ROSAT Status Report #63:
July 14, 1993
The following notes have been released by SAO:
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] [ ] [ HINTS & POINTERS for PROS Users ] [ 13 JULY 1993 #9 ] [ ] [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
1.0 RELEASE OF PROS PATCH 2.2.1
2.0 REVISED PROS USER'S GUIDE
1.0 RELEASE OF PROS PATCH 2.2.1
ATTENTION SYSTEM MANAGERS
If you decide to install this patch, it is located in /pub/pros/patch2_2_1 in our anonftp service. There are two subdirs, UNIX and VMS; each has a README file for detailed instructions. For VMS sites without ftp connectivity, send us a request for a magtape of PROS 2.2 and the patch (email address below). Please specify type of tape required.
After completing the installation, PLEASE rerun 'mkiraf' and answer 'yes' to the 'initialize uparm?' question.
New features in PROS patch 2.2.1 - 12 July 93
1.1 non-SUN support
This patch contains fixes for all our platform ports. We have included entries for additional architectures in our 'mkpkg' file. We have explicitly ported, or our sites have ported, to the following architectures:
VAX/VMS (using IRAF 2.10/Beta release) Decstation/ULTRIX (ddec,dsux) IBM RS6000 (rs6000) Silicon Graphics (irix)
We now expect that PROS should work on any of the other supported IRAF architectures without further problems.
1.2 Changes which affect all sites
- XIMAGES
- QPCOPY/QPSORT/TIMSORT Fixed a bug, that caused the 'ONTIME' quantity NOT to be updated when creating an output QPOE file without the 'time' attribute (e.g. EVENTDEF = small or peewee)
- XTIMING
- Up-to-date versions of the tables for both Einstein and ROSAT barycenter timing corrections have been included. Invalid versions were inadvertently released in PROS 2.2. Due to format changes, these invalid versions produced FATAL errors, so there was no problem with producing erroneous results. Checks added in most routines to verify input is time-ordered. These tasks now give a FATAL error when encountering input that is NOT time-sorted.
- LTCURV
- Corrected a bug that appeared in the Decstation port that caused the output source counts to differ from the number of photons in the input file.
- XSPECTRAL
- QPSPEC Modified to give a warning rather than a fatal error if input file is not spatially sorted and indexed. (This check is due to an IRAF-bug that often causes a FATAL error when running on a non-sorted input file.)
- XDATAIO
-
RARC2PROS
It has come to our attention that not all GERMAN/PSPC files
in the ROSAT archive include a 'sub-instrument' identifier.
In this case PROS was defaulting to sub-instrument = 1 (or
PSPC C), which was usually incorrect. PROS has now been
modified to select the sub-instrument based on OBSERVATION
DATE (MJD-OBS), with all observations in 1990 being
assigned to sub-instrument=1 (PSPC C) and all observations
in 1991 and later to sub-instrument=2 (PSPC B).
To correct existing QPOE files in PROS:
qphedit
.qp XS-SUBIN 2 or for existing tables in PROS, especially any *_obs.tab produced by QPSPEC: tupar _obs.tab :r SUBINST keyword SUBINST, type i; give replacement value: 1 2 Current parameter and its replacement are: SUBINST i 1 SUBINST i 2 ... OK to replace ? (yes): :e - MOTD
- With the initial release of PROS 2.2, several sites reported error messages when loading XRAY packages: ERROR: no such parameter - 'motd'
This error was in fact caused by an error in the TABLES package installation. PROS packages automatically load the TABLES packages using the new 'motd-' parameter to suppress the header banner. If TABLES was not defined correctly in the IRAF/extern.pkg, this new parameter was not recognized. The correct definition for TABLES is
task tables.pkg = tables$tables.cl
NOTE: there is no '$' in the task definition name (on the left side of the "=").
Also, it is REQUIRED that TABLES 1.2.3 be installed and that the command 'unlearn tables' be performed.
- XLOCAL
- Removed the explicit pathnames from the source code, and removed the sub-packages not required by remote sites. This package will be reorganized for the next release.
1.3 FUTURE PLANS
There will be a further PROS patch (2.2.2) to support the new "Rationalized Data Format" (RDF) FITS files that will soon be produced by the ROSAT Science Data Center Processing Systems.
2.0 REVISED PROS USER'S GUIDE
The PUG has been updated to reflect changes in PROS v 2.2. We plan to mail hardcopies to those who have so requested during the week of 12 July. Both the latex files and postscript files are in /pub/pros/PUG in our anonftp service (see below for access information). All figures are now available as separate postscript files (for latex users), but are also embedded in both the compressed and uncompressed version of the master postscript file(s), PUG.ps(.Z). Therefore, most users need transfer only one file which can be printed directly and will produce the identical product we provide.
TASKLIST.asc is the ASCII file which contains "one-pagers" for each PROS task, arranged in alphabetical order. A new version has been made and resides in the same subdir as the PUG.
ABOUT HINTS & POINTERS
As the provider of the PROS software package ("xray" in IRAF), the ROSAT Science Data Center (RSDC) at SAO distributes HINTS & POINTERS to PROS Users via email. When we find answers to often asked questions, or when we have implemented new software solutions to longstanding problems, we will send this information directly to our users. These messages will also be available via anonymous ftp*, but to receive the email version, you should register with us. If your username is the one associated with your site registration, you are already registered for "HINTS & POINTERS", but we encourage other users (even at the same sites) to register.Mailings will be sent as the need arises, perhaps every month or so. If you would like to suggest items for future issues of H&P or add your name to our distribution list, please contact us at the following address:
**************************************************************************
Internet - rsdc@cfa.harvard.edu RSDC MS-3
DECnet - CFA::RSDC (6699::RSDC) Center for Astrophysics
UUCP - ...!harvard!cfa!rsdc 60 Garden St. Cambridge MA 02138 USA
BITNET - rsdc@cfa tel: (617) 495-7134 FAX: 495-7356
**************************************************************************
* to access our anonymous ftp service:
o ftp -i sao-ftp.harvard.edu # node address: 128.103.42.3
[Name: anonymous]
[Password: ]
ftp> cd pub/pros/Hints
N.B.: you can also obtain your own copy of the PROS USERS GUIDE by anonftp from subdir /pub/pros/PUG. Releases and patches are in /pub/pros.
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