ASCII2PHA (Oct1994)          ftools.heasarc          ASCII2PHA (Oct1994)



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
    (301) 286-6115