ED. NOTE: Filename AAREADME.DOC is stored as AAREADME.TXT on the CD-ROM. Note: all information files are now in the form AAREADME.DOC. The old file names are being retained for a transition period but now contain only pointers to the AAREADME.DOC files. This main directory contains copies of version 0.3b of the NASA/OSSA Office of Standards and Technology (NOST) Draft Standard for Implementation of the Flexible Image Transport System (FITS). This version is the result of the Technical Panel review of the comments received on version 0.2 of the standard during the period June-September 1991. The most significant changes are elimination of the restriction on alphabetic characters to upper case in table field names (value of TTYPEn keywords) and replacement of the informational appendix describing the AIPS A3DTABLE construct with text describing the BINTABLE binary tables proposal. Given the nature of the comments received, the Panel concluded that only minor revisions, if any, to version 0.3 would be necessary before it could be submitted to the NOST Accreditation Panel for approval as a NASA Standard and to the IAU FITS Working Group for endorsement as the Standard for FITS. No general community comment period is envisioned, although comments or questions can be sent to the address at the end of this file. Version 0.3b is being reviewed by the Technical Panel to ensure that that it properly incorporates the Panel decisions. When that review is complete, a revised version will be announced and released, if necessary; any differences from version 0.3b are likely to be small. The new version is being made generally available now to allow those individuals or groups who may have been using earlier drafts as a reference on FITS, in spite of their provisional status, to replace their copies of the earlier draft with the improved one. As before, the form of the Standard is not final and should not be considered to supersede the existing FITS documentation. This directory also contains a list of the extension type names that have been registered with the IAU FITS Working Group. The file containing the list includes a brief summary of the extension type corresponding to each name, the developer, and the status of the extension. Also described is the procedure for registration of extension type names. This file will be updated from time to time as new extension type names are proposed and extensions corresponding to reserved names progress through the process required for IAU FITS Working Group approval as a standard extension. As a result, it should be used rather than the appendix in the Standard covering reserved extension type names, because the XTENSION.LIS file will be more up to date. The BASICS_INFO.TXT file is an adaption of material revised and periodically posted to the Usenet sci.astro.fits newsgroup, normally the third week of the month. It contains a brief description of FITS, a list of FITS references, and information on where other material on FITS is available, including an answer to the frequently asked question of how to convert FITS to one of the pure image formats. The text of one proposal for a new extension type, the IMAGE proposal of Ponz, Thompson, and Munoz appears in the directory. Readers should be aware that this extension type is at present only in the *proposal* stage and is subject to revision as a result of community review, until a final form has been approved by the IAU FITS Working Group. In the meantime, anyone using the specific type name IMAGE must make sure that their files remain in conformance with the current rules. Keep up to date on developments through the USEnet newsgroup sci.astro.fits or the fitsbits mailing list (to subscribe, send mail to fitsbits-request@nrao.edu). There are two subdirectories The SOFTWARE subdirectory contains software and information about publicly available software. It is described further in the AAREADME.DOC file it contains. The ERRTEST subdirectory contains a number of sample FITS primary HDUs with a variety of deliberately inserted header errors, for use in testing FITS readers. Further information is in the AAREADME.DOC file of the ERRTEST subdirectory. The FITS directory contains the following ten files: AAREADME.DOC;1 Information on the contents of this directory BASICS_INFO.TXT;1 General FITS information and references FITS_STANDARD.PS;1 PostScript version of the processed LaTeX file FITS_STANDARD.TEX;1 LaTeX source file for FITS Draft Standard FITS_STANDARD.TXT;1 Flat ASCII text version of the processed LaTeX file FITS_STANDARD.IND;1 LaTeX index file. Needed to produce LaTeX index. IMAGE.TEX;1 LaTeX version of the IMAGE extension proposal NOST.STY;1 LaTeX style file. Needed to run LaTeX on source file README.;1 Pointer to AAREADME.DOC XTENSION.LIS;1 Extension type names registered with IAU Procedures for access and retrieval are as follows: NB: simulated sessions =============================================================================== == default DECnet copy command example == =============================================================================== ndadsa $ dir nssdca::anon_dir:[000000] Directory NSSDCA::ANON_DIR:[000000] ACTIVE.DIR;1 ADC.DIR;1 ASTRO-1.DIR;1 CDF.DIR;1 FITS.DIR;1 FORMS.DIR;1 HST.DIR;1 IUE.DIR;1 NCDS.DIR;1 OPERATIONS.DIR;1 PUBLIC.DIR;1 TOOLKIT.BCK;32767 USING_EAST_GATEWAY.DAT;32766 Total of 13 files. ndadsa $ dir nssdca::anon_dir:[fits] Directory NSSDCA::ANON_DIR:[FITS] FITS_STANDARD.IND;1 FITS_STANDARD.PS;1 FITS_STANDARD.TEX;1 FITS_STANDARD.TXT;1 NOST.STY;1 README.;1 Total of 5 files. ndadsa $ copy/log nssdca::anon_dir:[fits]aareadme.doc * %COPY-S-COPIED, NSSDCA::ANON_DIR:[FITS]AAREADME.DOC;1 copied to DISKA":[MEV]AAREADME.DOC;2 (16 blocks) ndadsa $ copy/log nssdca::anon_dir:[fits]nost.sty * %COPY-S-COPIED, NSSDCA::ANON_DIR:[FITS]NOST.STY;1 copied to DISKA":[MEV]NOST.STY;1 (17 blocks) ndadsa $ copy/log nssdca::anon_dir:[fits]fits_standard.* * %COPY-S-COPIED, NSSDCA::ANON_DIR:[FITS]FITS_STANDARD.IND;1 copied to DISKA":[MEV]FITS_STANDARD.IND;2 (11 blocks) %COPY-S-COPIED, NSSDCA::ANON_DIR:[FITS]FITS_STANDARD.IND;1 copied to DISKA":[MEV]FITS_STANDARD.PS;1 (710 blocks) %COPY-S-COPIED, NSSDCA::ANON_DIR:[FITS]FITS_STANDARD.TEX;1 copied to DISKA":[MEV]FITS_STANDARD.TEX;1 (234 blocks) %COPY-S-COPIED, NSSDCA::ANON_DIR:[FITS]FITS_STANDARD.TXT;1 copied to DISKA":[MEV]FITS_STANDARD.TXT;1 (230 blocks) %COPY-S-NEWFILES, 4 files created =============================================================================== == Anonymous FTP command example via Internet == =============================================================================== ndadsa $ ftp nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov NDADSA.GSFC.NASA.GOV MultiNet FTP user process 2.2(100) Connection opened (Assuming 8-bit connections) user anonymous ls cd fits ls dir get readme.;1 readme. get nost.sty nost.sty get fits_standard.tex fits_standard.tex mget fits_standard.* quit