From geneh at crash.cts.com Sun Jun 9 22:24:24 1991 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["295" "" "1" "June" "91" "07:32:05" "GMT" "Gene Heitman" "geneh at crash.cts.com " nil "8" "Re: upside down" "^From:" nil nil "6"]) Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits Summary: LOOKING FOR IMAGE FORMAT SPECIFICATIONS Keywords: FITS PDS CDROM IMAGES CONVERSION Organization: Crash TimeSharing, El Cajon, CA From: geneh at crash.cts.com (Gene Heitman) Subject: Re: upside down Date: 1 Jun 91 07:32:05 GMT I would like to convert FITS and PDS and possibly VICAR format images to use on my Amiga 3000. In order to do this I need to get the specs for each of the formats mentioned above. Could someone please post the format specs in this newsgroup or send them directly to me? Thanks, Gene Heitman From ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu Sun Jun 9 22:24:28 1991 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["779" "" "2" "June" "91" "01:50:07" "GMT" "Ted Stockwell" "ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu " nil "14" "Re: upside down" "^From:" nil nil "6"]) Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits Organization: Univ. of Minnesota Astronomy Dept., APS Lab In-Reply-To: geneh at crash.cts.com's message of 1 Jun 91 07: 32:05 GMT Nntp-Posting-Host: buckaroo.spa.umn.edu From: ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu (Ted Stockwell) Subject: Re: upside down Date: 2 Jun 91 01:50:07 GMT In article <1991Jun1.073205.3665 at crash.cts.com> geneh at crash.cts.com (Gene Heitman) writes: I would like to convert FITS and PDS and possibly VICAR format images to use on my Amiga 3000. In order to do this I need to get the specs for each of the formats mentioned above. Could someone please post the format specs in this newsgroup or send them directly to me? The pbmplus package will convert from some fits formats to many other image formats. It will not handle all kinds of fits images, however. See the Frequently Asked Questions posting in comp.graphics for information on where to get pbmplus. -- Ted Stockwell U of MN, Dept. of Astronomy ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu Automated Plate Scanner Project From geneh at crash.cts.com Sun Jun 9 22:24:33 1991 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["1389" "" "2" "June" "91" "05:26:24" "GMT" "Gene Heitman" "geneh at crash.cts.com " nil "26" "Re: upside down" "^From:" nil nil "6"]) Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits Organization: Crash TimeSharing, El Cajon, CA From: geneh at crash.cts.com (Gene Heitman) Subject: Re: upside down Date: 2 Jun 91 05:26:24 GMT In article ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu (Ted Stockwell) writes: >In article <1991Jun1.073205.3665 at crash.cts.com> geneh at crash.cts.com (Gene Heitman) writes: > > I would like to convert FITS and PDS and possibly VICAR format images to > use on my Amiga 3000. In order to do this I need to get the specs for each > of the formats mentioned above. Could someone please post the format specs > in this newsgroup or send them directly to me? > >The pbmplus package will convert from some fits formats to >many other image formats. It will not handle all kinds of fits images, >however. See the Frequently Asked Questions posting in comp.graphics >for information on where to get pbmplus. >-- >Ted Stockwell U of MN, Dept. of Astronomy >ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu Automated Plate Scanner Project I already have PBMPlus. I have a commercial package for image processing on my Amiga called Art Department Professional. The publishers of the software have said that they will write new loading and saving modules for any format for which they receive the file specs and a couple of sample images. I would also like to work with PDS and VICAR formats since these types of images are on the Voyager CDROM set from Univ. of CO-Lab for Atmos. and Space Physics. Gene Heitman geneh at crash.cts.com From jgreen at zeus.calpoly.edu Sun Jun 9 22:24:52 1991 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["693" "" "1" "June" "91" "06:18:36" "GMT" "James T. Green" "jgreen at zeus.calpoly.edu " nil "16" "FITS reader for MS-DOS computersS" "^From:" nil nil "6"]) Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits Organization: California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo From: jgreen at zeus.calpoly.edu (James T. Green) Subject: FITS reader for MS-DOS computersS Date: 1 Jun 91 06:18:36 GMT Are there any programs for IBM (or Mac for that matter) that display FITS images. If yes, is there an FTP site where I can get it. Perhaps a FITS to GIF conversion might work. E-mail me the answer to avoid clutter here ;-> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Great spirits have always encountered * * violent opposition from mediocre minds." * * * * =========================================== * * (-: James T. Green :-) * * Internet: jgreen at