This is the Frequently Asked Questions list for the IRAF (Image Reduction and Analysis Facility) project. Within this file, you will find an index of questions organized by topic followed by the answers. This list has been compiled by members of the NOAO IRAF group and is believed to be accurate as of 05/02/00. For further information about anything listed here or additional IRAF questions not mentioned in this FAQ, please contact IRAF Site Support at iraf@noao.edu, iraf::noao, or 520-318-8160. An HTML version of this document with links to all the mentioned archives, newsgroups, and documents is available as http://iraf.noao.edu/faq/FAQ.html 05/02/00 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 1. GENERAL 1.1 What is IRAF? 1.2 Should I get it - is it appropriate for my needs? 1.3 What general image processing tools are included with the core system? 1.4 What software does IRAF have for spectral data? 1.5 What software does IRAF have for direct imaging data? 1.6 Are the IRAF reduction packages limited to use with NOAO instruments? 1.7 How do I get IRAF; how much does it cost? 1.8 Is IRAF public domain software? 1.9 What are the system requirements if I want to install IRAF? 1.10 What is the current version of IRAF? 1.11 When is the next version of IRAF going to be released? 1.12 What is the status of XGterm and XImtool? 1.13 On which platforms does IRAF run? 1.14 Does IRAF run on a PC under DOS? under Unix? 1.15 If I upgrade my OS will IRAF continue to run? 1.16 How difficult is it to port IRAF to my own system? 1.17 What window systems does IRAF run under? 1.18 Is IRAF easy to install? 1.19 How widely used is IRAF? 1.20 How do I acknowledge IRAF in a publication? Section 2. SUPPORT SERVICES 2.1 What types of services can I expect as an IRAF user? 2.2 What sort of on-line help is available in IRAF? 2.3 Where can I send general questions about IRAF? 2.4 Can I talk to a real person with installation or user questions? 2.5 Is there an IRAF network archive; how do I access it; what's in it? 2.6 Is there an IRAF network mail facility yet? How do I access it? 2.7 Can I get IRAF newsgroup information through a listserver? 2.8 What is the IRAFINFO facility? Section 3. DOCUMENTATION 3.1 How can I learn to use IRAF? 3.2 Is there a beginner's guide for IRAF? 3.3 Is there IRAF help online? 3.4 What general documentation is available? Where can I find it? 3.5 What documentation do you recommend that I have for the latest release? 3.6 What manuals are available for helping me do photometry? 3.7 What manuals are available for helping me do spectroscopy? 3.8 What documents are available for general image processing? 3.9 What programming documentation is available? 3.10 How can I learn more about the WCS in IRAF? 3.11 What installation manuals are available and where are they? 3.12 Are there revisions notices for the last release? 3.13 Is there a buglog for IRAF? How can I get a copy? 3.14 Is there a manual for SAOimage? 3.15 How can I subscribe to the IRAF Newsletter? 3.16 What is the last issue of the IRAF Newsletter? 3.17 Can I get back issues of the IRAF Newsletter? 3.18 Is there an index for the Newsletter? Section 4. LAYERED PACKAGES 4.1 What are layered or external packages? 4.2 What layered packages are available? How do I get them? 4.3 How can I get the CTIO package? 4.4 What is the STSDAS package? How can I get it? 4.5 I need the TABLES package. How can I get it? 4.6 What is PROS/XRAY package? How can I get it? 4.7 What is the EUV package? How can I get it? 4.8 Where do I send problem reports for the layered packages? 4.9 How can I contribute my own software to IRAF so others can use it? Section 5. DATA FORMATS 5.1 What data formats are supported? 5.2 How can I convert my data to the IRAF image format? 5.3 How do I convert my ascii text file of wavelength and flux into an IRAF image? 5.4 Does IRAF support world coordinate systems in images? 5.5 What is the IRAF disk image format? 5.6 How do I convert my GIF/JPEG images to IRAF? 5.7 What are the "..image.imh" files associated with each of my images? Can I delete them to free up disk space? Section 6. WINDOW SYSTEMS 6.1 When I try to make an IRAF plot on my screen all I get is garbage in my window. How can I get an IRAF plot? 6.2 How is stty "xtermjh" different from a standard "xterm" window? 6.3 Why can't I get vector graphics from AIX/IRAF in an AIXterm window? 6.4 Are we limited to having a single SAOimage process running per CPU? 6.5 Can I run multiple SAOimage processes simultaneously from my account? 6.6 What do I do about "Warning libxxx.s.o older than expected"? Section 7. IMAGE DISPLAY 7.1 How can I generate or display an RGB image? 7.2 What is the proper value of "stdimage" for use with SAOimage or XImtool? 7.3 How can I change the size of the frame buffer from the CL? 7.4 What do I change to add a custom frame buffer size? 7.5 How do I get a hardcopy of an image displayed with XImtool or SAOimage? 7.6 What can I use for image display on a monochrome monitor? Section 8. GRAPHICS 8.1 What hardcopy output devices are supported with the distributed system? 8.2 What additional SGI translators are available; how do I get them? 8.3 What VMS/IRAF files do I edit to get my output device interfaced? 8.4 What UNIX/IRAF files do I edit to get my output device interfaced? 8.5 Can I generate color PostScript of an IRAF plot or displayed image? 8.6 Does IRAF support Encapsulated PostScript? Section 9. SYSTEM INSTALLATIONS 9.1 I don't have enough diskspace for the entire system - what can I do? 9.2 What does the IRAF install script really do - what files are modified? 9.3 I'm not able to write in /usr - can I still install IRAF? 9.4 Can I have more than one version of IRAF installed at a time? 9.5 Can we make our local software look like an IRAF package? 9.6 What does "ERROR: Cannot open device (node!imtool,,512,512)" mean? 9.7 Where's my image? I display an image to SAOimage but get no image dis- played and no error, only the cl prompt. 9.8 Why am I told "task `cl' has no param file" when I try to start the CL? 9.9 What does "ERROR: Cannot open connected subprocess (pkg$x_pkg.e) mean? 9.10 What do I do about "Warning libxxx.so older than expected" or "ld.so: libXXX.so: can't open file" messages? 9.11 Why does VMS/IRAF report "cannot open tmp$uidxxx" when accessing a tape? 9.12 Why does my script tell me "dictionary full"? 9.13 What does "Warning: Out of space in image header" mean? 9.14 Why does PHOT warn "Graphics overlay not available for display device."? 9.15 Why does my task report "ERROR: parameter `foo' not found"? 9.16 What does "ERROR: MWCS: dimension mismatch (mw_translate)" mean? 9.17 My pixel files were moved to another disk and now the i_pixfile pathname in the image headers is wrong. How can IRAF find the pixels? 9.18 How do I turn off the system id banner in output hardcopy plots? 9.19 Why does IRAF kick me out when I type ^Z to exit EPARAM? Section 10. NETWORK INSTALLATIONS 10.1 What's different about installing Unix IRAF on a network instead of a standalone machine? 10.2 If IRAF is NFS mounted to all the client nodes, why do I need to run the install script on each node? 10.3 How do I access a remote tape drive from IRAF? 10.4 Where can I find information on the structure and fields for the tapecap file? 10.5 Can I use a VMS tape drive from a UNIX IRAF installation? 10.6 How do I suppress the password prompt when accessing pixels? 10.7 How do I disable IRAF networking for disk image access, but keep it to access the tape drives? Section 11. HARDWARE 11.1 On which platforms does IRAF run? 11.2 What's the best machine to buy if I plan to run IRAF? 11.3 What are the recommended hardware requirements of a workstation? 11.4 What type of mag tape devices are supported and not supported? 11.5 Should I buy a 24-bit frame buffer for my Sun? 11.6 Can I use my Windows 9x PC to display IRAF images? 11.7 Do you have benchmarks for IRAF on various machines? Section 12. PROGRAMMING 12.1 What programming languages can I use for IRAF software development? 12.2 Can I install IRAF or layered software without having IRAF permissions? 12.3 Can I call IMFORT procedures from C? 12.4 Where are the IRAF libraries used by FC or XC for IMFORT tasks? 12.5 Can I build IRAF software without using FC or XC? 12.6 What Fortran compilers are supported? 12.7 Can I call IRAF tasks from Unix C-shell scripts? 12.8 I was wondering if you could provide a bit more info on how to use the new ability of the IRAF cl (#!cl) to act as a shell for Unix scripts. 12.9 Will IRAF work with the Korn shell or tcsh? Section 13. APPLICATIONS 13.1 What is the meaning of the coefficients returned with the CURFIT task? 13.2 What does "ERROR: MWCS: dimension mismatch (mw_translate)" mean? 13.3 My pixel files were moved to another disk and now the i_pixfile pathname in the image headers is wrong. How can IRAF find the pixels? 13.4 How do I turn off the system id banner in output hardcopy plots? 13.5 How can I find out what tasks are in IRAF? 13.6 Is the surface photometry package available yet? 13.7 I have a spectrum in a one dimensional image for which I had no trouble running IDENTIFY, REIDENTIFY, and REFSPECTRA but when I run DISPCOR I get the error "ERROR: MWCS: attribute not found (spec1)" 13.8 Is there an ASTROMETRY package I can use? 13.9 Whom should I contact if I have problems with the xray package? Section 14. XGterm/XImtool ISSUES 14.1 How do I change colors (cursor, background, text, etc) in my XGterm window? 14.2 How do I change the crosshair cursor color so it appears on my mono- chrome monitor? 14.3 How do I start XImtool with private fifo pipes? 14.4 How should I set up my users to run Ximtool on an X-terminal? 14.5 Can I control more than one XImtool at the same time? 14.6 How can I change the background color in my ximtool window - the default color is black - I want white? 14.7 Can I set the size and placement of the xgterm graphics window at startup time? 14.8 Can I set the size and placement of the ximtool window at startup time? 14.9 How can I tell what the default resources are for xgterm and ximtool? Is there a file somewhere with these values in them? 14.10 Can FOCAS make use of the socket connections in XImtool for image display? 14.11 When I try to start up XImtool I get an error about a BadMatch. 14.12 About how much disk space is needed to install 2.11 for Sun machines. 14.13 After upgrading to V2.11 external package tasks no longer recognize my images. Section 15. PC-IRAF 15.1 Is there a version of IRAF that will run on my PC? 15.2 What Operating Systems are supported? 15.3 What is the minimal hardware configuration? 15.4 What is the recommended hardware configuration? 15.5 How much disk space does IRAF require? 15.6 Where can I get PC/IRAF? 15.7 Where can I get precompiled binaries for external packages. 15.8 Is there a CD-ROM distribution or runtime system? How much does it cost? 15.9 Will IRAF run on my laptop? 15.10 How hard is it to install Linux? 15.11 Where can I get Linux? 15.12 How can I be sure my version of Linux is compatible? 15.13 Where can I get help installing Linux? 15.14 What if my hardware isn't currently supported? Section 1. GENERAL 1.1 What is IRAF? IRAF is the Image Reduction and Analysis Facility, a general purpose software system for the reduction and analysis of scientific data. IRAF is written and supported by the IRAF programming group at the National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO) in Tucson, Arizona. IRAF includes a good selection of programs for general image processing and graphics applications, plus a large number of programs for the reduction and analysis of optical astronomy data within the NOAO package. External or layered packages are also available for the analysis of HST, XRAY and EUV data. IRAF provides a complete programming environment, which includes the Command Language script facility, the IMFORT Fortran programming interface, and the fully featured SPP/VOS programming environment in which the portable IRAF system is written. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.2 Should I get it - is it appropriate for my needs? There are basically three reasons to get IRAF: The first one is that you have astronomical data that needs to be processed and you are looking for a mature, Unix-, PC-, or VMS-based, image processing system to do the work. The second reason is that you would like to develop some astronomical software and are looking for a popular astronomical software package - one with a broad selection of tools - to build on to lessen your work. IRAF provides the software developer with a rich programming environment that includes file management tools, interactive graphics and display, portability, and much MUCH more. The third reason to acquire IRAF is to process data that is similar to astronomical data, and the basic interactive graphics, display tools, and image operators provided by IRAF would be useful for your application. If you have questions about the suitability of IRAF to your application contact site support at iraf@noao.edu. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.3 What general image processing tools are included with the core system? The IRAF core system is the basic IRAF system and does not include the suite of reduction packages known as the NOAO package. (But note that the NOAO package is included in all IRAF distributions.) The IRAF core system provides tools for reading and writing data in the transportable FITS format (although other i/o tools are available), interactive graphics and image display tools for examining your data, tools for image registration and cleaning bad pixels, a variety of smoothing operators, and tools for image arithmetic, image statistics and combining image frames. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.4 What software does IRAF have for spectral data? IRAF has a rich selection of tools for spectral reduction and analysis in the NOAO package that spans 1-d, 2-d, echelle, and fibor spectroscopy. These tools include basic CCD reductions and flat fielding, distortion corrections for 2-d data, extraction of 2-d and echelle frames, wavelength and flux calibration, radial velocity analysis, and a multitude of tasks for manipulating spectra in general. The tasks provide the user with the option of batch or interactive processing. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.5 What software does IRAF have for direct imaging data? Besides the image operators provided by the basic core system (see earlier FAQ) the NOAO package in IRAF provides tools for basic CCD reductions, mosaicing, aperture and PSF-fitting (DAOPHOT) photometry, and photometric calibration. A package for surface photometry is planned and will be added at a later date. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.6 Are the IRAF reduction packages limited to use with NOAO instruments? The many reduction packages within the IRAF system are not limited to use with NOAO instruments. The tasks within IRAF have been developed to be as generic as possible to encompass a wide range of uses. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.7 How do I get IRAF; how much does it cost? IRAF is available free of charge over the network. Use anonymous FTP to connect to node iraf.noao.edu (140.252.1.1) and "get README". Each level of the archive has a README file to assist you with your selections or with your transfers. It is possible to use DECnet for some transfers - contact us (iraf@noao.edu) for details. If acquiring IRAF over the network is not an option for you (but we do prefer you retrieve it that way) then an orderform is available. A small recovery fee is charged for mailed distributions along with any shipping and handling fees. Typical orders in the US run about $58 (US), and foreign shipments run between $100-$250 (when documentation is included). -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.8 Is IRAF public domain software? Although IRAF is available free of charge over the network to anyone who may find it useful it is not considered public domain software since it is copyrighted. Here is part of the copyright notice that appears in the distributed system. ----------------- Copyright(c) 1986 Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc. The IRAF software is publicly available, but is NOT in the public domain. The difference is that copyrights granting rights for unrestricted use and redistribution have been placed on all of the software to identify its authors. You are allowed and encouraged to take this software and use it as you wish, subject to the restrictions outlined below. Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that references to the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc. (AURA), the National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO), or the Image Reduction and Analysis Facility (IRAF) not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific, written prior permission from NOAO. NOAO makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty. NOAO DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, IN NO EVENT SHALL NOAO BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.9 What are the system requirements if I want to install IRAF? For a typical, single-user, workstation environment you will need a minimum of 64Mb of memory and ~128Mb of swap space. You will need about 128 of diskspace for the IRAF system (this varies a bit with the platform), although it can be stripped to about half that after the installation. If you are configuring a server your memory and swap space needs will be more (maybe much more!). For details about a particular platform or configuration check with site support at iraf@noao.edu. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.10 What is the current version of IRAF? The current version of IRAF varies a bit with the platform. PLATFORM CURRENT RELEASE RELEASE DATE -------- --------------- ------------ AIX4 V2.11.3 15 December 1999 DUNX V2.11.3 15 December 1999 HPUX V2.11.3 15 December 1999 IRIX V2.11.3 15 December 1999 PCIX V2.11.3 7 December 1999 SSOL V2.11.3 7 December 1999 VMS7 V2.11.3 15 December 1999 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.11 When is the next version of IRAF going to be released? It is always difficult for us to predict exact release dates, so the best thing to do is check the archive (iraf.noao.edu) occasionally for new distributions or check with us occassionally (iraf@noao.edu) for an update if this is critical for your scheduling. Users can subscribe to the announcements newsgroup on our web page and be notified by mail. