newstar binary files

This page shows an informal memo about binary files in the newstar system used at Nobeyama Radio Observatory. This document is not released by NRO. It is a biproduct of commands in the ultraSTAR system.

filename

The newstar system uses a file management function based on AIPS. Therefore, the file name is managed independent of the UNIX/Linux.

All data of a single AIPS user are stored in a directory named DA01 or DA01X. Most of the files in this directory have a UNIX filename by 14 ASCII characters with the following patturn.

XXYxxxyyy.zzz;

XX The first two letters is for file type.
- SS profile data with a header
- SH position duplicated in the file SS
- SZ zero point data produced at INTEG
- CB filename, max channel number, the number of spectra, create date
- CA cross reference of filenames in UNIX and AIPS
Y The third letter is for version in the alphabetical order.
xxx The 4-6th letters for the file ID number in AIPS (shown by pcat). The number is expressed by 36-ditimal number with 0-9,A-Z.
yyy The 7-9th letter is for version in AIPS. In mose cases they are fixed to 001.
. The 10th letter is fixed to period/.
zzz The 11-13th letter is for version in AIPS. In mose cases they are fixed to 001.
; The 14th letter is fixed to semicolon.

The name in AIPS is stored in the UNIX fileCA?00000.zzz; where ? is a version ID expressed by alphabet letter. The nsindex command in the UltraSTAR shows its content.

content of SS

A binary file of spectrum data with a header of 2048 bytes. The byte allocation is shown here. The official information can be access from here. But it is only accessible from NRO local and we cannot resolve the byte location from the page.

content of SH

(ά)

content of SZ

(ά)

content of CB

A binary file with 2048 bytes. The byte allocation is shown here.

Manual version

2004/11/29 T.Handa

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