The Calibration Database User's Guide - HEASARC
Contents
1. path to the top level caldb directory on your system e CALDBCONFIG the path and name of the CALDB configuration file which gives the locations of CIFs for each supported mission e CALDBALIAS the path and name of the CALDB instrument alias file This FITS file contains information used internally by the CALDB software in cases where an alias exists for one or more instruments This is used since in some Caldb files certain INSTRUME keyword values imply that the dataset is valid for multiple instruments When updating a Calibration Index file with a new calibration dataset using the FTOOL udcif the CALDBALTAS file is checked and if such a value is found for the dataset being indexed then the INSTRUME value is translated into its alias values and a separate entry is made in the CIF for each For example for ASCA INSTRUME GIS will cause UDCIF to create an entry for GIS2 and GIS3 in the Calibration Index File These files should have been edited appropriately by your local Caldb manager and only users wishing to customize a personal caldb will have to worry about its contents see Section B 2 1 1 On unix ultrix osf systems Linux or Unix If you are using a machine running unix linux and want to use your local Caldb directly from your operating system add the following line to your login file source path caldbinit csh if you are running c shell or t shell or source path caldbinit sh if you are running the Bourne sh2. you were requested to run the FTOOL caldbinfo as follows caldbinfo infomode BASIC chatter 30 amongst the output should be the lines eer environ var logical CALDB defined sebeeeees CALDB path path The location path is the path to the top level of your local Caldb Check that this file system is visible to you e if path appears not to be visible to your account contact your local system administrator who should either auto mount the relevant disk on your machine or tell you from which machines the relevant disk will be visible cross check with your local Caldb manager if you have difficulties e if you can see the top level of your local CALDB path Go to Section 2 4 Final mission instrument specific checks Finally do should check that your local Caldb is actually set up for the specific mission instrument in which you re interested Total flexibility is given to local Caldb Managers regarding which mis sion instruments they include within their local Caldb primarily for disk space reasons Again using the software package caldbinfo but with the infomode parameter set to infomode INST you can check your local Caldb is set up for your favourite mission instrument At the operating system prompt type caldbinfo infomode INST chatter 30 OGIP Calibration Memo CAL GEN 94 002 CALDB User s Guide 5 e if the task caldbinfo did not run then FTOOLS are probably not available to you Go to Section 4 2 e i
3. CALDB and CALDBCONFIG are defined in the caldbinit file see Section 2 1 Customization requires defining the Caldb environment variable CALDB to the appropriate top level directory pointing to the top level directory containing the desired Caldb data Also if necessary the CALDBCONFIG file may need to have an entry added to point to the new Calibration Index File Consult the HEASARC Caldb Manager for more details or assistance 4 COMMON PROBLEMS amp FAQs 4 1 I don t understand anything No problem we ll help you Don t be shy just contact us via one of the routes given in Section 5 4 2 Do I have FTOOLS All the Caldb access software is distributed through the FTOOLS software package Again the reader should verify that indeed FTOOLS are available at their institution and determine its location The easiest way to check for FTOOLS is to type the following at the operating system prompt OGIP Calibration Memo CAL GEN 94 002 CALDB User s Guide 7 fhelp ftools e if the command is not recognized then are not available to you FTOOLS can be downloaded with the analysis package from http heasarc gsfc nasa gov docs software lheasoft download html 4 3 Why doesn t the FTOOLS installation set up a local Caldb The installation does NOT automatically include the setting up of a local Caldb The reasons for this are e Primarily Disk space The total data holding of the CALDB at NASA GSFC is many Gbytes This in
4. OGIP Calibration Memo CAL GEN 94 002 The Calibration Database User s Guide Ian M George amp Mail Codes 660 2 amp 664 NASA GSFC Greenbelt MD20771 Version 1996 Sep 30 SUMMARY This document describes how a user should set up their account in order to use a local copy of the HEASARC calibration database OGIP Calibration Memo CAL GEN 94 002 CALDB User s Guide ii Forward This document is intended to provide a general User s Guide to their local copy of the HEASARC s calibration databas system Every attempt has been made to present the information in a clear and moderately concise manner and copious use of cross referencing is made although reference to other Calibration Memos etc is occasionally required All questions comments and suggestions should be directed to caldbhelp athena gsfc nasa gov or to a member of Team Caldb listed at the URL http heasarc gsfc nasa gov docs heasarc caldb caldb_team html A printable version of this document can be obtained at http heasarc gsfc nasa gov FTP caldb docs manuals user users_guide pdf OGIP Calibration Memo CAL GEN 94 002 CALDB User s Guide iii LOG OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES Release Sections Changed Brief Notes Date First Public Release Made compatible with LaTeX2HTML software 1994 Jan 21 1995 Jul 12 1995 Oct 13 1996 Sep 30 2004 Apr 01 2012 Aug 08 Updated and expanded Clarifies in the line of user s questions Made compati
