Starting CIAO
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CIAO 4.1 Science Threads
OverviewLast Update: 15 Jun 2006 - CIAO and XSpec section added Synopsis: We describe below how to call the configuration file (which sets up the necessary environment for CIAO) for the cases when you have CIAO 4.1 only or both CIAO 3.4 and CIAO 4.1 installed on your system. We also discuss how to restart CIAO 4.1 and start FTOOLS and CIAO so that they can be used together. |
Contents
- Running CIAO 4.1
- Restarting CIAO 4.1
- Switching between CIAO 3.4 and CIAO 4.1
- CIAO and FTOOLS
- CIAO and XSpec
- Caveat: Conflicts with Other Software Packages
- History
Running CIAO 4.1
To use the CIAO software, you must first run a setup script. There are a few things to note about setting up the alias:
-
These examples have CIAO installed in the directory /soft/ciao-4.1/. The location of the CIAO software on your system may be different.
-
If you have more than one version of CIAO installed, you may wish to version the alias (e.g. "ciao40") to distinguish between them.
The alias syntax depends on the shell (tcsh, csh, bash); see this FAQ for help in determining which shell you are using.
-
csh/tcsh users should add the following
to their $HOME/.cshrc file.
alias ciao "source /soft/ciao-4.1/bin/ciao.csh"
-
bash users should add the following
to their $HOME/.bashrc file.
alias ciao=". /soft/ciao-4.1/bin/ciao.bash"
-
ksh users should add the following
to their $HOME/.login file.
alias ciao=". /soft/ciao-4.1/bin/ciao.ksh"
Then you can just type "ciao" to start the software:
unix% ciao CIAO configuration is complete... CIAO version : CIAO 4.1 Friday, December 5, 2008 Proposal Toolkit version : Cycle 11 Friday, December 5, 2008 bin dir : /soft/ciao/bin Python path : CIAO
It is only necessary to do this once per terminal/window.
Restarting CIAO 4.1
The startup script will not allow you to restart CIAO in a session, instead reporting the following:
unix% ciao ERROR: The current environment is configured for: CIAO version : CIAO 4.1 Friday, December 5, 2008 Proposal Toolkit version : Cycle 11 Friday, December 5, 2008 bin dir : /soft/ciao-4.1/bin Please use the '-o' option to override the previous setup.
If you wish to restart CIAO, then you should either start CIAO in a different window or use the override option. If you do not use the bourne shell then you can use the "-o" option:
unix% ciao -o CIAO configuration is complete... The CIAO setup for this window has changed from CIAO version : CIAO 4.1 Friday, December 5, 2008 Proposal Toolkit version : Cycle 11 Friday, December 5, 2008 bin dir : /soft/ciao-4.1/bin To: CIAO version : CIAO 4.1 Friday, December 5, 2008 Proposal Toolkit version : Cycle 11 Friday, December 5, 2008 bin dir : /soft/ciao-4.1/bin Python path : CIAO
In the bourne shell you have to set the ASCDS_OVERRIDE variable to 1 before "dotting" the script:
unix% ASCDS_OVERRIDE=1 unix% . /soft/ciao-4.1/bin/ciao.ksh CIAO configuration is complete... The CIAO setup for this window has changed from CIAO version : CIAO 4.1 Friday, December 5, 2008 Proposal Toolkit version : Cycle 11 Friday, December 5, 2008 bin dir : /soft/ciao-4.1/bin To: CIAO version : CIAO 4.1 Friday, December 5, 2008 Proposal Toolkit version : Cycle 11 Friday, December 5, 2008 bin dir : /soft/ciao-4.1/bin Python path : CIAO
Switching between CIAO 3.4 and CIAO 4.1
With prior versions of the software, users had to be careful about switching between different version of CIAO because of differences in parameter files. As of CIAO 4.1, however, the local parameter file directory name will be versioned, rather than always being set to /home/username/cxcds_param by default. For CIAO 4.1, the directory is named cxcds_param4.
