2 Bragg Crystal Spectrometer (BCS)

The purpose of this section is to help the user access the BCS data using the various pieces of BCS software that have been written. All the routines discussed use the reformatted database; IDL code assumes IDL Version 3 (or greater). Note that some of the widget-based IDL routines only work with more recent releases of IDL.

This document only presents an outline of how to use the routines. Please use the IDL routines DOC_LIBRARY, XDOC and CHKARG, together with the Reference Guide chapter for further information on any particular routine.

There are several additional documents that describe different parts of the BCS software. All are kept on $DIR_BCS_DOC; in particular:

• Please refer to the document BSC_SOFTWARE.TXT for the most recent information on the BSC routines that Dominic Zarro has been writing.
• Please also refer to Dave Pike's document GS_PROCS.TEX for further information on the ``GS'' (grey scale) suite of software.
• There are also several documents relating to the BSD FORTRAN software.

Notes:

1. BCS data files have the prefix ``bda'' - the rest of the name represents the start time of the file in the form ``yymmdd.hhmm''.
2. In the BCS section of the manual, data and index arrays relating to the BDA file are called index and data. Those related to other files and structures will will have some type of prefix in the example calls, e.g. ``bsd_data'', ``bsd_index''
3. Often in procedure calls there are additional, optional parameters than can be used to further define what the routine will do - these are indicated by the use of [ ] within the example of a routine calling sequence; [,etc] means that there are several additional parameters and the user should refer to the Reference Manual.
4. For most applications, the DP_SYNC data are not needed - they are however required for deadtime correction within MK_BSC.
5. On the VMS machines, the BDA data should be stored under several directories that can be accessed with the logical BDA_DAT: (e.g. bda_dat::bda911024.*)

Section 2.1 details how to first access the BCS data. To do detailed analysis work on the spectra, see sections 2.3 and 2.4; otherwise, use the routines in section 2.2. Several other useful BCS routines are summarized in section 2.5.

• 2.1 Entry Point Into the Data
  • 2.1.1 Accessing a Specific Time Interval Using YODAT
  • 2.1.2 Accessing a Specific Time Interval Using WBDA
  • 2.1.3 Browsing
• 2.2 Examining Data in the BDA Files
  • 2.2.1 Listing the BDA Data
  • 2.2.2 Light Curve (only) Plot Routines
  • 2.2.3 Spectra and Light Curve Plot Routines
  • 2.2.4 Spectral (only) Plot Routines
  • 2.2.5 2-d Plots of Spectra Against Time
  • 2.2.6 Spectral Movie
  • 2.2.7 Overplotting Spectra
  • 2.2.8 Light Curves of Selected Bins
• 2.3 Calibrating and Fitting Spectra (using the BSC software)
  • 2.3.1 Listing the BSC Data
  • 2.3.2 Fitting the BSC Data
  • 2.3.3 Temperature Fit (by Comparison)
  • 2.3.4 Extraction from the BSC structures
  • 2.3.5 Displaying the BSC Data
• 2.4 Calibrating and Fitting Spectra (using the BSD software)
  • 2.4.1 Displaying Data from the BSD File
  • 2.4.2 Displaying Intermediate Results (from BSDCAL)
  • 2.4.3 Displaying Fitted Spectral Data (from BSDFIT)
  • 2.4.4 Displaying Processed Parameters (from BSDFIT)
• 2.5 Other Useful BCS Routines