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Version 5.0 release Notes, February 2000

These are the release notes for FTOOLS v5.0, released February 2000. In this document we discuss the new tools and scripts in v 5.0 and highlight the major changes since v4.2.


RXTE-specific FTOOLS added since v4.2

For complete details and up-to-date information on using FTOOLS to analyze RXTE data, please refer to: http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/xhp_proc_analysis.html

  • hxtrsp -- Produces a response matrix for an input HEXTE spectrum (.pha file) using calibration data stored in the OGIP calibration database (CALDB). (Already released as part of the patch to FTOOLS v4.2.)

  • rex -- A script designed to run through all of the basic data reduction steps for multiple observations of a given target. Rex has been available since March 1999 via the RXTE-GOF web site but is included in a FTOOLS release for the first time here.

  • rebinlc -- Rebins lightcurves by integer multiple of TIMEDEL. Designed for rebinning of HEXTE lightcurves to facilitate background subtraction and is used by the latest version of rex.

    Major changes since v4.2

  • dyenspec: closereturn: These two tools have been withdrawn from FTOOLS v5.0 for extensive renovation.

  • correctlc: This tool has been completely rewritten as a compiled program rather than a Perl script and, as such, the interface now uses a standard FTOOLS parameter file. The tool takes an input lightcurve which covers periods during which PCUs turn on or off and places it onto a constant scale. By default the RATE/ERROR columns are scaled up to the maximum number of PCUs on at any time during the observation but alternate behavior may be selected to scale to one average PCU throughout or to any user-specified set of PCUs. This rewrite has made correctlc considerably faster and more robust.

  • pcadtlc: This tool has been removed from FTOOLS v5.0 for extensive renovation.

  • pcarmf: pcarsp: Response matrix generation now includes Epoch 4. Energy-to-channel information has been updated for all epochs. Parameters in the parameter file have also evolved. The latest version of pcarmf, combined with the latest energy-to-channel table (included with this FTOOLS release) and parameter file generate response matrices which minimize (but do not eliminate) features near 5 keV. Corrections for Gain drift are included. The default behavior has been changed so that the latest energy-to-channel information is searched for in $LHEA_DATA, as opposed to CALDB.

    Bug Fixes and Minor changes since v4.2

  • bemerge: Fixed bug related to long strings in CPIX keywords.

  • fasebin: Bug fixed so that output files include necessary keywords (TELESCOP/INSTRUME/FILTER).

    Fixed calculation of exposure for fast pulsars.

  • fcollect: fdpath parameter can now accept either path or a named file. In the former case it expects to find a file named "FMI"; in the latter the named file can be anything that begins with "FMI".

    TDISP keyword format corrected to conform to FITS standard.

    Now properly handles rare cases where files from multiple appids exist in the same column in a subsystem index file.

  • fxbary: Fixed minor bug affecting reads from output file.

    Documentation updated slightly related to hidden/prompted parameters.

  • grosstimefilt: Now allows ".gz" suffix when checking existence of input file.

  • gti2xronwin: Handles MJDREF vs MJDREFI/F properly. Modified to match new FSTRUCT parameter list.

  • hxtarf: hxtback: hxtdead: FTOOLS v5.0 includes the newest versions of these tools as provided by the HEXTE team at UCSD. These are identical to the versions which were previously released as a patch to FTOOLS v4.2.

  • pcabackest: Checks SAA dose history file validity

  • pcaclrsp: Bugs fixed in handling null input rates. Accumulation of quaternions handled better.

  • runpcabackest: Now more robust in checking for errors in input file list.

  • saextrct: seextrct: Case-sensitivity removed for "INDEF" vs. "indef".

    Fixed bugs related to timemin/max and timeint merging with gtiand/gtior which led to loss of the first GTI in some circumstances.

    Screen output modified slightly to reflect timeint/timemin/timemax.

    Fixed dropped leading digit in screen output for bright sources.

  • xenon2fits: Fixed bug in call to Check_Time subroutine which could cause an error in rare cases for events separated by very small amounts of time.

  • xtederive: Fixed bug which caused crashes in rare circumstances.

  • xtefilt: Transparent change to interface with fcollect (see above).

    Known Bugs in v5.0 RXTE FTOOLS

  • saextrct: seextrct: The extractors may bail out complaining about number of GTIs. Workaround is to run standalone binaries rather than dispatch. (Affects only IRIX-based systems (ie, SGIs) running the "dispatch" FTOOLS.)

    Large light curve files have a problem such that the first entry in the TIME column for every new processing cycle (by default every 100000 rows) incorrectly repeats the last time from the previous cycle. Subsequent rows are all correct. This does not appear to affect the RATE or other columns.


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    This page is maintained by the RXTE GOF and was last modified on Wednesday, 24-Aug-2022 11:10:31 EDT.