README FOR IBM/RS6000 UNIX IRAF VERSION 2.11 Last Updated Wed December 15 1999 Current Patch Level V2.11.3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18Mar98 Initial V2.11.1 release for AIX 4.x Unix on the IBM/RS6000 14Dec99 ***** V2.11.3 patch ***** The V2.11 release of IRAF for AIX 4.x Unix is incompatible with any earlier versions of AIX/IRAF. A fresh install is required. Do a normal install from the AS, IB, and NB distributions as described in the installation guide in this directory. The December release of AIX4/IRAF is at IRAF version V2.11.3. There is no patch file for this platform, so a full installation will be required. If you are updating an existing installation, be sure to save and diff/merge your site-specific files (extern.pkg, graphcap, tapecap, etc.). The IRAF distribution does not itself include graphics and image visualization tools, these are distributed separately. See /iraf/x11iraf and /contrib. You should use Xgterm for any IRAF line graphics. Ximtool, SaoTNG, SAOimage, and other related image viewers may be used for image interaction. See also the post-distribution notes at the end of this file. These are continually updated after the release as any problems are encountered. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. THE IBM AIX V2.11 RELEASE IBM AIX IRAF (AIX4/IRAF) V2.11 is a port of IRAF to IBM/RS6000 platforms running AIX Unix V4.x (we used V4.1 for our port). For brevity we will sometimes refer to AIX Unix V4.x as "AIX4". README This file as.aix4.gen All-Sources (main IRAF distribution) ib.aix4.sun Core system binaries for DU4 nb.aix4.sun NOAO package binaries for DU4 The distribution directories contain large compressed Tar files split into a number of modest size (e.g. 512KB) chunks, to allow recovery if the network fails during a transfer. The Installation Guide provides detailed instructions on how to use these files to install IRAF. 1.2 WHO SHOULD UPGRADE? IRAF V2.11 is a major IRAF release for all supported IRAF platforms. Support for older versions of IRAF is limited so sites running earlier versions of IRAF should update to the new version of IRAF. There may be incompatibilities between V2.11 and earlier versions of IRAF, so updating in the middle of an analysis program might not be advisable. Mixing different versions of IRAF works in most cases, but there can be complications. Large installations may want to keep and older version of IRAF around to give users time to complete their programs before switching to the new version of IRAF (e.g. here at NOAO, "cl" or "iraf" runs V2.11, and "irafo" will bring up the older V2.10.4 release). 2. INSTALLING AIX4/IRAF The procedure for installing AIX4/IRAF is unchanged from earlier versions of AIX4/IRAF and other versions of IRAF. Refer to the AIX4/IRAF Installation Guide for detailed installation instructions (see (aixiraf.ps.Z in the distribution directory). A full installation, as this is a major release, will be required. The installation guide contains the full installation instructions (see also the notes below) but one thing is worth emphasizing here: the installation will be simplified if you set up the iraf directories as follows: /iraf root of iraf related files /iraf/iraf root iraf directory (AS dist) /iraf/irafbin iraf bin dirs go here /iraf/irafbin/bin.rs6000 AIX4 binaries for core system /iraf/irafbin/noao.bin.rs6000 AIX4 binaries for noao packages /iraf/extern external packages (tables etc.) Here "" is the path where all this is located, e.g., "/u3/iraf" on the IRAF development system here at NOAO. The actual path to the iraf root can be anything. You might want to also set up a symbolic link "/iraf" pointing to the "/iraf" directory. This allows all iraf files to be referred to relative to /iraf, regardless of where the files actually are located, and agrees with the default configuration used in the distribution files. NOTE: Our usual practice is to use the "-p" flag as in "tar -xpf" to unpack the distribution tar archives. Unfortunately under AIX4 this produces a warning on each unpacked file, so we use the flags "-xf" instead, dropping the "-p". The result is that the old file access modes and groups are not preserved when the files are restored. This should be harmless for an IRAF user installation unless you have an unusual umask. (If you don't understand what this all means just follow the direction in the Installation Guide and there shouldn't be any problem). 3. X11/GUI SUPPORT IRAF V2.11 includes full support for the X11IRAF utilities - these include xgterm for xterm-compatible terminal emulation and graphics, and ximtool for image display under X. The X11IRAF package is not included in IRAF; you need to get it and install it separately, as you would any other X software. X11IRAF is available in /iraf/x11iraf on the main IRAF network server (iraf.noao.edu). Other IRAF-compatible GUIs can also be used with IRAF, e.g. SAOimage, SAOtng, and IPAC SkyView. This software is continually under development and new versions appear on a timetable independent of that for the main IRAF distribution. 3.1 THE X11 DESKTOP The X11IRAF utilities will run under any X desktop. Most people will probably use IBM's default CDE-based desktop, but Motif/mwm, twm, fvwm, and so on may be used as well. As of the time of this writing, the X11IRAF utilities do not run on 24 bit truecolor screens, only 8 bit pseudocolor. Support for 24 bit screens is planned. 3.2 THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR (IRAF) Please see the release notes for information on what has changed in V2.11, and things to watch out for. 3.3 THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR (X11) Please see the documentation included with X11IRAF V1.0 or later releases for information on running these utilities, including common problems and how to deal with them. One thing we would like to emphasize here is that we STRONGLY suggest that you use "xgterm", not the standard "xterm" to run IRAF. Xgterm, which is included in X11IRAF, has advanced graphics capabilities developed for use with IRAF. Xterm graphics work, but not terribly well. When you start up the cl in an xgterm window, type "stty xgterm" after the CL starts up to tell it you are using an xgterm window. 4. MAGTAPE INTERFACE The DEV directory contains a default template tapecap file for DU4. If a server is configured to run IRAF for multiple network clients, you can now have multiple tapecap files, one for each host, e.g. "tapecap.foobar" for host "foobar". See the release notes for further information on this capability. 5. PRINTER INTERFACE Local printers are interfaced to IRAF using the dev$termcap file. The default printer, defined by the "printer" environment varilable in hlib$zzsetenv.def, is "lp". This uses the host system lpr with no explicit printer name given, allowing the host environment variable PRINTER to be defined in ther user's environment to direct out to the actual printer. The dev$termcap file may need to be customized to support the printers in use at your site. See the IRAF Site Manager's Guide for detailed instructions on configuration the printer interface. 6. PATCHES AIX4/IRAF was built at patch level 1 (V2.11.1) and does not have any patches as of December 1997. 6.1 AIX4/IRAF V2.11.3 - Wed Dec 15 1999 The AIX4/IRAF distribution files have been fully regenerated for V2.11.3, so one simple way to upgrade IRAF to V2.11.3 is to do a full install and diff/merge selected locally customized files from DEV (tapecap, graphcap, imtoolrc, devices.hlp, etc.) and HLIB (extern.pkg, mkiraf.csh, login.cl, zzsetenv.def). Note that THE V2.11.3 PATCH WILL OVERWRITE CERTAIN SITE SPECIFIC FILES. These are the following: unix/hlib/zzsetenv.def dev/graphcap dev/imtoolrc dev/termcap dev/tapecap You may want to save copies of these files and diff/merge them with the new versions after installing the system. See the URL http://iraf.noao.edu/v2112revs.html for a detailed description of what is included in the V2.11.2 and V2.11.3 patches. Most of the new features were introduced in V2.11.2. V2.11.3 mostly consists of additional bug fixes, minor changes related to the PC-IRAF upgrades, and a few isolated minor application enhancements. The system notes file (iraf/local/notes.v211) documents these revisions in detail for the core system. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES added since the release. Please check this space in the future for notes on any problems or issues arising after the initial release.