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IRAF Update (1Jun92)
(from CCS, NOAO Newsletter No. 30, 1 June 1992)

The IRAF version 2.10 distribution began in late April with the release
of V2.10.0 Sun/IRAF. Initial releases for the IBM RS/6000 and
Macintosh-A/UX, and upgrades for DEC Ultrix, VAX/VMS, SGI, HP, and so
on will follow throughout the coming months. As was the case with V2.9,
a series of patch upgrades (V2.10.1, V2.10.2, etc.) will likely follow
throughout the next year containing bug fixes and minor enhancements
for the core IRAF system. Additional software is available in the many
layered packages available for IRAF, from NOAO and elsewhere.

The IRAF software is available via anonymous ftp from node
iraf.noao.edu (140.252.1.1). Mailed distributions are also available
upon request. Information about requesting a tape distribution can be
obtained by contacting the IRAF group (iraf@noao.edu).

Detailed release notes are included in the distribution, and additional
information describing the new software available in V2.10 is provided
in the IRAF Newsletters. Please refer to these documents for a complete
description of all the new software available in V2.10 IRAF. A brief
summary of what is new follows.

The magtape system has been completely rewritten, generalizing the
device model and making it table driven via a "tapecap" file. New
device entries can be added by the user at a remote site by merely
modifying the tapecap file, without need to modify the actual device
driver in IRAF. Generic device entries are provided for most devices,
e.g., DAT, Exabyte, 1/2 inch reel tape, 1/4 inch cartridge tape, floppy
disk, and so on.

A new IRAF network driver has been added which eliminates the
repetitive password prompts encountered with the old system. In most
cases network connections will now be transparent, and the user need
not know what network node a resource resides on.

World coordinate system support has been added to the most commonly
used core system tasks, allowing for example, RA and DEC or spectral
units to appear on the axes in plots produced by general IRAF utility
tasks. The old catch-all NOAO PROTO package has been replaced by the
new core system packages PROTO and OBSOLETE, and by the corresponding
new NOAO packages NPROTO and NOBSOLETE. All core system tasks present
in the old NOAO PROTO package have been moved into the core system
where they belong, making the core system more self contained. The main
core system packages are now loaded automatically at login time.

Some modest changes were made to IMTOOL allowing user defined lookup
tables and a wider selection of color lookup tables. Much work was done
on the QPOE, MWCS, and other interfaces as part of the new image
structures project. Many other system enhancements and bug fixes were
made as noted in the detailed release notes.

Two new X11 system utilities have been written; an IRAF help browser
for X and a magtape status utility used to monitor tape jobs. These
will be released, along with the new XGTERM graphics terminal emulator,
in a small package of X window system support utilities due out later
this year as an add-on for V2.10.

A completely new DIGIPHOT package was installed in the NOAO layered
package.  This new package includes a revised version of the aperture
photometry package APPHOT, the new IRAF DAOPHOT package, a new
photometry calibration package PHOTCAL, and a new photometry tools
package PTOOLS. DAOPHOT/IRAF was a collaborative effort with Dennis
Crabtree and Peter Stetson (Dominion Astrophys. Obs.), and PHOTCAL was
a collaborative effort with Pedro Gigoux (CTIO). The new RV package,
used to compute radial velocities using Fourier cross correlation
techniques, has been installed. New versions of the APEXTRACT and
ONEDSPEC packages are available which use the new world coordinate
system facilities and which eliminate the need to linearize spectra.
Much reorganization and work has been done on the IMRED (instrument
reduction) packages, including the addition of automated reduction
scripts.  A new version of IMCOMBINE is available providing support for
combining misregistered images, and enhancements to the pixel combine
and rejection algorithms.

Version 1.5 of the IRAF Control Environment (ICE) software, used for
CCD data acquisition, was installed on Kitt Peak in early May. This
version adds a number of new features, including the ability to change
the exposure time during an exposure, improved concurrency control, and
support for scanned observations. The first shared-risk runs with
visitors have been conducted with the CCD photometry program CCDPHOT.
Preparation of ICE 2.0, due out this summer, is in progress.  ICE 2.0
will include the new IRAF telescope system interfaces (including a new
IRAF socket driver used for general client-server communications) and
will include the first production release of CCDPHOT, integrating
CCDPHOT and CCDACQ together in the same IRAF/ICE layered package. The
ICE software is the result of a collaborative effort by NOAO and
Steward Observatory.

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

Doug Tody, Jeannette Barnes

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