From wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Fri Sep 3 16:10:58 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil t nil nil nil] ["980" "Fri" "3" "September" "93" "15:44:45" "-0400" "Archie Warnock" "warnock@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov " nil "21" "Re: Identification of a FITS byte stream" "^From:" nil nil "9"]) Return-Path: Received: from cv3.cv.nrao.edu by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA10189; Fri, 3 Sep 93 16:10:57 EDT Received: from Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov by cv3.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.13) id AA12820; Fri, 3 Sep 93 16:09:55 EDT Received: from localhost.gsfc.nasa.gov by Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov (911016.SGI/1.35) id AA16028; Fri, 3 Sep 93 15:44:45 -0400 Message-Id: <9309031943.AA15990@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov> Comment: AAS Working Group for Astronomical Software Originator: wgas@hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Errors-To: leb@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Reply-To: Version: 5.41 -- Copyright (c) 1991/92, Anastasios Kotsikonas From: warnock@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov (Archie Warnock) Sender: wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Re: Identification of a FITS byte stream Date: Fri, 3 Sep 93 15:44:45 -0400 So William Pence sez to me: > COMMENT A FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) format file as defined by 4 > COMMENT Astronomy and Astrophysics Suppl. Series papers: v44, p363, v44, p371, > COMMENT v73, p359, and v73, p365. The latest FITS definition document is > COMMENT available from the NASA/GSFC Office of Standards and Technology. Looks fine to me - I think we can probably donate 320 bytes/file to identify what the heck the format is, and the wording covers all the bases. > I propose to add these comments immediately after the EXTEND keyword if > it exists, otherwise immediately after the last NAXISn keyword. The closer to the front of the file, the better, I think. I'm all for it! _______________________________________________________________________ -- Archie Warnock Internet: warnock@hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov -- Hughes STX "Unix --- JCL For The 90s" -- NASA/GSFC Project STELAR: WAIS to do science From wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Fri Sep 3 17:30:40 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["820" "Fri" "3" "September" "93" "14:31:24" "-0400" "William Pence" "pence@tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov " nil "19" "Re: Identification of a FITS byte stream" "^From:" nil nil "9"]) Return-Path: Received: from cv3.cv.nrao.edu by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA10402; Fri, 3 Sep 93 17:30:39 EDT Received: from Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov by cv3.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.13) id AA14201; Fri, 3 Sep 93 17:29:38 EDT Received: from localhost.gsfc.nasa.gov by Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov (911016.SGI/1.35) id AA15626; Fri, 3 Sep 93 14:31:24 -0400 Message-Id: <9309031837.AA10015@tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov> Comment: AAS Working Group for Astronomical Software Originator: wgas@hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Errors-To: leb@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Reply-To: Version: 5.41 -- Copyright (c) 1991/92, Anastasios Kotsikonas From: pence@tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov (William Pence) Sender: wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Re: Identification of a FITS byte stream Date: Fri, 3 Sep 93 14:31:24 -0400 Regarding Archie Warnock's suggestion of adding some identification comments to FITS files, I drafted the following 4 lines which seem to provide the essential information: COMMENT A FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) format file as defined by 4 COMMENT Astronomy and Astrophysics Suppl. Series papers: v44, p363, v44, p371, COMMENT v73, p359, and v73, p365. The latest FITS definition document is COMMENT available from the NASA/GSFC Office of Standards and Technology. If and when we can agree on the wording, I will then modifiy the FITSIO interface so that it automatically inserts these lines along with the other required primary array keywords. I propose to add these comments immediately after the EXTEND keyword if it exists, otherwise immediately after the last NAXISn keyword. -Bill Pence From wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Fri Sep 3 18:40:56 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["3286" "Fri" "3" "September" "93" "18:25:28" "-0400" "Rob Seaman" "seaman@noao.edu " nil "64" "Re: Identification of a FITS byte stream" "^From:" nil nil "9"]) Return-Path: Received: from cv3.cv.nrao.edu by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA10500; Fri, 3 Sep 93 18:40:55 EDT Received: from Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov by cv3.