Subject: fv FITS file viewer/editor

From: pence at tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov (William Pence)
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 15:48:27 -0500

Fv 2.2 Release Announcement
                             18 Dec 1997

Version 2.2 of fv, a standalone program for viewing and editing any
FITS format data file is now available.  As in the previous releases
of fv this version provides a graphical interface (written in Tcl/Tk)
for editing FITS header keywords and for viewing or editing the data in
FITS images and tables.  2D images and line plots of the values in 
table columns can be displayed. New features in this release include:

  - Compressed FITS files (gzip or Unix compress) can be directly read
    and viewed.

  - Astronomical images can be displayed with the axes labeled 
    in units of R.A. and Dec.   A grid of RA and Dec contour lines 
    can also be overlaid on the image and the cursor position read-out 
    shows the coordinates of the selected pixel.  The user can interactively
    zoom in on any selected part of the image or line plot.

  - The intensity and contrast of the image can be interactively manipulated.

  - Tables can be sorted based on a primary column and up to 2 secondary
    columns.

  - A spreadsheet calculator can be used to create a new column or
    modify the values in an existing column.  Users may enter any
    arbitrary arithmetic function which can include the values from
    other columns as arguments.

  - Full support for viewing and editing vector columns and variable
    length vector columns in binary tables.

  - Has a temporary 'cut and paste' buffer which can be used when editing
    rows or columns in a table.

  - Full support for null or undefined values in tables and images.

  - A central Window Manager provides more user control over the number
    of windows created and displayed by fv.  

  - Image display is now supported on a wider variety of workstations
    including TrueColor displays.

Fv currently runs on most Unix platforms.  Versions for the Windows
NT/95 and Mac operating systems will be available in the 1st quarter of
1998.

Instructions for installing fv may be obtained from the Web site at:

         http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftools/fv.html

Questions about fv should be sent to:  ftoolshelp at athena.gsfc.nasa.gov.

Fv was developed at the HEASARC (High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive  
Research Center) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center by:

    William Pence:  Project Scientist
    Jianjun Xu:     Tcl/Tk programmer, author of fv and fitsTcl
    Lawrence Brown: Tcl/Tk programmer, author of the POW graphics display
    Peter Wilson    Tcl/Tk programmer, POW programmer