Appendix E: Associated Programs
Introduction
The HEAsoft package provides a number of programs and subroutine libraries to manipulate the FITS files used by XSPEC. A description of most tasks can be obtained by typing fhelp taskname or to get a complete list fhelp ftools.
HEAsoft reading tasks
| ftlist | Prints the contents of a FITS file to the screen or to a file |
| ftdmprmf | Prints the contents of a FITS RMF file to the screen or to a file. This tool prints the RMF file in a more legible fashion than ftlist |
HEAsoft manipulation tasks
| fthedit | Changes the value of a keyword in a FITS extension header |
| ftgrouppha | Defines (or redefines) and/or displays the grouping and quality flags, the important keywords, and the fractional systematic errors. |
| ftrbnpha | Compresses a FITS PHA file to a user-defined number of channels. The output is a new file containing the revised PHA extension plus a direct copy of any other extensions in the original file. |
| mathpha | Performs arithmetical operations on PHA files. |
| ftcmppha | Convert a type II pha file to a type I pha file. |
| ftrbnrmf | Bins a FITS RMF file (the detector response matrix) in channel or energy space. |
| ftcmprmf | Compress an RMF by removing all response below a threshold value. |
| ftaddarf | Adds together ARFs. |
| ftaddrmf | Adds together RMFs. |
| ftmarfrmf | Multiplies an RMF file by an ARF file. |
| ftgenrsp | A generic spectral response generator. |
| fv | A general GUI for manipulating FITS files. |
HEAsoft subroutines
The heasp library in heacore/heasp is a C++ class library for manipulating all the filetypes used by XSPEC. This provides both C++ and C routines as well as a Python package. A complete description is available at: http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/software/lheasoft/headas/heasp/heasp_guide.html