<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN"> <!--Converted with LaTeX2HTML 98.1p1 release (March 2nd, 1998) originally by Nikos Drakos (nikos@cbl.leeds.ac.uk), CBLU, University of Leeds * revised and updated by: Marcus Hennecke, Ross Moore, Herb Swan * with significant contributions from: Jens Lippmann, Marek Rouchal, Martin Wilck and others --> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Conversion between FITS and internal format</TITLE> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="Conversion between FITS and internal format"> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="vol1"> <META NAME="resource-type" CONTENT="document"> <META NAME="distribution" CONTENT="global"> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <LINK REL="STYLESHEET" HREF="vol1.css"> <LINK REL="previous" HREF="node118.html"> <LINK REL="up" HREF="node109.html"> <LINK REL="next" HREF="node122.html"> </HEAD> <BODY > <!--Navigation Panel--> <A NAME="tex2html2057" HREF="node122.html"> <IMG WIDTH="37" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="next" SRC="icons.gif/next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html2053" HREF="node109.html"> <IMG WIDTH="26" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="up" SRC="icons.gif/up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html2049" HREF="node120.html"> <IMG WIDTH="63" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="previous" SRC="icons.gif/previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html2055" HREF="node1.html"> <IMG WIDTH="65" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="contents" SRC="icons.gif/contents_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html2056" HREF="node216.html"> <IMG WIDTH="43" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="index" SRC="icons.gif/index_motif.gif"></A> <BR> <B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html2058" HREF="node122.html">Devices</A> <B> Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html2054" HREF="node109.html">Data Exchange Format</A> <B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html2050" HREF="node120.html">Restrictions</A> <BR> <BR> <!--End of Navigation Panel--> <H1><A NAME="SECTION001130000000000000000"> </A> <A NAME="ch07:conversion-fits"> </A> <BR> Conversion between FITS and internal format </H1> The FITS conversion commands <TT>INTAPE</TT> and <TT>OUTTAPE</TT> can both access FITS files on disk or directly on tape devices. Thus, it is in principle possible to use general system utilities to transfer the FITS files between disk and tape. When using operating system utilities special care must be taken to ensure that the files on the tape conform to FITS blocking specification - it is by no means obvious! <P> The syntax of FITS conversion commands is as follows:<BLOCKQUOTE> <TT><TT>INTAPE file_list id device [flag]</TT> <BR> <TT>OUTTAPE cat[,list] device [flag] [dens,block] [type]</TT> </TT></BLOCKQUOTE>These are described in more detail in the following sections. <P> In order to save disk space, it may be desirable to compress the files. For this purpose, operating system utilities may be used (<I>e.g.</I> <TT>compress</TT> for UNIX). The steps to achieve this are as follows: <UL><LI>Use <TT>OUTTAPE</TT> to write file to disk in FITS format. <LI>Compress FITS file on disk <I>e.g.</I> <TT>compress</TT>. <LI>Use system utility to save compressed file on tape <I>e.g.</I> <TT>tar</TT>. </UL>To retrieve files execute the above process in reverse order. <P> <BR><HR> <!--Table of Child-Links--> <A NAME="CHILD_LINKS"> </A> <UL> <LI><A NAME="tex2html2059" HREF="node122.html">Devices</A> <LI><A NAME="tex2html2060" HREF="node123.html">File naming</A> <LI><A NAME="tex2html2061" HREF="node124.html">Reading FITS</A> <LI><A NAME="tex2html2062" HREF="node125.html">Writing FITS</A> </UL> <!--End of Table of Child-Links--> <HR> <!--Navigation Panel--> <A NAME="tex2html2057" HREF="node122.html"> <IMG WIDTH="37" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="next" SRC="icons.gif/next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html2053" HREF="node109.html"> <IMG WIDTH="26" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="up" SRC="icons.gif/up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html2049" HREF="node120.html"> <IMG WIDTH="63" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="previous" SRC="icons.gif/previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html2055" HREF="node1.html"> <IMG WIDTH="65" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="contents" SRC="icons.gif/contents_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html2056" HREF="node216.html"> <IMG WIDTH="43" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="index" SRC="icons.gif/index_motif.gif"></A> <BR> <B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html2058" HREF="node122.html">Devices</A> <B> Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html2054" HREF="node109.html">Data Exchange Format</A> <B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html2050" HREF="node120.html">Restrictions</A> <!--End of Navigation Panel--> <ADDRESS> <I>Petra Nass</I> <BR><I>1999-06-09</I> </ADDRESS> </BODY> </HTML>
