Routine Names

All the CFITSIO routines have both a short name and a longer descriptive name. The short name is only 5 or 6 characters long and is similar to the subroutine name in the Fortran-77 version of FITSIO. The longer name is more descriptive and helps to document the source code; these long names are defined as macros in the longnam.h header file. It is purely a matter of personal preference whether to use the short or the long names since they are identical in terms of function or efficiency. The descriptions of the routines given in chapters 6 and 7 list both the long and short names.