next up previous contents
Next: Output Up: Input and Output Previous: Input and Output   Contents

Input

All input to HEASOFT tasks is controlled by a parameter interface library (APE) which is developed and maintained by the HEASARC, but was originally based on the INTEGRAL Science Data Center's "PIL" code. APE has a very similar look and feel to XPI (the original parameter interface used in FTOOLS) but includes such additional features as enumerated values, minimum-maximum range checking, the ability to use environment variables in parameters and a dedicated "filename" type. APE is callable by C, C++, Fortran and Perl tasks.

There are three commonly-used parameters which are handled intrinsically by the internal HEASOFT initialization routines and thus developers do not need to explicitly read them at the individual task level. (A fourth parameter, "mode", is an APE internal and operates exactly as in XPI). The standard HEASOFT parameters are:


next up previous contents
Next: Output Up: Input and Output Previous: Input and Output   Contents
Bryan Irby 2018-06-27