eros.calpoly.edu * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu Sun Jun 9 22:25:03 1991 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["4047" "" "2" "June" "91" "01:59:07" "GMT" "Ted Stockwell" "ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu " nil "89" "Re: I'll bite" "^From:" nil nil "6"]) Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits Distribution: alt.sci.astro.fits Organization: Univ. of Minnesota Astronomy Dept., APS Lab In-Reply-To: n311bs at tamuts.tamu.edu's message of 31 May 91 19: 18:45 GMT Nntp-Posting-Host: buckaroo.spa.umn.edu From: ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu (Ted Stockwell) Subject: Re: I'll bite Date: 2 Jun 91 01:59:07 GMT In article n311bs at tamuts.tamu.edu (Ross Mckinney) writes: Ok, I'll bite. This sounds interesting, and I have been looking for this kind of data for a while. If someone could post a synopsis of FITS (I've never heard of it before), I'll be glad to write or help write some programs to access the images and perhaps convert them to GIF (If I get what you are saying correctly). -Jack (I know, the Header says Ross, I'll explain later) The following was posted to sci.astro a while ago > Reply-To: bschlesinger at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov > Followup-To: sci.astro > Distribution: world > Organization: NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center > Keywords: FITS > News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4 > > Basic information on FITS can be found in four papers: > > The reference cited by Arnold Gill > Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement, vol. 44, p. 363, 1981 > > which describes the original FITS structure > > The paper that follows it in the journal, which describes the "groups > structure". > > Grosbol et al., 1988, "Generalized extensions and blocking factors for > FITS", Astron. & Ap. Suppl., v. 73, p. 359. > > Harten et al., 1988, "The FITS tables extension, Astron. & Ap. > Suppl., v. 73 p. 365. > > The groups format is used only for radio interferometry. It is not > written, and often cannot be read, by people in other fields. I would > advise anyone in an another field just starting FITS to bypass this > paper. > > The third paper, on extensions, describes what makes FITS really > flexible: extensions. Each extension consists of a header followed by > data whose structure the header describes. They follow the header > (and data matrix, if present) described in the first paper. There are > some basic rules all extensions must follow to be FITS-compatible; > this paper describes them. Within those limit, a wide variety of > structures is possible. > > The fourth paper describes a particular extension that has been > endorsed by the IAU. In this extension, the data matrix is structured > as a table. The entries in the table consist of character strings or > the ASCII representation of digits. > > Reading these papers is at present the best way to get started on > FITS. > > One additional FITS rule (referred to by Steve Allen) has been > endorsed by the IAU Commission 5 FITS working group. The basic data > matrix "image' may contain IEEE-754 floating point numbers. BITPIX = > -32 in the header indicates single precision and BITPIX = -64 double > precision. > > Ron Watkins defines the meaning of the SIMPLE keyword as data integer > format. The SIMPLE keyword with the value "T" is the signature of > FITS. If a data set is FITS, it the SIMPLE keyword has the value "T", > with the card image syntax defined as in the first paper, whether the > data are integer or floating point. The meaning of the "F" value is > not defined. > > Steve Allen states that FITS really only applies to images stored on > magnetic tape. Historically, that was the medium to which it applied. > However, current thinking is to define FITS as a *logical* structure. > Conventions for its expression on different media are still being > discussed by the regional FITS committees. Also, he points out, > without endorsing the practice, that many sites stored their data > using the natural data format of their computer. Any site may store > data as it chooses. However, if it is in a different data format it > is NOT FITS. If they wish to distribute the data as FITS, they should > convert to the proper format. Unconverted data going under the name > of "waiver FITS" or "FITS-like" have complicated matters for FITS > readers (human and software). > > Barry Schlesinger > FITS Support Office > NASA Science Data Systems Standards Office -- Ted Stockwell U of MN, Dept. of Astronomy ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu Automated Plate Scanner Project From ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu Sun Jun 9 22:25:08 1991 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["3915" "" "2" "June" "91" "02:09:05" "GMT" "Ted Stockwell" "ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu " nil "95" "ftp site for fits information" "^From:" nil