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.12 What is the status of XGterm and XImtool? The X11IRAF project is being developed independently of the normal IRAF system development. They are X based tools for support of vector graphics and image display, the long awaited replacements for Xterm and SAOimage. Versions of XGterm, XImtool and XTapemon are available in the /iraf/x11iraf directory on iraf.noao.edu. A new version was recently made available that contains many enhancements, especially to ximtool (e.g. hardcopy capability, image load/save, on-line help, etc). All tasks are now fully documented and easily buildable from source on all supported iraf platforms. A bug-fix release was made available in Aug 97, most users should upgrade to this version. Another version to support the prototype science GUIs (XAPPHOT, SPECTOOL, and XRV) is planned for the near future that will also include many bug fixes and necessary system enhancements (contact site support for updates) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.13 On which platforms does IRAF run? IRAF runs on the following platforms: Platform Descrition AIX4 IBM/RS6000 AIX 4.x DUNX Digital Unix 4.0 (OSF, Compaq Tru64) HPUX HP-UX 10.20 IRIX SGI IRIX 6.x PCIX FreeBSD 3.3 PCIX Slackware Linux 4.0 PCIX RedHat Linux 5.x PCIX RedHat Linux 6.x PCIX SuSE Linux 6.x PCIX Solaris 7 for Intel SSOL SunOS 4.x SSOL Solaris 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8 VMS7 VAX/VMS 7.1 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.14 Does IRAF run on a PC under DOS? under Unix? The V2.11 IRAF system for PCs running Linux/FreeBSD is now available from the iraf.noao.edu archives or on the V2.11 CD-ROM by filling out the IRAF orderform. No port is planned for DOS/Windows 95/98 since it is an insufficient operating system to support IRAF. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.15 If I upgrade my OS will IRAF continue to run? Minor upgrades to the OS do not normally affect the operation of IRAF, but major changes to the OS may. If in doubt, check with the IRAF group (iraf@noao.edu) before upgrading. It should be stressed however, that after ANY operating system upgrade which affects the system /dev or /usr directories, it is necessary to rerun the IRAF install script to recreate image display fifo pipes in /dev and symbolic links for /usr/include/iraf.h. The install script in this case must be run on all IRAF client machines in order to re-establish to critical system links needed by all IRAF machines. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.16 How difficult is it to port IRAF to my own system? The average individual will probably have great difficulty in porting IRAF to their own system - IRAF is a big and complex system and one should not underestimate the amount of work involved in a port. We have had very few successful ports done by people who were not highly skilled systems people with some large degree of knowledge about IRAF internals. Unfortunately, the IRAF group does not have the resources to assist with private ports, so anyone attempting this challenge is more or less on their own. For more information about IRAF ports see the README file in iraf/v210/PORT in the IRAF network archive on the node iraf.noao.edu (140.252.1.1). -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.17 What window systems does IRAF run under? The only supported window system is X, any X window manager should be sufficient. If you use X Windows then you will want to use XGterm for your graphics terminal and XImtool as your image display server, these can be downloaded as part of the X11IRAF package from /iraf/x11iraf in our archives. Note that IRAF itself is not dependent on a window system, many non-graphics tasks can be run from the raw console and older terminal such as VT640 may also be used and would lack only an image display. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.18 Is IRAF easy to install? The IRAF installation is straightforward but not trivial. Source code, object libraries, and executable are included in all distributions. Installation guides and site managers guides are available for each distribution in the same directory. If the instructions are followed your installation should go smoothly. (One step of the installation does require root privileges.) Any problems encountered can usually be handled by the IRAF site support people in a timely fashion (iraf@noao.edu). -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.19 How widely used is IRAF? Since IRAF is available freely over the network we are only able to estimate the number of sites or users. Our records suggest there are approximately 5000 users at about 1500 sites throughout the world. Our newsletter mailing list has roughly 1500 recipients. These numbers indicate that IRAF is a major software package in the US and abroad. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.20 How do I acknowledge IRAF in a publication? There are two papers appropriate as references for IRAF in a publication. They are: Tody, D. 1986, "The IRAF Data Reduction and Analysis System" in Proc. SPIE Instrumentation in Astronomy VI, ed. D.L. Crawford, 627, 733 Tody, D. 1993, "IRAF in the Nineties" in Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems II, A.S.P. Conference Ser., Vol 52, eds. R.J. Hanisch, R.J.V. Brissenden, & J. Barnes, 173. The more recent paper includes more references. Both are available from the anonftp archive on iraf.noao.edu in iraf/docs (see README). No special acknowledgement is required as a matter of policy so we don't blatantly state these anywhere, but a mention is always appreciated. A footnote describing IRAF may also be used when appropriate: "IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which are operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation." Section 2. SUPPORT SERVICES 2.1 What types of services can I expect as an IRAF user? IRAF support services includes a HOTLINE phone number (520/318-8160) that can be called to speak to an actual person, as well as an email address (iraf@noao.edu) where general questions can be sent. The HOTLINE is tended by an answering machine when nobody is available immediately and all messages sent to iraf are logged to guarantee a reply (usually the same day). Information about IRAF can be found in our anonymous ftp network archive iraf.noao.edu (140.252.1.1) or our home page http://iraf.noao.edu. We've also set up an alternate newsgroup hierarchy called 'adass' (after the ADASS conference series) to handle not only the IRAF related groups but any astronomical data analysis software system. More information on these services is found below. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2.2 What sort of on-line help is available in IRAF? Help for all tasks is available simply by typing "help ". Typing the 'help' command by itself in a package will list a one-line description of all tasks within the package. Users can search for help on a particular topic using the REFERENCES task. Additional help topics are available with certain packages, these are listed with the package help file. Lastly, the IRAF system contains some documentation in the iraf$doc directory, these are unformatted TROFF files or IRAF help pages mostly these found here include system manager's guides, installation manuals, etc). Additional documentation in the form of cookbooks and user's guides are available from the IRAF network archive iraf.noao.edu in the iraf/docs subdirectory. The 'README' file there serves as a table of contents for what is available, all files are compressed PostScript and can be transferred via anonymous ftp. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2.3 Where can I send general questions about IRAF? The general e-mail address for the IRAF Project is iraf@noao.edu. Mail sent to this account is logged to guarantee a reply (usually within 24-hours). It is read by several people and the most appropriate person will reply. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2.4 Can I talk to a real person with installation or user questions? The IRAF Hotline number is 520/318-8160. An answering machine will pick up if nobody is in the office at the time you call, leave a short message describing the problem and a number where you can be reached. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2.5 Is there an IRAF network archive; how do I access it; what's in it? The iraf network archive address is iraf.noao.edu (140.252.1.1), log in via anonymous ftp (i.e. as user 'anonymous', give your email address as the password). The archive contains the IRAF distribution for every supported architecture (in the iraf subdirectory), as well as external layered packages (in the iraf/extern subdir), user-contributed software (in contrib), IRAF doc- umentation (iraf/docs), ADASS conference information (iraf/conf), and much more. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2.6 Is there an IRAF network mail facility yet? How do I access it? The new network service that just went into operation is a USENET and email based network news facility. This consists of a collection of newsgroups organized as a USENET alternate news hierarchy called 'adass', after the software conference of the same name (astronomical data analysis software and systems). Although our main interest in developing this was to have a place to put some IRAF newsgroups, we named the new news hierarchy 'adass' in case there is any interest in expanding this in the future to include other non-IRAF astronomy software newsgroups. The advantage of an alternate news hierarchy is that it is easier to target the desired community, in our case the astronomical community. The disadvantage of starting a new news hierarchy is that initially there is no distribution system in place. To carry the newsgroups locally a site must get a feed from some other site. To read or post news, an individual need only have some NNTP-based newsreader software and access to an NNTP (network news) server somewhere on the net which carries the desired newsgroups and which permits the user to read and post news. As part of the mail network project we will be providing an NNTP server on the main IRAF server iraf.noao.edu which will allow anyone to read and post to the adass newsgroups (but only to those newsgroups). The current list of newsgroups are the following (this may change): adass.general important announcements adass.misc miscellaneous discussion adass.admin adass newsgroup administration adass.test test postings adass.conference adass software conference adass.iraf.readme the mail network README file adass.iraf.announce new iraf software or facilities adass.iraf.applications applications discussion group adass.iraf.programming programming discussion group adass.iraf.system system issues, system administration adass.iraf.misc miscellaneous discussion adass.iraf.buglog project buglogs (computer generated) adass.iraf.sources small programs or documents The adass.iraf newsgroups are intended to be shared by the IRAF user community and all the groups and individuals developing software for IRAF (i.e., not just the NOAO IRAF group). To subscribe to newsgroups and get a feed directly interested users should contact the iraf group. Since the adass groups are available to an NNTP-based newsreader they can be accessed by anyone using a command such as % xrn -nntpServer iraf.noao.edu We now have mail drops for all the ADASS newsgroups. The mail address for each group is the newsgroup name with the dots replaced with dashes, e.g. "adass.iraf.applications" becomes "adass-iraf-applications@iraf.noao.edu". That is a lot to type so there are also aliases for the more important newsgroups: Alias Newsgroup adass adass-conference announce adass-iraf-announce sources adass-iraf-sources apps adass-iraf-applications misc adass-iraf-misc prog adass-iraf-programming sys adass-iraf-system In this way users can 'post' and read to the various groups until a feed is set up directly to their site. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2.7 Can I get IRAF newsgroup information through a listserver? Yes, you can get newsgroup information via a listserver. The list server address is "listproc@iraf.noao.edu". To get information about the list server send it the following request: % mail listproc@iraf.noao.edu help (You can omit the 'Subject:' line). This will cause a list of all the commands recognized by the list server to be returned via e-mail. To subscribe to a newsgroup send the following request to the listserver: subscribe e.g. % mail listproc@iraf.noao.edu subscribe adass-iraf-announce "Joe Smith, Boston University" subscribe adass-iraf-buglog "Joe Smith, Boston University" Note that the "dashed" form of the newsgroup/list name is used for the listserver, rather than the "dotted" form. Multiple requests can be included on successive lines, for example to subscribe to multiple newsgroups. To unsubscribe from a newsgroup send the "unsubscribe " request. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2.8 What is the IRAFINFO facility? General information about the IRAF software is available via e-mail through the IRAFINFO facility. To get started send the following message to the IRAFINFO server: % mail irafinfo@iraf.noao.edu get iraf info For a list of all the files available via the IRAFINFO facility send the request "index iraf" to irafinfo. Section 3. DOCUMENTATION 3.1 How can I learn to use IRAF? The best way to learn to use IRAF is to actually sit down and use it, making use of available cookbooks, the Beginner's Guide, or exercises. 1) If you have some photometric or spectroscopic data that need to be reduced then sit down with one of the cookbooks available for these procedures, select a small subset of data, and actually start to do some reductions. Become familiar with the online help to assist you with understanding the tasks. 2) There is "A Beginner's Guide to Using IRAF (IRAF Version 2.10)" that has many examples in it that you can also use to get started. This manual is available in the pub directory in our IRAF network archive as the file beguide.ps.Z (compressed PostScript). 3) There are also some IRAF exercises available. These are exercises that use real data to do basic CCD reductions, photometric reductions through standard calibration, spectroscopic reductions through extraction and wavelength calibration, and data i/o manipulations. These exercises are bundled together in a tar file and are available in the IRAF network archive in the /iraf/misc directory as exer2102.tar.Z - see the exer2102.readme for installation instructions (a version is also available for V2.10.3 systems). The IRAF network archive can be reached by anonymous FTP to the node iraf.noao.edu (140.252.1.1). Binary files (including compressed PostScript and tar files with a '.Z' extension) need to be transferred as "binary". -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.2 Is there a beginner's guide for IRAF? There is a "draft" beginner's guide for IRAF that is available in the pub directory in the anonymous FTP archive on iraf.noao.edu (140.252.1.1) - it is called beguide.ps.Z. This file is distributed as compressed PostScript so be sure to set binary mode before the transfer. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.3 Is there IRAF help online? All tasks in IRAF have "help" pages describing the parameters used by the tasks and how the tasks work. These can be accessed by "help " or "phelp " - the phelp task allows you to space back in the help file as well as forward (help only goes forward). If you would like to print a help file to your default IRAF printer (defined by the IRAF environment variable "printer") then use the following: cl> show printer cl> set printer = cl> help | lprint -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.4 What general documentation is available? Where can I find it? There is a lot of IRAF documentation available in the form of technical specifications for an interface or package, cookbooks for specific procedures, programming documents, or overviews of packages or procedures. Most of these documents are available by anonymous FTP to the node iraf.noao.edu (140.252.1.1) - look at the README file in the /iraf/docs directory for a list of the documents available to you in this directory. Some documents are also available in the iraf$doc directory as part of your IRAF distribution. If you cannot find documentation on a certain topic that you feel should be documented, please send mail to iraf@noao.edu - there are a few documents, like the beginner's guide in pub (beguide.ps.Z), that may be available in another directory or simply not online yet. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.5 What documentation do you recommend that I have for the latest release? Here is a brief list of IRAF documentation that may be useful for V2.11. All documentation is available in the IRAF network archive in the /iraf/docs directory accessible by anonymous FTP to the node iraf.noao.edu, unless otherwise noted. Introductory Materials: A Beginner's Guide to Using IRAF (IRAF Version 2.10), Jeannette Barnes, August 1993, (beguide.ps.Z in the pub directory) A User's Introduction to the IRAF Command Language Version 2.3, Peter MB Shames and Doug Tody, August 1986, (cluser.ps.Z) Preliminary Test Procedure for IRAF, IRAF Version 2.11, Jeannette Barnes, revised Sept 1997, (testproc.ps.Z) Cookbooks and Guides: A User's Guide to CCD Reductions with IRAF, Philip Massey, Feb 1997, (ccduser3.ps.Z) A User's Guide to Reducing Slit Spectra with IRAF, Phil Massey, Frank Valdes, Jeannette Barnes, April 1992, (spect.ps.Z) A User's Guide to Reducing Echelle Spectra With IRAF, Daryl Willmarth and Jeannette Barnes, May 1994, (ech.ps.Z) Guide to the Coude Three Fiber Reduction Task DO3FIBER, Francisco Valdes, April 1992, (do3fiber.ps.Z) Guide to the ARGUS Reduction Task DOARGUS, Francisco Valdes, April 1992, (doargus2.ps.Z) Guide to the Multifiber Reduction Task DOFIBERS, Francisco Valdes, April 1992, (dofibers2.ps.Z) Guide to the HYDRA Reduction Task DOHYDRA, Francisco Valdes, April 1992, (dohydra.ps.Z) Guide to the Slit Spectra Reduction Task DOSLIT, Francisco Valdes, February 1993, (doslit.ps.Z) Guide to the Slit Spectra Reduction Task DOECSLIT, Francisco Valdes, February 1993, (doecslit.ps.Z) Guide to the Fiber Optic Echelle Reduction Task DOFOE, Francisco Valdes, April 1992, (dofoe.ps.Z) A User's Guide to Stellar CCD Photometry with IRAF, Philip Massey and Lindsey Davis, April 1992, (daophot2.ps.Z) Specifications for the Aperture Photometry Package, Lindsey Davis, revised October 1987, (apspec.ps.Z) A Reference Guide to the IRAF/DAOPHOT Package, Lindsey E. Davis, January 1994, (daorefman.ps.Z) Photometry Using IRAF, Lisa A. Wells, February 1994, (photom.ps.Z) Rectifying and Registering Images Using IRAF, Lisa A. Wells, April 1994, (reg.ps.Z) Cleaning Images of Bad Pixels and Cosmic Rays Using IRAF, Lisa A. Wells and David J. Bell, September 1994, (clean.ps.Z) Programming Guides: A User's Guide to Fortran Programming in IRAF The IMFORT Interface, Doug Tody, September 1986, (imfort.ps.Z) Specifying Pixel Directories with IMFORT, Doug Tody, June 1989, (imfortmem.ps.Z) An Introductory User's Guide to IRAF Scripts, revised by Rob Seaman, September 1989, (script.ps.Z) An Introductory User's Guide to IRAF SPP Programming, Rob Seaman, October 1992, (sppguide.ps.Z) Other Useful Documents: IRAF Newsletter, April 1998 (newslet_14.pdf, newslet_14.ps.gz) Table of Contents for IRAF Newsletters, (TOC_news.txt) Table of Contents for IRAF User Handbook Volume 1A, (TOC210_vol1a.txt) Table of Contents for IRAF User Handbook Volume 2B, (TOC210_vol2b.txt) The IRAF Packages, IRAF Version 2.10, (glos210a.ps.Z) The NOAO Packages, IRAF Version 2.10, (glos210b.ps.Z) IRAF Version 2.10 Revisions Summary, July 1992, (v210revs.ps.Z) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.6 What manuals are available for helping me do photometry? IRAF users doing photometry might find the following documents useful. They are all available in our anonymous FTP archive on iraf.noao.edu (140.252.1.1) in the /iraf/docs directory. Photometry Using IRAF, Lisa A. Wells, February 1994, (photom.ps.Z) A User's Guide to CCD Reductions with IRAF, Philip Massey, Feb 1997, (ccduser3.ps.Z) A User's Guide to Stellar CCD Photometry with IRAF, Philip Massey and Lindsey Davis, April 1992, (daophot2.ps.Z) Specifications for the Aperture Photometry Package, Lindsey Davis, revised October 1987, (apspec.ps.Z) A User's Guide to the IRAF Apphot Package, Lindsey Davis, revised May 1989, (apuser.ps.Z) A Reference Guide to the IRAF/DAOPHOT Package, Lindsey E. Davis, January 1994, (daorefman.ps.Z) See the online help for photcal.pcintro and photcal.config describing the PHOTCAT package. A Beginner's Guide to Using IRAF (IRAF Version 2.10), Jeannette Barnes, August 1993, (beguide.ps.Z in the pub directory) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.7 What manuals are available for helping me do spectroscopy? IRAF users wishing to do spectroscopic reductions will find a variety of documents available for the different types of reductions possible. They are all available in our anonymous FTP archive on iraf.noao.edu in the /iraf/docs directory. A User's Guide to CCD Reductions with IRAF, Philip Massey, Feb 1997, (ccduser3.ps.Z) A User's Guide to Reducing Slit Spectra with IRAF, Phil Massey, Frank Valdes, Jeannette Barnes, April 1992, (spect.ps.Z) A User's Guide to Reducing Echelle Spectra With IRAF, Daryl Willmarth and Jeannette Barnes, May 1994, (ech.ps.Z) Guide to the Coude Three Fiber Reduction Task DO3FIBER, Francisco Valdes, April 1992, (do3fiber.ps.Z) Guide to the ARGUS Reduction Task DOARGUS, Francisco Valdes, April 1992, (doargus2.ps.Z) Guide to the Multifiber Reduction Task DOFIBERS, Francisco Valdes, July 1995, (dofibers.ps.Z) Guide to the HYDRA Reduction Task DOHYDRA, Francisco Valdes, July 1995, (dohydra.ps.Z) Guide to the Slit Spectra Reduction Task DOSLIT, Francisco Valdes, Feb 1993, (doslit.ps.Z) Guide to the Slit Spectra Reduction Task DOECSLIT, Francisco Valdes, Feb 1993, (doecslit.ps.Z) Guide to the Fiber Optic Echelle Reduction Task DOFOE, Francisco Valdes, April 1992, (dofoe.ps.Z) See the online help for onedspec.package and onedspec.specwcs for a discussion of the onedspec package, the spectral image formats, and the dispersion world coordinate systems. A Beginner's Guide to Using IRAF (IRAF Version 2.10), Jeannette Barnes, August 1993, (beguide.ps.Z in the pub directory) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.8 What documents are available for general image processing? We have very little documentation directed at general image processing. We are trying to rectify that however. For now we recommend the following documents from our FTP archive on iraf.noao.edu in the /iraf/docs directory. A Beginner's Guide to Using IRAF (IRAF Version 2.10), Jeannette Barnes, August 1993, (beguide.ps.Z in the pub directory) The IRAF Packages, IRAF Version 2.10, (glos210a.ps.Z) The NOAO Packages, IRAF Version 2.10, (glos210b.ps.Z) Rectifying and Registering Images Using IRAF, Lisa A. Wells, April 1994, (reg.ps.Z) Cleaning Images of Bad Pixels and Cosmic Rays Using IRAF, Lisa A. Wells and David J. Bell, September 1994, (clean.ps.Z) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.9 What programming documentation is available? There are several manuals available to assist you with programming in IRAF; the one you will need will depend on the type of programming you expect to do. They are all available in the /iraf/docs directory on the node iraf.noao.edu (140.252.1.1) by anonymous FTP. The documents are compressed so be sure to declare binary before the transfer. 1) scripts - An Introductory User's Guide to IRAF Scripts, revised by Rob Seaman, September 1989, 49 pages (script.ps.Z). 2) IMFORT - A User's Guide to Fortran Programming in IRAF: The IMFORT Interface, Doug Tody, September 1986, 29 pages [manual pages not included] (imfort.ps.Z). Specifying Pixel Directories with IMFORT, Doug Tody, June 1989, 1 page [short memo describing a modification to IMFORT] (imfortmem.ps.Z) 3) SPP - An Introductory User's Guide to IRAF SPP Programming, Rob Seaman, October 1992, 76 pages (sppguide.ps.Z). SPP Reference Manual, Zolt Levay, October 1992 - see the archives at stsci.edu in the software/stsdas/v1.3/doc/programmer/spp directory. 4) There are many more older documents that may be referenced by the above that are also available. These are all listed in the TOC_vol3a.txt and TOC_vol3b.txt files in /iraf/docs. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.10 How can I learn more about the WCS in IRAF? There is no one document that we can refer you to learn more about the WCS. Depending on your needs one or more of the following may be useful. 1) sys$mwcs/MWCS.hlp - this is the main technical document describing the WCS interace. You can read this from within IRAF by typing "phelp mwcs$MWCS.hlp f+". 2) A more user friendly description of the WCS can be found in the help pages for the tasks wcsedit and wcsreset in the proto package. 3) Typing "phelp onedspec.specwcs" will give you information about the way the WCS in implemented in the spectroscopic packages along with a description of the spectroscopic keywords used. 4) There were article in two IRAF Newsletters discussing this interface that may useful to review as well - Number 9 (February/June 1990 - page 3) and Number 12 (July 1992 - page 5). -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.11 What installation manuals are available and where are they? Installation manuals are available for each distribution and are in the same directory as the distributions themselves in the /iraf/v211 directory in the IRAF network archive (anonymous FTP to iraf.noao.edu [140.252.1.1]). These installation (and Site Manager Guide's) are also available as unformatted TROFF source in the iraf$doc directory. They may also be obtained in the web at /iraf/web/docs/igsm.html. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.12 Are there revisions notices for the last release? Yes, there are revisions notes for the last general release of IRAF, Version 2.11. They are available by anonymous FTP to the node iraf.noao.edu in the /iraf/v211 directory, or on-line as unformatted LROFF in the file iraf$doc/v211revs.hlp. There are several different types of revisions notes available: -r--r--r-- 1 tody iraf 95493 Aug 30 1997 sysnotes.v211 -r--r--r-- 1 tody iraf 54496 Aug 30 1997 v211revs.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 tody iraf 21384 Aug 21 18:29 v2112revs.txt -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.13 Is there a buglog for IRAF? How can I get a copy? Yes, there is buglog for IRAF. You can retrieve it by anonymous FTP to the node iraf.noao.edu (140.252.1.1). The file, bugs.log, is in the /iraf/v211 directory and is continuously updated, it may be searched on the web at /iraf/web/search. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.14 Is there a manual for SAOimage? Yes, the "User Manual for SAOimage" by M. VanHilst, dated 1 January 1991. It is available by anonymous FTP to iraf.noao.edu in the contrib directory as the file saoimage/saoimage.ps.Z - this is a compressed PostScript file so be sure to declare binary before the transfer. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.15 How can I subscribe to the IRAF Newsletter? The easiest way is to use the electronic form available from our subscription page. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.16 What is the last issue of the IRAF Newsletter? The last issue of the IRAF Newsletter was Newsletter #14, dated April 1998. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.17 Can I get back issues of the IRAF Newsletter? Back issues of the IRAF Newsletter are available by anonymous FTP to iraf.noao.edu in the directory /iraf/docs. See the files newslet*. These are compressed PostScript files so be sure to transfer them as binary. -rw-r--r-- 1 iraf 60139 Aug 10 1990 newslet_1.ps.Z -rw-r--r-- 1 iraf 76093 Nov 15 1990 newslet_2.ps.Z -rw-r--r-- 1 iraf 40020 Jun 27 1990 newslet_3.ps.Z -rw-r--r-- 1 iraf 44810 Jul 8 1990 newslet_4.ps.Z -rw-r--r-- 1 iraf 61481 Jun 27 1990 newslet_5.ps.Z -rw-r--r-- 1 iraf 49042 Jun 27 1990 newslet_6.ps.Z -rw-r--r-- 1 iraf 118945 Jun 27 1990 newslet_7.ps.Z -rw-r--r-- 1 iraf 40042 Jun 27 1990 newslet_8.ps.Z -rw-r--r-- 1 iraf 89599 Jun 27 1990 newslet_9.ps.Z -rw-r--r-- 1 iraf 68959 Apr 11 1991 newslet_10.ps.Z -rw-r--r-- 1 iraf 30197 Apr 26 1992 newslet_11.ps.Z -rw-r--r-- 1 jbarnes 96795 May 25 1993 newslet_12.ps.Z -rw-r--r-- 1 jbarnes 129569 Mar 9 1995 newslet_13.ps.Z -rw-r--r-- 1 jbarnes 299262 May 8 1998 newslet_14.pdf -rw-r--r-- 1 jbarnes 235893 May 8 1998 newslet_14.ps.gz -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3.18 Is there an index for the Newsletter? There is no index for the IRAF Newsletter, but we do have a file containing the Table of Contents for each Newsletter - perhaps this will help. You can acquire this file by anonymous FTP to iraf.noao.edu in the directory /iraf/docs. See the TOC_news.txt file. Section 4. LAYERED PACKAGES 4.1 What are layered or external packages? Layered or external packages are IRAF software packages that are "layered" on the distributed IRAF system. You must first install IRAF and be sure it is running properly. Only then you can install any layered pack- ages. The layered packages use the full functionality and portability aspects of IRAF, and are a straightforward way for 3rd party developers to develop code within the IRAF environment. The NOAO package within the IRAF distributed system is really a layered package and can be used by 3rd party developers as a template for software development. Layered packages are also a convenient way for the IRAF project to make new software available to our users before the next major release. In this way the software gets more extensive testing before being included in a release while the users benefit from the new capabilities. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 4.2 What layered packages are available? How do I get them? There are many layered packages available, ranging from very large packages to those that are just a couple of tasks (the IRAF project sometimes exports preliminary version of new software as layered software). Here is a list of known layered packages from outside the IRAF project. STSDAS - the Space Telescope Science Data Analysis System consists of applications software, utility packages, and support software used to calibrate and analyze data from the Hubble Space Telescope. Available from stsci.edu in the software/stsdas directory. TABLES - the STSDAS TABLES package, used for support of the TABLES format used by the STSDAS and PROS packages and NOAO.DIGIPHOT. Distributed separately from STSDAS as of v1.3; available from stsci.edu in the software/stsdas directory. XRAY - the SAO Post-Reduction Off-line Software (PROS) package for analysis of reduced X-ray data. The PROS software includes spatial, spectral, timing, data I/O and conversion routines, plotting applications and general algorithms for performing arithmetic operations with imaging data. Available from sao-ftp.harvard.edu in the pub/pros directory. EUV - analysis software for data from the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer. Available from cea-ftp.cea.berkeley.edu in the pub/software directory. FTOOLS - a collection of utility programs to create, examine, or modify data files in the FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) format. Available from legacy.gsfc.nasa.gov in the software/ftools/release directory. RVSAO - Harvard-Smithsonian CfA package for obtaining radial velocities from spectra. Available from cfa-ftp.harvard.edu in the /pub/iraf directory. GRASP - a GONG Reduction and Analysis Software Package for the reduction and analysis of GONG data in particular and helioseismic imaging data in general. Available from helios.tuc.noao.edu (140.252.8.105) in pub/gong/grasp_soft. CTIO - a collection of tasks developed and distributed by CTIO. Available from iraf.noao.edu in the iraf/extern directory, see the ctio.readme file for installation instructions. MEM0C - Maximum Entropy Method Package for image restoration, developed by Dr. Nailong Wu. Available from iraf.noao.edu in the contrib directory. Here is a list of layered packages distributed by the IRAF project. All of these packages are available in the iraf/extern directory on the node iraf.noao.edu (140.252.1.1). Each package has a [package_name].readme file associated with it that provides installation instructions. ADCCDROM (31 March 1993) - a package containing tasks to read the ADC CD-ROM (text format) with a variety of sorting choices (you must have Volume 1 available and mounted somewhere in the IRAF network as a directory tree). See adccdrom.readme. COLOR (14 March 1996) - a prototype package for creating RGB composite images from IRAF images. See color.readme. CRUTIL (v1.4, 06 Jan 2000) - Cosmic ray removal utility package. DIGIPHOTX (10 May 1999) - Current DIGIPHOT package software distributed as an external package for distributing bug fixes and for older platforms. See digiphotx.readme. DIGIPHOTX (10 May 1999) - a new version of the NOAO.DIGIPHOT package (that will be included in the next release of IRAF) that contains the DAOPHOT II algorithms, a new curve of growth task, several new tasks in the PTOOLSX package, and minor enhancements and bug fixes. See digiphotx.readme. ESOWFI (v1.1, 31 Jan 1999) - ESO WFI Mosaic reduction package. FINDER (v2.2, 11 Feb 2000) - Determine accurate positions for objects on CCD frames using the Space Telescope Guide Star Catalogue as reference stars. FITSUTIL (03 Dec 1999) - FITS file format utilities. FOCAS (03 Sep 1999) - the Faint Object Classification and Analysis System, for creating and manipulating catalogs of objects from digital astronomical images. See readme.focas. A separate FAQ is available for this package at in the iraf archive 'iraf/extern' subdirectory as focas.faq. GMISC (25 Jan 2000) - Contains the development versions of those Gemini reduction packages, scripts, and tasks written by the NOAO IRAF group. ICE (v1.8.1, 02 Feb 2000) - The IRAF Control Environment ccdacq package supports CCD data acquisition from within the IRAF environment. IFOCAS (17 Nov 1999) - IRAF faint object classification and analysis system. Used to detect and catalog objects in images. IMCNV (20 Dec 1999) - Image conversion utilities, these tasks are all installed in V2.11. See imcnv.readme. IMMATCHX (20 Dec 1999) - Image matching package, these tasks are all installed in V2.11. See immatchx.readme. MFILTERS (18 Jul 1996) - Median/Modal Filtering package. See mfilters.readme. MSCRED (v3.2.3, January 2000) - CCD mosaic reduction package. NMISC (v12-p6, 18 Jan 2000) - a selection of new NOAO tasks being made available prior to the next release. The current tasks in this package are KPNOFOCUS, PSFMEASURE, SURFIT, SPECFOCUS, STARFOCUS, and XREGISTER. SPECTIME (v1.0, October 20, 1999) - Spectral exposure time calculator. SPPTOOLS (28 Oct 1995) - an ad hoc external package primarily of interest to IRAF developers working in SPP. Various tasks in this package will print the calling sequences of procedures within tasks, format code according to accepted standards, create / query identifier databases, and create / rename external packages. Of special interest is the spplint task that can be used to check the code for certain types of programming errors. VOL (22 Feb 1995) - a suite of prototype tasks used for volume rendering. See readme.vol. Other software, not considered layered software, that the reader may find useful is listed below. These are available from iraf.noao.edu in the named directory. SAOIMAGE - an X window system pseudocolor display program for greyscale images, developed originally by Mike VanHilst while at SAO. Can be used standalone or as an image display server with IRAF. See the saoimage.readme file for installation instructions. Available from the iraf/contrib/saoimage directory with associated files, pre-compiled binaries for various architectures. CBIND.C - C bindings for IMFORT programming on Unix hosts. See the file cbind.readme, available from the iraf/misc directory as the file cbind.c, and ANSI C version is available as cbind.ansi.c. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 4.3 How can I get the CTIO package? The CTIO package is available from the IRAF network archive. Since this is an layered package on IRAF you must have a running IRAF system before you can install this package. % ftp iraf.noao.edu (or 140.252.1.1) ftp> log in as anonymous ftp> use your email address as the password ftp> cd iraf/extern ftp> binary ftp> get ctio.readme ftp> get ctio.tar.Z ftp> quit Installation questions can be directed to iraf@noao.edu. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 4.4 What is the STSDAS package? How can I get it? The STSDAS package is a science software package maintained and distributed by the Space Telescope Science Institute and consists of applications software, utility packages, and support software used to calibrate and analyze data from the Hubble Space Telescope. It is an layered package on the distributed IRAF system, so you must have IRAF installed and running before you can install STSDAS. Note that STSDAS also requires the TABLES package. The package is available by anonymous FTP to ftp.stsci.edu from the /pub/software/stsdas directory or from our archive's /contrib directory. Questions should be directed to help@stsci.edu. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 4.5 I need the TABLES package. How can I get it? The STSDAS TABLES package, which supports the TABLES format used by the STSDAS and PROS packages and IRAF.NOAO.DIGIPHOT, is distributed by the Space Telescope Science Institute. It is available separately from STSDAS as of v1.3. This is an layered package on the distributed IRAF system so you must have a running IRAF system before you can install TABLES. TABLES is available from stsci.edu in the software/stsdas directory. Questions should be directed to help@stsci.edu. Binaries of the latest version for most architectures are available in the contrib directory. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 4.6 What is PROS/XRAY package? How can I get it? XRAY is the SAO Post-Reduction Off-line Software (PROS) package for analysis of reduced X-ray data. The PROS software includes spatial, spectral, timing, data I/O and conversion routines, plotting applications and general algorithms for performing arithmetic operations with imaging data. The package is available from sao-ftp.harvard.edu in the pub/pros directory. Questions should be directed to hotseat@cfa.harvard.edu. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 4.7 What is the EUV package? How can I get it? The EUV package is analysis software for data from the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer. It is available from cea-ftp.cea.berkeley.edu in the pub/software directory. Questions should be directed to egoinfo@cea.berkeley.edu. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 4.8 Where do I send problem reports for the layered packages? Problems with the various layered packages should be sent to the following: PACKAGES CONTACT -------- ------- STSDAS, TABLES help@stsci.edu XRAY hotseat@cfa.harvard.edu EUV egoinfo@cea.berkeley.edu RVSAO mink@cfa.harvard.edu SAOimage iraf@noao.edu FTOOLS pence@tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov GRASP grasp@noao.edu MEM0C nailong@stsci.edu COLOR iraf@noao.edu CTIO "" MFILTERS "" NMISC "" DIGIPHOTX "" IMMATCHX "" IMCNV "" FOCAS "" ADCCDROM "" CBIND "" DIGIPHOTX "" VOL "" SPPTOOLS "" -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 4.9 How can I contribute my own software to IRAF so others can use it? Users are encouraged to put their software in our ftp 'contrib' directory for distribution to other users. A 'readme' file describing what the software is, how it's installed, and especially who to contact with questions or problems should also be put in the directory with the same name as the package itself. New versions of the software can be installed in the contrib directory at any time. Alternatively, small programs, CL scripts and such can be posted to the adass.iraf.sources newsgroup. We suggest that external packages be formatted as a standard layered package, this will make it much easier for others to install and minimize problems. Users can create a new package by using any existing layered package as a template and editing/renaming the appropriate files. Feel free to contact the IRAF group if you have any questions about how a package is created or installed. Section 5. DATA FORMATS 5.1 What data formats are supported? Data for use with IRAF can be stored as images, text files, or binary tables. The currently supported image types are OIF format (used for most applications), STF format (used for HST data w/ STSDAS), QPOE format (used for event list data such as from the XRAY satellites), and PLIO for pixel list (used to flag individual pixels in a region of interest). V2.11.x IRAF includes a FITS image kernal to support disk FITS images directly. Text files are typically used as database or configuration files with tasks, image data in text files may be converted to an image format in a number of ways (see below). Binary tables are manipulated using the TABLES layered package, some tasks accept these directly as input. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 5.2 How can I convert my data to the IRAF image format? Various tasks for converting data to IRAF image format exist in the DATAIO package, for example, RFITS converts FITS files to IRAF image files. A complete list of data conversion tasks can be found using the command: cl> refer convert Starting with V2.11 the new tasks IMPORT/EXPORT in the DATAIO package are available to convert a wide variety of formats in and out of the IRAF format. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 5.3 How do I convert my ascii text file of wavelength and flux into an IRAF image? There are currently 3 ways to do this. One is to use the SINTERP task, which can be used to interpolate a table of x,y pairs and create a spectrum. If your data are linear, no interpolation is necessary, and SINTERP can create an output image with as many pixels as input values. Another method is to use RTEXTIMAGE, optionally piping the data through FIELDS to extract the correct column of pixel data, followed by hand editing with HEDIT to define required header fields. The third method is to use the RSPECTEXT task in the ONEDSPEC package. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 5.4 Does IRAF support world coordinate systems in images? IRAF does support various coordinate systems in addition to the pixel array coordinates. This was described in IRAF Newsletter #12, July 1992, "World Coordinate System Support in IRAF V2.10". These coordinate systems are specified in the image headers under specific keywords. The most common type of world coordinate system is linear. The linear coordinate systems are de- scribed using the standard keywords defined by the basic FITS documentation. Hence images in FITS with linear coordinates can be easily imported into IRAF. The astronomical celestial projections are also supported. This follows a description similar to current FITS proposals. A description of the syntax used in IRAF is given in the help for the task WCSEDIT. This task may be used to create or modify such world coordinate systems. There are more complex non-linear coordinate systems used in spectra. These are described in the document "specwcs.ps.Z" in the IRAF documentation archive. For export to other systems one should "linearize" such spectra since the formats are not generally adopted. The world coordinate systems relate the pixel coordinates to user "world" coordinates. If one extractions sections of an image the world coordinates continue to be valid. This is done by adding a transformation between the current pixel (called logical) coordinates and the original pixel (call physical) coordinates. This may even involve changes in dimension. The transformation is defined by the LT keywords. One may reset the physical coordinate systems (for linear or celestial systems) using the task WCSRESET. This does not apply to the nonlinear spectral coordinates. One may also remove a world coordinate system with WCSRESET. In this case the world coordinate system is then the physical coordinates. In many IRAF tasks, such as LISTPIXELS and IMPLOT, there is a parameter called "wcs". This allows these tasks to use either "logical", "physical", or "world" coordinates. The values of this parameters are the quoted names. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 5.5 What is the IRAF disk image format? The IRAF disk image format is intentionally not documented, outside the source files (e.g., imio$iki/oif). This is because the format is subject to change with time (e.g. the format changed dramatically between V2.10 and V2.11), and should never be written directly from a user program. IRAF images should only be written through a standard interface such as IMFORT or SPP/IMIO. At present the CVOS interface in STSDAS V2.1 may be used by host or iraf C programs to access the image interfaces. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 5.6 How do I convert my GIF/JPEG images to IRAF? There are several paths you can take to get GIF/JPEG images into IRAF format. For GIF images the simplest method is to use the IMPORT task in the DATAIO package to convert directly. Unfortunately IMPORT does not support JPEG. If you want to convert to FITS we suggest using the ImageMagick package (available from ftp.x.org, which is mirrored at other X11 FTP sites that may be closer to you) also has a conversion task called CONVERT that will go from JPEG or GIF to FITS automatically. For interactive conversion the XV task is recommended. Note that the process can also be reversed to get back to a GIF/JPEG image, in this case using the EXPORT task to go to GIF and the above tools for a final conversion to JPEG. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 5.7 What are the "..image.imh" files associated with each of my images? Can I delete them to free up disk space? The ..*.imh files are hard links to the *.imh files used to protect the headers from being deleted with DELETE, rather than deleting the image with IMDELETE. They don't take up any more disk space than the image files they are links to, i.e. in a directory with both the ..imh files and the headers, deleting the .. files doesn't free up any disk space. Silimarly deleting the imh files doesn't actually free up space because the link still points to it, but if you IMDELETE the files (getting rid of both the .. and imh files) you only recover space occupied by the header files, not twice that. A hard link (what the .. files are) is just a standard directory entry like the file to which it's linked, to remove the file from the system all hard links to it must be removed, even if the original file was moved/renamed. You can use the UNPROTECT command to remove these protection files (but that isn't recommended), similarly the PROTECT command will create them for images that don't have them. Section 6. WINDOW SYSTEMS 6.1 When I try to make an IRAF plot on my screen all I get is garbage in my window. How can I get an IRAF plot? You need to be running from a window that is capable of displaying IRAF graphics and have the window type properly identified in the CL. If you are running IRAF in a workstation environment then check to be sure that you are running IRAF from either an XGterm or an XTerm window. Other terminal emulators (such as cmdtool, rxvt, aixterm, etc) on your desktop do not support graphics. The next step is be sure you have the value of your terminal type set correctly. cl> stty # reports current settings cl> stty xgterm nlines=### # for XGterm cl> stty xterm nlines=### # for XTERM, status line in # graphics window cl> stty xtermjh nlines=### # for XTERM, status line in # text window cl> stty vt640 # for retrographics terminal Look at the dev$graphcap file for other valid terminal types if you are using a standard terminal and not a workstation. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 6.2 How is stty "xtermjh" different from a standard "xterm" window? They are identical except for the location of the status line, the single line used within graphics applications for user input. With xterm, this line is written in reverse video at the bottom of the graphics window. Since xterm can't erase and overwrite this line, the status line is written to a new location within the graphics window each time it is used, consuming window space until the window is redrawn. The xtermjh terminal type writes the status line to the text window, leaving the graphics window entirely free of status line i/o. Most people using tasks that make even moderate use of the graphics status line prefer the "xtermjh" setting. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 6.3 Why can't I get vector graphics from AIX/IRAF in an AIXterm window? The AIXterm window is not a supported graphics terminal emulator, users should use an XTerm window instead. This requires that the X11rte.obj product be installed (use the "lslpp -l" command t verify this). Another possible source of confusion is the fact that /usr/bin/X11/xterm is a symbolic link which could be pointing to the aixterm executable. If so this link should be reset so it points to /usr/lpp/X11/Xamples/bin/xterm. If a graphics task results in garbage being written to the screen it is usually a sign that the wrong terminal emulator is being run. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 6.4 Are we limited to having a single SAOimage process running per CPU? No, we have a workaround for this frequently encountered limitation. By default, there is a single set of fifo pipes in /dev used for communication with the DISPLAY task, limiting the number of successful SAOimage processes to one per cpu. (See IRAF Newsletter #11, April 1991, "Setting up Multiple Fifo Pipes for [V1.02] SAOimage".) However, SAOimage allows the user to specify a set of personal fifo pipes to be used instead of the ones in the system /dev directory. For multiple SAOimage processes to run per CPU, the user must create personal pipes and define the paths to these new pipes in a private copy of graphcap as described below. To create the personal pipes and graphcap file it is suggested you create a subdirectory of your iraf login directory named 'dev' in which to put the files. A sequence of commands such as the following should be all that is needed (note the location of the 'mknod' command may differ, on some systems the 'mkfifo' command is preferred): % cd ~/iraf # create the 'dev' subdirectory % mkdir dev % cd dev % /usr/sbin/mknod imt1i p # create the fifo pipes % /usr/sbin/mknod imt1o p % chmod 600 imt1o imt1i % sed s+imtool,,+imtool,$cwd/imt1,+g $iraf/dev/graphcap > mygraphcap The last command edits a personal copy of the graphcap file. To start up SAOimage with the "new" fifo pipes, use the following command with appropriate pathname substitutions. Note that the "idev" to SAOimage is the imt1o pipe (the SAOimage input is the DISPLAY task output): % saoimage -idev /mydir/dev/imt1o -odev /mydir/dev/imt1i & To direct the CL to use your private copy of graphcap, put this line in your loginuser.cl file: set graphcap = home$dev/mygraphcap Note that the "saoimage" command above is valid for V1.07; earlier versions of SAOimage require a "-imtool" inserted before the &. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 6.5 Can I run multiple SAOimage processes simultaneously from my account? It is possible for a user to have multiple SAOimages running. This situation is not the same as multiple users each running SAOimage on the same CPU. That was addressed in an IRAF Newsletter article (INL #11, April 1991, "Setting up Multiple Fifo Pipes for SAOimage") which is included in the prev- ious entry of this FAQ listing. There are similarities between the two scenarios, so you should understand the NL article before continuing with this discussion. We assume you are running v1.06 or v1.07 of SAOimage. Say a user wants to have 2 SAOimage windows running and be able to display to them independently from a CL session. For each SAOimage process, the user must provide the following 4 items: fifo pipes, saoimage aliases, dev$graphcap modifications, and a private imtoolrc file. In this example, two SAOimages are defined, each recognizing 3 frame buffer sizes. 1) Create the fifo pipes, perhaps in /mydir/dev/devices where /mydir/ refers to the login directory of the user in this and the following items. I will name the pipes imt1i, imt1o and imt2i, imt2o: % cd % mkdir dev % cd dev % /usr/sbin/mknod imt1i p % /usr/sbin/mknod imt1o p % chmod 600 imt1o imt1i % /usr/sbin/mknod imt2i p % /usr/sbin/mknod imt2o p % chmod 600 imt2o imt2i 2) Define two aliases for saoimage, specifying the personal pipes created above, perhaps in a .cshrc file (with idev, odev as defined above): % alias saoimage1 'saoimage -idev /mydir/dev/imt1o -odev /mydir/dev/imt1i &' % alias saoimage2 'saoimage -idev /mydir/dev/imt2o -odev /mydir/dev/imt2i &' 3) For each frame buffer size, make an entry in dev$graphcap with a unique name and proper fifo pipe specification in the DD string. As the NL article recommends, copy dev$graphcap into /mydir/dev/mygraphcap and add a "reset graphcap = home$dev/mygraphcap" statement to your login.cl file. In these sample graphcap entries, stdimage devices imt1, imt2, and imt3 use the imt1 fifo pipes with frame buffer sizes 512, 800 and 1024 square respectively. The devices imt61, imt62, and imt63 use the imt2 fifo pipes with frame buffer sizes 512, 800, and 1024 square. imt1|imt512|imtool|Imtool display server:\ :cn#1:LC:BS@:z0#1:zr#200:\ :DD=node!imtool,/mydir/dev/imt1,512,512:tc=iism70: imt2|imt800|:cn#2:xr#800:yr#800:\ :LC:BS@:z0#1:zr#200:\ :DD=node!imtool,/mydir/dev/imt1,800,800:tc=iism70: imt3|imt1024|:cn#3:xr#1024:yr#1024:\ :LC:BS@:z0#1:zr#200:\ :DD=node!imtool,/mydir/dev/imt1,1024,1024:tc=iism70: imt61|imt512a|imtool|Imtool display server:\ :cn#1:LC:BS@:z0#1:zr#200:\ :DD=node!imtool,/mydir/dev/imt2,512,512:tc=iism70: imt62|imt800a|:cn#2:xr#800:yr#800:\ :LC:BS@:z0#1:zr#200:\ :DD=node!imtool,/mydir/dev/imt2,800,800:tc=iism70: imt63|imt1024a|:cn#3:xr#1024:yr#1024:\ :LC:BS@:z0#1:zr#200:\ :DD=node!imtool,/mydir/dev/imt2,1024,1024:tc=iism70: 4) Corresponding to each graphcap entry, make an entry in imtoolrc. SAOimage looks for a user imtoolrc file defined in your environment (setenv imtoolrc or setenv IMTOOLRC), and if that's not found, ~/.imtoolrc is used. If that's not found, /usr/local/lib/imtoolrc is used; imtoolrc was copied into this directory from dev$imtoolrc by the install script. So copy the original imtoolrc file in ~/.imtoolrc (for example) and edit it to include the following entries (entries 1-3 are unchanged from the original file): 1 2 512 512 # imt1|imt512 2 2 800 800 # imt2|imt800 3 2 1024 1024 # imt3|imt1024 # User added formats. 61 2 512 512 # imt61|imt512a 62 2 800 800 # imt62|imt800a 63 2 1024 1024 # imt63|imt1024a SAOimage allows only 64 frame buffer configurations. XImtool allows more and the distributed imtoolrc file has more than 64 entries. To add your new entries, you'll have to clobber some of the first 64 entries and replace them with your own. In this example, I redefined imt61-63. And, that's all there is to it! Start up saoimage1 and saoimage2, login to the CL (with your graphcap redefined) and try displaying to imt1 and imt61. One thing to watch for in debugging this is "zombie saoimage processes". If you interrupt the DISPLAY task with ^C and certainly in other ways, you can end up with an SAOimage process running without a connected window. If you try to display and you get no output and no error, this may be the cause. Use "ps -aux" to find the process and then kill it. