    * Write Chandra's PHYSICAL WCS keywords to SKY images.
    * Changed UVOT's alternate WCS key code for detector to "D"

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                                    HEAGEN
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  - barycorr - Generalized multi-mission barycenter correction tool.

    * Uses the refdata/swco.dat file to apply the measured clock offset
      to times

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                                   ATTITUDE
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  - aberrator - *NEW tool* - Convert an inertial attitude file to an apparent
    attitude file.
  - applyxform - Transform a list of coordinates.
  - aspect - Calculate the mean pointing for an attitude file.
     * If GTIs are provided, base initial pointing guess on a good time.
     * New option to create attitude file with mean pointing 
  - attcombine - Combine the rotations in two attitude files.
  - attdump - Report the R.A., Dec, and Roll for an attitude file.
  - combinexform - Create or modify a transform.
  - coordinator - Convert raw coordinates to detector and sky coordinates.
      * Updated Earth about Sun velocity model    
  - det2att - Convert detector coordinate offsets to rotations.
  - draw_teldef - Produce a PostScript plot of coordinates described by a
    teldef calibration file.
  - expomap - Generate an exposure map.
  - getwcs - Extracts the WCS keywords for a teldef file coordinate system.
  - getxform - Extract a transform between coordinate systems in a teldef file.
  - imagetrans - Apply a coordinate transform to an image.
  - imagexform - Transform an image from one coordinate system to another.
  - makefilter - Create a filter file from Housekeeping files.
  - prefilter - Derive attitude and orbit related quantities.
     * Avoid long interpolations of attitude.
     * Write NULLs for attitude and attitude dependent parameters
       when it would require excessive interpolation.
     * Added sun, moon, earth RA, DEC to set of output parameters.
     * Removed PNT_ prefix from pointing ra, dec, roll outputs
     * Renamed POINTING to PNTUNIT.
     * Corrected sun and moon angles for satellite position.
  - transform_wcs - Modify WCS keywords according to a transform.

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                                   HEATOOLS
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  - ftcalc - Calculate values in a table column
  - ftchecksum - Verify or update the checksum keywords in a FITS file
  - ftcopy - Copy a file, applying optional filters
  - ftcreate - Create a FITS table from ASCII template files
  - ftdelhdu - Delete a HDU in a FITS file
  - ftdelrow - Delete rows from a table
  - ftdiff - Display differences between 2 FITS files
  - ftedit - Edit one or more image pixels or table elements
  - ftemplate - Create a new FITS file using an ASCII template file
  - fthedit - Edit one or more header keywords
  - ftimgcreate - Create a FITS image from an ASCII data file
  - ftkeypar - Read a keyword and copy its value to the parameter file
  - ftlist - List the contents of the input file
  - ftmerge - Merge rows from multiple input tables into a single table
  - ftpaste - Merge columns from 2 input tables into a single table
  - ftselect - Copy selected rows from the input table to a new table
  - ftsort - Sort rows in a table
  - ftstat - Calculate statistics of images or tables
  - ftverify - Check that a file conforms to the FITS format

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                                    XSELECT 
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  - Changes for Swift XRT in the xselect.mdb 

Web page maintained by: Bryan K. Irby