5. ble with tth minor typos corrections OGIP Calibration Memo CAL GEN 94 002 CALDB User s Guide Contents 1 INTRODUCTIO 1 1 Is a Local Caldb Available to Me 1 2 Dol really need Access to the Caldbh 2 STANDARD SET UP FOR YOUR ACCOUN peas eee see bene de oe ae oe oe EEEE TNE S EO a a 3 CUSTOMIZING YOUR CALDB SET UP 3 1 When to Customiz oaoa o a a a a 000000008 8 3 2 How to Customiz 0 00000 a 4 COMMON PROBLEMS amp FAQ 4 1 I don t understand anything 4 2 _Do I have FTOOLS 2 2004 4 3 Why doesn t the FTOOLS installation set up a local Caldb 7 5_ IF ALL ELSE FAILS OGIP Calibration Memo CAL GEN 94 002 CALDB User s Guide 1 1 INTRODUCTION The HEASARC s calibration database Caldb system is a flexible unix based file system which stores and indexes FITS format calibration datasets Essentially the Caldb system is a relatively simple relational database in which calibration datasets are linked to software via Calibration Index Files CIFs CIFs contain information for every dataset in the local Caldb and are read by the Caldb access software the general user should not need to know any more but if you re really keen and want further information on CIFs see CAL GEN 92 008 Since a local Caldb can become very large and there are some maintenance overheads the HEASARC recommends that a site maintain onl
6. cludes files flagged as both Good and bad for all the mission instruments for which the HEASARC has data It is extremely likely that any given site will only require the Good files which constitute only a small fraction of the total data volume We believe users are best equiped to manage their own disk space and anticipate most sites will want to be selective as to what calibration datasets they copy for selected mission instruments e The Caldb system allows remote users sites some flexibility to customize their set up see Section B allowing then to add personal locally produced calibration datasets for both mis sion instruments which the HEASARC supports and other mission instruments 5 IF ALL ELSE FAILS You can always get help at the HEASARC Feedback page http heasarc gsfc nasa gov cgi bin Feedback Please choose the Calibration Data Base mailing list from the pull down menu
7. ell where path is the path to the directory in which the caldbinit file is kept Generally it is recommended that this path is caldb software tools however your local Caldb manager may have chosen to put the caldbinit unix file somewhere else If you are unable to locate the appropriate caldbinit file contact your local Caldb manager After this line has been added to your login file source that file source HOME login or logout amp login again 2 2 Check the CALDB environment One can verify that the CALDB environment has successfully been set up by repeating the test using the FTOOLS software package caldbinfo outlined in Section LI namely at the operating system prompt type caldbinfo infomode BASIC chatter 30 e if the task caldbinfo did not run OGIP Calibration Memo CAL GEN 94 002 CALDB User s Guide 4 then FTOOLS are probably not available to you Go to Section 4 2 e if the task caldbinfo did run but if your local Caldb environment is incorrectly set up Go back and repeat the instructions given in Section If it continues to fail contact your local Caldb manager for help otherwise if and a number of informational messages are written to STDOUT then it appears that your local Caldb environment is successfully set up Go to Section 2 3 2 3 Mounting the CALDB Directories Check that you are able to see your local Caldb directories amp files from your account In Section and or Section 2 2
8. f the task caldbinfo did run then you will be prompted for the mission amp instrument in which you re insterested For example choosing the mission ASCA and instrument SISO will result in o p including lines to the effect of x either ERROR caldb_info 1 1 1 CALDB NOT correctly configured for the SISO instrument onb If this is the case then contact your local Caldb manager if your local Caldb can be expanded to include the offending mission instrument s TETEN CALDB is configured for the SISO instrument onboard ASCA ee eee Cal Index File path1 file EEEE Data directory path2 If this is the case then you should be set up Go to Section 3 if you want to customize your set up Section if you want further information on the Caldb access software Section 4 if experience any problems accessing your local caldb Section 5 if you get to your wits end and want to know how to complain 3 CUSTOMIZING YOUR CALDB SET UP The Caldb system is moderately flexible such that some degree of customization of a user s set up is available However such customization is only recommended for advanced users who fully understand the implications It is intended that the standard set up described in Section B will satisfy the needs of general users 3 1 When to Customize Essentially the customization involves construction a personal copy of one or more CIFs in order to be able to add to or replace standard calibrat
