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IRAF Update (1Dec94)
(from CCS, NOAO Newsletter No. 40, 1 December 1994)

IRAF Version 2.10.3BETA was released in late August for both SunOS4
and Solaris 2.3. IRAF Version 2.10.3BETA is the first native IRAF release
for the Sun Solaris operating system. It was decided to also release
V2.10.3BETA for SunOS platforms so that sites running both SunOS and
Solaris could have compatible IRAF systems. V2.10.3BETA also includes
much of the new software slated for the upcoming V2.11 general release
available to users now for early testing. The initial release of IRAF for
Solaris 2.3 supports the V2.0.1 SunSoft Fortran and ANSI C compilers and
includes IRAF shared library support.

Although few problems have been encountered with V2.10.3BETA, a
bug-fix patch is planned and will probably be released in November. The
exact timing may depend upon when Solaris 2.4 is publically released, as we
would like to wait until Solaris 2.4 is out to release the patch so that we can
support both Solaris 2.4 and the new SunSoft V3.0.1 compilers. The bug-fix
patch also fixes a number of minor bugs throughout the IRAF software.

A new version of the X11 support package X11IRAF, which includes
xgterm and ximtool, was made available for SunOS and Solaris in late
August (this includes binaries for both platforms). Anyone running earlier
versions of these programs will want to update to this latest version. Look in
the pub/v2103-beta directory on iraf.noao.edu. Support for platforms other
than Sun (our development system) will follow when IRAF V2.11 is
released; however, anyone can get the sources now and build these on their
favorite platform. This software is still under development and yet another
update can be expected later this fall.

With the Solaris port out of the way, the next port scheduled is to the 64-bit
DEC Alpha running OSF/1 (a preliminary port to this platform is already
available from STScI). Work is also beginning on the PC-IRAF port, in the
sense that we are investigating what hardware to purchase to support this
platform. The initial PC-IRAF port will almost certainly be to Linux;
however, we are planning to look at BSD386 and Solaris as well.

The major effort for the remainder of this year will be preparation of the
Version 2.11 IRAF release. Our target date for freezing and testing the
SOS4 version is the end of the year. Following the initial release V2.11 will
be made available for all supported platforms as time permits throughout
1995. V2.11 will look a lot like V2.10.3BETA (hence the BETA
designation) but will include some new applications and additional system
enhancements and bug-fixes, including the FITS image kernel and some
early graphical user interface (GUI) applications.

The March 1994 issue of the NOAO Newsletter discussed our plans for the
IRAF Network Information Service, including our existing FTP archive, the
IRAF e-mail support services, various WWW services, and the then-new
network news hierarchy ADASS (named after the conference of the same
name). We have since expanded these services to add listserver support for
the ADASS newsgroups so that people can get the ADASS and IRAF news
via e-mail, and a new "irafinfo" facility which allows IRAF information and
files to be retrieved via e-mail.

All of the ADASS newsgroups are now available through the listserver. For
example, to subscribe to the "iraf.announce" and "iraf.buglog" newsgroups:

        % mail listproc@iraf.noao.edu
        subscribe adass-iraf-announce "Joe Smith, Boston University"
        subscribe adass-iraf-buglog "Joe Smith, Boston University"

Articles will be sent to the e-mail address of the subscriber as they are
posted to one of the listed newsgroups. One can subscribe or unsubscribe at
any time, as often as desired.

For a list of IRAF related files available through the irafinfo service send
mail to irafinfo as follows:

        % mail irafinfo@iraf.noao.edu index iraf

For more detailed information on the ADASS newsgroups and how to
access them, try the following:

        % mail irafinfo@iraf.noao.edu get iraf newsgroups

Information on IRAF is also available via the World Wide Web via the
URL http://iraf.noao.edu. This facility is still under development and will be
expanded as time allows.

The IRAF FTP archives have been reorganized. The "iraf.old" directory is
now obsolete and has been replaced by the following directories:

/iraf/extern    IRAF external packages from NOAO
/iraf/misc      Miscellaneous software distributions
/contrib        IRAF and non-IRAF contributed software

The former contents of iraf.old have been frozen and moved to
iraf.old/archive. Users should look in iraf/extern or iraf/misc for the latest
copies of external packages or miscellaneous software. Refer to the
README file in iraf.old for further information on this reorganization.

The compressed text file "ls-lR.Z" in the root directory of the FTP archive
contains a detailed list of all files in the archive. Download and scan this
file if you are not sure where to find a particular file in the archive.

The IRAF exercises that were discussed in a previous issue of the
Newsletter (No. 37, March 1994) have been updated for IRAF Version
2.10.3BETA. The new version of the exercises assumes that the user is
using the latest versions of xgterm and ximtool. The older version of the
exercises is still available for V2.10.2. The exercises have been moved to
the iraf/misc directory on iraf.noao.edu.

Members of the IRAF group attended the Astronomical Data Analysis
Software and Systems Conference in Baltimore in late September (see the
accompanying article about the ADASS Conference in this section of the
Newsletter). An IRAF demo was presented to the participants of the
Conference during the three-day meeting, highlighting the latest GUI
applications and other new IRAF software. Several papers about some of the
latest IRAF applications and systems development were presented by
members of the group. An IRAF developer's workshop was held at STScI
following the ADASS conference to allow IRAF developers from many
projects to discuss current issues and future directions pertaining to software
development in the IRAF environment.

Members of the IRAF group will be available to demo the latest IRAF
software at the AAS meeting in Tucson in January. The AAS IRAF demo
not only provides the IRAF user community an opportunity to see the latest
IRAF software, it also provides users a chance to meet members of the
IRAF group and talk to them personally about any problems one may have
experienced with IRAF, or present suggestions for improvements or new
software. So if you are at the AAS please stop by and say hello.

For further information about the IRAF project, please contact Jeannette
Barnes, Central Computer Services.

Doug Tody, Jeannette Barnes

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