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.13) id AA14793; Fri, 3 Sep 93 18:39:57 EDT Received: from localhost.gsfc.nasa.gov by Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov (911016.SGI/1.35) id AA16962; Fri, 3 Sep 93 18:25:28 -0400 Message-Id: <9309032233.AA06901@tucana.tuc.noao.edu> Comment: AAS Working Group for Astronomical Software Originator: wgas@hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Errors-To: leb@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Reply-To: Version: 5.41 -- Copyright (c) 1991/92, Anastasios Kotsikonas From: seaman@noao.edu (Rob Seaman) Sender: wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Re: Identification of a FITS byte stream Date: Fri, 3 Sep 93 18:25:28 -0400 I like the suggestion for a "standard" block of comments to supply the provenance of the FITS format. This not only would provide a starting point for the hypothetical astroarcheologists of the future, but may also serve as a useful day-to-day reference for students and others who find that they need to dig into the details of FITS. However, I don't think the exact wording has converged yet. Might I suggest a slight revision: COMMENT FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) format, defined in Astronomy COMMENT and Astrophysics Supplement Series v44/p363 & v44/p371, extended COMMENT in v73/p359 & v73/p365. Contact the NASA Office of Standards and COMMENT Technology for more recent FITS documents. Note that the name of the journal is spelled out in full - the archeologists may not speak English. I would also suggest that the wording be as concise as possible. No need to fill up that final card. While I'm sure this version won't win the day either, I do think that the prose should be as lucid as possible before it gets written into FITS headers the world over. Is the "NASA/GSFC Office of Standards and Technology" the precise entity that should be mentioned? The User's Guide references the "NASA/Science Office of Standards and Technology", while Barry Schlesinger is listed as working for the "FITS Support Office" of the "NASA/OSSA Office of Standards and Technology". The NOST 100-1.0 standard lists "NASA/Science" on the front cover, but then the "NASA/OSSA" variation is stamped at the bottom of most of the pages. Considering the nature of NASA it may well be that each of these "Offices of Standards and Technology", "NASA/GSFC", "NASA/Science", and "NASA/OSSA" have been the official name successively. Will the comment block change as NASA continues to change its internal structure? (And what the heck is the OSSA, anyway?) It would be better to reference the standard itself rather than the organization. How about this variation? COMMENT FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) format, defined in Astronomy COMMENT and Astrophysics Supplement Series v44/p363 & v44/p371, extended in COMMENT v73/p359 & v73/p365. The FITS standard is expressed in the NASA COMMENT Office of Standards and Technology document #100-1.0. The comment block should be revised whenever the standard is revised. The earlier references in preexisting FITS files will not be invalidated since those files adher to previous versions of the standard. All that is required is that the standard be up-to-date for the current file. A less readable example of this is the first line of a PostScript file which advertises compliance to a particular revision of PostScript. Is referencing NASA the correct way to go at all? (I politely suggest that the "GSFC" be omitted in any case.) The IAU "owns" the standard, not NASA. Should the entire second sentence be removed until the IAU recognizes the NOST standard? (...and/or until the standard is printed in the refereed literature?) Is there any appropriate utilitarian reference to the IAU that can be substituted? One final suggestion that I believe was implicit in Bill and Archie's mail is that this comment block only appear in a FITS file's primary header. Rob Seaman NOAO/IRAF seaman@noao.edu From wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Tue Sep 7 09:56:20 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["1859" "Tue" "7" "September" "93" "09:44:50" "-0400" "Archie Warnock" "warnock@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov " nil "36" "Re: Identification of a FITS byte stream" "^From:" nil nil "9"]) Return-Path: Received: from cv3.cv.nrao.edu by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA21400; Tue, 7 Sep 93 09:56:19 EDT Received: from Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov by cv3.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.13) id AA17395; Tue, 7 Sep 93 09:55:20 EDT Received: from localhost.gsfc.nasa.gov by Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov (911016.SGI/1.35) id AA22739; Tue, 7 Sep 93 09:44:50 -0400 Message-Id: <9309071343.AA22705@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov> Comment: AAS Working Group for Astronomical Software Originator: wgas@hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Errors-To: leb@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Reply-To: Version: 5.41 -- Copyright (c) 1991/92, Anastasios Kotsikonas From: warnock@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov (Archie Warnock) Sender: wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Re: Identification of a FITS byte stream Date: Tue, 7 Sep 93 09:44:50 -0400 So Rob Seaman sez to me: > COMMENT FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) format, defined in Astronomy > COMMENT and Astrophysics Supplement Series v44/p363 & v44/p371, extended in > COMMENT v73/p359 & v73/p365. The FITS standard is expressed in the NASA > COMMENT Office of Standards and Technology document #100-1.0. That's pretty good. > Is referencing NASA the correct way to go at all? (I politely suggest that > the "GSFC" be omitted in any case.) The IAU "owns" the standard, not NASA. > Should the entire second sentence be removed until the IAU recognizes the > NOST standard? (...and/or until the standard is printed in the refereed > literature?) Is there any appropriate utilitarian reference to the IAU > that can be substituted? I agree that there's no real reason to mention GSFC (except that right now, that's where NOST is), but I think it would be a mistake to not reference the NOST document for 2 reasons - it was put together by a number