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Requirements for a Successful Write Operation

When writing a FrameSet in which the WCS Frame is a SpecFrame to a FitsChan, the write operation is successful only if the Mapping from pixel coordinates (the base Frame in the FrameSet) to the SpecFrame satisfies one of the following conditions:

  1. It is linear.
  2. It is logarithmic.
  3. It is linear if the SpecFrame were to be re-mapped into one of the other spectral systems supported by FITS-WCS paper III.
  4. It contains a GrismMap, and the Mapping before the GrismMap (from pixel coordinates to grism parameter) is linear, and the Mapping after the GrismMap is either null or represents a change of spectral system from wavelength (air or vacuum) to one of the supported spectral systems.
  5. The TabOK attribute is set to a non-zero positive value in the FitsChan.

If none of the above conditions hold, the write operation will be unsuccessful. Note, if the FitsChan's TabOK attribute is set to a positive non-zero value then any Mapping that does not meet any of the earlier conditions will be written out as a look-up table, using the ``-TAB'' algorithm described in FITS-WCS paper III. If the TabOK attribute is to zero (the default) or negative in the FitsChan, then the write operation will be unsuccessful unless one of the eaerlier conditions is met.37



next up previous 264
Next: Common Non-Standard Features
Up: Paper III - Spectral Coordinates
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AST A Library for Handling World Coordinate Systems in Astronomy
Starlink User Note 210
R.F. Warren-Smith & D.S. Berry
24th May 2011
E-mail:ussc@star.rl.ac.uk

Copyright (C) 2009 Science \& Technology Facilities Council