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CIAO 4.0 Release Notes
Return to: Version History
![[New]](../imgs/new.gif) (8 Sep 2008) CALDB has been patched
to version 3.5.0. The How CALDB 3.5.0 Affects
Your Analysis section has information on the release.
(16 Apr 2008) CIAO has been patched
to CIAO 4.0.2 on Mac OS X Intel only. This patch enables CIAO
to run on Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) Intel; it is optional for 10.4
(Tiger) Intel. The patch should not be applied to
Linux, Solaris, or Mac PowerPC installations of CIAO.
CIAO 4.0.2 Release
Notes
CIAO 4.0 is a full installation of the CIAO software. It
contains all the enhancements and bug fixes since CIAO 3.4,
including those which were made available in the 4.0 Beta
releases.
The most notable change to the CIAO tools in version 4.0 is that
the ACIS dead area correction is turned on by default; refer to
the How
CIAO 4.0 and CALDB 3.4.2 Affect Your Analysis section
for details. There is a new version of tgextract
- named tgextract2 - which provides
similar functionality, but allows large and asymmetric regions
for better determination of
background counts. Significant work has been done on the tool
wavdetect, which has two new parameters. The
sso_freeze tool has been enhanced so that
it can create object-centered aspect solutions which allows an
object-centered exposure map to be generated. A number of bug
fixes to the Data Model library and several CIAO tools are also
included.
The Data Model library now supports an ASCII kernel. This kernel
allows users to generate ASCII format files for use within Data
Model enabled tools (e.g. dmlist, dmcopy), and apply the suite
of Data Model capabilities to those files via its extended
filename syntax. The ASCII kernel is considered beta for this
release.
The CIAO 4.0 release includes a new, more powerful version of
ChIPS, the CIAO plotting package. It can be used during
data analysis - e.g. to plot a lightcurve - and to create
publication-quality figures. Details and documentation on the
new system is available from the ChIPS
website.
This release also features an experimental (beta) version of the
new Sherpa, the CIAO modeling and fitting package. Details and
documentation on the new system are available from the Sherpa website.
CIAO 4.0 is fully GPL compliant. OTS (off-the-shelf) software
have been updated to current versions. A set of "smoke test" scripts
are included to aid users in verifying installation of the
release.
Python
-
CIAO 4.0 uses the Python software packaged in the CIAO OTS
directory for the Sherpa and ChIPS applications. In the window
where CIAO is sourced any other Python installation is
overwritten: this may interfere with other Python applications
on the user's system. At present, the workaround is to run CIAO
in a separate window from other Python applications. The CXC is
working to resolve this issue.
IPython
-
CIAO 4.0 includes IPython 0.8 in the CIAO OTS directory which is
used by Sherpa and ChIPS to provide command-line user
interfaces. These programs create an IPython profile in the
directory $HOME/.ipython-ciao.
If IPython users want any personal customizations to be
available when running CIAO, they will have to copy them
from $HOME/.ipython to $HOME/.ipython-ciao.
This section of the release notes describes how the CALDB 3.5.0
release (08 September 2008) will affect your analysis. The changes
are arranged by instrument and grating configuration.
(CALDB 3.5.0 is the first public release since CALDB 3.4.5.)
ACIS -120 C Imaging and Grating Data
-
Time-dependent ACIS Gain (TGAIN) Files for -120 C Data
There are new time-dependent ACIS Gain (TGAIN) files for 01
May 2008 - 31 July 2008 (Epoch 34):
acisD2008-02-01t_gainN0005.fits
acisD2008-02-01t_gainN0006.fits
acisD2008-05-01t_gainN0002.fits
acisD2008-05-01t_gain_biN0002.fits
The files are applicable to -120 C focal
plane temperature only. The
acisD2008-05-01t_gain[_bi]N0002.fits files are the new
default proccesing files in the CALDB.
These plots illustrate the degree of change the new files will
produce in comparison with the old files.
The differences in these figures are attributed to whether the
T_GAINs are derived from CTI-corrected data or non-CTI data.
Users working with ACIS data taken during this period may wish
to reprocess to improve the TGAIN
calibration in their data. The DATE-OBS
header keyword records the observation start date.
Note that unless you are fitting a spectra with oxygen emission
lines, the gain refinement is unlikely to have an effect on the
spectrum larger than the uncertainties in determining the gain.
