NRAO Home  >  Green Bank  |  Wiki Topic:    GB > Software > ModificationRequest3C706 > ModificationRequest8C706

Changes | Index | Contents | Search | Statistics | Go

GBTIDL Changes necessary in support of related sdfits tool changes.

Modification Request #8 (C7 2006)

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Background
• 3. Requirements
• 4. Design
• 5. Deployment Checklist
• 6. Test Plan
  • 6.1 Internal Testing
  • 6.2 Sponsor Testing
  • 6.3 Integration/Regression Tests
• Signatures
• CCC Discussion Area

1. Introduction

Changes to the sdfits tool described in ModificationRequest3C706 imply changes in GBTIDL. Those changes in GBTIDL are described here.

2. Background

Robishaw and Heiles have made several recommendations for changes in sdfits as a consequence of their analysis of cross-polarization data from the GBT (GBT mem #244). That memo and subsequent e-mails with Robishaw resulted in ModificationRequest3C706 which describes several changes to the SDFITS file produced by the sdfits tool. In order for those changes to be useful to GBTIDL users several changes to the GBTIDL data container, i/o layer, and find and related procedures need to be made.

3. Requirements

• Three new fields need to be added to the GBTIDL spectral line data container: caltype, target_longitude, target_latitude and radesys. The first will be a copy of the CALTYPE value while the second two will be copies of TRGTLONG and TRGTLAT respectively and the last will be a copy of RADESYS. The longer names for the target position are used here in keeping with past usage in the GBTIDL data container.

• GBTIDL needs to be able to read and write the new index produced by sdfits. The new index columns that must be supported are trgtlong, trgtlat, and obsid.

• The GUIDE-layer data selection procedures (find and related) need to be updated to allow selection on these new index columns.

• All relevant GBTIDL documentation needs to be update to include these changes.

This MR's changes must be released at the same time as the changes in ModificationRequest3C706. During the M&C version changeover at the end of the cycle when these changes are released all of the sdfits index files in /home/sdfits will need to be remade so that they will be the correct version for use with gbtidl after the release. During development, gbtidl-test will not be useable with the on-line sdfits files because of the differences in index version number. User's needing to use gbtidl-test on data in /home/sdfits should copy that data to a scratch area and open it there so that a new index file can be created by gbtidl.

4. Design

These are all very straightforward changes and very little needs to be added here that isn't already covered in the requirements section. The find procedure and the related listfind, setfind, and clearfind allow the user to do selection in a way that is similar to CLASS. Selection is done by parameter name and a selection can be built up using repeated setfind invocations. These use the find field of the global !g data structure. The new index columns need to be added to that structure. The related sdfits MR, ModificationRequest3C706, should be consulted for details on the formatting of these new columns.

5. Deployment Checklist

• The ModificationRequest3C706 needs to be done at the same time. Both requests must be released together.
• Special care needs to taken to manage the Index files in /home/sdfits when releasing a new Index file version. As has been done during previous releases, during the release day, the Index files in /home/sdfits must be backed up and rewritten in the new format.
• The release notes should mention that these new fields in the sdfits file will be unavailable to GBTIDL users using older versions of GBTIDL. Older versions will be able to read these FITS files without error. Doing so will cause the index file to be regenerated using the older format appropriate for that version of GBTIDL.

6. Test Plan

6.1 Internal Testing

• Existing GBTIDL unit tests should continue to pass.
• Opening a new index produced by sdfits-test after ModificationRequest3C706 has been implemented should not change the index.
• Regenerating an index in GBTIDL should produce the same index in these new columns.

6.2 Sponsor Testing

6.3 Integration/Regression Tests

Verify that the new data container fields are there and seem to have reasonable value. Try a selection on OBSID or the target position and verify that it works.

Signatures

APPROVED: I acknowledge that my request is fully contained in this MR, and if the SDD delivers exactly what I specified, I will be happy.

ACCEPTED: I acknowledge that I have validated the completed code according to the acceptance tests, and I am happy with the results.

Written	- BobGarwood - 2 Nov 2006
Checked	- PaulMarganian - 2 Nov 2006
Approved by Sponsor	- KarenONeil - 03 Nov 2006
Approved by CCC	- AmyShelton - 01 Dec 2006
Accepted/Delivered by Sponsor	- KarenONeil - 01 Feb 2007

Symbols:

• Use %X% if MR is not complete (will display )
• Use %Y% if MR is complete (will display )

CCC Discussion Area