CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
Development of the MIIPS (Multipurpose Interactive Image
Processing System) package of programs, was undertaken in Spring,
1981 in the Physics Department at the University of Michigan (UM)
under my direction, starting from a software package known as ROO
(Reducing Observations Optimally) transmitted to us by Susan
Simpkin. ROO is the name Dr. Simkin gave to the exported
version of the PANDORA package of programs developed at Mt.
Stromlo and Sliding Springs Observatory (MSSO), Australia. MIIPS
is designed to display and analyze several kinds of astronomical
and scientific data, such as one- and two-dimensional photometric
and spectroscopic data. Several different plotting and display
devices are currently supported, however with the advent of color
workstations, more effort has gone into support for the
pseudocolor display server, SAOimage. The code operates on a VAX
computer running under VMS, Version 4.X and higher. Portions of
the package, e.g., the communications interface for SAOimage, an
enhanced version of SAOimage, the nonlinear least squares
modules, the binary star combined solution, the plot package, and
the grades package also will work under Unix. Because of the
popularity of Linux workstations, effort has gone into making
sure that the programs are compatible with the Linux flavor of
Unix.
Following my depature from the Physics Department,
development of MIIPS continued in the Astronomy Department of the
University of Michigan from the summer of 1988 to the summer of
1989, in the Physics and Astronomy Department of Oklahoma State
University form 1989 to 1992, and in the Physics and Astronomy
Department of Georgia State University up to the present.
The command structure for these programs is based on a
simplified version of the Groningen Image Processing System
(GIPSY) which was transfered to the MSSO VAX by R. D. Ekers.
The native data structure for the one- and two-dimensional disk
files (which can contain several maps) was constructed by Greg
Quinn and Denis Warne at MSSO after extensive group consultation
with a committee at the Australian Astronomical Observatories
(AAO) consisting of A. Bosma (MSSSO), R. Ekers (University of
Groningen/MSSSO), B. Newell (MSSSO), J. Straede (AAO), P.
Wallace (AAO), and D. Warne (MSSSO). Its official name is
Standard Astronomical Data (SAD). This data format is similar in
keyword structure to the Flexible Image Transport System (FITS)
tape format of Wells, Greisen, and Harten (1981). The actual
disk structure for the data is VAX VMS independent and can be
directly and rapidly copied to tape with the VAX COPY utility.
Standard FITS tape writing and tape reading programs can also be
used to transport this data. (The tape read and write programs
are MTREAD and SADFITS, respectively.) There are also import and
export options within MIIPS itself to convert between FITS disk
files and SAD.
The original application programs in use at MSSO and later
at the Midwestern Astronomical Data Reduction Facility (MADRAF)
were collected from a range of sources. The programming
languages are FORTRAN77, VAX Macro, and C. The key subprograms
Page 2
dealing with image arithmetic were written by Greg Quinn and Reet
Valek at MSSO. As mentioned above, the SAD format subprograms
were written by Greg Quinn and Denis Warne. Some plotting
primitives were also written by Greg Quinn. A subroutine which
handles user input and which is in worldwide use was written by
Ralph Ekers. Most of the software for the options within MIIPS
has been extensively rewritten and new software added by me.
Most notable among the new additions are a plotting package which
can address several different plot devices and display devices,
galaxy image modeling and surface photometry routines, various
utility programs for manipulating and editing images and data,
linear and nonlinear least squares routines, and display routines
for a Grinnell, a Trapix, and SAOimage. Contributions to some of
the speckle analysis programs were made by James Haywood of The
University of Michigan.
To run the main package of programs, the user, who must have
group privileges and the proper login command file, simply enters
the word MIIPS. The user is then prompted for an option, which
takes the form of a two or three letter mnemonic. Further
prompting by the routine then occurs as the user is asked
questions about file names, commands, and choices. These are
saved in a file called OP.SVE (if the command was OP), and may be
recalled automatically the next time that operation is performed
by entering .OP (see also below). The SVE files can be examined
from the program once they are created (the command is SVE).
There is an online help facility which gives short descriptions
of the commands or an example of any one command. The USRINP and
MESSAGE routines also write to a log file (MIIPS.LOG) which
details all of the input to and output from the terminal.
Extensive numerical output is written to xxx.SAD or FORxxx.DAT
files.
Volume I of this documentation includes a brief description
of MIIPS, its options, and associated useful programs and
subprograms. It is intended to be a user guide for MIIPS. As of
this writing, 1999, not all of the documentation is complete.
Also, not all of the MIIPS options have been fully debugged,
especially the ones connected with spectroscopy.
A listing of the help files will be found in Volume II, but
only the summary of the options is up to date; many of the
examples are definitely not up to date.
Volume III contains detailed explanations of various
subroutines used in MIIPS and the related programs. These are
mostly up to date.
The MIIPS package and associated programs are freely
available to interested persons. Since development of the
software is an ongoing process, it is advisable to procure
updates at regular intervals. The entire package can be
downloaded from http://www.chara.gsu.edu/~gudehus/miips.html.
All questions and requests for tape or CD copies should be
directed to me at gudehus@chara.gsu.edu.
Version History
1.0 Initial Version, support for Grinnell and plot package, 1982
2.0 Support for Trapix, and other improvments, 1988
Page 3
2.1 Support for Enhanced SAOimage and xterm, 1992
2.2 Further improvements, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004
The author would like to acknowledge the support of U.S.
Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the hospitality and
support of the Astronomy Department at the University of
Michigan, the Physics and Astronomy Department at Oklahoma State
University, Emory University, and the Physics and Astronomy
Department at Georgia State University.
Donald H. Gudehus