of people in the community, not all affiliated with NASA (so it's not just "NASA's document") and because it was intended to clarify some ambiguous and contradictory points in the original FITS papers. Now, the original papers have benefits, too - namely accessibility in the distant future, but I don't think that mentioning the NOST document is inappropriate in the scheme of documenting what FITS is to the reader. > One final suggestion that I believe was implicit in Bill and Archie's mail > is that this comment block only appear in a FITS file's primary header. Sure - no sense beating this to death... _______________________________________________________________________ -- Archie Warnock Internet: warnock@hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov -- Hughes STX "Unix --- JCL For The 90s" -- NASA/GSFC Project STELAR: WAIS to do science From wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Wed Sep 8 09:43:16 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["3378" "Wed" "8" "September" "93" "09:34:10" "-0400" "\"BARRY M. SCHLESINGER\"" "BSCHLESINGER@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV" nil "70" "Re: Identification of a FITS byte stream" "^From:" nil nil "9"]) Return-Path: Received: from cv3.cv.nrao.edu by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA23497; Wed, 8 Sep 93 09:43:15 EDT Received: from Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov by cv3.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.13) id AA13360; Wed, 8 Sep 93 09:42:10 EDT Received: from localhost.gsfc.nasa.gov by Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov (911016.SGI/1.35) id AA27259; Wed, 8 Sep 93 09:34:10 -0400 Message-Id: <930908093537.2280f280@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV> Comment: AAS Working Group for Astronomical Software Originator: wgas@hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Errors-To: leb@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Reply-To: Version: 5.41 -- Copyright (c) 1991/92, Anastasios Kotsikonas From: "BARRY M. SCHLESINGER" Sender: wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Re: Identification of a FITS byte stream Date: Wed, 8 Sep 93 09:34:10 -0400 From: SMTP%"wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov" 3-SEP-1993 18:42:04.74 To: BSCHLESINGER CC: Subj: Re: Identification of a FITS byte stream > Is the "NASA/GSFC Office of Standards and Technology" the precise entity > that should be mentioned? The User's Guide references the "NASA/Science > Office of Standards and Technology", while Barry Schlesinger is listed as > working for the "FITS Support Office" of the "NASA/OSSA Office of Standards > and Technology". The NOST 100-1.0 standard lists "NASA/Science" on the > front cover, but then the "NASA/OSSA" variation is stamped at the bottom > of most of the pages. That must have been soon after the standard was posted. All the pages should say NASA/Science now. > Considering the nature of NASA it may well be that each of these "Offices > of Standards and Technology", "NASA/GSFC", "NASA/Science", and "NASA/OSSA" > have been the official name successively. Will the comment block change > as NASA continues to change its internal structure? (And what the heck > is the OSSA, anyway?) OSSA was the Office of Space Science and Applications, since reorganized out of existence. The NASA/Science name is the third since 1989. Future name changes, as the visions of management and the overlying organization change, are not out of the question. > ... How about this variation? > COMMENT FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) format, defined in Astronomy > COMMENT and Astrophysics Supplement Series v44/p363 & v44/p371, extended in > COMMENT v73/p359 & v73/p365. The FITS standard is expressed in the NASA > COMMENT Office of Standards and Technology document #100-1.0. > The comment block should be revised whenever the standard is revised. > The earlier references in preexisting FITS files will not be invalidated > since those files adher to previous versions of the standard. All that > is required is that the standard be up-to-date for the current > file.... By the "once FITS, always FITS" rule in the Generalized Extensions paper, if a file was conformant to the FITS standard at an earlier time, it will still be conformant as extensions are made to FITS; no change may be made that will make the file non conformant. > Is referencing NASA the correct way to go at all? (I politely suggest that > the "GSFC" be omitted in any case.) The IAU "owns" the standard, not NASA. > Should the entire second sentence be removed until the IAU recognizes the > NOST standard? (...and/or until the standard is printed in the refereed > literature?) Is there any appropriate utilitarian reference to the IAU > that can be substituted? The IAU General Assembly has formally endorsed the four FITS papers and Floating Point agreement as the standard for FITS. The NOST document was developed to resolve ambiguities and contradictions in the original papers. It is now being considered for endorsement by the IAU FITS Working Group; if approved, a resolution would be submitted to the 1994 General Assembly. The name of the office is the NASA/Science Office of Standards and Technology; GSFC is not part of the name and should be omitted. As for the role of the NOST, one might look at how the FITS extension registry works, where NOST serves as an agent of the IAU FITS Working Group in the process of registering FITS extension type names. Barry Schlesinger NOST FITS Support Office From wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Wed Sep 8 14:07:09 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] [nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil "^From:" nil nil nil]) Return-Path: Received: from cv3.cv.nrao.edu by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA24549; Wed, 8 Sep 93 14:07:08 EDT Received: from Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov by cv3.