NAME

Astro::FITS::Header::NDF - Manipulate FITS headers from NDF files

SYNOPSIS

  use Astro::FITS::Header::NDF;

  $hdr = new Astro::FITS::Header::NDF( Cards => \@cards );
  $hdr = new Astro::FITS::Header::NDF( Items => \@items );
  $hdr = new Astro::FITS::Header::NDF( ndfID => $indf );
  $hdr = new Astro::FITS::Header::NDF( File => $file );

  $hdr->writehdr( $indf );
  $hdr->writehdr( File => $file );

DESCRIPTION

This module makes use of the Starlink NDF module to read and write to an NDF FITS extension or to a ".HEADER" block in an HDS container file. If the file is found to be an HDS container containing multiple NDFs at the top level, either the .HEADER NDF or the first NDF containing a FITS header is deemed to be the primary header, and all other headers a subsidiary headers indexed by the name of the NDF in the container.

It stores information about a FITS header block in an object. Takes an hash as an argument, with either an array reference pointing to an array of FITS header cards, array of "Astro::FITS::Header::Item" objects, or a filename, or (alternatively) an NDF identifier.

Currently, subheader support is readonly.

METHODS

configure

Reads a FITS header from an NDF.

  $hdr->configure( Cards => \@cards );
  $hdr->configure( ndfID => $indf );
  $hdr->configure( File => $filename );

Accepts an NDF identifier or a filename. If both "ndfID" and "File" keys exist, "ndfID" key takes priority.

If the file is actually an HDS container, an attempt will be made to read a ".HEADER" NDF inside that container (this is the standard layout of UKIRT (and some JCMT) data files). If an extension is specified explicitly (that is not ".sdf") that path is treated as an explicit path to an NDF. If an explicit path is specified no attempt is made to locate other NDFs in the HDS container.

If the NDF can be opened successfully but there is no .MORE.FITS extension, an empty header is returned rather than throwing an error.

writehdr

Write a FITS header to an NDF.

  $hdr->writehdr( ndfID => $indf );
  $hdr->writehdr( File => $file );

Accepts an NDF identifier or a filename. If both "ndfID" and "File" keys exist, "ndfID" key takes priority.

Throws an exception (croaks) on error.

NOTES

This module requires the Starlink NDF module.

AUTHORS

Tim Jenness <t.jenness@jach.hawaii.edu>, Alasdair Allan <aa@astro.ex.ac.uk>, Brad Cavanagh <b.cavanagh@jach.hawaii.edu>

COPYRIGHT

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place,Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA