CFITSIO User's Guide

An Interface to FITS Format Files

for C Programmers

Version 1.3

Dr. William D. Pence
HEASARC
Code 662
Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
USA

September 1997

• Contents
• Introduction
• Creating the CFITSIO Library
  • Building the Library
  • Testing the Library
  • Getting Started with CFITSIO
  • Example Program
• A FITS Primer
• Basic CFITSIO Conventions
  • CFITSIO definitions
  • Disk Files, Memory-Resident Files, and Piped Files
    • Reading or Writing Memory-Resident FITS Files
    • Piped FITS Files via STDIN and STDOUT.
  • Current Header Data Unit (CHDU)
  • Routine Names
  • Routine Families and Datatypes
  • Defined Symbolic Constants
  • Unsigned Integers
  • 1's Based Index Numbers
  • Character Strings
  • Implicit Data Type Conversion
  • Data Scaling
  • Error Status Values and the Error Message Stack
  • Variable-Length Arrays in Binary Tables
  • Support for IEEE Special Values
  • Local FITS Conventions supported by CFITSIO
    • Long String Keyword Values.
    • Arrays of Strings in Binary Table Extensions
    • Keyword Units Strings
• Programming Guidelines
  • Reading an existing FITS file
  • Creating a new FITS file
  • When the Final Size of the FITS File is Unknown
  • Optimizing Code for Maximum Processing Speed
    • Background Information: How CFITSIO Manages Data I/O
    • Optimization Strategies
  • CFITSIO Size Limitations
• Basic Interface Routines
  • File I/O Routines
  • Keyword I/O Routines
  • Data I/O Routines
• Advanced Interface Routines
  • FITS File Open and Close Routines
  • HDU-Level Operations
  • FITS Header I/O Routines
    • Header Space and Position Routines
    • Read or Write Standard Header Routines
    • Write Keyword Routines
    • Insert Keyword Routines
    • Read Keyword Routines
    • Modify Keyword Routines
    • Update Keyword Routines
    • Delete Keyword Routines
  • Data Scaling and Undefined Pixel Parameters
  • FITS Primary Array or IMAGE Extension I/O Routines
    • Write Image Data Routines
    • Read Image Data Routines
  • FITS ASCII and Binary Table Data I/O Routines
    • Column Information Routines
    • Low-Level Table Access Routines
    • Insert or Delete Rows and Columns Routines
    • Write Column Data Routines
    • Read Column Data Routines
  • Celestial Coordinate System Routines
  • File Checksum Routines
  • General Utility Routines
• Summary of all CFITSIO User-Interface Routines
• Parameter Definitions
• CFITSIO Error Status Codes
• About this document ...