Subject: FITSIO Version 3.10 Release

From: pence at heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov ( William Pence)
Date: 4 Nov 91 19:06:29 GMT

FITSIO - Version 3.10
                           4 November 1991

This is to announce that Version 3.10 of the FITSIO package is now available
for general use.  FITSIO is a Fortran-77 subroutine interface for reading
and writing files in the FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) format.
This major new version of FITSIO contains many improvements over the previous
Version 3.01 release:

  - Added support for the 'variable length array' feature in binary tables.
    This includes three new subroutines: FTPTHP, FTGDES, and FTPDES.  Note 
    that this feature has only recently been proposed and is not yet an
    approved FITS standard.

  - Added suppport for running fitsio on IBM mainframe computers.

  - Added subroutines to make it more convenient to write HISTORY and
    COMMENT keywords to a FITS header.

  - Made a number of small efficiency improvements.

  - Fixed a number of bugs reported by users.

  - Changed the format of floating point keyword value fields to produce
    one more significant digit in the field.

  - Changed the way single quote characters are handled in keyword values
    to conform to the recommended FITS standard.

  - Removed the limitation on the number of 'random groups' in a FITS
    file.  Previously, FITSIO could only read files with less than 256 groups.

This new version of FITSIO is upwardly compatible with code written for
the previous 3.xxx versions of FITSIO, except that now the parameter
scaling variables (BSCALE and BZERO, TSCAL and TZERO) have been changed
>from REAL*4 to DOUBLE PRECISION.  This was done to provide increased
accuracy when scaling the data.  This affects the FTPSCL, FTTSCL,
FTGACL and FTGBCL subroutines.

To get a copy of the FITSIO software, documentation, and example programs
use anonymous ftp to connect to:

       ftp tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov
                or
       ftp 128.183.8.77

Then type the following:

        ftp>  user anonymous
        Password:               [type your username as a password]
        ftp>  cd pub/fitsio3    [to move to the version 3 subdirectory]
        ftp>  ls                [to see a list of the available files]
        ftp>  get read.me       [contains latest information about FITSIO]
        ftp>  get fitsio.doc    [complete user documentation]
        ftp>  get ...           [get any additional desired files]
        ftp>  quit

Alternatively, the FITSIO files may be copied from following SPAN node:

   NDADSA::HEASARC:[EXOSAT.XANADU.FITSIO.VERSION3] 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. William Pence                 (Internet)  pence at tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov
HEASARC                           (SPAN)      LHEAVX::PENCE
Code 668                          Telephone:  (301)286-4599
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
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