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Version-4.1 Release of Full FTOOLS Package

May 7, 1998: FTOOLS Version 4.1 is now available. We highly recommend all users get and install the new package, as it contains many new XTE FTOOLS, as well as improvements to previous tools.

FTOOLS 4.1 takes advantage of several updates that have been made to new XTE calibration files. Thus, to use FTOOLS 4.1 you MUST get and install all of the following:


Version-3.6.1 Release of RXTE Ftools Package

March 4th, 1997: Version 3.6.1 of the RXTE FTOOLS is now available. All RXTE users should obtain this new version as it contains several new tools, enhancements and bug fixes, principally:

All these changes are detailed in the accompanying release notes.

The new release is available via anonymous FTP at legacy.gsfc.nasa.gov in the tar file, xte361.tar.gz.

PLEASE NOTE: Version 3.6.1 is an incremental release. It must be installed on top of existing installations of the current "full" FTOOLS release (3.6). Comprehensive instructions covering the whole installation procedure are available in the installation guide which is also included in the tar file.


Version-3.6 Release of Entire Ftool Package

October 22nd, 1996: Version 3.6 of the Ftools is now available. All users should obtain this new version as it contains several new packages, enhancements and bug fixes, principally:

  1. runpcabackest: A new Perl script which takes as input a file containing a list of files that pcabackest is to operate upon. This makes running pcabackest more convenient.

  2. fxbary: A bug, arising when data have large time-gaps, has been fixed.

  3. pcabackest: There are several enhancements:

    • Supports interpolation of binned models to improve background estimate.
    • Supports individual PCU's being turned off.
    • Error estimate calculation is optional. (Speed improvement if omitted)
    • Executes on DEC Alpha systems.
    • Allows separate estimation of internal and diffuse x-ray background.
    • Can search calibration database (caldb) for background models.

  4. pcagainset: This tool now works with a new, single, combined EDS gain/offset calibration file.

  5. saextrct and seextrct: Several enhancements that make the two extractors more rigorous and robust.

For more details, please read the release notes. Note that we do expect to continue to release XTE upgrades between full FTOOLS releases.


New Release of RXTE FTOOLS

July 15th, 1996: Version 3.5.2 of the RXTE FTOOLS is now available. This new update contains a brand new ftool, PCA_BS, which subtracts background from PCA light curves. In addition, there are many improvements and corrections to existing RXTE FTOOLS, particularly FXBARY, SAEXTRCT and SEEXTRCT. All these changes are detailed in the accompanying release notes.

The new release is available via anonymous FTP at legacy.gsfc.nasa.gov in the tar file, xte352.tar.gz.

PLEASE NOTE: Version 3.5.2 is an incremental release. It must be installed on top of existing installations of the previous XTE release (3.5.1) and of the current "full" FTOOLS release (3.5). Comprehensive instructions covering the whole installation procedure are available in the installation guide which is also included in the tar file.


XDF Version 2.03 Released

May 8th, 1996


Changes since the Previous Version


Overview

The RXTE Data Finder (XDF) is an tool for navigating the RXTE FITS Database (XFDB) that has an X-Windows based graphical user interface. XDF allows the user to enter source names, time ranges, and select subsystem constraints interactively, searching for observations, application IDs, and instrument configurations that fit those constraints. The final product is a list of FITS files from the XFDB which can be saved to a plain ASCII file for subsequent use by Ftools or the user's favorite analysis tools.

XDF is implemented using Tcl and Tk as well as the object-oriented extensions to Tcl, known as iTcl. RXTE-specific Tcl commands have been implemented using C and the new C-based version of the FITS I/O library.

Versions 1.* were implemented using Tcl version 7.3, iTcl version 1.5, and Tk version 3.6 and developed under SunOS 4.1.3. It was also implemented using FITSIO version 3.71.

Version 2.0 of XDF is implemented using Tcl 7.4, Tk 4.0, and CFITSIO 0.95, all of which involve significant departures from and incompatibilities with their predecessors.

XDF consists of:


Obtaining XDF and Preparing for Installation

All XDF source components and a few binaries are included in a tar file xdf2.03.tar.gz that is available by anonymous FTP at xpert.stx.com in the directory pub/soc/fits/src.

