[AIPS] [NRAO] AIPS Documentation

Table of Contents

*Search CHANGE.DOC for current activity

It is now possible to search the CHANGE.DOC files used by AIPS programmers to document the current changes being made to AIPS. This can be very useful if you want to keep up with what is happening to your favourite AIPS task or area of interest (e.g., VLBI).

NOTE: The search facility for this searches the TST, NEW, and OLD versions of CHANGE.DOC on the master system in Socorro, and presents the results with the oldest changes first. Please bear in mind that the TST version is now available outside of NRAO. 31DEC16 is available as TST, 31DEC15 is now called NEW and is frozen except for "patches" to significant errors. Since we are now only doing releases once per year, we recommend that AIPS sites set up "midnight" jobs (doing so is now fairly trivial). For important changes, there should be patches available. The MNJ will work on the NEW version to pick up the patches and any new or revised text files. The full texts of the TST, NEW, and OLD versions of CHANGE.DOC are also available. Warning: they are long and are an internal form of documentation that is not expected always to be clear to ordinary AIPS users and is often unclear even to AIPS programmers.

*On-line HELP Files for the Next Release

You can now use a simple searchable page to review the most recent version of a particular help file. There is unfortunately no way as yet of getting an index of all available files, so you must know the name of the help file a priori.

*The AIPS Memo Series

We have a series of memos (125 as of the time of writing). Some of these are online with downloadable pdf and gzipped PostScript versions. A total list of all memos is also available. Those not available on-line may be requested via email to aipsmail@nrao.edu.

Latest Memos

Custom Binders

February 25, 2000: As of today, we can no longer supply custom binders for either the AIPS Cookbook, or for the Programming "Going AIPS" volumes (1 & 2). We have provided digital versions of the covers (below); this will enable you to purchase appropriate binders elsewhere and still have the official "AIPS" covers.

TWO VLBI TUTORIALS

Two extensive tutorials on VLBI data reduction in AIPS have been prepared, complete with data sets, introductory material about AIPS, and detailed instructions. They are simple VLBA project including self-calibration and spectral-line VLBA project plus astrometry. Users new to, or rusty in, VLBI data reduction are encouraged to try these tutorials. Appendix C and Chapter 9 of the AIPS CookBook are also recommended. The VLBI data reduction pipeline has been further developed in 2019 and is very useful for a quick look at your data. See the help file for VLBARUN.

*The AIPS CookBook

* * * Color Title Page

We have run out of pre-printed CookBook covers and will not be printing more. There is a copy of the cover available in compressed PostScript (392963 bytes). Over the years, all chapters have been updated numerous times to conform with the current state of the current release of AIPS for the Ages. Last update at this writing done April 4, 2024. Numerous recipes (or uncompressed or PDF) were added in January 2001. There is an Index (PostScript, 468822 bytes) which you may fetch. You can access the individual chapters (as PostScript files) through a version of the Table of Contents here. We have placed the CookBook into both fully linked html and pdf formats. See the current html version. A linked pdf version is also available. Be sure to use a true Adobe acroread on this file - cheap imitations do not work The Glossary is now the only chapter not updated from the 1990 edition and it is still very useful even if it is, in some respects, out of date. All chapters have been updated as needed for changes in 1998 through 2024. At the end of both Table of Contents listings are update summary histories. Watch this space for updates...

*Going AIPS

* * *

The AIPS programmer documentation, "Going AIPS", was last overhauled in 1990. Nonetheless, it contains a great deal of useful information. You should not depend on it for details of subroutine call sequences and file formats. But the general information, even on these matters, is likely to be pretty good. You can access the individual chapters (as PostScript files) through a version of the Table of Contents here. We are debating whether it is still worth the time to update some or all of these chapters. If you have an opinion, please inform egreisen@nrao.edu. There is a Volume I cover and a Volume II cover available in compressed PostScript (about 440000 bytes each). Watch this space for updates...

*AIPSLetters

The most recent AIPSLetters are also available from the AIPS home page. All are accessible here:

*Quarterly Reports

AIPS Quarterly Reports (those submitted to the National Science Foundation) are available here also. Quarterly reports were changed in 2006 to effectively eliminate a separate AIPS report, but we do have:

*Annual Reports

AIPS Annual Reports (those submitted to the NRAO Visiting Committee) are available here also. We have:

*1993 VLBA/VLBI Summer School Proceedings

Anton Zensus has put together an on-line version of the 1993 VLBA/VLBI Summer School proceedings. The contents, brief summaries of each paper, the paper itself in PostScript, and even a conference photo are included.

*All the Gory Details

AIPS Programmers usually document any changes in a file called CHANGE.DOC that some of you are familiar with. If you really want to know who made what changes when and how it might affect a given program or subroutine, this is the place to look. Currently you can look at:

For the latest version, see the item at the top of this page on how to search the current CHANGE.DOC files for a given program or string.

*Our Anonymous FTP Area

If you didn't find what you wanted, have a look on our anonymous ftp server. You can also see selected documents from the AIPS publication area.

Eric W. Greisen