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.13) id AA16809; Wed, 8 Sep 93 14:05:29 EDT Received: from localhost.gsfc.nasa.gov by Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov (911016.SGI/1.35) id AA28862; Wed, 8 Sep 93 13:54:51 -0400 Message-Id: <9309081755.AA12529@cfa242.harvard.edu> Comment: AAS Working Group for Astronomical Software Originator: wgas@hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Errors-To: leb@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Reply-To: Version: 5.41 -- Copyright (c) 1991/92, Anastasios Kotsikonas From: eric@cfa242.harvard.edu (Eric Mandel) Sender: wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Re: FITSIO V3.3 is available Date: Wed, 8 Sep 93 13:54:51 -0400 Bill, Where can I get a copy of the C version of FITSIO? I don't see it in the fitsio directory on legacy or in the fitsio34.tar file. I just built the Fortran version. Do I need to start all over or is C built on top of Fortran? Eric From wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Wed Sep 8 15:27:15 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] [nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil "^From:" nil nil nil]) Return-Path: Received: from cv3.cv.nrao.edu by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA24745; Wed, 8 Sep 93 15:27:14 EDT Received: from Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov by cv3.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.13) id AA17948; Wed, 8 Sep 93 15:26:14 EDT Received: from localhost.gsfc.nasa.gov by Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov (911016.SGI/1.35) id AA29702; Wed, 8 Sep 93 15:16:47 -0400 Message-Id: <9309081918.AA15391@tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov> Comment: AAS Working Group for Astronomical Software Originator: wgas@hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Errors-To: leb@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Reply-To: Version: 5.41 -- Copyright (c) 1991/92, Anastasios Kotsikonas From: pence@tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov (William Pence) Sender: wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Re: FITSIO V3.3 is available Date: Wed, 8 Sep 93 15:16:47 -0400 >Where can I get a copy of the C version of FITSIO? I don't >see it in the fitsio directory on legacy or in the fitsio34.tar file. >I just built the Fortran version. Do I need to start all over or is C >built on top of Fortran? This question was not really intended for the whole WGAS list, but just in case anyone else wants to know, the beta release of the CFITSIO code is available by anonymous ftp from tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov in the pub/cfitsio directory. This C version is layered on top of the Fortran version, so you will also need the V3.4 version of FITSIO from legacy.gsfc.nasa.gov in subdirectory software/fitsio. If you don't have a fortran compiler available, you can run the FITSIO fortran source code thought the 'f2c' preprocessor to turn it into C code. This is still a beta test version of CFITSIO, but a number of people have now been able to use it successfully for reading or writing FITS files from C programs. -Bill Pence From wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Thu Sep 9 14:20:14 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] [nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil "^From:" nil nil nil]) Return-Path: Received: from cv3.cv.nrao.edu by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA28115; Thu, 9 Sep 93 14:20:12 EDT Received: from Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov by cv3.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.13) id AA12562; Thu, 9 Sep 93 14:19:12 EDT Received: from localhost.gsfc.nasa.gov by Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov (911016.SGI/1.35) id AA04889; Thu, 9 Sep 93 14:02:13 -0400 Message-Id: <9309091805.AA15797@tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov> Comment: AAS Working Group for Astronomical Software Originator: wgas@hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Errors-To: leb@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov Reply-To: Version: 5.41 -- Copyright (c) 1991/92, Anastasios Kotsikonas From: pence@tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov (William Pence) Sender: wgas@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Re: Identification of a FITS byte stream Date: Thu, 9 Sep 93 14:02:13 -0400 Rob Seaman suggested the following FITS informative comments: > COMMENT FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) format, defined in Astronomy > COMMENT and Astrophysics Supplement Series v44/p363 & v44/p371, extended > COMMENT in v73/p359 & v73/p365. Contact the NASA Office of Standards and > COMMENT Technology for more recent FITS documents. To interate on this a little further, and including Barry Schlesinger's comment on the correct title for the NOST, I'd suggest the following version: COMMENT FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) format defined in Astronomy and COMMENT Astrophysics Supplement Series v44/p363, v44/p371, v73/p359, v73/p365. COMMENT Contact the NASA Science Office of Standards and Technology for the COMMENT FITS Definition document #100-1.0 and the FITS User's Guide. This compresses the information in the first sentence to make room for the reference to the NOST Definition document and User's Guide on the 4th line. -Bill Pence