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                           RELEASE NOTES FOR HEASOFT 6.0.3
                                  October 7, 2005
    ******************************************************************************
    
    The HEASoft 6.0.3 release is primarily driven by the release of the Swift
    software version 2.2, but also includes updates to several tasks in the
    attitude subpackage and to the FTOOLS utilities 'xselect', 'extractor',
    and 'grppha2', which have been revised to mirror the current development
    versions in use at the HEASARC.  This release also includes CFITSIO v3.003
    (updated from v3.001 in the last release).
    
    As before, configuration-related changes thoughout the package means that
    users who already have HEASoft v6.0X 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.
    
    ******************************************************************************
                                    ATTITUDE
    ******************************************************************************
    
     aberrator -
         allow qualified CALDB query [1]
    
     aspcorr [NEW TASK] -
         Apply an attitude correction to sky images
    
     attcombine -
         added parameter interpolation to set attitude interpolation mode
         output now contains records only at times from first input file
         optionally transfer input POINTING to output file
    
     coordinator -
         added parameter interpolation to set attitude interpolation mode
         allow qualified CALDB query [1]
    
     prefilter -
         allow qualified CALDB query for alignfile and leapname parameters [1]
    
     tristarid [NEW TASK] -
         Perform triplet-based star identification
    
    ******************************************************************************
                                     CFITSIO
    ******************************************************************************
    
    Version 3.003:
    
      Enhancements
      
      - enhanced the string column reading routing fits_get_col_str to 
        support cases where the user enters a null pointer (rather than
        a null string) as the nulval parameter.
    
      - modified the low level ffread and ffwrite routines that physically
        read and write data from the FITS file so that they write the name
        of the file to the CFITSIO error stack if an error occurs.
    
      - changed the definition of fits_open_file into a macro that will test
        that the version of the fitsio.h include file that was used to 
        build the CFITSIO library is the same version as included when
        compiling the application program.
    
      - made a simple modification to region.c to support regions files
        of type "linear", for compatibility with ds9 and fv.
        
      - modified the internal ffgpr routine (and renamed it ffgprll) so
        that it returns the TNULL value as a LONGLONG parameter instead
        of 'long'.
        
      - in fits_get_col_display_width, added support for TFORM = 'k'
      
      - modified fitsio.h, fitsio2.h, and f77_wrap.h to add test for (_SX)
        to identify NEC SX supercomputers.
    
      - modified eval_f.c to treat table columns of TULONG  (unsigned long)
        as a double.  Also added support for TLONGLONG (8-byte integers) as
        a double, which is only a temporary fix, since doubles only have about
        52 bits of precision.
    
      - changed the 'blank' parameter in the internal ffgphd function to
        to type LONGLONG to support integer*8 FITS images.
    
      - when reading the TNULL keyword value, now use ffc2jj instead of
        ffc2ii, to support integer*8 values.
    
      Bug fixes
    
      - fixed a significant bug when writing character strings to a variable
        length array column of a binary table. This bug would result in some
        unused space in the variable length heap, making the heap somewhat
        larger than necessary.  This in itself is usually a minor issue, since
        the FITS files are perfectly valid, and other software should have
        no problems reading back the characters strings. In some cases, however,
        this problem could cause the program that is writing the table
        to exit with a status = 108 disk read error.
    
      - modified the standalone imcopy.c utility program to fix a memory allocation
        bug when running on 64-bit platforms where sizeof(long) = 8 bytes.
    
      - added an immediate 'return' statement to ffgtcl if the input status >0, 
        to prevent a segfault on some platforms.
    
    ******************************************************************************
                                      HEASARC
    ******************************************************************************
    
     extractor v4.56 -
    
        Fixed problem that arises if the input event file has no GTIs and there
        are selection GTIs in use. The resulting event file was given the
        selection GTIs instead of the correct result of no GTIs.
    
        Modified the region file reading routine to ignore the 'CR' character
        if it is the last character on the line.  If the region file was created
        on a PC, which uses CR LF as the 2 End-of-Line characters, then the CR
        is left over when read on a Unix machine, which uses only a single LF
        character to mark the end of line.
    
        Fixed inconsistency between rotation angle defined in ds9 ELLIPSE and BOX
        regions and their use in extractor. It appears that extractor was treating
        these angles as clockwise from the x-axis while ds9 defines the angles as
        counter-clockwise from the same axis.
    
    
     grppha2 -
    
        Change error to warning if ROWID column is not found.
    
     xselect v2.3:
       Fixed error that datamode keyword was not allowed to be different for
       different instruments.  Trapped case of a blank string being entered for
       a filename.
    
       xsl_chandra_acis_makeresp:
       mkacisrmf wants the spectrum file as the input of the wmap parameter, not the
       weighting file produced by mkwarf (as mkrmf did).  Modified call to mkacisrmf
       to include all required parameters.
    