ACIS -110 C Grating Data
-
Order-sorting (OSIP) Files for the Back-illuminated Chips (S1, S3)
New order-sorting files for the back-illuminated chips S1 and S3
at -110 C have been made available to correspond to the ACIS -110C
GAIN file released in CalDB 3.4.3 (March 2008):
acisD1999-09-16osipN0007.fits
acisD2000-08-11osipN0007.fits
The file acisD2000-08-11osipN0007.fits has the identical data set
in the OSIP table extension, but is effective for the
-110 C recalibration period (UTC) 2000-08-11T00:00:00 through
2000-08-12T22:00:00. Grating observations taken during this
period should use the new OSIP data as well.
Beginning a new analysis
If you are beginning a new analysis, reprocess your data with
acis_process_events to apply the newest
calibration. The reprocessing will also ensure that the same
OSIP files are applied to the data (via
tg_resolve_events) and to the response files (via
mkgarf) .
Analyses in progress
If you have an analysis in progress, use this information to
evaluate whether or not the calibration updates will
significantly impact your results.
-
Chip S1: the previous OSIP had an acceptance region artificially
broadened for the older, poorer S1 gain function. Applying the
new OSIP in conjunction with the gain released in CALDB 3.4.3
markedly improves analysis of data on chip S1.
-
Chip S3: changes in the order sorting are within the noise.
Applying the new calibration means redoing your entire analysis
from the level=1 event file, as shown in
the Create a New Level=2 Event File
thread, including creating a new PHA2 file. You
will also have to remake any spectra and response files (ARF,
RMF) used in your analysis.
Users who do not reprocess their data need to be sure to use
the same OSIP file that was applied to the data when creating
gARFs. The CIAO software will automatically pick up the most
recent applicable file, which may be different than the one
used by tg_resolve_events.
The file name is recorded in the evt1a.fits or evt2.fits file
header:
unix% dmkeypar acis_evt2.fits OSIPFILE echo+
acisD1999-09-16osipN0006.fits
This file is not the same as the new file,
acisD1999-09-16osipN0007.fits. Set this filename in
the osipfile parameter:
unix% pset mkgarf osipfile=$CALDB/data/chandra/acis/cpf/osip/acisD1999-09-16osipN0006.fits
This section of the release notes describes how the CALDB 3.4.5
release (23 June 2008) will affect your analysis. The changes are
arranged by instrument and grating configuration.
(CALDB 3.4.4 was not released to the public.)
ACIS Imaging and Grating Data
-
Time-dependent ACIS Gain (TGAIN) Files for -120 C Data
There are new time-dependent ACIS Gain (TGAIN) files for 01
February 2008 - 31 April 2008 (Epoch 33):
acisD2007-11-01t_gainN0005.fits
acisD2007-11-01t_gainN0006.fits
acisD2008-02-01t_gainN0002.fits
acisD2008-02-01t_gain_biN0002.fits
The files are applicable to -120 C focal
plane temperature only. The
acisD2008-02-01t_gain[_bi]N0002.fits files are the new
default proccesing files in the CALDB.
These plots illustrate the degree of change the new files will
produce in comparison with the old files.
Note that the plots of the I3 files are identical. The
same CTI-corrected T_GAIN data for the FI chips exist in both.
The differences in these figures are attributed to whether the
T_GAINs are derived from CTI-corrected data or non-CTI data.
Users working with ACIS data taken during this period may wish
to reprocess to improve the TGAIN
calibration in their data. The DATE-OBS
header keyword records the observation start date.
Note that unless you are fitting a spectra with oxygen emission
lines, the gain refinement is unlikely to have an effect on the
spectrum larger than the uncertainties in determining the gain.
This section of the release notes describes how the CALDB 3.4.3
release (31 March 2008) will affect your analysis. The changes are
arranged by instrument and grating configuration.
ACIS Imaging and Grating Data
-
Time-dependent ACIS Gain (TGAIN) Files for -120 C Data
There are new time-dependent ACIS Gain (TGAIN) files for 01
November 2007 - 31 January 2008 (Epoch 32):
acisD2007-08-01t_gainN0005.fits
acisD2007-08-01t_gainN0006.fits
acisD2007-11-01t_gainN0002.fits
acisD2007-11-01t_gain_biN0002.fits
The files are applicable to -120 C focal
plane temperature only. The
acisD2007-11-01t_gain[_bi]N0002.fits files are the new
default proccesing files in the CALDB.
These plots illustrate the degree of change the new files will
produce in comparison with the old files.
Note that the plots of the I3 files are identical.
The differences in these figures are attributed to whether the
T_GAINs are derived from CTI-corrected data or non-CTI data.
Users working with ACIS data taken during this period may wish
to reprocess to improve the TGAIN
calibration in their data. The DATE-OBS
header keyword records the observation start date.
Note that unless you are fitting a spectra with oxygen emission
lines, the gain refinement is unlikely to have an effect on the
spectrum larger than the uncertainties in determining the gain.
-
Time-dependent ACIS Gain (TGAIN) Files for -110 C Data
A TGAIN correction for the back-illuminated chips (S1 and S3) at
the -110 C focal plane
temperature has been derived. This file is a
flat correction based on the -120 C gains used for the two BI
chips. The corresponding gain file is also included in this
release:
acisD1999-09-16t_gainN0005.fits
acisD1999-09-16gainN0006.fits
These plots illustrate the degree of change the -110 C file (red
plot) will produce in comparison with the -120 C Epoch 1, 2, and
3 files.
Users working with ACIS data taken at -110 C on ACIS-S1 or S3
should reprocess to apply the
TGAIN calibration to the data.
Creating RMFs: if the -110 C TGAIN is applied
to the data, users must use the tool mkacisrmf when creating RMFs for S1 and S3,
otherwise the response file will be wrong. RMFs for the
front-illuminated chips should still be made with the tool mkrmf. The
mkacisrmf why topic and
thread have details on
how to run the tool.
Some tool changes and calibration files released in CIAO 4.0
and CALDB 3.4.2 affect analyses in progress, i.e. a tool or
calibration file default has been changed. This section of the
release notes describes those changes and which tasks are affected.
The changes are arranged by instrument and grating configuration.
ACIS Imaging Data
-
ACIS Dead Area Correction
The ACIS dead area correction is turned on by default in
this release. For complete details on the dead area
correction, read the ACIS Dead Area
Correction why topic.
The following CIAO response tools and scripts can apply the dead
area correction:
- mkarf
- mkinstmap
- mkgarf
- mkwarf
- specextract
- fullgarf
- psextract
- acisspec
The pbkfile and dafile parameter defaults have
been updated to reflect that the correction is applied by
default. Refer to the help file for each tool for details,
e.g. ahelp mkwarf.
Turning Off the Correction
If you are have an analysis in progress and do
not want to apply the dead area correction, it is
possible to "turn off" the correction. To do so,
set the dafile parameter to "NONE" and leave the
pbkfile parameter blank. For example:
unix% pset mkgarf pbkfile="" dafile=NONE
-
Time-dependent ACIS Gain (TGAIN) Files
There are new time-dependent ACIS Gain (TGAIN) files for 01 August
2007 - 31 October 2007 (Epoch 31):
acisD2007-05-01t_gainN0005.fits
acisD2007-05-01t_gainN0006.fits
acisD2007-08-01t_gainN0002.fits
acisD2007-08-01t_gain_biN0002.fits
The files are applicable to -120 C data only.
The acisD2007-08-01t_gain[_bi]N0002.fits files are the
new default proccesing files in the CALDB.
These plots illustrate the degree of change the new files will
produce in comparison with the old files.
As shown in both of the figures above, the T_GAIN correction
at the I3 aimpoint is currently diminishing with time.
Users working with ACIS data taken during this period may wish
to reprocess to improve the TGAIN calibration in their data.
The DATE-OBS header keyword records the observation
start date.
Note that unless you are fitting a spectra with oxygen emission
lines, the gain refinement is unlikely to have an effect on the
spectrum larger than the uncertainties in determining the gain.
ACIS Grating Data
-
ACIS Dead Area Correction
The ACIS dead area correction is turned on by default in
this release. For complete details on the dead area
correction, read the ACIS Dead Area
Correction why topic.
The following CIAO response tools and scripts can apply the dead
area correction:
- mkarf
- mkinstmap
- mkgarf
- mkwarf
- specextract
- fullgarf
- psextract
- acisspec
The pbkfile and dafile parameter defaults have
been updated to reflect that the correction is applied by
default. Refer to the help file for each tool for details,
e.g. ahelp mkwarf.
Turning Off the Correction
If you are have an analysis in progress and do
not want to apply the dead area correction, it is
possible to "turn off" the correction. To do so,
set the dafile parameter to "NONE" and leave the
pbkfile parameter blank. For example:
unix% pset mkgarf pbkfile="" dafile=NONE
-
Time-dependent ACIS Gain (TGAIN) Files
There are new time-dependent ACIS Gain (TGAIN) files for 01 August
2007 - 31 October 2007 (Epoch 31):
acisD2007-05-01t_gainN0005.fits
acisD2007-05-01t_gainN0006.fits
acisD2007-08-01t_gainN0002.fits
acisD2007-08-01t_gain_biN0002.fits
The files are applicable to -120 C data only.
