flst2im HEADAS help file

NAME

flst2im -- Create an output FITS image file from input list file containing a list of the coordinates and respective values.

USAGE

        flst2im infile outfile

DESCRIPTION

This task will read input data from either an ASCII file or a FITS file containing columns of X, Y, and (optionally) VALUE and write as a FITS image file. If no VALUE is given (on a per-line basis for an ASCII file or universally for a FITS file), a value of 1 will be adopted. Data for missing X-,Y- pixels are assigned zero. Multiply-listed pixels have their VALUEs summed.

An ASCII input file consists of any number of rows each containing 2 or 3 values separated by commas and/or whitespace. Blank rows or rows starting with '#' are ignored.

If VALUE consists of all integers, the output image will default to bitpix=32. If at least one VALUE is real (or the FITS column type of VALUE is real), the output image will have bitpix=-32, unless overridden with the datatype parameter.

PARAMETERS

infile [filename]: Name of the input ASCII/FITS file with extension. Extension is assumed to be 1, unless it is mentioned.
outfile [filename]: The name of the FITS image file to which the image is written. It is written in the primary extension.
(xcol = X) [string]: Name for the column in the input FITS file containing the X coordinate of the pixel.
(ycol = Y) [string]: Name for the column in the input FITS file containing the Y coordinate of the pixel.
(value = VALUE) [string]: Name of the column in the input FITS file containing the value of the pixel. If blank or set to '-', each listed X,Y pixel will be assigned a value of 1.
xrange [string]: Range of x values to be included in the image. e.g 10.,20. If input is INDEF, then xrange is calculated from minimum and maximum x-values. The ranges can be separated by either TAB,comma or a blank space.
yrange [string]: Range of y values to be included in the image. e.g 10.,20. If input is INDEF, then yrange is calculated from minimum and maximum y-values. The ranges can be separated by either TAB,comma or a blank space.
rows [string]: The range of rows to be input. The default of '-' means all rows are to be included. The first ten rows could be specified as 1-10 or just '-10'. To include the first ten rows and all rows from 900 through the last (inclusive), use 1-10,900-. Also '1,3,7,23 will' include only those four rows.
(nxbin = INDEF) [integer]: Number of bins in x-direction. If INDEF, xrange will be interpretted as an inclusive range with a unit binsize, such that nxbin = Xmax-Xmin+1. Otherwise, xrange will be interpretted as a bounding box with Xmax values excluded.
(nybin = INDEF) [integer]: Number of bins in y-direction. If INDEF, yrange will be interpretted as an inclusive range with a unit binsize, such that nybin = Ymax-Ymin+1. Otherwise, yrange will be interpretted as a bounding box with Ymax values excluded.
(datatype = ' ') [string]: The datatype (or bits/pixel) of the output image. If blank or "-", the bitpix of the output image will be 32 or -32, depending on the datatype of the VALUE. Acceptable inputs are (b,8), (i,short,16), (j,integer,int,long,32), (r,f,e,real,float,-32) and (d,double,-64).
(clobber = false) [integer]: Flag specifying whether or not a pre-existing file with the same name as that requested as the output file from this task will be overwritten.

EXAMPLES

1. Construct an image file "image.fits" from an input file "list"

         ft> flst2im list image.fits

2. as above, but with dimension as 512X512

         ft> flst2im list image.fits nxbin=512 nybin=512

3. if name of Xcolumn is XCOLUMN, then

         ft> flst2im list image.fits xcol=XCOLUMN

NOTES:

FLST2IM uses dynamic memory to read in the entire list and construct an image list at one time. If the requested list is larger than the available system memory, an error will be reported

BUGS

Unknown

LOG OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES

v1.0.0 (1997 July): Initial public release

PRIMARY AUTHOR

     Banashree M Seifert
     HEASARC
     NASA/GFSC
     http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ftoolshelp