    ******************************************************************************
                                      SWIFT
    ******************************************************************************
    
    Swift software v 2.2:
    
    ----------------------
    BAT specific tools
    ----------------------
    
    batoccultgti [NEW TASK] -
       this new task computes good time intervals that are unocculted by
       the earth, moon, and/or sun.  The user enters as input the
       observation "prefilter" (or "SAO") file and the position of the
       source.  The output is a standard good time interval file which can
       be used for selecting BAT survey data (it can be used as input to
       the 'mgtime' or 'batbinevt' tasks).
    
       This task is used when the source of interest is known.
    
    batoccultmap [NEW TASK] -
       this new task computes an exposure correction based on occultations
       by the earth, moon and/or sun.  The user enters as input the
       observation "prefilter" (or "SAO") file and the image to be
       corrected.  Portions of the image which are occulted by the earth
       or other bodies have their exposure reduced accordingly.  The
       motion of these bodies in the BAT field of view as a function of
       time are accounted for as well.
    
       This task is used when a blind image search will be performed, or
       if there are many sources being analyzed at the same time.  When
       the source is known in advance, unocculted data should be selected
       using batoccultgti instead.
    
    batphasyserr [NEW TASK] -
       this new task applies a systematic error vector to a user-generated
       BAT spectrum (PHA file).  By default the systematic error vector is
       taken from CALDB.  Both type I and type II spectral formats are
       handled.  If the user binning does not match the systematic error
       template, then the template is rebinned to match.
    
    batbinevt   -
       PARAMETER CHANGE: outtype, as detailed below 
          new output format: type I spectral format (for outtype="PHA1")
          the type II format can be output by using outtype=PHA2
          when outtype=PHA is given, then the output is either
               type I, if only one output spectrum is produced OR
               type II, if more than one output spectrum is produced
          THUS, THE DEFAULT SPECTRUM TYPE HAS CHANGED FROM TYPE II TO TYPE I
    
       a warning is produced if the users asks for a COUNTS spectrum
       of type II format; this is particularly poorly supported by
       OGIP/HEASARC downstream software
     
       remove some confusing WCS keywords held over from the original input
    
       handle cases where the input file is corrupted or mishandled; for
       example, if the GTI extension is missing from a DPH
      
       proper exposure-type keywords are written to the GTI and EBOUNDS
       extensions
    
    batcelldetect -
       BUG FIX in the handling of multiple images in tangent plane
       coordinates
        
       BUG FIX in the handling of long catalog NAMEs and keyword strings
     
       TDISPn keywords are written so that catalog entries are displayed
       more readably
     
       the task now uses the WCSLIB coordinate routines more fully
    
    batclean -
       PARAMETER CHANGE: several apertures can be chosen from CALDB;
       use the "CALDB:flux" aperture by default
      
       NEW PARAMETER: snrcol so the user can choose which column to
       use for S/N thresholding
      
       BUG FIXes in the handling of long catalog NAMEs and null values
      
       some code cleanups
    
    batdrmgen -
       Added a better gain correction method to improve energy scale
    
       Added more realistic energy-dependent resolution
      
       The task now can correct for the "tile edge effect" more flexibly
      
       REQUIRES new CALDB released with build 16
    
    bateconvert -
       Changed limits on energy to -10 to +3276.8 keV
    
    baterebin -
       NEW PARAMETER detmask, an optional input detector quality map
      
       BUG FIXes to the handling of the upper and lower integral bins
       
       Reduced number and apparent urgency of error messages
      
       Added more diagnostic information
    
    batfftimage -
       PARAMETER CHANGE: several apertures can be chosen from CALDB;
       use the "CALDB:flux" aperture by default
     
    batmasktaglc -
       PARAMETER CHANGE: scale=1.3 is a new scale factor to account
       for the error in the flight software mask tagging
    
       Task now writes a SCALEAPP keyword to record the scale factor used
    
    batmaskwtevt -
       PARAMETER CHANGE: several apertures can be chosen from CALDB;
       use the "CALDB:flux" aperture by default
    
       BUG FIX for the flat field correction
       NOTE: this fix means that previous analysis must be re-run
    
    batmaskwtimg -
       PARAMETER CHANGE: several apertures can be chosen from CALDB;
       use the "CALDB:flux" aperture by default
    
       BUG FIX for the flat field correction
       NOTE: this fix means that previous analysis must be re-run
    
       NEW PARAMETER: outtype, which selects the filter applied to the
       output image
    
       NEW PARAMETER: combmeth, which controls how multiple output
       images are combined (if at all)
    
    batupdatephakw -
       the task now handles both type I and type II spectral files,
       in order to be compatible with changes to batbinevt.
    