The acisD2007-08-01t_gain[_bi]N0002.fits files are the
new default proccesing files in the CALDB.
These plots illustrate the degree of change the new files will
produce in comparison with the old files.
As shown in both of the figures above, the T_GAIN correction
at the I3 aimpoint is currently diminishing with time.
Users working with ACIS data taken during this period may wish
to reprocess to improve the TGAIN calibration in their data.
The DATE-OBS header keyword records the observation
start date.
Note that unless you are fitting a spectra with oxygen emission
lines, the gain refinement is unlikely to have an effect on the
spectrum larger than the uncertainties in determining the gain.
acis_build_badpix
acis_process_events
-
The algorithm used to set STATUS bit 23 for TIMED VFAINT mode events
that may be potential background events was changed to ignore pixels
that are known to be bad. Previously set VFAINT status bits are
unset before the check is done again.
There is also a warning message if check_vf_pha is set
for data that wasn't taken in VFAINT mode.
-
Bug fix:
STATUS bit 4, which is used to identify events on bad pixels, was
being set for events on bad pixels and events adjacent to bad pixels.
Now the bit is set only for events on bad pixels. The number of
events for which any bad-pixel STATUS bit is set should remain the
same because STATUS bit 5, which is used to identify events adjacent
to bad pixels, was (and still is) set properly.
-
Bug fix:
the stop time of afterglow badpixels was not being correctly
used. The afterglow badpixels are now marked as bad (bit
16) until the stop time, not the end of the observation.
-
Bug fix:
after a file is reprocessed, the values of PHA_RO are
equal to the summed pulse height of the original, unadjusted
event island (PHAS).
acis_run_hotpix
aconvolve
acrosscorr
apowerspectrum
arestore
ascii2fits
-
The ascii2fits script has been removed from CIAO. This
simple script relied on the VARMM (Variable, Math and Macro
S-Lang) library, which is not available in CIAO 4.0. In
the future, its functionality will be replaced by the Data
Model ASCII kernel.
asphist
axbary
-
The tool prompts for parameters in the same order as they appear
in the parameter file.
-
Supporting functions for barycenter operations have been updated.
-
Bug fix:
corrected a issue that appeared when the nput filename is >
49 characters and the output filename is < 49.
celldetect
csmooth
destreak
dmappend
dmarfadd
-
Bug fix: tool would fail
if the input stack file does not exist. It now prints an error
message.
-
Fixed crash that could happen when more than 12 files were input.
-
Cleaned up warnings when grating keywords are missing (not
required to create valid output).
-
The kernel parameter has been removed.
dmcontour
dmcoords
-
When running the tool in parameter mode, the "sim" and
"displace" values get added to the values obtained from
the aspect solution file. If "Set SIM/DISPLACE [x y z ax ay
az]" is used in interactive mode, however, those values are
taken as absolute, even if an aspect solution file was specified.
-
Bug fix: if you feed
dmcoords a chip coordinate which is outside the valid
range of 0.5:1024.5, it now prints a warning about "Bad chip
coordinates: Negative or zero value(s)".
dmdiff
-
Bug fix: the tool no
longer truncates the tolerance range on a header key with a real
value to an integer. This was effectively making the tolerance
more restrictive.
-
Bug fix: the error printed
when trying to compare two columns that have different datatypes
and/or different cases in the column name has been improved.
-
The limit of 300 columns per file has been removed.
-
Bug fix:
the tool would not detect differences between the vector arrays
of the input files, e.g. comparing columns
CHIP(CHIPX,CHIPY).
dmextract
-
Bug fix: a parse error
would occur when the grid syntax was used in the input file
filter, e.g. "[bin col=grid(file[filter]);weight]", and
a background file was specified. (Even though the grid syntax
was part of the input file filter, it was the parsing of the
background file that causes the failure.)
dmfilth
-
The calculation of the POISSON distribution has been updated to
be more numerically stable. Previously, the tool would fail if
pixels had more than ~100 counts/pixel and this distribution was
used.
-
The DIST, POISSON, and GLOBAL distribution arrays have all been
updated from static to dynamic allocation.
-
A normalized Gaussian distribution is substituted for the
Poisson distribution when average background is greater than
500 counts/pixel to avoid numerical problems.
dmimg2jpg
-
The log and powerlaw scaling routines were rewritten to give
better results for normalized (fluxed) images. Changes to the
powerlaw routine are subtle, but users should see marked
improvement in the log scaling routine.
-
The scalefunction options now include "asinh".
dmimgpick
dmimgthresh
dmjoin
dmmakereg
-
Bug fix: using
region="bounds(...)" and kernel=ascii
produces a region file formatted for use into ds9,
e.g. box(xmid,ymid,width,height,angle).
