Running XSTAR2XSPEC

To run XSTAR2XSPEC, simply type

	xstar2xspec [options]

at the system prompt, where [options] consists of one or more of the options listed below. Generally, you will run XSTAR2XSPEC with no options. There are a couple of control options which are described below. Currently the script prompts you for all parameters by invoking the pset utility (included in the standard XSTAR package). The defaults are adequate for most situations.

Entering all the many parameters prompted by XSTAR2XSPEC can be tedious, and prone to error. An alternative is to edit the parameter file using an FTOOL routine or a text editor. Since XSTAR2XSPEC is actually a perl script and not an FTOOL, it does not have its own parameter file. Rather, it calls several other FTOOLS which do have their own parameter files. The FTOOL responsible for setting up the multiple commands to call XSTAR is called XSTINITABLE, and all the relevant parameters can be set by editing the parameter file xstinitable.par. This is what we do when using this script.

XSTAR2XSPEC Options:

-save:

Save the spectral FITS files, modifying the file name to include the value of the loopcontrol variable for better identification. Note this can use GBs of disk space.

-verbose:

Generate more diagnostic messages (applies to the XSTAR2XSPEC script only).

-restart:

Continues the XSTAR2XSPEC run using the previous run. Note that it does NOT check the integrity of the table files from the terminated run. This is the user's responsibility.