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 6.6 What do I do about "Warning libxxx.s.o older than expected"? This usually indicates a missing or insufficient definition for the LD_LIBRARY_PATH host environment variable. For example, on a Sun system this may be set to simply '/usr/openwin/lib', but if the application in question was compiled under the local X11R5 system the missing shared object may be in /usr/lib/X11 (or some other path). In rare cases the missing object is in the compiler directory (e.g. in /usr/lang/SC1.x under SunOS). To find out where the missing file is and reset the LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable appropriately, try the following: % echo $LD_LIBRARY_PATH # see what the current setting is /usr/lib/X11 % ldd `which saoimage` # check dependencies -lX11.4 => /usr/openwin/lib/libX11.so.4.3 -lc.1 => /usr/lib/libc.so.1.7.3 -ldl.1 => /usr/lib/libdl.so.1.0 % setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH /usr/lib/X11:/usr/openwin/lib This last command reset the variable so both /usr/lib/X11 and /usr/openwin/lib are searched for the needed file, the command should run normally after that, the directories /lib, /usr/lib and /usr/local/lib are searched by default. Section 7. IMAGE DISPLAY 7.1 How can I generate or display an RGB image? Typically to do color composite imaging (RGB), you need a display with 24 bit hardware, with 8 bitplanes each for red, green, and blue. The RGB task in IMAGES.TV displays an rgb picture from 3 separate images only on the 24-bit IIS model 70/75 or Gould Deanza Image Displays, not on 8-bit workstation monitors. In addition, the EXPORT task in DATAIO is capable of combining images and producing either 8-bit pseudocolor or 24-bit images of various formats (rasterfile, gif, EPS, etc). Once the 24-bit image has been created it may be displayed in 24-bit mode using a program such as XV, although without the control you may have with display in ximtool. For more information or questions contact site support. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 7.2 What is the proper value of "stdimage" for use with SAOimage or XImtool? The 'stdimage' environment variable defines the frame buffer configuration used for image display. The form of this value is generally an 'imt' prefix followed by the configuration number (or an equivalent alias), available configurations must be defined in both the dev$graphcap file as well as the dev$imtoolrc file. Check the latter file for a list of available frame buffer configurations, or by simply typing GDEVICES at the CL prompt. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 7.3 How can I change the size of the frame buffer from the CL? Simply by changing the value of 'stdimage' then re-displaying the image. To find out what frame buffer configurations are supported use the GDEVICES command, for example cl> gdev # ALIASES NX NY DESCRIPTION imtx 512 512 Imtool display server imt1 imt512 imtool 512 512 Imtool display server imt2 imt800 800 800 : : : : cl> reset stdimage = imt800 cl> display dev$pix 1 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 7.4 What do I change to add a custom frame buffer size? There are two files that need to be modified to create your own frame buffer size, imtoolrc and graphcap. You will need to restart the display window to activate these changes. o First you need to copy over the system imtoolrc file into your home directory, and then modify the file so it reflects your new frame buffer size. Note the name change during the copy. % cd % cp /iraf_path/dev/imtoolrc .imtoolrc % vi .imtoolrc Go to the end of the file and add an entry for your particular frame buffer following the examples in the file (contrary to what is in the file, keep you frame numbers less than 64). o Next, copy over the system graphcap file and edit it in a similar fashion following the examples under the "STDIMAGES devices" section. Now when you log into IRAF point to this new graphcap file, and then reset the value for stdimage. % cp /iraf_path/dev/graphcap mygraphcap % vi mygraphcap [restart the display window and log into the CL] cl> reset graphcap = /home_path/mygraphcap cl> gflush cl> reset stdimage = my_new_frame_buffer When editing the graphcap entry be sure to modify the ":cn" (configuration number) field as well as the buffer sizes (the :xr and :yr fields as well as the DD string). After resetting the graphcap environment variable be sure to type a 'gflush' to reinitialize the graphics system. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 7.5 How do I get a hardcopy of an image displayed with XImtool or SAOimage? XImtool contains a 'Print' setup panel which can be used to set the output device or hardcopy options. With SAOimage it's the 'Print' button after hitting 'Etc', the hardcopy is generated by execution of a user configurable command known as the R_DISPOSE string. SAOimage requires that R_DISPOSE be defined before starting SAOimage. For Unix systems, R_DISPOSE is defined as a Unix environment variable. It is usually best to define this variable in the .cshrc file since it will then be valid for any window or menu that starts the display server, otherwise it must be defined in the same shell (window) that starts saoimage. Typical values are: setenv R_DISPOSE "lpr -Plw -r %s" # default string setenv R_DISPOSE 'lpr -Plw5 -r -s %s' # send to printer 'lw5' setenv R_DISPOSE 'mv %s $HOME/plot.ps' # move to home dir With VMS, the R_DISPOSE command is defined as a global symbol, as in $ R_DISPOSE :== print/queue=postscript/delete "%s" The symbol typically gets defined in the SAOSETUP.COM file, which is run as part of the SAOimage start up procedure. See host$x11/run/saosetup.com for more information. If the R_DISPOSE string is reset from a terminal window care must be taken that the server is then started from that window (not a window manager menu) in order for the new value to take effect. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 7.6 What can I use for image display on a monochrome monitor? At this time, the only choice for users in your situation is to use the SAOimage display server. SAOimage is an image display server for the X environment which includes a dithering algorithm that will display images on some monochrome servers. Section 8. GRAPHICS 8.1 What hardcopy output devices are supported with the distributed system? UNIX IRAF distributions include these SGI translators: sgi2uapl.c - PostScript for Apple LaserWriters and many more PS plotters sgi2uhpgl.c - HP Graphics Language for HP 7550A and other pen plotters sgi2uimp.c - Impress language for Imagen printers sgi2uqms.c - QMS Vector Graphics (Talaris Lasergrafix, QUIC Command Mode) sgi2ueps.c - Encapsulated PostScript, PS-Adobe-3.0, EPSF-3.0 sgi2uhplj.c - HP Printer Command Language (HP LaserJet Series) sgi2uptx.c - Printronix plotter sgi2gif.c - Read an IRAF SGI bitmap file on standard input and convert to a GIF format image on standard outout. (See also iraf$unix/gdev/sgidev/README.gif). sgi2xbm.c - Read an IRAF SGI bitmap file on standard input and convert to an XBM format image on standard outout. In addition, Versatec plotters are supported (no SGI translator needed). VMS IRAF distributions include these SGI translators: sgi2vapl.f - PostScript for Apple LaserWriters and many more PS plotters sgi2vhpl.f - HP Printer Command Language (HP LaserJet Series) sgi2vln03.c - for LN03 Plus, in Tek mode sgi2vtri.f - Trilog plotter sgi2vccp.f - translates to Calcomp or Versaplot calls sgi2vhpp.f - HP Graphics Language for HP 7550A and other pen plotters sgi2vptx.f - Printronix plotter sgi2vver.f - Versatec sgi2veps.f - Encapsulated PostScript, PS-Adobe-3.0, EPSF-3.0 sgi2vimp.f - Impress language for Imagen printers sgi2vqms.f - QMS Vector Graphics (Talaris Lasergrafix, QUIC Command Mode) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 8.2 What additional SGI translators are available; how do I get them? We ask that sites who write additional SGI translators send the code to iraf@noao.edu for possible inclusion in future IRAF releases. At this time, all translators we know about are distributed with IRAF, but contact us for the latest information about any additional plotters or printers not mentioned above. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 8.3 What VMS/IRAF files do I edit to get my output device interfaced? There are two sources of hardcopies from an IRAF session. One is from CL tasks such as those in the plot package and elsewhere, the other is from the printing capability of the display server, e.g., the etc.print selection of SAOimage. Hardcopy of images displayed with SAOimage is controlled with a VMS logical R_DISPOSE. This is described in the V2.10 saosetup.com file, in host$x11/run. You define R_DISPOSE to be the host command that prints a PostScript file to the intended device, such as $! R_DISPOSE :== print/queue=postscript/delete "%s" Plots made from CL tasks, such as CONTOUR, get disposed to a printer based on information in the dev$graphcap file. The best documentation on how all this works is the SGI manual, available from the anonftp archive. [Get the (binary) compressed, PostScript file sgi.ps.Z containing "The IRAF Simple Graphics Interface (SGI)", Doug Tody, August 1986, 9 pages, from the iraf/docs subdirectory of the anonftp archive on iraf.noao.edu.] As an example, the CL device "lw" or "rps1" is defined like this in graphcap: lw|rps1| :tc=vapl: vapl|VMS generic interface to 300dpi Apple Laserwriter (Postscript):\ :DD=vapl,tmp$sgk,submit/que=fast/noprint/nolog \ /para=\050"vapl","$F","$(XO) $(XW) $(YO) $(YW) $(PW) 7 1 RPS1" \ \051 irafhlib\072sgiqueue.com:tc=sgi_apl: The DD string contains a host command to submit the hlib$sgiqueue.com procedure file to the IRAF "fast" queue (as defined in hlib$irafuser.com). In the DD string, replace "nolog" with "keep" to generate a sgiqueue.log file in your sys$login directory for debugging if necessary. Optionally, replace RPS1 with the name of your PostScript device queue. You can put this information in hlib$sgiqueue.com if you prefer, in which case you'd replace RPS1 from the above DD string with the word "none". This means to leave the output file in the tmp$ area to be disposed of as directed in sgiqueue.com. If no queue specification is mentioned at all, the default queue is sys$print. In any case, these statements in sgiqueue.com are executed: $! Apple LaserWriter (Postscript) $ vapl: $ sgi2vapl := $irafhlib:sgi2vapl $ sgi2vapl 'p2' 'p3' $! print/passall/noform/delete 'p2'.apl $ delete 'p2'.;0 $ exit If you gave a queue name in the graphcap DD string, no changes are necessary. If you specified "none", modify the (commented out) print command to be the proper host command at your site for disposing a file of PostScript to the intended device. Refer to the PS file as 'p2'.apl. Execute the CL command "gflush" after making any change to graphcap. You should also execute "gflush" (or submit another plot or log out of the CL) to flush the graphics buffer and start the sgiqueue.com process. To print text with the LPRINT task, information in dev$termcap is used. CL device "vmsprint" is set up to send output to the sys$print queue. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 8.4 What UNIX/IRAF files do I edit to get my output device interfaced? There are two sources of hardcopies from an IRAF session. One is from CL tasks such as those in the PLOT and other packages, the other is from the printing capability of the display server, e.g., the etc.print selection of SAOimage or the XImtool Print panel. Hardcopy of images display with SAOimage is controlled with a UNIX shell variable R_DISPOSE. It can be defined as the host command used to dispose a PostScript file to the desired printer, such as: % setenv R_DISPOSE "lpr -Plw5 %s" Plots made from CL tasks, such as CONTOUR, get disposed to a printer based on information in the dev$graphcap file. The best documentation on how all this works is the SGI manual, available from the anonftp archive. [Get the (binary) compressed, PostScript file sgi.ps.Z containing "The IRAF Simple Graphics Interface (SGI)", Doug Tody, August 1986, 9 pages, from the iraf/docs subdirectory of the anonftp archive on iraf.noao.edu.] Basically, an IRAF graphics task produces "GKI metacode", which is converted to "SGI metacode" by the SGI graphics kernel. An SGI translator is then used to convert the SGI metacode into PostScript, HPGL, or some other graphics language before sending the result to the printer in question. There are sample entries for most supported devices in graphcap, and a few defaults you can use for any Postscript printer. To interface your graphics device, you may have to edit the host command found in the 3rd field of the "DD string" to be correct for your site. Looking at the graphcap entry for lw5, a PostScript laserwriter in use at NOAO as an example: nlw|lw5| :tc=uapl5: uapl5|UNIX generic interface to 300dpi Apple Laserwriter NT on Orion:\ :xs#0.269:ys#0.210:ar#0.781:\ :DD=apl,tmp$sgk,!{ sgidispatch sgi2uapl $F -l$(XO) -w$(XW) -b$(YO) \ -h$(YW) -p$(PW) | lpr -Plw5; rm $F; }&:tc=sgi_apl: sgi_apl|Apple Laserwriter (Postscript) 300dpi:\ :kf=bin$x_sgikern.e:tn=sgikern:cw#.0125:ch#.0294:\ :ar#0.762:xs#0.267:ys#0.203:xr#3180:yr#2380:\ :MF#1:XO#55:XW#3180:YO#90:YW#2380:PW#2.4: Note how the 3 parts of the entry are linked together with the tc= field. Device lw5 (aliased to nlw) is a PostScript device, so it uses the sgi2uapl SGI translator. The output from the translator is piped to the Unix command lpr -Plw5 It is this site specific part of the DD command that you are most likely to have to edit, probably just by specifying another device name instead of lw5. You can also add an alias that makes more sense to your site than "lw5" if you like. The sgi_apl entry should not have to be changed. Without making any changes at all to graphcap, you can send output to device lpr, lp, or lw. This uses a "generic" graphcap entry which generates PostScript and sends it to the default Unix printer with the command "lpr" (no device specified with -P). This entry should work for you "out of the box", assuming you want to access the Unix default printer and it is a PostScript device. If you want to access a non-default printer from IRAF, you will most likely have to edit (at least) the site specific portion of the DD command in graphcap as illustrated above. If you don't append a device name to the :.snap command, the output goes to your stdplot device as defined in the cl: cl> show stdplot lw5 If this isn't enough information to get things working, write to iraf@noao.edu and tell us what sort of printer you're trying to access and what Unix command you use to print to it. If you happen to have an HP LaserJet, there was an article on interfacing this sort of device to IRAF in Newsletter #12, July 1992. Newsletter are also available from our anonftp archive, in the iraf/docs subdirectory on iraf.noao.edu. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 8.5 Can I generate color PostScript of an IRAF plot or displayed image? At this time, there's no way in the IRAF core system to produce color PostScript of graphics. But the PostScript graphics kernel in STSDAS can produce both publication quality graphics (when used with their IGI package) and color PostScript. You can generate a color hardcopy of an image displayed with SAOimage using tasks in V1.2.2 or later of STSDAS. You would display the image and write out its color map with SAOimage. Then the displayed image is saved as gki metacode and input, along with the color map, to the PSIKERN. The PostScript kernel will eventually be part of the IRAF core system and is described in the Summer 1992 STSDAS Newsletter. The Newsletters, and STSDAS itself, are available from the anonftp archive on stsci.edu. Their site support group (help@stsci.edu) can give you more information about PSIKERN. Direct color PostScript conversion of images is included in V2.11 as part of the new EXPORT task, or available from the XImtool display server directly. It is also possible to use host utilities that generate color PostScript. For example, the "screendump" command that comes standard with Sun writes the contents of the screen as a Sun rasterfile to the STDOUT. You can capture this to a file and then all that's left is to convert it to color PostScript. If you are running X windows (i.e. OpenWindows) then try using the XV utility (available from most X ftp sites, try ftp.x.org (198.112.44.100)) to read in the rasterfile, crop out whatever you don't want, and then save the result as a color PS file you can then send to the printer. For a less interactive approach, and one that can be used from SunView, the "San Diego IMAGE Tools" are also very good. These are available as binary-only from ftp.sdsc.edu in the pub/sdsc/graphics/imtools directory. There are utilities to crop an image, and the conversion command you're looking for (once these are installed) is % screendump | imconv -ras - -ps dump.ps -outclt -outindex to convert the screendump to a color PS equivalent. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 8.6 Does IRAF support Encapsulated PostScript? Yes, IRAF includes an SGI translator to generate Encapsulated PostScript. The following EPS logical devices are available: eps or epsf - portrait orientation epsl or epsfl - landscape orientation epsh or epshalf - half page, portrait orientation These options can be invoked with an interactive graphics command such as :.snap eps by specifying the graphics output device via a hidden task parameter cl> contour dev$pix dev=eps or by setting the stdplot environment variable before running the task. cl> reset stdplot = eps In addition, the PostScript generated by the XImtool or SAOimage display servers is encapsulated, EPSF-2.0. Section 9. SYSTEM INSTALLATIONS 9.1 I don't have enough diskspace for the entire system - what can I do? The IRAF system is distributed in three parts: the source tree for the core system and the NOAO package (the as.* files), the binaries for the core system (the ib.* files), and the NOAO package binaries (the nb.