-
Bug fix:
a bug existed when the shapes that are being printed don't all
have the same number of points (e.g. one is a circle and one is
a polygon).
dmmerge
dmpaste
dmsort
dmstat
dmtcalc
dmtype2split
-
dmtype2split no longer assumes an output block name of
"SPECTRUM". It is necessary to specify the output
block name, e.g.
dmtype2split infile="pha2.fits[#row=4:4]" outfile="HEG_p1.pha[SPECTRUM]"
If no block name is given, the input filename is used to name it.
-
Bug fix: when
writing out vector columns, only the first component was copied
to the output file. Now both components of the vector are
written to the output as scalar columns.
-
Bug fix: the tool no
longer writes incorrect CHANTYPE and BACKSCAL header keyword
values. The values are copied from the input file.
get_src_region
-
There are a number of bug fixes for the case where all the
values in a floating-point image were between 0 and 1, such as
the "threshold" value getting cast to an integer and
Null/NaN/DSS-region checking not working correctly.
-
The tool would fail on Linux when there were no "bright" pixels
in the image.
-
The kernel parameter has been removed.
hrc_dtfstats
-
The infile parameter can take a stack of input files.
The stack is combined into a single output file. All the
records from all the DTF files in the stack (which pass the GTI
filter in the gtifiles parameter) are used to compute average
quantities for the output file.
-
The lookupTab
parameter was added to provide header merging rules.
-
Bug fix:
if the tool was run with the wrong input file, e.g. an evt2
instead of the dtf file, it would appear to run but created no
output.
hrc_process_events
lightcurve
mkacisrmf
-
Two new parameters have been added to mkacisrmf:
asolfile and obsfile.
If the aspect solution file(s) for the observation are provided
in the asolfile parameter, the average dither values
are used to derive the correct instrument coordinates for an
input WMAP in DETX,DETY coordinates.
The obsfile value serves only for CALDB lookup. The
value defaults to the wmap parameter value, so users
don't have to specify both.
-
Bug fix: if the WMAP
file is empty (i.e. all values are zero), the tool issues a
warning.
-
Bug fix: the tool will
generate the correct RMF for a non-standard channel grid,
e.g. channel="69:128:1".
mkarf
-
The ACIS dead area correction is "on" by default in CIAO 4.0.
The pbkfile and
dafile parameter
defaults have been updated to reflect this. The
pbkfile parameter is now automatic (i.e. not hidden)
and there is no default value. The default value of the
dafile parameter has been changed to "CALDB".
Users who wish to continue analysis without the dead area
correction should set both of these parameter values to
"NONE".
mkgarf
-
The obsfile parameter is
no longer redirected to the value of the asphistfile by default. The recommended input
to this parameter is now a level 2 event file or similar FITS
file.
-
The ACIS dead area correction is "on" by default in CIAO 4.0.
The pbkfile and
dafile parameter
defaults have been updated to reflect this. The
pbkfile parameter is now automatic (i.e. not hidden)
and there is no default value. The default value of the
dafile parameter has been changed to "CALDB".
Users who wish to continue analysis without the dead area
correction should set both of these parameter values to
"NONE".
mkinstmap
-
The ACIS dead area correction is "on" by default in CIAO 4.0.
The pbkfile
and dafile parameter
defaults have been updated to reflect this. The
pbkfile parameter is now automatic (i.e. not hidden)
and there is no default value. The default value of the
dafile parameter has been changed to "CALDB".
Users who wish to continue analysis without the dead area
correction should set both of these parameter values to
"NONE".
mkoif
mkwarf
-
The ACIS dead area correction is "on" by default in CIAO 4.0.
The pbkfile and
dafile parameter
defaults have been updated to reflect this. The
pbkfile parameter is now automatic (i.e. not hidden)
and there is no default value. The default value of the
dafile parameter has been changed to "CALDB".
Users who wish to continue analysis without the dead area
correction should set both of these parameter values to
"NONE".
-
Bug fix: a check for
invalid chip coordinates has been added to mkwarf. The
edge of the WMAP (in detector coordinates) could get mapped to
chip coordinates at 1024.5 which was rounded to 1025. The tool
then tried to find the FEF region to convert chipy=1025 (for which
there is none) and thus failed.
-
Added support for WMAPs in TDET coordinates in addition to DET
coordinates.
-
The combination of the TDET and single pixel changes causes
mkwarf to skip bad pixels. This is a problem if the
observation is over a bad column or node boundary, in which case
the ARF is significantly over-estimated.
psf_project_ray
specextract
-
Two new parameters have been added to specextract to allow the
ACIS dead area correction to be taken into account:
pbkfile and dafile.
