Applications Packages

When you run ICL and type:

    ICL> HELP PACKAGES

you will be shown two lists of packages. The first contains Standard packages which are available at all Starlink sites. The other contains Options which are made available at a site only on request.

This Chapter gives a brief overview of each package, while Chapter  describes the specific commands available within each package. Further information can be obtained from their associated Starlink User Note (SUN) which is referenced at the top of each section. Starlink software as a whole is described in SUN/1.

An important part of the rationalization of Starlink software which the coming of ADAM made possible concerns data structures. The Hierarchical Data System (HDS) (see Chapter ) is very flexible, and is capable of creating an infinite variety of data structures. Without recommending some standard structure there would be a danger of programmers writing applications which could not read each other's data. If the standard is also implemented in a small number of routines, the restrictions imposed by the standard also make programming easier. The main unifying theme of Starlink applications is the standard data format defined by Starlink; this is the Extensible $N$-dimensional Data Format -- NDF -- described in Section . This is centred on an $n$-dimensional data array that can store most astronomical data such as spectra, images and spectral-line data cubes. The NDF may also contain such information as title, axis labels and units, and error and quality arrays. There is also a place to store ancillary data associated with the data array. These could be information about the original observing set-up, such as airmass during the observation or temperature of the detector; there may be calibration data or results produced during processing, for example spectral line fits. Groups of related parameters not defined by the NDF format itself are held in extensions.

A key component of Starlink software is KAPPA (Kernel Application Package). This does not process non-standard extensions, but neither does it lose them -- it copies them to any NDFs which it creates. Other application packages may be able to process some, but not all, extensions. It is hoped that such packages will use KAPPA applications as templates, in procedures, or directly as appropriate.

Each section below contains a sketch of how to use the application being described. In these:

    $ command

means ``issue the command from DCL'', while:

    ICL> command

means issue it from ICL. Remember that before using any of these packages, the commands:

    $ @SSC:LOGIN
    $ ADAMSTART

should have been executed. Likewise, to run ICL you should type:

    $ ICL

to get the ICL prompt.

The packages described in this chapter are listed below ordered by function. This should help you find a package which is appropriate for a particular purpose. The packages are then described in alphabetical order on separate pages.

Image Analysis & Photometry

KAPPA

-- Kernel applications

DAOPHOT

-- Stellar photometry

PHOTOM

-- Aperture photometry

PISA

-- Object finding and analysis

Spectroscopy

FIGARO

-- General spectral reduction

SPECDRE

-- Spectroscopy data reduction

Specific Wavelengths

ASTERIX

-- X-ray data analysis

Specific Instruments

CCDPACK

-- CCD data reduction

IRCAM

-- Infrared camera data reduction

Polarimetry

TSP

-- Time series and polarimetry analysis

Database Management

SCAR

-- Catalogue data base system

Utilities

CONVERT

-- Data format conversion

SST

-- Simple software tools