    Tasks batevt2dpi, batgse2dpi, batgse2dph, and batmasktagpha are
    considered obsolete, and/or not for end users.
    
    Known Open Issues Regarding BAT Analysis Software in Build 16 see :
    
      http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/swift/analysis/bat_digest.html
    
    -------------------
    XRT specific tool
    --------------------
     xrttam - 
         Do not consider bias map and NULL frames in the calculation of the TAM Detector corrections
      
         Modify check to see if the xrt header file time range covers the attitude one
    
         New input parameters 'alignfile' and 'interpolation'  needed to 'attcombine' call
    
     xrttdrss - 
         Apply a DN correction to Postage Stamp Image  pixels when the telemetry version of the Message is 2
         
         Calculate the Postage Stamp image flux taking into account only pixels overthe background (set to 9DN)
    
     xrtpipeline - 
          Updated calls to xrttdrss and coordinator.
    
    -------------------
     UVOT specific tool
    -------------------
     uvot2pha -
        errors now recorded as STAT_ERROR column instead of keyword
    
     uvotbadpix -
        allow qualified CALDB query [1]
    
     uvotdetect -
        added parameter zerobkg for the limit of zeros/nulls in the image 
        before background and variance are calculated externally and
          passed to SExtractor
    
     uvotbadpix -
        allow qualified CALDB query [1]
    
     uvotexpmap -
        allow qualified CALDB query [1] [2]
        improved determination of interior pixels
    
     uvotflatfield -
        allow qualified CALDB query [1]
    
     uvotgcn -
        allow qualified CALDB query [1] [2]
    
        output files ending in .gz are gzipped
    
        if insufficient sources are found
          attempt source detection with lower threshold
        use tristarid for finding attitude correction
    
        apply attitude correction [if found] to sky images
    
     uvotmag -
        allow qualified CALDB query [1]
    
        added parameter syserr to control whether systematic errors
          are included in results
    
     uvotmaghist -
        added parameter syserr to control whether systematic errors
          are included in results
    
     uvotrmfgen -
        allow qualified CALDB query [1]
    
     uvotscreen -
        allow qualified CALDB query [1]
    
     uvotskycorr [NEW TASK] -
        determine/apply attitude corrections to UVOT sky images
    
     uvotstarid [REPLACED by attitude/tristarid]
    
     uvottfc -
        allow qualified CALDB query [1]
    
        added parameter exposure for estimate of exposure duration
    
        scale rate errors by EXPGUESS / write EXPGUESS keyword
    
    [1] Most tools support the special parameter value CALDB which indicates
    to query CALDB for the appropriate calibration file.  A qualified CALDB
    query allows the user finer control over how CALDB is queried.  Specifying
            parameter=CALDB:<qualifier>[,<qualifier>...]
    where each qualifier looks like
            key=value
    applies the comma-delimited list of qualifiers to the query.  Supported
    qualifiers include
            MISSION INSTRUMENT DETECTOR FILTER EXPRESSION
            STARTDATE STARTTIME STOPDATE STOPTIME DATE TIME
    
    [2] CALDB queries for the UVOT telescope definition file now include an
    expression
                    FILTER.eq.<filter>.and.WHEELPOS.eq.<wheelpos>
    
    --------------------
    Swift General tool
    --------------------
     swiftxform -
        ensure TELDEF file used is appropriate for each image (HDU)
        allow qualified CALDB query [1] [2]
        added parameter skytime to set time at which attitude is sampled for
          sky transformation
    
    

    HEASoft / FTOOLS Help Desk

    If FTOOLS has been useful in your research, please reference this site (https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftools) and use the ASCL reference for HEASoft [ascl:1408.004] or the ASCL reference for the original FTOOLs paper [ascl:9912.002]:

    Blackburn, J. K. 1995, in ASP Conf. Ser., Vol. 77, Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems IV, ed. R. A. Shaw, H. E. Payne, and J. J. E. Hayes (San Francisco: ASP), 367.

    Web page maintained by: Bryan K. Irby


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    Last modified: Tuesday, 23-Oct-2007 16:44:01 EDT