The ACIS dead area correction is "on" by default in CIAO 4.0.
The pbkfile parameter has no default value,
and the dafile parameter default is "CALDB".
If a stack of input filenames is given to specextract,
there must be the same number of parameter block files
specified.
Users who wish to continue analysis without the dead area
correction should set both of these parameter values to
"NONE".
sso_freeze
tg_create_mask
-
In order to use the parameter sX_width_heg/meg/leg to
set the output width, sX_zero_rad must be set. If
sX_zero_rad is not set, a warning will be displayed to
tell the users that the radius and the width are computed by
using input_psf_tab.
tg_resolve_events
tgdetect
tgextract
tgextract2
-
New Tool!
tgextract2 is an alternative to tgextract, providing the same functionality with a
different parameter interface and slightly different output
format. It allows large and asymmetric regions for better
determination of background counts.
-
The tool will optionally compute the BACKSCALE (BG_AREA column)
from the region and events, enabling support of large regions
which extend off detector or non-uniform regions.
-
The BG_AREA and BACKSCAL are output as arrays.
Note that Sherpa 3.4 cannot use the BACKSCAL array
properly; it will read in only the first value in the array.
ISIS [http://space.mit.edu/CXC/ISIS/]
reads in the whole array correctly.
-
Tool parameters and output columns are consistent with the
dmextract tool, where applicable.
This tool is not back-compatible with
tgextract.
vtpdetect
-
Bug fix: when
vtpdetect is given an image which has been blocked by a
factor other than 1, it no longer double-corrects the radii.
-
The kernel parameter has been removed.
wavdetect
-
An alternative algorithm for specifying the allowed number of
false sources detected has been added to this tool. Based on
extensive new simulations to determine the dependence of the
number of pixels per false source on source significance and
background (expressed in the new sigcalfile parameter),
the tool can now
determine the significance threshold for source detection
itself, if the user inputs directly the desired false source
rate (e.g., desired number of false sources per field per
scale). Both threshold algorithms are fully supported, and users
need make no changes if they still wish to use the current
algorithm. The new algorithm is restricted to symmetric wavelets
but can be applied to non-Chandra data.
-
An alternative algorithm for specifying the allowed number of
false sources detected has been added to this tool. There are
two new parameters related to the new algorithm:
falsesrc and sigcalfile.
falsesrc sets the number of false sources allowed per
scale in the image. That number is combined with image size and
scale information, using additional simulation results contained
in the file defined by the sigcalfile parameter, to
determine the threshold significance for each pixel;
consequently the value given for the parameter
sigthresh is ignored. If falsesrc is set to a
negative number, the code uses sigthresh instead to
determine thresholds.
The data file for the false-source algorithm is set in the
sigcalfile parameter. The file contains simulation
results that are used with the false-source algorithm. This file
is included with with the release and may be used for both
Chandra and non-Chandra data. The user may not specify "CALDB"
for this parameter.
-
The calibrated range of the new wavdetect is 0.1 to 1e-8 false
srcs per pixel. Depending on the significance settings and the
input image size, users can go outside of this range in which
case the results become unpredictable.
-
The kernel parameter has been removed.
wtransform
-
(wavdetect calls wtransform, hence
the identical release notes for this tool.)
-
An alternative algorithm for specifying the allowed number of
false sources detected has been added to this tool. Based on
extensive new simulations to determine the dependence of the
number of pixels per false source on source significance and
background (expressed in the new sigcalfile parameter), the tool can now
determine the significance threshold for source detection
itself, if the user inputs directly the desired false source
rate (e.g., desired number of false sources per field per
scale). Both threshold algorithms are fully supported, and users
need make no changes if they still wish to use the current
algorithm. The new algorithm is restricted to symmetric wavelets
but can be applied to non-Chandra data.
-
An alternative algorithm for specifying the allowed number of
false sources detected has been added to this tool. There are
two new parameters related to this addition: falsesrc
and sigcalfile.
falsesrc sets the number of false sources allowed per
scale in the image. That number is combined with image size and
scale information, using additional simulation results contained
in the file defined by the sigcalfile parameter, to
determine the threshold significance for each pixel;
consequently the value given for the parameter
sigthresh is ignored. If falsesrc is set to a
negative number, the code uses sigthresh instead to
determine thresholds.
The data file for the false-source algorithm is set in the
sigcalfile parameter. The file contains simulation
results that are used with the false-source algorithm. This file
is included with with the release and may be used for both
Chandra and non-Chandra data. The user may not specify "CALDB"
for this parameter.
