The Calibration Database

A number of FTOOLS tasks require input calibration datasets. Many such tasks include software which (optionally) enables the name and location of the appropriate calibration files(s) to be supplied to the task (without user interaction) via a local Calibration Database (Caldb). Specific instructions as to how users can use their local Caldb are contained within the help pages for the task. If a local Caldb is not installed, again the help pages for the task instructs users as to what they must do. Obviously this usually consists of the user having to determine the name and location of the necessary calibration files for themselves.

For a variety of reasons, a local Caldb is NOT automatically set up by the installation of FTOOLS. However setting up your own local Caldb it is relatively trivial in most cases, and full instructions are provided in the OGIP memo How to Install a Calibration Database (CAL/GEN/94-004) which is available via anonymous FTP to
ftp://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/caldb/docs/manuals/installation/install_guide.ps
and on the WWW via the Caldb Home Page:
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/caldb/caldb_intro.html

Since a local Caldb can become quite large, we recommend that a site maintain only a single database on a central file system and that this local Caldb be made available to multiple users. Before installing a Caldb, it's certainly worth checking one is not already available to you locally.

If/once a local Caldb is available, then a number of environment variables need to be set in order that FTOOLS tasks are able to locate the necessary database files etc. Assuming you have a standard set up, this can be done by sourcing a single file named caldbinit.unix for unix operating systems and caldbinit.vms for VMS. To find out where the appropriate file resides at your site, you should contact the person responsible for maintaining your local Caldb. (If you know where the top-level of your local Caldb resides, and have a standard set up, then the file is probably located in caldb/software/tools/ directory for unix systems and CALDB:[SOFTWARE.TOOLS] for VMS systems.) Since the environment variables are required by all processes which need to access your local Caldb, we recommend you add a line to your login file:
source {path}/caldbinit.unix} in your .login for unix systems, or
$ @{path}CALDBINIT.VMS} in your LOGIN.COM for vms systems,
where {path} is the path to the appropriate caldbinit file. Full instructions, further information and help are provided in the OGIP memo The Calibration Database Users' Guide (CAL/GEN/94-002) which is available via anonymous FTP to
ftp://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/caldb/docs/manuals/users/users_guide.ps
and on the WWW via the Caldb Home Page:
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/caldb/caldb_intro.html

Any questions/comments regarding the installation and operation of a local Caldb should be addressed to

caldbhelp@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov

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.