Funtools Environment Variables

FITS_EXTNAME

The FITS_EXTNAME environment variable specifies the default FITS extension name when FunOpen() is called on a file lacking a primary image. Thus,

  setenv FITS_EXTNAME "NEWEV"

will allow you to call FunOpen() on files without specifying NEWEV in the Funtools bracket specification. If no FITS_EXTNAME variable is defined and the extension name also is not passed in the bracket specification, then the default will be to look for standard X-ray event table extension names "EVENTS" or "STDEVT" (we are, after all, and X-ray astronomy group at heart!).

FITS_EXTNUM

The FITS_EXTNUM environment variable specifies the default FITS extension number when FunOpen() is called on a file lacking a primary image. Thus,

  setenv FITS_EXTNUM 7

will allow you to call FunOpen() on files to open the seventh extension without specifying the number in the Funtools bracket specification.

FITS_BINCOLS and EVENTS_BINCOLS

These environment variable specifies the default binning key for FITS binary tables and raw event files, respectively. They can be over-ridden using the bincols=[naxis1,naxis2] keyword in a Funtools bracket specification. The value of each environment variable is a pair of comma-delimited columns, enclosed in parentheses, to use for binning. For example, if you want to bin on detx and dety by default, then use:

  setenv FITS_BINCOLS "(detx,dety)"

in preference to adding a bincols specification to each filename:

  foo.fits[bincols=(detx,dety)]

FITS_BITPIX and EVENTS_BITPIX

These environment variable specifies the default bitpix value for binning FITS binary tables and raw event files, respectively. They can be over-ridden using the bitpix=[value] keyword in a Funtools bracket specification. The value of each environment variable is one of the standard FITS bitpix values (8,16,32,-32,-64). For example, if you want binning routines to create a floating array, then use:

  setenv FITS_BITPIX -32

in preference to adding a bitpix specification to each filename:

  foo.fits[bitpix=-32]

ARRAY

The ARRAY environment variable specifies the default definition of an array file for Funtools. It is used if there is no array specification passed in the ARRAY() directive in a Non-FITS Array specification. The value of the environment variable is a valid array specification such as:

  setenv ARRAY "s100.150"
  foo.arr[ARRAY()]

This can be defined in preference to adding the specification to each filename:

  foo.arr[ARRAY(s100.150)]

EVENTS

The EVENTS environment variable specifies the default definition of an raw event file for Funtools. It is used if there is no EVENTS specification passed in the EVENTS() directive in a Non-FITS EVENTS specification. The value of the environment variable is a valid EVENTS specification such as:

  setenv EVENTS "x:J:1024,y:J:1024,pi:I,pha:I,time:D,dx:E:1024,dx:E:1024"
  foo.ev[EVENTS()]

This can be defined in preference to adding the specification to each filename:

  foo.ev[EVENTS(x:J:1024,y:J:1024,pi:I,pha:I,time:D,dx:E:1024,dx:E:1024)]

Last updated: March 30, 2001