3 Import and export

3.1 FITS

The standard format for importing/exporting of astronomical data is the FITS format. DRP may read and write individual scans from and to FITS formatted files (commands getfits and putfits ) in a format compatible with SEST and IRAM. (Sorry, binary tables are not yet supported.)

Again by default, DRP expects FITS files to have the extension .fits. If the file has been written by DRP it will be called (unless specified otherwise by the user):


drpnnnn.fits

where nnnn again stands for the scan number as above.

It is possible to write the results contained in the logfile file (produced by commands such as area , gauss and moment ) to a FITS formatted disk file in such a way that AIPS, MIDAS etc. can read it as a 2-dimensional map (command fitsmap ). Alternatively, a group of scans may be merged into a 3-dimensional FITS data cube (command fitscube , again to be read by AIPS .

3.2 SEST

Originally, DRP was developed at SEST under the RTE-A operating system, and the UNIX version of it can still read (see command getsest ), but not write, scans taken at SEST in their original, binary format.

3.3 ANTS

DRP can read and write, but not create, ANTS 'D'-files. Because this format is probably nowhere used but on the CONVEX at Onsala the commands ( getants and getants putants ) are not covered by this documentation.

3.4 DRAWSPEC

DRP can read and write (see commands getdrsp and putdrsp ) scans in a format compatible with DRAWSPEC (a NRAO PC-based spectral line reduction package written by Harvey Liszt).

3.5 MATLAB

Finally, the user may choose to export his/her data in a format compatible with the popular, commercial MATLAB software. Only the most important header information is carried along in this process, but the things you can do, especcially with respect to graphical presentation, is virtually unlimited.

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