* files). Because the system is distributed with source, considerable disk space can be recovered by stripping the source files with the cl> mkpkg strip # strip the core system cl> cd noao # move to NOAO directory cl> mkpkg -p noao strip # strip the NOAO package utility, run as iraf from the iraf root. The source files are not required for a run-time system. Software development, including IMFORT programming and building external packages, can still be accomplished on a stripped system. The "mkpkg strip" is normally done after unpacking the as and ib/nb files, after IRAF is fully installed. On systems where space is extremely tight, you can run "mkpkg strip" immediately after unpacking the as files and running the install script. This would free sufficient space to allow the binaries to be unpacked. We estimate about 1/2 the total diskspace consumed by IRAF is recovered by stripping the source. If this is still not sufficient, it is possible to delete individual binaries by hand. IRAF site support can advise you as to which binaries are least likely to be useful for your particular applications. It is important to remember that IRAF doesn't necessarily have to be installed on a disk local to the machine, any available (e.g. NFS mounted) disk will do. External packages can similarly be stripped of source. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.2 What does the IRAF install script really do - what files are modified? In general terms the install script does the following: - edits the iraf pathname and imdir directory in the following files: hlib$cl.csh hlib$mkiraf.csh hlib$libc/iraf.h - creates fifo pipes for image display in the /dev directory - creates the /usr/include/iraf.h symbolic link defining the iraf root - sets root ownership for the tape allocation task 'alloc.e' - creates symbolic links for IRAF commands like 'cl' in the site dependent 'local bin directory'. Because the install script affects files in system directories, root permission is required to run it successfully. Workarounds for some things done by the install script can be found elsewhere in this FAQ. The install script must be run on each client machine to create the fifo pipes for that node. If nodes in the network will be sharing an iraf directory tree, the iraf root must appear to be the same on all nodes. This can be done with a symbolic link and is necessary so the definition of the iraf root in the shared hlib$cl.csh file is valid for all nodes. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.3 I'm not able to write in /usr - can I still install IRAF? The only thing done by the Unix IRAF install script in /usr is the creation of a symbolic link /usr/include/iraf.h. This file contains definitions necessary to rebuild IRAF (which you will not be doing) and defines the IRAF root and HOST directories used in iraf networking. The CL must know the IRAF root or it cannot start. However, this information is now part of the $hlib/cl.csh script, so /usr/include/iraf.h is no longer searched when starting the CL. /usr/include/iraf.h is searched, however, when the IRAF root must be known without starting the CL, as in any node! reference invoking IRAF networking. For this reason, the /usr/include/iraf.h symbolic link is a required part of the IRAF installation. It is common, although not necessary, to choose /usr/local/bin as the "local bin directory" when installing IRAF. This is where the install script makes links for commands such as 'cl' and 'mkiraf'. Any directory (outside of the iraf tree!) can serve this purpose as long as it is in each user's search path. It is also possible to make these commands available as aliases, by putting the following in each user's .login file: setenv iraf /path/iraf/ # note trailing '/' !! source $iraf/unix/hlib/irafuser.csh alias cl $hlib/cl.csh Even if you cannot write to the system directories, it is still imperative that the install script be run (as user 'iraf' at least) so that the files in the IRAF system are properly edited with the required pathnames. If this is not done the system may not run at all, or images will be inaccessible. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.4 Can I have more than one version of IRAF installed at a time? Yes, but it's not recommended. Usually the only time this is needed is when locally written software fails to run after an IRAF upgrade (e.g. large scripts using obsoleted tasks or parameters). In this case it is better in the long term to upgrade the software. Where there is no alternative to having both systems around it is possible to have separate installations of the system, but only one can be 'installed' in the normal way for doing program development. What's typically done is that a host level script such as #! /bin/csh # IRAFO -- Run the "old" (previous) version of IRAF. setenv iraf /ursa/iraf/irafo/ setenv host $iraf/unix/ setenv hlib $iraf/unix/hlib/ setenv hbin $iraf/unix/bin/ # Set value of IRAFARCH and determine platform architecture. if (`uname -r | cut -c1` == 5) then setenv IRAFARCH ssun else setenv IRAFARCH sparc endif # Run the desired CL. setenv arch .$IRAFARCH exec $iraf/bin.$IRAFARCH/cl.e is put in the local bin directory (which should be common to all users). The path definitions for $iraf should be changed to point to the iraf root dir- ectory for the old system (or whichever one is not the default). Users would start up IRAF using this script (call it 'irafo' or something) instead of using the 'cl' command. In this way it is possible to have two versions of IRAF available at the same time, but problems can arise if you log into one version using a login.cl or parameter files generated by the other version of iraf. It is easiest to create separate login directories for each version to isolate any version specific files. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.5 Can we make our local software look like an IRAF package? Section 8 of the "Introductory User's Guide to IRAF Scripts" (avail- able as "script.ps.Z" from the iraf/docs directory of the iraf.noao.edu ftp archive) deals with creating a personal package of tasks, including help pages. Similarly, Chapter 7 of the "Introductory User's Guide to IRAF SPP Programming" (available as 'sppguide.ps.Z' in the iraf archive iraf/docs directory), also covers the creation of an IRAF package. Lastly, Chapter 4 of the "SPP Reference Manual" written by the STSDAS group (available via ftp as stsci.edu:software/stsdas/doc/programmer/spp in the file 'SPPManual.ps') discusses how to implement a package of SPP tasks. Note that any external package available from our archive can be used as a template for creating a new package. Indeed, the SPPTOOLS external package has tasks which create and rename packages. Contact iraf@noao.edu if you still have questions about how to create a package. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.6 What does "ERROR: Cannot open device (node!imtool,,512,512)" mean? This message indicates a problem with the communications between the IRAF DISPLAY task and the image display server, e.g., SAOimage or Imtool. There are several known causes: 1. First verify that an XImtool or SAOimage process is running. You must have a display window open before attempting to send output to it. The window can be iconified, but it must be running. 2. If you are running SAOimage, make sure the message "Open to accept IRAF input" appears in the text window from which you started SAOimage. If not, restart SAOimage so it uses the IRAF fifo pipes. For the current version of SAOimage, v1.07, or greater, this is the default. It can be explicitly specified by adding the command line argument +imtool. Note that the -imtool flag turns OFF IRAF communication for v1.06/1.07 of SAOimage. If you're running v1.02 of SAOimage, the -imtool command line argument is required for communication with IRAF. 3. If that's not it, you may have an installation problem. One function of the install script is to make entries for the fifo pipes in the /dev directory: lrwxrwxrwx 1 root 10 Oct 6 1989 /dev/imt1 -> /dev/imt1o prwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 Oct 27 1988 /dev/imt1i prwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 Oct 27 1988 /dev/imt1o This may have failed for some reason when you ran install. Make sure you ran install as root after defining the IRAF environment variables. This problem will generally only affect SAOimage displays since IRAF will attempt to use unix sockets to connect to XImtool. 4. Another possibility is that the install script was not run on this particular node. Install must be run on (or for) each node in the network you intend to use with IRAF. For those nodes that have a local /usr partition, run the install script on the machine itself. For those nodes that don't have a local /usr partition, run install on the server for the diskless node, then run install on the diskless node itself. More information about installing IRAF on a network is found elsewhere in this FAQ listing. If none of these explains your problem contact site support for assistance. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.7 Where's my image? I display an image to SAOimage but get no image dis- played and no error, only the cl prompt. If there's no error, DISPLAY has successfully sent the image to an SAOimage process, but apparently not the one you intended. The image could have been sent to another user's SAOimage window (see information about multiple SAOimage processes per CPU elsewhere in this FAQ) or to a "zombie" process. If you interrupt the DISPLAY task with ^C and certainly in other ways, you can end up with an SAOimage process running without a connected window. If you try to display and you get no output and no error, this may be the cause. On Unix systems, you can use "ps -aux" to find the process and then kill it. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.8 Why am I told "task `cl' has no param file" when I try to start the CL? The error message almost always means there is an error in the iraf root pathname and the param file simply can't be found. But since there's a small chance the parameter file for the CL has been deleted or had read removed, get a long listing of the file permissions: tucana% ls -l $iraf/pkg/cl/cl.par -rw-r--r-- 1 tody 1811 May 29 1992 /usr/iraf//pkg/cl/cl.par If that checks out, you probably have an incorrect definition of the IRAF root directory in one of two places. The iraf root is defined in the hlib$cl.csh script which gets edited by the install script. The iraf root can also be defined in the user's environment, which takes precedence over the cl.csh definition. If only the iraf account shows the error, it may be this definition that is wrong. Make sure the login directory for the iraf account is $iraf/local, that is, the local subdirectory of the iraf root directory. Otherwise, the .login file won't be read as intended at login time. If the error is seen for users other than iraf it may be that something went wrong when install was run that resulted in an incorrect definition of iraf being placed in hlib$cl.csh. Sometimes people have an "old" definition of iraf in their .login or .cshrc file which can cause the error. Also check that the value of IRAF in /usr/include/iraf.h (which is a symbolic link to hlib$libc/iraf.h) is correct. To solve the error, you need to determine the source of the incorrect value for the iraf root directory. Make sure any definition of iraf in .login or .cshrc includes a trailing slash. A second but less likely cause is that the user's environment has defined a 'host' environment variable, typically as the machine name. IRAF assumes that 'host', if defined, is the path to the iraf$unix (or iraf$vms) directory. Removing or resetting this definition will fix the problem. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.9 What does "ERROR: Cannot open connected subprocess (pkg$x_pkg.e) mean? In general, the message indicates the named executable can't be found or executed for some reason. It could be a problem with permissions (no read or execute permission) or, more likely, the executable can't be found. The named executable (x_pkg.e) is first looked for in the package bin directory, e.g., bin$ or noaobin$. [The last placed searched is the package root directory as reported in the error message.] You can cd to the package bin directory and look around: cl> cd noaobin cl> path tucana!/usr/iraf/noao/bin.sparc/ cl> dir long+ If all non-script tasks in the NOAO package can't be executed, an installation error may have occurred. Check that the noao bin executables were placed in the directory pointed to by the noao$bin.`mach' symbolic link. It may be that they weren't installed at all or that they were placed in the wrong directory. Often, when tasks in an external package can't be executed, it is be- cause mkpkg failed and the executables weren't created. Check the spool file for errors. Another possibility with external packages is that the "-p pkg" flag was omitted on the mkpkg command line, in which case the executables end up in the pkg root directory with names like "pkgbinx_pkg.e". In this case, you can simply move them to the the appropriate bin directory, the architecture correct subdirectory of the package root directory. A trivial reason for this error with external packages is that the package root is incorrectly defined (maybe a missing trailing slash (UNIX) or unescaped $ (VMS)). -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.10 What do I do about "Warning libxxx.so older than expected" or "ld.so: libXXX.so: can't open file" messages? This usually indicates a missing or insufficient definition for the LD_LIBRARY_PATH host environment variable. For example, on a Sun system this may be set to simply '/usr/openwin/lib', but if the application in question was compiled under the local X11R5 system the missing shared object may be in /usr/lib/X11. In rare cases the missing object is in the compiler directory. To find out where the missing file is and reset the LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable appropriately, try the following: % echo $LD_LIBRARY_PATH # see what the current setting is /usr/lib/X11 % ldd `which saoimage` # check dependencies -lX11.4 => /usr/openwin/lib/libX11.so.4.3 -lc.1 => /usr/lib/libc.so.1.7.3 -ldl.1 => /usr/lib/libdl.so.1.0 % setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH /usr/lib/X11:/usr/openwin/lib This last command reset the variable so both /usr/lib/X11 and /usr/openwin/lib are searched for the needed file, the command should run normally after that, the directories /lib, /usr/lib and /usr/local/lib are searched by default. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.11 Why does VMS/IRAF report "cannot open tmp$uidxxx" when accessing a tape? The error "cannot open file (tmp$uidxxxxx)" typically indicates a problem with the definition of the tmp directory. Either the directory doesn't exist or you don't have write permission in it. In VMS/IRAF, tmp$ is defined as tempdisk:[iraftmp], where tempdisk is defined in hlib$irafuser.com as part of the IRAF installation. It is necessary to create a directory [.iraftmp] as a subdirectory of the tempdisk area. Some sites choose to have private tmp areas rather than a single area for all IRAF users. This is described in the VMS/IRAF IG; often the private tmp directory is a subdirectory of the user's login directory. Another less likely explanation is that you may have tmp defined relative to the current directory, so when you change directories, tmp can't be found. Tmp should be an absolute pathname. How is tmp defined in your login.cl file? The first step is to see how tmp$ is defined on your system and whether or not you can edit a junk file in the directory: cl> show tmp tempdisk:[iraftmp] cl> show tempdisk usr$0: cl> edit tmp$junk Contact iraf@noao.edu if the problems continue. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.12 Why does my script tell me "dictionary full"? `Dictionary full' means the CL's dictionary (what it uses to catalog tasks, packages, parameters, etc.) is full. It can occur legitimately if you are loading really long scripts with lots of loaded packages, local variables, etc. It can also occur illegitimately, e.g. if a script were repeatedly loading the same things in a loop and not unloading them. The first thing to check is that it is not the latter; if you have to, send us your script. If it turns out that it is not a fault in the script design, then the size of the dictionary can be increased. To increase the size of the diction- ary, you would need to edit an include file in the CL package directory and rebuild the CL. To do this: cl> edit pkg$cl/config.h ...change DICTSIZE from its current value to something larger (say, 50% larger) % cd $iraf/pkg/cl % mkpkg update -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.13 What does "Warning: Out of space in image header" mean? This means that the 'min_lenuserarea' iraf environment variable is too small for the header size. This value is set as a system default in the hlib$zzsetenv.def but can be reset by the user in their login.cl file by uncommenting the definition (i.e. removing the '#' sign) and increasing the size. Certain packages which deal with large headers will set this to an appropriate value when the package is loaded. See IRAF Newsletter #10, October 1990 (available from iraf/docs on iraf.noao.edu), for a related discussion of "Problems with Long Image Headers". -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.14 Why does PHOT warn "Graphics overlay not available for display device."? For all platforms, graphics overlay is not currently available on the image display in the digital photometry tasks. These tasks can read from, but not write to, the image display. The warning message you report is normal behavior for this task. The PHOT and POLYMARK manual pages give examples of working interactively from a contour plot, by setting the task.display parameter to stdgraph and the CL environment variable stdimcur to stdgraph. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.15 Why does my task report "ERROR: parameter `foo' not found"? This most often happens after an IRAF upgrade when the parameters for a particular task may have changed, but the parameter file in the user's uparm directory contain the set for the previous version. It is usually cured with an "unlearn " command, or by initializing the uparm directory with a new MKIRAF (which is recommended anyway after an IRAF upgrade). In cases where the problem continues, it means the last IRAF update wasn't done properly (e.g. the patch files were not applied before installing the binaries). Contact site support if you are unsure of the installation. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.16 What does "ERROR: MWCS: dimension mismatch (mw_translate)" mean? This message means there is some error in the image header dealing with the description of the world coordinate system (WCS). In particular the WCSDIM keyword is incorrect. The value of this keyword should either match the dimensionality of the image if there is no WAXMAP01 keyword or half of the number of elements in that keyword if present (that is if there are 6 numbers then WCSDIM should be 3). How does this happen? The most common way in V2.10-V2.10.1 is that the images produced by the APEXTRACT package when the "extras" parameter is set, which produces 3D images, has a bug that sets WCSDIM=2. This can be easily fixed by: cl> hedit wcsdim 3 cl> hedit cd3_3 1. add+ cl> hedit ltm3_3 1. add+ The last two additions are to avoid a "matrix inversion error" because if the WCS dimensionality is 3 then there must be nonzero elements for the step per pixel. The NPROTO.LINPOL task also has a similar error which may be fixed similarly. Other possibilities are improper editing of the image header by a user. In all cases, if this is a problem send a header listing of a representative image to iraf@noao.edu for NOAO tasks or to the appropriate developer for other packages so the bug can be fixed and to get advice on working around the problem. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.17 My pixel files were moved to another disk and now the i_pixfile pathname in the image headers is wrong. How can IRAF find the pixels? The pixels of an IRAF image are stored separately from the image header. The pathname to the pixel file is contained in a header parameter referenced as "pixfile" by the HSELECT and HEDIT tasks. Users occasionally need to modify this pixel pathname, most commonly when the disk containing the pixels has been renamed or if the pixel files have been moved en masse for system administration reasons to a new location. The following method enables you to modify a large number of image headers to contain new pixel pathnames. The technique is to first create a temporary file of image names and their current pixel pathnames using the task HSELECT. You globally edit this temporary file to contain the new pixel pathnames and then use the modified file as input to the HEDIT task. cl> hselect *.imh $I,pixfile yes > filin .... [do a global edit to filin and edit in the new pixel pathname] cl> list="filin" cl> { while(fscan(list,s1,s2) != EOF) hedit(s1,"pixfile",s2,verify-) } -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.18 How do I turn off the system id banner in output hardcopy plots? In any task that uses the GTOOLS interface (like SPLOT but not IMPLOT), you can turn off the sysid banner with a cursor command. In interactive cursor mode, try the command :/help for a full help page. You'll see: :/sysid [yes|no] Include the standard IRAF user/date banner? :/title string Title The sysid banner includes information from the CL variable "version": cl> show version NOAO/IRAF V2.11EXPORT So you can modify the sysid banner by resetting "version" to be the null string or anything you want: cl> reset version = "" You can also reset the CL variable "userid" to personalize the banner. This will affect IMPLOT as well as SPLOT plot banners. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 9.19 Why does IRAF kick me out when I type ^Z to exit EPARAM? The ^Z sequence has probably been mapped to the suspend character on your machine. [You bring a suspended process back into the foreground with the UNIX 'fg' command.] The ^Z is being intercepted by the terminal driver and suspending the CL before the EPARAM task ever sees it. Mapping of control characters is typically done with the stty command from a .login file. Whatever keytroke you use to EXIT_UPDATE in eparam, it must be noted in the .ed file in dev$, where is the name of the editor you are using (e.g., dev$vi.ed). You can have your own copy of this file in your iraf home directory ("cl> show home"). The CL looks first in your home directory before searching dev$ for the ed file. You can also have multiple choices for the mapping in the .ed file, such as already exist for the MOVE_UP and related keystrokes. Section 10. NETWORK INSTALLATIONS 10.1 What's different about installing Unix IRAF on a network instead of a standalone machine? In most respects the installation is the same, provided a single installation can be fed to client machines in the local network by using an NFS (auto)mounted disk. The installation proceeds normally on the server, however the install script must also be run on each of the client nodes (to create the /dev fifo pipes and local bin directory links). Since nodes in the network will be sharing an iraf directory tree, the iraf root must appear to be the same on all nodes. This can be done with a symbolic link and is necessary so the definition of the iraf root in the shared hlib$cl.csh file is valid for all nodes. Once the system is installed the dev$hosts file must be edited with the name of all machines in the local iraf network. Verify that the path name to the irafks.e kernel server is correct for each machine. The NETSTATUS task can later be used to see which machines are in the network. With this done any resource (tape, disk, or image display) can be accessed using the 'node!' syntax. Note that images are created with a pixel pathname embedded in the header that includes the node name on which it was created. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 10.2 If IRAF is NFS mounted to all the client nodes, why do I need to run the install script on each node? The IRAF install script creates several links in the system dir- ectories, in /dev for the fifo pipes needed for SAOimage image display, and /usr for the /usr/include/iraf.h file. Links are also made for commands like 'cl' in a "local bin directory", usually /usr/local/bin. If IRAF is not run on the client nodes, iraf networking will fail because of a missing although IRAF itself may continue to work because of the NFS mounted disks. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 10.3 How do I access a remote tape drive from IRAF? A remote tape drive is accessed just as any other resource in iraf using the 'node!' syntax, for example cl> alloce ursa!mta to allocate a tape known as 'mta' on the node 'ursa'. In all commands that reference the drive the device name must have the node! syntax. This requires that IRAF networking has been configured between the two machines, by making appropriate modifications to the dev$hosts file. The node!device syntax differentiates the device from a device known by the same name on the local machine. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 10.4 Where can I find information on the structure and fields for the tapecap file? The individual tapecap fields are defined entirely in the program header comments for the IRAF tape driver, $iraf/unix/os/zfiomt.c. This information however does not explain fully how to set these values. A more detailed description of the tapecap file can be found in the platform Site Manager's Guide for each platform. An explanation of the various fields was given in the last issue of the Newsletter and is available as http://iraf.noao.edu/irafnews/apr98/irafnews.1f.html If you still have questions about tapecaps or need an example entry from which to begin, contact site support. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 10.5 Can I use a VMS tape drive from a UNIX IRAF installation? This requires that IRAF be installed successfully on both the Unix and VMS hosts, and that the tape drive be configured correctly for local access. Once that is done the VMS system is added to the Unix system's dev$hosts file wo that the rexec-callback protocol be used to make the conn- ection. For example, if the unix host is 'tucana' and the VMS host is known as 'robur', then tucana's dev$hosts file would contain an entry of the form robur : -rcb robur!irafks This says that from tucana the rexec-callback protocol (the '-rcb') is to be used to connect to robur. On the VMS system the IRAF kernel server will access the tape and pass the output through the network back to the local host. On systems where the only reason to access a VMS system is for tape access users should contact the iraf group for a "kernel server kit" which can be used in place of a full-fledged IRAF installation. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 10.6 How do I suppress the password prompt when accessing pixels? With V2.10 IRAF and after, the default protocol used for IRAF networking between between two Unix hosts is rsh. In this situation, with a properly configured host network, the password prompts should not appear. If it does, then the 'rexec' protocol, not rsh, is being used to make the connection. This can happen for several reasons. The /etc/hosts.equiv file names the "trusted hosts" in the network, meaning that the 'rsh' command at the host level can be used between machines. System administrators sometimes worry about this being a security hole and won't set up the hosts.equiv file or else it's incomplete on all systems. One workaround for this is to put the name of the hosts in a personal '.rhosts' file in the user's login directory to accomplish the same thing. The rsh protocol can also fail if the user doesn't have an account or has a different password on the remote machine. To use the rexec protocol explicitly users can add the passwd in their .irafhosts file for a particular node along with a parameter override. For example pisces : tapeuser tapetape protocol=rex * : In this case any network connection to node 'pisces' will be done as a user named 'tapeuser' whose password is 'tapetape' using the rexec protocol. All other connections to other nodes (which match the '*') will be done in the normal way, if the rsh fails then once again the passwd prompt will appear. This is most often done to connect to a remote resource on a machine on which they don't have an account or the login/passwd is different. Note that the '*' entry must be the last line in the file, any nodes which follow it will be ignored. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 10.7 How do I disable IRAF networking for disk image access, but keep it to access the tape drives? When you install IRAF networking (by adding your host names to dev$hosts), IRAF networking is used for all remote access of peripherals (tapes) and disks, as well as remote imtool use. Wherever the CL encounters the node! syntax and the nodename appears in dev$hosts, IRAF networking will be used. IRAF networking must be used for remote tape access and remote use of IMTOOL. You can disable it for disk access (and so use NFS to access the disks) by some creative editing in the dev$hosts file. IRAF networking is used when the local and remote node appear on separate lines in dev$hosts; in this way they are defined as distinct nodes. If two node names appear on a single line, they are aliased and interpreted as being the same node. You can alias those nodes which you will not need IRAF networking. You may want to create a new node name to be used exclusively for tape access. Say you have three nodes (ast1, ast2, ast3) and ast1 has the tape drive. Edit dev$hosts to include the following, with appropriate pathname substitutions; note that only the KS pathname for the tape node will actually be used: ast1 ast2 ast3 : ast1!/iraf/iraf/bin.ssun/irafks.e astmt : ast1!/iraf/iraf/bin.ssun/irafks.e IRAF networking has been disabled for nodes ast[123] and will not be used to access pixel files beginning with those nodenames. For tape access, the user has to reference the new node name, as in: cl> rfits astmt!mta Section 11. HARDWARE 11.1 On which platforms does IRAF run? IRAF currently runs on the following platforms: Platform Descrition AIX4 IBM/RS6000 AIX 4.x DUNX Digital Unix 4.0 (OSF, Compaq Tru64) HPUX HP-UX 10.20 IRIX SGI IRIX 6.x PCIX FreeBSD 3.3 PCIX Slackware Linux 4.0 PCIX RedHat Linux 5.x PCIX RedHat Linux 6.x PCIX SuSE Linux 6.x PCIX Solaris 7 for Intel SSOL SunOS 4.x SSOL Solaris 5.5, 5.6, 5.7 VMS7 VAX/VMS 7.1 Plans for supporting LinuxPPC on a Macintosh are also in the works. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 11.2 What's the best machine to buy if I plan to run IRAF? Because of the different budgets people have available, the deals they can get from vendors for multiple purchases, local system management support, the number of expected users, and the extent of non-IRAF use the machine might get, it is impossible for the IRAF Project to recommend a specific platform to users considering a purchase. If there is some doubt about whether IRAF is supported for a particular machine users should contact the IRAF group with any questions, we would also be happy to answer any questions about specific devices or configurations. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 11.3 What are the recommended hardware requirements of a workstation? Hardware requirements depend largely on the number of expected users, the types of reductions to be done, and what additional software will be used. A typical single-user workstation requires a minimum of 32Mb RAM (2-3 times that in swap space), enough disk for the OS, X windows, the IRAF system and sufficient room for data. Some type of tape drive is also des- ireable. Servers or multiple-user systems will typically have more RAM and disk, graphics accelerator cards are not required but may, in some cases, speed up window performance. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 11.4 What type of mag tape devices are supported and not supported? The dev$tapecap file can be used to configure most tape devices for use with IRAF. Current entries include Exabyte, DAT, 1/2" reel, QIC cart- ridge tapes, Mac DC2000 cartridge tape, and Mac FDHD floppy disks. There are currently no entries for other types of floppy drives or optical devices, but it's possible entries could be written for these. The distributed tapecap file is missing entries for DAT devices using the native Sun ST driver, contact the IRAF group for information on how this may be installed. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 11.5 Should I buy a 24-bit frame buffer for my Sun? IRAF doesn't currently take advantage of 24-bit frame buffers, though several experiments with 24-bit display have been done. While IRAF may not use such a card, graphics accelerators on some such cards may speed up window performance. Users considering such a card should make purchase decisions based on factors other than expected IRAF use. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 11.6 Can I use my Windows 9x PC to display IRAF images? This is possible provided you have an X server running on the PC (several are available for PCs). If displaying from a remote machine, typical usage would be to run the display server (SAOimage or XImtool) on the IRAF host system, setting the '-display' command line flag or 'DISPLAY' environment variable to display the window on the PC. Since the server is running on the same node as IRAF there is no need to set the IRAF 'node' environment variable (or it should be set to the name of the IRAF host). Care should be taken to reset the number of colors for the display to use only 8-bits (i.e. 256 colors) in order for the display servers to work properly. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 11.7 Do you have benchmarks for IRAF on various machines? A complete set of benchmarks for IRAF has not been done since 1987, the results of those are obsolete now anyway. While some machines are gen- erally faster than others, benchmark results often depend on the task being tested, disk access times, available memory and a variety of other factors. Proper benchmarks should fairly use both I/O-bound and CPU-bound tasks in testing, as well as multiple image formats and data types, in order to draw any objective conclusions about relative performance. Head-to-head comparisons between machines may not be of much interest to certain users if their usage is much different that that being tested. The 1987 benchmark results are available in the iraf archive as iraf.noao.edu:iraf/docs/bench.ps.Z. Section 12. PROGRAMMING 12.1 What programming languages can I use for IRAF software development? The native IRAF language is SPP (Subset Pre-Processor), a portable pre-processor language which resembles C. Tasks written in SPP will run on all supported IRAF platforms without change. Programming in SPP makes available the full facilities of the IRAF VOS (Virtual Operating System). Users may also program with the IMFORT interface, a library of subroutines for reading and writing OIF format images. IMFORT is written for use with Fortran, but a C language binding is available for Unix. In addition, the CL provides a scripting language which can be used to write high level tasks. Large applications are best written as compiled code for optimization, but scripts allow the user to build tasks upon existing software quickly. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 12.2 Can I install IRAF or layered software without having IRAF permissions? An iraf user account is recommended for installing IRAF. IRAF is distributed with a login directory for "iraf" that includes environment definitions that make the installation go more smoothly. In addition, the iraf account is useful for maintaining the system locally, perhaps by more than one person, and for IRAF site support, should we ever need to log in and sort out a problem. It is not absolutely required that IRAF be installed by "iraf", but it is strongly recommended. Installing layered software for private use can be done by any user who simply declares the package in their loginuser.cl file as e.g. reset nmisc = /iraf/extern/nmisc/ task nmisc.pkg = nmisc$nmisc.cl Installing layered software to be used by all IRAF users should be done from the iraf account. It will be necessary to modify hlib$extern.pkg, owned by iraf, and in most cases reconfigure the package architecture, e.g., cl> mkpkg -p nmisc sparc before building the binaries. Software development requires environment def- initions already set up for the default iraf user account. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 12.3 Can I call IMFORT procedures from C? Yes, a Unix C binding for IMFORT procedures is available from the IRAF network archive in the /iraf/misc directory as 'cbind.c'. To use this binding, compile an object module cbind.o and then link this with your C program. Further information can be found in /iraf/misc/cbind.readme. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 12.4 Where are the IRAF libraries used by FC or XC for IMFORT tasks? The FC command is a foreign task defined in your login.cl that calls the IRAF XC compiler with appropriate flags and libraries, i.e. task $fc = ("$" // envget("iraf") // "unix/hlib/fc.csh" // " -h $* -limfort -lsys -lvops -los") The four required IRAF libraries are -limfort -lsys -lvops -los The first three of these libraries are in the bin$ directory, e.g., iraf$bin.ssun. The fourth library, libos.a, is in the hbin$ directory, e.g., iraf$unix/bin.ssun. All four libraries are required to build an IMFORT task successfully, as is the '-h' flag to XC. Platform dependent libraries are linked automatically by the XC task. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 12.5 Can I build IRAF software without using FC or XC? Most IRAF packages are written in the native SPP language, using 'mkpkg' files to build the packages. While it's possible to reconstruct the sequence of f77, cc, gcc, or ld commands that XC uses, it is much easier to just use XC. XC knows the IRAF root as well as the IRAF and host libraries that are required to build an executable. It is a bit easier to build an individual IMFORT task without using FC/XC, provided you know the path to the iraf root directory. For example, the XC command to build the example IMFORT task imheader is: % xc -h -o imhead.e imhead.f -limfort -lsys -lvops -los The FC command is a task alias defined in the login.cl that simply uses the above syntax to define the needed libraries. Since host level compilers don't know where to find the libraries, you need to explicitly name the path. For example, a cc command equivalent to the xc command above is: % cc -o imhead.e imhead.o /usr/iraf/bin.sparc/libimfort.a \ /usr/iraf/bin.sparc/libsys.a /usr/iraf/bin.sparc/libvops.a \ /usr/iraf/unix/bin.sparc/libos.a These library paths may also be used in Makefiles to compile tasks, but the user is responsible for including the platform-dependent libraries. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 12.6 What Fortran compilers are supported? For all supported systems the native Fortran compiler for that system is used by default. For SunOS systems, the V1.3 and V1.4 compilers are currently the only supported versions, support for the V3 and V4 SUNPro compilers is only available under Solaris/IRAF. F2C/GCC is used on PC-IRAF systems only (w/ the F2C executable and library distributed as part of IRAF so no separate installation is required, it is assumed GCC is available on the machine). G77 is not currently supported on any platform, although it may work depending on the platform and software being compiled, contact site support if you have questions. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 12.7 Can I call IRAF tasks from Unix C-shell scripts? There are three ways to run an IRAF task outside of the CL, either invoke the executable directly with the correct command line arguments, run the CL with the input redirected to execute the task, or use the host CL scripting capability. In the first case you must know in which executable the task resides, core IRAF system tasks (e.g. things in the PLOT and IMAGES packages) have their executables in the main $iraf/bin. directory, NOAO package tasks have the executables in the $iraf/noao/bin. directory. There is usually a separate executable for each package and you can probably figure out which one goes for each package otherwise just look at the package cl file to find out, for example the PLOT package defines the task in the $iraf/pkg/plot/plot.cl file, if you look in their you'll see that is defines the tasks as (part of the file reads) task contour, surface, hafton, velvect = "plot$x_ncar.e" which means that the CONTOUR, SURFACE, etc tasks are in the "x_ncar.e" exec- utable. Once you find the correct binary, you need to create a file with the task parameters: usually it's easiest to set the parameters and then dump the parameter file with 'dpar', e.g. cl> dpar listpix > listpix.par Then to run the task you would do something like: % $iraf/bin.sparc/x_images.e listpix @listpix.par In this case you must be careful that ALL of the task parameters are defined, this is done by 'dpar' but empty string parameters will be prompted for. In the second case you create a command file and input it to the cl, for example % cl < cl.input >& some_logfile where cl.input contains CL commands such as wfits.scale=no # set a parameter wfits image*.imh mta # call a task logout # logout of the CL You must be careful about making sure you are in the right directory and that parameters are given explicitly if they're like to change, but with this approach you can call any iraf task. In both cases you need to be careful about redirecting any input or output that is required, both text and graphics. You can redirect graphics output either by setting the "device" parameter to e.g. 'stdvdm' or using the '>G' syntax as in cl> surface dev$pix >G surf.plot cl> surface dev$pix dev="stdplot" # to print it out cl> surface dev$pix dev="stdvdm" # save metacode to uparm dir The host CL scripting capability is covered in another part of this FAQ. Which of these approaches works best for depends depends on the tasks you need and the complexity of the script. Note that by using OS escapes in IRAF scripts it may be simpler to write an IRAF script to do the same thing. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 12.8 I was wondering if you could provide a bit more info on how to use the new ability of the IRAF cl (#!cl) to act as a shell for Unix scripts. Starting with V2.11.2 IRAF CL scripts have had the capability of being executed as host commands. This is still a primitive feature of the OpenIRAF project in development but is a functional part of the system. This page will evolve with more information as problems and tips are discovered and as this facility becomes a realistic part of programming systems using IRAF. See our web page at /iraf/web/new_stuff/cl_host.html for details and examples. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 12.9 Will IRAF work with the Korn shell or tcsh? In general the choice of login shell for users shouldn't matter. All host-level scripts in IRAF are written using the C-shell, these should run as long as a C-shell is available somewhere in the system. Similarly, forked processes are run in the Bourne shell (such as the dispose commands in the dev$graphcap file) which must also be available. Section 13. APPLICATIONS 13.1 What is the meaning of the coefficients returned with the CURFIT task? These coefficients are described in the design document for the curfit math package, which is called by the curfit task. The document can be printed with the following command: cl> help math$curfit/doc/curfit.spc fi+ | lprint Sections 3.2 (algorithms) and 6 (references) are most useful. Note that curfit evaluates the spline explicitly, NOT with look-up tables; the algorithms section is out of date and the comments about look-up tables should be ignored. The references used when writing the cubic spline code are: (1) Carl de Boor, "A Practical Guide to Splines", 1978, Springer-Verlag New York Inc. (2) P.M. Prenter, "Splines and Variational Methods", 1975, John Wiley and Sons Inc. The curfit package uses the least squares cubic spline described in detail in Chapter 14 of reference (1). The actual spline functions are the cardinal-B splines appropriate for fitting data with uniformly spaced knots. The cubic splines can be represented in terms of derivatives as you mentioned or as polynomial coefficients. The IRAF curfit package uses the latter representation. The transformation from one to the other is described in the above references. Finally you might find it useful to look at a couple of the routines in the curfit package itself. The following will give you the clearest idea of how the the spline function is evaluated once the coefficients are fit. math$curfit/cvevalr.x math$curfit/cv_b1evalr.x Given the fit the first routine evaluates the fitted spline at an arbitrary value of x by calling the second routine which does the actual mathematics. The second routine first normalizes the data, then figures out which spline piece it belongs to, then computes the non-zero spline functions which will be multiplied by the appropriate coefficients. If the purpose of your query is to figure out how to take the coefficients and use them in your program as opposed to a simple how does it work question, you will have to understand how the normalization is done and the routine to look at is the following math$curfit/cvinitr.x -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 13.2 What does "ERROR: MWCS: dimension mismatch (mw_translate)" mean? This message means there is some error in the image header dealing with the description of the world coordinate system (WCS). In particular the WCSDIM keyword is incorrect. The value of this keyword should either match the dimensionality of the image if there is no WAXMAP01 keyword or half of the number of elements in that keyword if present (that is if there are 6 numbers then WCSDIM should be 3). How does this happen? The most common way is that the images produced by the APEXTRACT package when the "extras" parameter is set, which produces 3D images, has a bug that sets WCSDIM=2. This can be easily fixed by: cl> hedit wcsdim 3 cl> hedit cd3_3 1. add+ cl> hedit ltm3_3 1. add+ The last two additions are to avoid a "matrix inversion error" because if the WCS dimensionality is 3 then there must be nonzero elements for the step per pixel. The NPROTO.LINPOL task also has a similar error which may be fixed similarly. Other possibilities are improper editing of the image header by a user. In all cases, if this is a problem send a header listing of a representative image to iraf@noao.edu for NOAO tasks or to the appropriate developer for other packages so the bug can be fixed and to get advice on working around the problem. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 13.3 My pixel files were moved to another disk and now the i_pixfile pathname in the image headers is wrong. How can IRAF find the pixels? The pixels of an IRAF image are stored separately from the image header. The pathname to the pixel file is contained in a header parameter referenced as "pixfile" by the HSELECT and HEDIT tasks. Users occasionally need to modify this pixel pathname, most commonly when the disk containing the pixels has been renamed or if the pixel files have been moved en masse for system administration reasons to a new location. The following method enables you to modify a large number of image headers to contain new pixel pathnames. The technique is to first create a temporary file of image names and their current pixel pathnames using the task HSELECT. You globally edit this temporary file to contain the new pixel pathnames and then use the modified file as input to the HEDIT task. cl> hselect *.imh $I,pixfile yes > filin .... [do a global edit to filin and edit in the new pixel pathname] cl> list="filin" cl> { while(fscan(list,s1,s2) != EOF) hedit(s1,"pixfile",s2,verify-) } -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 13.4 How do I turn off the system id banner in output hardcopy plots? In any task that uses the GTOOLS interface (like SPLOT but not IMPLOT), you can turn off the sysid banner with a cursor command. In interactive cursor mode, try the command :/help for a full help page. You'll see: :/sysid [yes|no] Include the standard IRAF user/date banner? :/title string Title The sysid banner includes information from the CL variable "version": cl> show version NOAO/IRAF V2.10DEVELOP So you can modify the sysid banner by resetting "version" to be the null string or anything you want: cl> reset version = "" You can also reset the CL variable "userid" to personalize the banner. This will affect IMPLOT as well as SPLOT plot banners. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 13.5 How can I find out what tasks are in IRAF? The simplest way to "browse" the system for a task that does something in particular is to use the REFERENCES task with a keyword. For example, cl> refer photometry will return a list of all tasks with the keyword 'photometry' in the descript- ion. To actually get a list of *every* task in the system you could use the command "help [a-z]*.", the resulting output will have the description of each task in every package. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 13.6 Is the surface photometry package available yet? The surface photometry package for IRAF is not yet complete, in fact work on it has not been started. In the meantime we are suggesting that sites look at the ISOPHOTE package in STSDAS. STSDAS is available via anonymous ftp to stsci.edu in the software/stsdas directory (note that you will also need the TABLES package to build this), users can contact the STSDAS support people directly by writing help@stsci.edu. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 13.7 I have a spectrum in a one dimensional image for which I had no trouble running IDENTIFY, REIDENTIFY, and REFSPECTRA but when I run DISPCOR I get the error "ERROR: MWCS: attribute not found (spec1)" DISPCOR currently only works on pure one dimensional or multispec images. In some cases what appears to be a one dimensional image is not. The two cases are when an image is really 2D but with an axis length of 1 for the second axis and when a 1D section of a 2D image has been extracted. In the first case the image header will show a size of [###,1] where the first number is the length and the second number is 1. In this case apply imcopy or imslice cl> imcopy [*,1] and then do the steps for the second case. In the case of a 1D section of a 2D image you will find the keywords WCSDIM=2 and WAXMAP01 = '1 0 0 0'. To turn such an image into a pure 1D spectrum simply delete these keywords: cl> hedit wcsdim,waxmap01 del+ update+ At this point DISPCOR should work. This situtation applies to V2.10. In V2.11 DISPCOR has been enhance to work on such data. In particular, 1D image sections of 2D images and 2D images with spectra along the lines provided there are 10 or fewer lines (with 1 line being common). -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 13.8 Is there an ASTROMETRY package I can use? The ASTROMETRY package is under development now and parts of it are available in the new IMMATCH package under IMAGES (which was restructured for V2.11). While this is not the final form of the ASTROMETRY package, the new tasks can do a lot of the necessary steps. In addition, there may be several alternatives you can use: The GASP package in STSDAS (available by anonftp to stsci.edu in the software/stsdas dir) has several tasks: eqxy - Get (x,y) from a table of (ra,dec) given the pltsol coeff. makewcs - Write the WCS on the image header based on the plate sol. pltsol - Calculate plate solution from table of positions. xyeq - Get (ra,dec) from a table of (x,y) given the pltsol coeff. STSDAS is a large external package so I'd see if it's available there somewhere before installing it, if you have problems or questions you can contact their support people by writing help@stsci.edu. We also use a non-iraf task locally called ASTRO that does plate solutions, but I think GASP is a better package. If you're interested in ASTRO contact Dave Bell (dbell@noao.edu) for more information. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 13.9 Whom should I contact if I have problems with the xray package? Please send email to rsdc@cfa.harvard.edu. It will help us if you include copies of both banners - that which appears when you enter IRAF (showing the version number) and that which appears when you invoke the xray package. Also useful (depending on your problem) are your platform and operating system, a copy of the parameter file for the task that is giving you problems, and a copy of the error message. Section 14. XGterm/XImtool ISSUES 14.1 How do I change colors (cursor, background, text, etc) in my XGterm window? The crosshair cursor color is set by the "crosshairCursorColor" X resource, you would reset it by defining e.g. *Gterm.crosshairCursorColor: cyan in your .Xdefaults file. The background and text colors are set using a combination of X resources to set the predefined colors and an iraf environ- ment variable to say which colors are used for text, background, axis labels, etc. The color resources are named 'color0' through 'color9', colors zero and one are the background and foreground colors respectively and defaults to white on black. You set these resources using e.g. *Gterm*color0: darkslategrey *Gterm*color1: linen *Gterm*color2: red *Gterm*color3: green *Gterm*color4: blue *Gterm*color5: cyan *Gterm*color6: yellow *Gterm*color7: purple *Gterm*color8: magenta *Gterm*color9: slategray The environment variable I mentioned is called 'glbcolor' and is defined in V2.10.3 (or after) to be pt=3,fr=9,al=3,tl=6,ax=5,tk=5 where pt - plot title fr - viewport frame (the background around the plotting area) al - axis labels tl - tick label ax - axis tk - tick gr - grid between tick marks The numbers are the color indices above (i.e. "tk=5" say that the tick marks are done in color5 (cyan)). To make use of xgterm color graphics you should have the following set in your login.cl or loginuser.cl file: stty xgterm Color graphics is enabled only if you are using V2.10.3BETA or a later version of IRAF, but using X resources you can still change the background and foreground colors when working with an earlier version of IRAF. Resources for the text window are the same as for xterm. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 14.2 How do I change the crosshair cursor color so it appears on my mono- chrome monitor? The crosshair cursor color is set by the "crosshairCursorColor" X resource, you would reset it by defining e.g. *Gterm.crosshairCursorColor: white in your .Xdefaults file. Alternatively you can start XGterm by setting the reource on the command line using e.g. % xgterm -xrm "*crosshairCursorColor:white" -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 14.3 How do I start XImtool with private fifo pipes? Ximtool running with V2.10.3 will accept a connection on a domain socket so using private fifo pipes (e.g. for X-terminal users) is no longer the preferred method. For older IRAF versions provate pipes provide a backward compatability and can still be used in the same way. The pipes used are defined by the 'input_fifo' and 'output_fifo' reources. When starting XImtool you specify the fifo's to use with something like % ximtool -fifo /path/imt1 The 'i' and 'o' parts of the pipe name are appended automatically. You can tell IRAF where the private fifos are by defining the IMTDEV unix environment variable as setenv IMTDEV fifo:/path/imt1i:/path/imt1o before starting the CL. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-