9. ion datasets with personal copies Following the customization these CIFs will be used instead of the standard CIFs available as part of the local Caldb This is achieved by re defining the environment variable or logicals by which the caldb software locates the relevant files such as to point to some all files not in a user s official local Caldb Users effectively become local Caldb managers of a personal Caldb though they may share some but not all datasets with their official local Caldb Such customization is recommended only for users who OGIP Calibration Memo CAL GEN 94 002 CALDB User s Guide 6 e have a detailed knowledge of the calibration datasets and wish to investigate the effect on their scientific results of using personal calibration or developmental calibration datasets not yet released to the community e wish to use standard calibration datasets not available via their local Caldb if for instance their local Caldb does not include files for a given mission instrument All other users are strongly advised to use the standard set up described in Section B 3 2 How to Customize As stated in Section 2 e the path to the top of the local caldb directory tree is defined by the CALDB environment variable logical e all the environment variables or logicals pointing to the CIFs etc are defined by sourcing a file defined by the CALDBCONFIG environment variable logical Under the standard set up both
10. ttp heasarc gsfc nasa gov docs heasarc caldb caldb_remote_access html In short Caldb access is not required but it can make your life easier It is relatively trivial to set up Caldb access either by accessing a local copy of the Caldb or accessing the HEASARC s caldb over the internet and will make the running of many tasks much less painful 2 STANDARD SET UP FOR YOUR ACCOUNT There are two basic requirements for a user to be able to use their local Caldb e that they define a number of environment variables or logicals which allow the Caldb software to find the Calibration Index Files CIFs and hence the calibration datasets themselves The set up of this environment variables or logicals is achieved by sourcing a single file as descibed in Section e that they have read access to the disk file system etc containing the data files Section 2 3 2 1 Setting Up the Caldb Environment The Caldb environment is a set of user defined environment variables which point to Calibration Index Files CIFs CIFs contain calibration information for every dataset in the Caldb and are read by the Caldb access software for further information on CIF s see CAL GEN 92 008 The Caldb environment can be set up by sourcing the appropriate caldbinit file as explained below At the present time the caldbinit file defines the following environment variables OGIP Calibration Memo CAL GEN 94 002 CALDB User s Guide 3 e CALDB the
11. ve messages are written to STDOUT then it appears that you already have a local Caldb set up and accessible to you Go to Section 2 caldbinfo has additional functionality which may help should you experience problems at a latter time Check out the help file type fhelp caldbinfo at the system prompt for more information OGIP Calibration Memo CAL GEN 94 002 CALDB User s Guide 2 1 2 Do I really need Access to the Caldb Caldb access is helpful for calibration and analysis of many of the high energy missions archived at the HEASARC notably CHANDRA ROSAT Swift Suzaku RXTE and other missions listed on the Caldb Supported Missions web page Several tasks contain code which enables them to access a Caldb Generally these tasks will contain a parameter for the calibration file s to be used Entering the string caldb will inform the task that the Caldb is to be asked to supply the name amp location of the appropriate calibration files If you do not have access to a local Caldb then clearly you will have to find the appropriate file which can be far from trivial and supply the name of that file via the appropriate XPI parameter It s important to note that you don t necessarily need to download or maintain a local version of the Caldb Most FTOOLS which support Caldb access also support Remote Access to the HEASARC Caldb For more information on remotely accessing the HEASARC Caldb please see the Remote Access Webpage h
12. y one local copy of the Calibration Database on a central file sys tem that this system is administered by a single local Caldb manager and that the local Caldb be made available to multiple users at that site Further information regarding the set up and maintenance of a local Caldb is available in the OGIP Calibration Memos CAL GEN 94 004 and CAL GEN 92 015 The Caldb access software is distributed through the software package If a local caldb already exists at your site most likely the software is also available to you Again the reader should verify that indeed FTOOLS are available at their institution and determine its location see Section 4 2 It should be stressed that a local Caldb is NOT automatically set up by the FTOOLS installation see Section 4 3 for more information 1 1 Is a Local Caldb Available to Me The task caldbinfo distributed with the FTOOLS software package starting with version 3 5 pro vides a simple test as to whether a local Caldb has been set up and is accessible to you At the operating system prompt type caldbinfo infomode BASIC chatter 30 e if the task caldbinfo did not run then FTOOLS are probably not available to you Go to Section 4 2 e if the task caldbinfo did run but if your local Caldb does not exist or is inaccessible to you and a heap of moderately self explanatory error messages are written to STDOUT then go to Section otherwise if and a number of informati
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