NAME

ascii2pha -- Creates an OGIP standard PHA file from an ASCII dataset


USAGE

        ascii2pha infile outfile chanpres dtype qerror rows fchan tlmin
          detchans pois telescope instrume detnam filter exposure


DESCRIPTION

ASCII2PHA creates an OGIP standard PHA FITS file from an ascii dataset. The user can apply Poissonian errors if desired. This task creates a basic PHA file, it does not allow the user to define a grouping, systematic errors, or add any quality flags.


WARNINGS ON USAGE

This is a beta-test version, although this task performs some error checking, it should be used with care.


PARAMETERS

infile [character string]
The name of the ASCII file containing the PHA dataset

outfile [character string]
The name of the FITS file to be written

chanpres [boolean]
If channel numbers are present in the input file, enter yes

dtype [integer]
The PHA dataset can be defined in counts or rate (counts/sec). This parameter is a flag to allow the user to define what datatype the input dataset is in. 1 counts, 2 - rate.

qerror [boolean]
"yes" if errors are present in dataset.

rows = - [integer]
The range of rows to be read from the ascii file. The default "-" means read all the rows. This enables users to skip comments in the ascii file. rows=-10 specifies rows upto and including 10, and similiarly rows=10- specifies rows 10 to the last row.

fchan [integer]
This parameter is only prompted for if chanpres=no, it is the first channel number in the ascii file.

tlmin [integer]
This is the first legal Detector channel. NOTE: This is not the same as fchan.

detchans [integer]
The number of legal Detector channels.

pois [boolean]
Yes, if Poissonian errors are to be applied to the dataset.

telescope [character string]
Telescope name.

instrume [character string]
Instrument name.

detnam [character string]
Detector name.

filter [character string]
Filter name, enter NONE if approriate.

(phaversn = 1.1.0) [character string]
OGIP PHA version to be created.

exposure [real]
Exposure time in seconds.

(areascal = 1) [real]
Area scaling factor.

(backscal = 1) [real]
Background scaling factor.

(corrscal = 1) [real]
Correction scaling factor.

(corrfile = ) [character string]
Associated correction file.

(backfile = ) [character string]
Associated background file.

(respfile = ) [character string]
Associated redistribution matrix file.

(ancrfile = ) [character string]
Associated ancillary file.

(date_obs = ) [character string]
UTC Date of observation start, in the forms of yyyy-mm-dd or dd/mm/yy.

(time_obs = ) [character string]
UTC Time of observation start, in the form hh:mm:ss

(date_end = ) [character string]
UTC Date of observation end, in the form yyyy-mm-dd or dd/mm/yy.

(time_end = ) [character string]
UTC Time of observation end, in the form hh:mm:ss

(ra_obj = ) [character string]
RA of Object, in the form hh mm ss

(dec_obj = ) [character string]
Dec of Object, in the form hh mm ss

(equinox = 2000.0) [real]
Equinox of RA & Dec measurements

(hduclas2 = UNKNOWN) [character string]
HDUCLAS2 keyword value

(chantype = ) [character string]
Channels assigned by Detector electronics

(chatter = 9) [integer]
Flag to specify how verbose the screen output is, lower/higher chatter flag produces quieter/more verbose display.

(clobber = no) [boolean]
If yes then an existing file can be overwritten.


BUGS

None known


SEE ALSO

     Arnaud etal, 1992. Legacy, 2, 65 (OGIP/92-007)
     The ftools/heasarc task GRPPHA


LOG OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES

v1.1.0 (July 1996) Banashree Mitra Seifert
Fixed bug and now user is asked for exposure time in secs.

v1.0.0 (1994 OCT)
Beta test version


PRIMARY AUTHOR

     Rehana Yusaf
     HEASARC
     NASA/GSFC
     http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ftoolshelp

CATEGORY

Oct1994 ftools.heasarc