nil "6"]) Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits Distribution: alt Organization: Univ. of Minnesota Astronomy Dept., APS Lab Nntp-Posting-Host: buckaroo.spa.umn.edu From: ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu (Ted Stockwell) Subject: ftp site for fits information Date: 2 Jun 91 02:09:05 GMT The following, copied from sci.astro, discusses the binary table extension to fits, but more general information is also available from the ftp site. > From dwells at fits.cx.nrao.edu Thu Apr 11 14:26:31 1991 > From: dwells at fits.cx.nrao.edu (Don Wells) > Newsgroups: sci.astro > Subject: FITS Binary Table Extension > Date: 8 Apr 91 14:38:37 GMT > Distribution: sci > Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA > Status: OR > > > Binary Table Extension to FITS: > A Proposal > > W.D. Cotton > National Radio Astronomy Observatory > > 08 April 1991 > > A draft of the proposed binary table extension to FITS is now > available for public comment. This format is intended to carry a wide > variety of data structures in a standard binary form. The basic > structure is that of a table although a element may be an array of an > arbitrary size. Data types allowed include a variety of numeric, > logical and character types. > > The 9-page LaTeX document may be obtained by anonymous-FTP to > fits.cx.nrao.edu [192.33.115.8], in the directory /FITS/doc, as the > files: > > 138325 Apr 8 09:50 bintable.ps > 52700 Apr 8 09:50 bintable.ps.Z > 20454 Apr 8 09:45 bintable.tex > > The .ps form should be printable on any Postscript printer. The .Z > file is a Unix-compressed version of the Postscript. A recipe for > fetching the files via anonymous-FTP is appended. > > This proposal will be considered by the FITS Committees for adoption > as an extension to the FITS standards. The author will present the > proposal to the meeting of the European FITS Committee during the 3rd > ESO/ST-ECF Data Analysis Workshop in Garching, FRG, on Tuesday, 23 > April. Comments on this proposed extension to FITS should be sent to > > bcotton at nrao.edu or 6654::BCOTTON > > =-=-=-=-=-= Anonymous-FTP Recipe =-=-=-=-=-= > > The following session was executed on a Convex C-1. When it asked for > "Password:" the answer given was "guest" (anonymous-FTP is often > called the Anonymous Guest Convention). Only the Postscript file was > fetched in this example. Remember to specify "binary" mode if you > fetch the compressed (.Z) file! > > nrao1% ftp 192.33.115.8 > Connected to 192.33.115.8. > 220 fits FTP server (SunOS 4.0) ready. > Name (192.33.115.8:dwells): anonymous > 331 Guest login ok, send ident as password. > Password: > 230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply. > ftp> cd FITS > 250 CWD command successful. > ftp> cd doc > 250 CWD command successful. > ftp> dir > 200 PORT command successful. > 150 ASCII data connection for /bin/ls (192.33.115.4,2102) (0 bytes). > total 399 > -rw-r--r-- 1 dwells vlb 138325 Apr 8 09:50 bintable.ps > -rw-r--r-- 1 dwells vlb 52700 Apr 8 09:50 bintable.ps.Z > -rw-r--r-- 1 dwells vlb 20454 Apr 8 09:45 bintable.tex > -rw-r--r-- 1 dwells vlb 99523 Jun 27 1990 fitsdbmsapp.ps > -rw-r--r-- 1 dwells vlb 42193 Jun 27 1990 fitsdbmsapp.ps.Z > -rw-r--r-- 1 dwells vlb 20603 Jun 27 1990 fitsdbmsapp.tex > -rw-r--r-- 1 dwells vlb 7775 Feb 28 1989 fitsfp89.txt > 226 ASCII Transfer complete. > ftp> get bintable.ps > 200 PORT command successful. > 150 ASCII data connection for bintable.ps (192.33.115.4,2103) (138325 bytes). > 226 ASCII Transfer complete. > 144212 bytes received in 2.5 seconds (56 Kbytes/s) > ftp> quit > 221 Goodbye. > -- > > Donald C. Wells Associate Scientist dwells at nrao.edu > National Radio Astronomy Observatory +1-804-296-0277 > Edgemont Road Fax= +1-804-296-0278 > Charlottesville, Virginia 22903-2475 USA 78:31.1W, 38:02.2N -- Ted Stockwell U of MN, Dept. of Astronomy ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu Automated Plate Scanner Project From ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu Sun Jun 9 22:25:19 1991 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["9704" "" "2" "June" "91" "02:11:58" "GMT" "Ted Stockwell" "ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu " nil "216" "FORTRAN routines for fits I/O" "^From:" nil nil "6"]) Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits Distribution: alt Organization: Univ. of Minnesota Astronomy Dept., APS Lab Nntp-Posting-Host: buckaroo.spa.umn.edu From: ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu (Ted Stockwell) Subject: FORTRAN routines for fits I/O Date: 2 Jun 91 02:11:58 GMT again, something from sci.astro: > From dwells at fits.cx.nrao.edu Sat May 11 17:42:47 1991 > From: dwells at fits.cx.nrao.edu (Don Wells) > Newsgroups: sci.astro > Subject: FITSIO Subroutine Package now Available > Date: 11 May 91 03:59:31 GMT > Distribution: sci > Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA > Status: OR > > Bill Pence requested that I post this for him. He