Starting Sherpa

From the CIAO command line, type:

unix% sherpa

The startup script loads the Sherpa module, as well as the CRATES module, which handles file input and output ("ahelp crates"), and the Chips module, used for customizing the plots ("ahelp chips").

The "Starting Sherpa" thread has more details, including how to select whether to use the S-Lang or Python language.

Loading Modules in Python

To import the Sherpa, CRATES, and Chips modules in Python without using the "sherpa" startup script:

from sherpa.astro.ui import *
from pychips.hlui import *
from pycrates import *

Loading Modules in S-Lang

To import the Sherpa, CRATES, and Chips modules in S-Lang without using the "sherpa" startup script:

require("sherpa");
require("chips_hlui");
require("crates");

Getting Help

There are several ways to access the Sherpa help files.

From the CIAO command line:

o) Python syntax, description and examples for a specific command:

unix% ahelp py.sherpa <command>

List of all Sherpa Python help files:

unix% ahelp -c py.sherpa

o) S-Lang syntax, description and examples for a specific command:

unix% ahelp sl.sherpa <command>

List of all Sherpa S-Lang help files:

unix% ahelp -c sl.sherpa

Users can create an alias for ahelp to default to one syntax. To always access Python syntax, for instance:

unix% alias shelp "ahelp py.sherpa"
unix% shelp notice

From within Python or S-Lang, ahelp may be called two ways:

o) Python:

sherpa> ahelp("<command>")

sherpa> !ahelp py.sherpa <command>

o) S-Lang:

sherpa> ahelp("<command>");

sherpa> !ahelp sl.sherpa <command>;

The native help systems - called "help" in both cases - may also be used to obtain syntax information:

# Python
sherpa> help <command>

# S-Lang
sherpa> help <command>;