-
The kernel parameter has been removed.
The CIAO 4.0 software establishes a separate local parameter
file directory, ~/cxcds_param4. This allows users to
run both CIAO 3.4 and CIAO 4.0 without having to worry about
parameter file conflicts.
A summary of parameter files changes is provided in this section.
Refer to the Tools section of these
release notes for complete details.
ciao.par
hrc_dtfstats
mkacisrmf
mkarf
mkgarf
-
The obsfile parameter is
no longer redirected to the value of the asphistfile.
-
The pbkfile and
dafile parameter defaults have
been updated to reflect that the ACIS dead area correction is
"on" by default in CIAO 4.0.
mkinstmap
mkwarf
specextract
sso_freeze
wavdetect
wtransform
kernel parameter
ASCII Kernel
-
New Functionality!
The Data Model library now supports an ASCII kernel. This
kernel allows users to generate ASCII format files for use
within Data Model enabled tools (e.g. dmlist, dmcopy),
and apply the suite of Data Model capabilities to those files
via its extended filename syntax. For this release, three ASCII
file formats - from raw tabular data, to a multi-extension
FITS-like style - are supported, allowing the user to create
ASCII files with varying levels of complexity. Several option
tags can be used to customize the format definition for elements
such as separator characters, line skipping, and comment
designation to meet specific needs.
For this release, we are supporting ASCII table files only.
While there is limited image handling capability in this
release, full support will be added in a future release. The
ASCII Kernel is being released as a beta.
For more information on the ASCII kernel, refer to:
Bug Fixes
-
The DM would not complain when given a component in a FITS
region file that did not exist
(e.g. "file.fits[component=99]" when there was no
component numbered 99).
-
In vector filtering cases where the components are non-adjacent
dissimilar type columns, e.g. (tg_lam,pi), the
dmcopy tool and the DM table filtering function
would produce different results due to a difference in filtering
logic.
-
Corrected problems transforming a vector of arrays. This had
been listed on the dmcopy and dmlist bug pages.
Enhancements
-
The DM will rename transform descriptors if another descriptor
already has the name. Includes changes where default image axis
names are redefined after all file descriptors are generated to
avoid clashes between default names and those defined in the
file.
-
If a file contains vector columns with single range subspace,
the subspace is applied to each vector component. The output
file contains individual subspaces for each component.
Transform Library
firstlook and filtwin
cxcparam
-
There are updates to the parser to allow spaces around commas in
the parameter file, e.g. "infile, s, a, ...", in order
to be compatible with some FTOOLS parameter files.
dslib
psflib
regionlib
-
Bug fix: using
region="bounds(...)" and kernel=ascii
produces a region file formatted for use into ds9,
e.g. box(xmid,ymid,width,height,angle).
tcdlib
-
Added new routines for double precision FFT and Slide
convolutions.
-
Significant speed up in convolutions.
-
Bug fix: the "edges"
treatment parameters for double precision sliding cell
convolution were being ignored. Also fixed problems with
convolutions of 3D images.
S-Lang has been updated to version 2.1.1. The S-Lang
release notes contain a description of the features and
changes in this version.
VARMM replaced
-
The VARMM (Variable, Math and Macro) S-Lang library has been
replaced in CIAO 4.0 by the Crates and Transform libraries.
Crates wraps the CIAO Datamodel (DM) library, and provides a
scripting interface with all of the capabilities of the Data
Model (including filtering) from either Python or S-Lang. The
Transform library provides a high-level interface for performing
World Coordinate System transformations. Both support direct
interactive access by the user and are called internally by
applications that need to use these functions directly.
Users who need assistance in updating S-lang scripts to run in
CIAO 4.0 should contact the CXC HelpDesk.
paramio
Wrapper Scripts
-
In an continuing effort to make CIAO less intrusive on the users
environment, variables that impact system libraries and modules
such as LD_LIBRARY_PATH, PYTHONPATH, and SLANG_SCRIPT_PATH are
no longer set when the CIAO setup scripts (e.g. ciao.csh) are
sourced. They are instead set only when a CIAO program or script
is run. This was done by wrapping the CIAO executables in
scripts. The wrapper scripts are in the $ASCDS_INSTALL/bin
directory, and the executables they call are in
$ASCDS_INSTALL/binexe.
This new setup will allow the user to safely run non-CIAO
programs in your CIAO window.