posted it earlier > today on the WGAS-L exploder of the Working Group for Astronomical > Software of the American Astronomical Society. > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > > FITSIO Subroutine Package Now Available > > This is to announce the availability of the FITSIO package of > Fortran-77 subroutines for reading and writing FITS format files. This > package provides a relatively simple machine-independent programmer > interface for creating or reading FITS files. It supports ASCII table > extensions as well as the newly proposed Binary table extensions. Versions > of the software are currently available for VAX/VMS machines, SUN > workstations, and IBM PCs. A version for IBM mainframes will be available > soon. > > This package was developed at the High Energy Astrophysics Science > Archive Research Center (HEASARC) at the Goddard Space Flight Center. It has > been used and tested for a couple months, but it is possible that some bugs > remain in the code. Users, therefore, should be careful to verify the > validity of any FITS files that are produced with this package, including > reading the files with an established FITS file reading program. > > Any bugs, problems, questions, or suggestions related to the FITSIO > package should be sent to the author, as described below. > > To provide more information about the package, and to describe > how to get a copy of the software via anonymous ftp, the first few pages of the > FITSIO User's Guide (contained in the file fitsio.doc) are attached below. > > William Pence > HEASARC/GSFC > 10 May 1991 > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > FITSIO > > A Library of Fortran Subroutines to Read and Write FITS Files > > written by > William Pence > HEASARC, GSFC > > Version 2.0 > 1 May 1991 > ------------------------- > CONTENTS: > > I. Introduction > > II. Description of the FITSIO Library > > III. How to Build the FITSIO Object Code Library > > IV. Detailed Description of the Main User-Callable FITSIO Subroutines > > 1. Open a new or existing FITS file > 2. Close a FITS file > 3. Write a keyword to a FITS header file > 4. Write an arbitrary 80-character record to a FITS header file. > 5. Write a numbered sequence of keywords to a FITS header file > 6. Read FITS header records into character string buffer > 7. Read the name, value, and comment fields of the nth keyword > 8. Read the value and comment fields of a given keyword > 9. Read the values of a given numbered sequence of keywords > 10. Determine the datatype of a FITS value field > 11. Read or write the required primary header keywords > 12. Write a primary array of data values to the output FITS file > 13. Read an array of data values from an input FITS file > 14. Skip over a FITS data array or extension > 15. Read or write the required header keywords for an ASCII table extension > 16. Write rows of data to an ASCII table extension > 17. Read rows of characters from an ASCII table extension > 18. Read rows of data from an ASCII table extension > 19. Read or write required header keywords for a binary table extension > 20. Write rows of data to a binary table extension > 21. Read rows of data from a binary table extension > 22. Close reading or writing of a data section > > V. Description of FITSIO Utility Subroutines > > 1. Return the revision number of the FITSIO library > 2. Parse binary table column format > 3. Parse or make the TDIMnnn keyword value > > VI. Usage Notes and Hints > > 1. An alternate method of reading and writing binary tables > > Appendix A: List of Returned Error Status Codes > > Appendix B: Example Programs > > > I. INTRODUCTION > > FITSIO is a machine-independent Fortran-77 subroutine interface for reading or > writing data files in the FITS format (Flexible Image Transport System, > Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement, 44, 363). The FITSIO package is very > flexible and allows programmers to read or write virtually any type of FITS > file. Extensive error checking code has been built into the package to try to > ensure that any FITS file created by the package adheres to the recognised FITS > standards and recommendations. This allows programmers to read or write legal > FITS files without having to be very knowledgeable about the low-level details > of the FITS format. Nevertheless, it is essential that the programmer be at > least generally familiar with the FITS format requirements, since it is quite > possible to create files which violate the FITS standards if the FITSIO > subroutines are not called correctly and/or in the proper sequence. > > The FITSIO package was originally developed for use by the HEASARC (High Energy > Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center) at the Goddard Space Flight > Center to convert various existing and newly acquired astronomical data sets > into FITS format. The HEASARC will continue to support and enhance the FITSIO > package and will provide the latest version