saltlog

Name

saltlog – Create FITS table of observations from image headers

Usage

saltlog images outfile (clobber) logfile (verbose) status

Parameters

images
String. List of input images including, if necessary, absolute or relative paths to the data. Data can be provided as a comma-separated list, or a string with a wildcard (e.g. ‘images=S20061210*.fits’), or a foreign file containing an ascii list of image filenames. For ascii list option, the filename containing the list must be provided preceded by a ‘@’ character, e.g. 'images=@listoffiles.lis‘. saltlog currently searches for the PROPID and PROPOSER keywords which are not native to raw images. They are written by the tool saltedtky which should be run prior to saltlog to get full value from the observation log.
outfile
String. The name of a FITS table file containing output from saltlog. If the output is intended for a different directory the absolute or relative path must be supplied with the file name.
(clobber)
Hidden boolean. If set to ‘yes’ an existing file of the same name will be overwritten by outfile.
logfile
String. Name of an ascii file for storing log and error messages written by the task. The file may be new, or messages can also be appended to a pre-existing file.
(verbose)
Boolean. If verbose=n, log messages will be suppressed.
(status)
Integer. Provided status=0 is passed to saltlog, a successful run of the task will yield status=0 at completion of the task. Any other value for the status flag at completion indicates failed execution.

Description

saltlog collates all primary keyword headers from a list of input files and creates a tabuated observing log in FITS format. The table contains one column for each keyword and one row for each exposure in a sequence. The first column of the table contains the file name.

The advantage of creating an observation table is convenience but it’s use is possibly limited to the period of time before the SALT database comes online. File contents can be understood, examined and filtered without going to the expense of opening the large image files themselves. most useful during pipeline processing.

Examples

  1. To create a FITS observation log from a list of image files:

    --> saltlog images='@images.lis' outfile='obslog.fits'
    clobber='no' logfile='salt.log' verbose='yes'

Time and disk requirements

Individual unbinned full frame RSS image files can be 112MB in size. It is recommended to use workstations with a minimum of 512MB RAM. On a contemporary linux machine, one hundred files can be processed in ~ 1 sec.

Bugs and limitations

Send feedback and bug reports to salthelp@saao.ac.za

See also

saltpipe saltclean

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