Other SunOS sites may be able to use the "static" SunOS 4.1.3 executable, xtcl_wish, included in the distribution of XDF 2.0 (see below). An Alpha (OSF3.0) binary is also included.

However, to create XDF 2.0 from source, the following software must be installed on the target system:

All of the above software can also be obtained via anonymous FTP at xpert.stx.com in the directory pub/soc/fits/src.

This is provided as a service only. When you install xdf, it will be assumed that the above packages are installed already. Unless you feel comfortable with installing such software, we strongly recommend that you check with your system administrator first.

For more information on Tcl/Tk and CFITSIO, see:


Users in the RXTE/GOF Environment

Those users with access to the RXTE/GOF /data/osiris* directories should disregard the remainder of this document and merely define the following pathname in their execution search path:

   /data/osiris01/xtegof/local/bin
Then to execute XDF, just type xdf.

NOTE: care should be taken to un-define any alias command for "xdf" (as was required for pre-2.0 releases of XDF) that might exist in the user's environment and/or login scripts.


Using a Distributed xtcl_wish Binary

(Skip to the next section if you are building XDF from source.)

Other Sun sites may be able to use the binary executable xtcl_wish.SunOS4; Alpha sites the executable xtcl_wish.Alpha. These are included in the distribution of XDF 2.0. The advantage is that installation of itcl and CFITSIO are not required. It does assume, though, that Tcl 7.4 and Tk 4.0 are already installed, or at least their "library" directories are otherwise available. All the required iTcl 1.5 widget classes and associated tclIndex file are distributed with XDF 2.0.

It is imperative, however, that the environment variables TCL_LIBRARY and TK_LIBRARY be correctly defined as the pathnames to the Tcl 7.4 and Tk 4.0 library directories, respectively.

That is:

  1. Set the environment variable TCL_LIBRARY as the path to the local Tcl 7.4 library directory, e.g.
          setenv TCL_LIBRARY /usr/local/lib/tcl
    

  2. Set the environment variable TK_LIBRARY as the path to the local Tk 4.0 library directory, e.g.
          setenv TK_LIBRARY /usr/local/lib/tk
    

Skip the next section and go to the last section.


Generating XDF from Source

Generating XDF from source requires that the tcl 7.4, itcl 1.5, tk 4.0, and CFITSIO 0.95 be installed first. When that is the case:

  1. Edit the Makefile to personalize it for your own site. This will usually involve three types of changes:

    1. The installation directories (prefix and exec-prefix)
    2. The locations of include and library directories
    3. Platform and installation dependent libraries (LOCAL_LIBS)

    They appear in that order at the beginning of the Makefile.

  2. Type "make"

If the make succeeds, you may want to test XDF before installing it. To do so, simply type "xdf".


Installing XDF

Some editing of the .xdfrc xtcl_wish script is required, in order to correctly define the path to the iTcl widget library used by the Tcl auto loader. You can also redefine the default path to the FITS Master Index file of the XFDB, although this can always be overridden in XDF using the "Path" entry window.

  1. Edit .xdfrc and define the correct path to the xtcl/iTcl widget library to be used by the Tcl auto loader, e.g.
          set xTcl_widgets /usr/local/lib/xtcl/widgets
    
    NOTE: The installation of iTcl 1.5 does not include installing the (demo) iTcl widgets, so the user/installer of XDF will have to chose a home for these.

    Optionally, edit the directory path to a default FITS Master Index, e.g.

          set default_path "/data/osiris02/xtegof/FITS/FD"
    

  2. Edit the script file "xdf" and define INSTALLED_XDF_SCRIPT

To install XDF, you must, of course, have permission to install it in the target directories. If so, simply type "make install".

arots@xebec.gsfc.nasa.gov
Kerry Hilldrup - khilldru@xenolith.gsfc.nasa.gov


Updated RXTE Ftools Released

May 6th, 1996: New and updated RXTE Ftools are now available via anonymous FTP at legacy.gsfc.nasa.gov. Incorporating important enhancements and bug fixes, the tools occupy a single tar file which should be installed on top of the existing ftools 3.5 package. This release also includes several important calibration updates.

All the necessary files are contained in the directory:

   /xte/software/xte_update

These include the release notes (README_XTE351) and the installation instructions (INSTALL_XTE351) which you should read before downloading and installing the tools.


If you have a question about RXTE, please send email to one of our help desks.

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