Subject: New NOST User's Guide, version 3.1, LaTeX and PostScript

From: bschlesinger at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov (BARRY M. SCHLESINGER)
Date: 23 May 1994 11:42 EDT

Version 3.1 of the NASA/Science Office of Standards and
Technology (NOST) User's Guide to the Flexible Image Transport System
(FITS) is now available.  For the first time, the User's Guide can be
obtained electronically in LaTeX format.  A PostScript version of the
User's Guide, produced from the LaTeX form, is also available.  This
PostScript version is quite large, 1150 VAX blocks, or about 600
Kbytes.  Methods for generating a compressed version are being
investigated. Printed copies are also available. 
	While version 3.1 is not a full revision, there have been 
some changes from version 3.0.  Progress of the BINTABLE and IMAGE
extensions through the International Astronomical Union approval
process has been noted.  A discussion of the proposed convention for
arrays of substrings in binary table fields has been added. The
section on World Coordinates has been revised in light of the Greisen
and Calabretta proposal and the discussion contained therein, and some
of the issues that remain unresolved are noted.  The discussion of
IEEE floating point has been amplified, and the appendix on special
values expanded to include all permitted special values.  A number of
additional updates and corrections have been made.
	The electronic copies of the User's Guide are available from
ftp://nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits or by DECnet copy from NSSDCA, in the
directory FITS. The LaTeX version is in the file USERS_GUIDE.TEX,
while USERS_GUIDE.PS holds the new PostScript version.  The LaTeX 
version requires the accompanying GUIDE.STY style file.
	Printed copies of the User's Guide can be obtained from the
NOST Librarian.  If you request a printed copy, provide a complete
mailing address. The Librarian can also provide electronic copies of
the User's Guide by mail to those without ftp access.  The NOST
Librarian can be reached as follows: 

(Postal) NASA/Science Office of Standards and Technology
	 Code 633.2
	 Goddard Space Flight Center
	 Greenbelt MD 20771
	 USA

(Internet) nost at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov
(DECnet) NCF::NOST

Telephone: +1-301-286-3575 
	If the Librarian is unavailable, a phone mail system takes the
call after four rings.