GSFC XMM-Newton GOF Status Report #112: CCF mirror and SAS on Mac OSX (Tiger)

[Michael Arida <arida@milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov>]

NASA/GSFC XMM-Newton GOF
21 November 2005

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Contents:

1) SAS issues with Mac OSX 10.4 (Tiger)
2) U.S. Mirror of CCF files
3) Revamping of GOF web pages and XMM ABC guide

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1) SAS issues with Mac OSX 10.4 (Tiger)

Mac users should be aware that SAS running on OSX 10.4 (Tiger)
is problematic.  The most obvious error is that the EPIC data
reduction can produce far fewer events than are produced on other
platforms for the same data set (note that the processing on other
platforms produces consistent numbers of events).  The project is
looking into into this but we have no estimate as to when a solution
will be found.  Our recommendation is, unfortunately, to postpone an
upgrade from Panther to Tiger for a few months.  The problem lies in
the interaction between SAS, the new gcc 4.0 compiler, the new 
NAGWare f95 5.0 compiler, and Tiger itself.

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2) U.S. Mirror of CCF files

To aid users in keeping XMM-Newton calibration files up-to-date, we
have started mirroring the XMM calibrations (CCF) files at GSFC.

For directions in how to mirror these files either via Vilspa or via
GSFC, please see our instructions at:

http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xmm/xmmgof_mirror.html

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3) Revamping of GOF web pages and XMM ABC guide

The GOF is starting a project to revamp our web pages and the ABC
guide, and we are inviting community input as to what might help
improve their clarity and ease of use.  Any comments or suggestions as
to what should be added, removed, or changed will be gladly accepted.

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If you have questions or problems with these or other issues, please
let us know.

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