of the source code and > documentation to interested programmers free of charge via anonymous FTP. To > get a copy of the documentation, source code, or example programs, type the > following command at your computer operating system prompt: > > ftp tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov > > or > > ftp 128.183.8.77 > > Then type the following responses (comments appear in brackets and should > not be typed on the command line): > > ftp> user anonymous > Password: [type your own username as the password] > ftp> cd pub [to move to the pub subdirectory] > ftp> cd fitsio [to move to the fitsio subdirectory] > ftp> ls [to see a list of available files] > ftp> get read.me [or whatever other ASCII file you want] > ftp> binary [switch to binary file mode; type 'ascii' to > switch back to ascii mode] > ftp> get fitsvax.olb [or whatever other binary file you want] > ftp> exit [close the ftp connection and exit] > > Any questions, bug reports, or suggested enhancements related to the FITSIO > package should be sent to the author: > > Dr. William Pence > HEASARC > Code 668 > NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center > Greenbelt, MD 20771 > USA > > Telephone: (301) 286-4599 > (SPAN) LHEAVX::PENCE or 6197::PENCE > (Internet) pence at lheavx.gsfc.nasa.gov > > II. Description of the FITSIO Library > > A. Current Status > > The FITSIO package consists of about 5000 lines of Fortran source code divided > into more than 100 subroutines. The subroutine names are 6 characters in length > (the maximum allowed by Fortran-77) and all begin with the letters 'FT'. This > package has been written as far as possible in strict Fortran-77 in order to > improve maintainability and to ease porting of the code to other computers. > Extensions to the Fortran-77 language have been used when absolutely required, > but these have been limited to a small set of isolated machine-specific > subroutines. The FITSIO subroutine package has been divided internally into 2 > main parts: a set of machine independent subroutines and a smaller set of > lower-level I/O subroutines which are specific to a particular computer. The > FITSIO package has been ported to run on the following machines: > > Machine Type Source Code File > ------------ ---------------- > DEC VAX/VMS FITSVAX.FOR > SUN workstations FITSSUN.FOR > IBM mainframes FITSIBM.FOR > IBM PCs (and compatibles) FITSPC.FOR (for Microsoft Fortran 5.0) > > B. Future Enhancements > > The HEASARC plans to continue to support and enhance the FITSIO package in > the future. Possible future improvements include: > > - port the code to run on other machines. Users desiring a port to a > particular machine should send the request to the author for consideration. > > - provide a C-language subroutine interface to the FITSIO library > > - provide a more flexible interface for reading ASCII and binary table > extensions. Currently the table data must be read sequentially, but > a much more flexible interface could be developed using direct access > I/O to records within the FITS file. > > - provide support for direct reading and writing of fits files from > magnetic tape. > > Any other suggestions for improvements to this package are welcome and > may be sent to the author as described above. > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Donald C. Wells Associate Scientist dwells at nrao.edu > National Radio Astronomy Observatory +1-804-296-0277 > Edgemont Road Fax= +1-804-296-0278 > Charlottesville, Virginia 22903-2475 USA 78:31.1W, 38:02.2N -- Ted Stockwell U of MN, Dept. of Astronomy ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu Automated Plate Scanner Project From thinman at netcom.COM Sun Jun 30 00:43:06 1991 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["1085" "" "30" "June" "91" "03:57:48" "GMT" "Lance Norskog" "thinman at netcom.COM " nil "25" "FITS Source code" "^From:" nil nil "6"]) Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services UNIX System {408 241-9760 guest} From: thinman at netcom.COM (Lance Norskog) Subject: FITS Source code Date: 30 Jun 91 03:57:48 GMT In prowling the Internet I found source code files called fitsio.c and fitsio.h, written by Bob Sault. Here is the header: /************************************************************************/ /* */ /* This module consists of a number of routines to perform */ /* I/O on a FITS image file. */ /* */ /* Bob Sault */ /* Giant Metrewave Telescope Project, Tata Institute */ /* Poona University, Pune, India. */ /* bobs at gmrt.ernet.in */ /************************************************************************/ His address bombed from here in the US; if anyone who knows him can get his permission, I'll post his code. Or he can. Lance Norskog -- Lance THES IZ BENITO AGEN. WEE AR STUK SUMWERE IN TEKSUS. WEE AR LOST. I OFURRED THE MAP TOO CAESAR THRE TIMES, END THRICE HEE REFUZED ITT. THERFORE, I REMANED NAVIGATER. - BENITO, alt.culture.electric-midget.classics