The CIAO contributed scripts package is available from the
Scripts page and is considered a required part of the
installation. The script installation instructions explain where
the scripts should be unpacked within the CIAO directory tree.
acis_bkgrnd_lookup v2.0
-
The script has been updated to to run under S-Lang v2. Code
updates were made to replace the VARMM (Variable, Math and
Macro S-Lang) library with the cxcdm (CXC Data Model)
module. Otherwise, acis_bkgrnd_lookup functionality is
unchanged.
acis_fef_lookup v1.21
acisspec v4.1
-
The ACIS dead area correction is "on" by default in CIAO 4.0.
The pbkfile and
dafile parameter
defaults have been updated to reflect this. The
pbkfile parameter is now automatic (i.e. not hidden)
and there is no default value. The default value of the
dafile parameter has been changed to "CALDB".
-
The kernel parameter was removed from dmtcalc
and dmpaste.
add_grating_orders v2.4
-
It is necessary to specify an output block name of "SPECTRUM" in
the dmtype2split commands used by the
script. Quotation marks were also added to a dmhedit
command so that the correct pathname written in the ANCRFILE
header keyword in the output PHA file.
-
The kernel parameter was removed from dmtcalc and dmpaste.
add_grating_spectra v3.3
analyze_ltcrv.sl v1.6
-
The plotting routines have been removed from the script, since
they will not work in ChIPS 4.0. Otherwise,
analyze_ltcrv.sl functionality is unchanged. The
plotting functionality will be replaced soon.
-
The script has been updated to use the cxcdm module in place
of VARMM (Variable, Math and Macro S-Lang library).
fullgarf v4.1.1
-
The ACIS dead area correction is "on" by default in CIAO 4.0.
The pbkfile and
dafile parameter
defaults have been updated to reflect this. The
pbkfile parameter is now automatic (i.e. not hidden)
and there is no default value. The default value of the
dafile parameter has been changed to "CALDB".
-
An additional parameter change was made in mkgarf. The
obsfile value is set
explicitly to the name of the event file instead of being
redirected to the asphistfile parameter value.
get_sky_limits v1.9
-
The script now uses the cxcdm module to inspect the input
file. This uncovered a few bugs for images with no physical or
world-coordinate systems. It also means that the
case of the axis names, as reported on-screen
and saved to the dmfilter parameter, may change.
lc_clean.sl v1.10
-
The plotting routines have been removed from the script, since
they will not work in ChIPS 4.0. Otherwise,
lc_clean.sl functionality is unchanged. The plotting
functionality will be replaced soon.
-
The script checks for the histogram module and defaults to the
cxcdm module if histogram is unavailable. This replaces the
CIAO 3.4 use of VARMM (Variable, Math and Macro S-Lang library).
merge_all v3.8
psextract v4.0.1
-
The ACIS dead area correction is "on" by default in CIAO 4.0.
The pbkfile
and dafile parameter
defaults have been updated to reflect this. The
pbkfile parameter is now automatic (i.e. not hidden)
and there is no default value. The default value of the
dafile parameter has been changed to "CALDB".
Note that psextract applies the same pbkfile
to the source and background datasets. If this is not
appropriate for your analysis, you will have to run
mkarf independently to create an ARF with the
dead area correction. (In this case, make sure to "turn off"
the correction during the psextract run,
i.e. pbkfile=NONE and dafile=NONE.)
Missing Scripts
-
Due to dependencies on ChIPS or Sherpa, a number of CIAO scripts
have been removed temporarily from the contributed
scripts package. They will be replaced once the script has been
rewritten to work with the new version of the applications.
CIAO scripts with some ChIPS or Sherpa dependency (e.g. for
plotting):
- monitor_photom
- regions.sl
- show_tgain_corr
- show_wgt.sl
- spectrum.sl
- tg_osort_img
- tg_scale_reg
Sherpa-specific scripts:
- chart_spectrum.sl
- paramest.sl
- setplot.sl
- sherpa_paramset.sl
- sherpa_plotfns.sl
- sherpa_utils.sl
- simspec
Obsolete Scripts
ChIPS Website
Sherpa Website
Download pages
Ahelp
-
The options to have ahelp open a web browser and
display an HTML version of the help page have been
removed. These options were "-i" (display HTML fom the CIAO
website) and "-w" (display HTML packaged with CIAO).
Users who wish to have a copy of the help pages in HTML when
they are not online should download the CIAO Website [http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao4.0/download/web.html].
-
Documentation on the S-Lang Run-Time Library is no longer
packaged as ahelp files. Users can access this info from
within slsh via "help", e.g.:
slsh> help assoc_get_keys;
assoc_get_keys
SYNOPSIS
Return all the key names of an Associative Array
...
Analysis Threads
Missing Threads
Obsolete Threads
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