This makes it easy to run both CIAO 3.4 and CIAO 4.1 in separate terminal windows on the same machine. For example, assuming CIAO 3.4 is installed in /soft/ciao3.4 and CIAO 4.1 in /soft/ciao:
unix% alias oldciao 'source /soft/ciao3.4/bin/ciao.csh' unix% oldciao CIAO configuration is complete... CIAO version : CIAO 3.4 Sunday, November 19, 2006 Proposal Toolkit version : Cycle 9 Sunday, November 19, 2006 bin dir : /soft/ciao3.4/bin unix% echo $PFILES /home/username/cxcds_param;/soft/ciao3.4/contrib/param:/soft/ciao3.4/param unix% paccess dmgti /home/username/cxcds_param/param/dmgti.par
and in a different window, using the suggested alias to start CIAO 4.1:
unix% ciao CIAO configuration is complete... CIAO version : CIAO 4.1 Friday, December 5, 2008 Proposal Toolkit version : Cycle 11 Friday, December 5, 2008 bin dir : /soft/ciao/bin Python path : CIAO unix% echo $PFILES /home/username/cxcds_param4;/soft/ciao-4.1/contrib/param:/soft/ciao-4.1/param unix% paccess dmgti /home/egalle/cxcds_param4/dmgti.par
You can see that the information is being read from two separate parameter file locations.
CIAO and FTOOLS
Both CIAO and FTOOLS use parameter files to store parameter values for tools, and provide tools for manipulating these files (e.g. plist, pset, punlearn; they have the same name in both systems). The location of the parameter files is taken from the $PFILES environment variables for CIAO and FTOOLS.
We recommend that you start FTOOLS before CIAO. Here is an example of starting version 6.x of FTOOLS and CIAO 4.1:
unix% setenv HEADAS /soft/lheasoft/headas/sparc-sun-solaris2.8; \
source $HEADAS/headas-init.csh
unix% ciao
CIAO configuration is complete...
CIAO version : CIAO 4.1 Friday, December 5, 2008
Proposal Toolkit version : Cycle 11 Friday, December 5, 2008
bin dir : /soft/ciao/bin
Python path : CIAO
Change the HEADAS path to match your local installation. Note this syntax applies only to C Shell variants (csh, tcsh); for further details on starting FTOOLS, including other shells, refer to the Installing HEAsoft instructions.
The $PFILES variable has been set up to use both the CIAO and FTOOLS directories:
unix% echo $PFILES /home/username/cxcds_param4:/home/username/pfiles;/soft/ciao-4.1/contrib/param: /soft/ciao-4.1/param:/soft/lheasoft/headas/x86_64-pc-linux/syspfiles
CIAO and XSpec
The $HEADAS environment variable is redefined when the CIAO software is started. This is necessary as CIAO packages XSpec models and some libraries for use with Sherpa; those models look in the $HEADAS/spectral/modelData directory for needed files.
In order to run both CIAO and XSpec in the same window, it is necessary to reset the $HEADAS variable before running XSpec. The following shell script is one method of doing so:
unix% cat xspec.sh
#!/bin/csh
setenv HEADAS <Your Local HEADAS Path>
source ${HEADAS}/headas-init.csh
${HEADAS}/bin/xspec $*
Place this script in your $PATH. Then CIAO and XSpec may be run in the same window in this way:
unix% setenv HEADAS /soft/lheasoft/headas/sparc-sun-solaris2.8; \
source $HEADAS/headas-init.csh
unix% echo $HEADAS
/soft/lheasoft/headas/sparc-sun-solaris2.8
unix% ciao
CIAO configuration is complete...
CIAO version : CIAO 4.1 Friday, December 5, 2008
Proposal Toolkit version : Cycle 11 Friday, December 5, 2008
bin dir : /soft/ciao/bin
Python path : CIAO
unix% echo $HEADAS
/soft/ciao/ots/spectral
unix% xspec.sh
XSPEC version: 12.4.0ag
Build Date/Time: Tue Jul 15 22:37:42 2008
XSPEC12>
The shell script has its own environment, within which you can reassign the $HEADAS variable. After running XSpec, the shell script exits and you are back to the parent shell, where HEADAS remains set to point to the CIAO location.
In the future, the definition of HEADAS will occur when Sherpa is used, instead of when CIAO is started. This workaround will then no longer be necessary.
Caveat: Conflicts with Other Software Packages
There are some known conflicts between CIAO and other software or system libraries and tools. Be sure to read the "Other Software Packages" bug page for a list of these issues.
History
| 04 Jan 2005 | updated for CIAO 3.2: version numbers; minor change to asphist parameter file |
| 20 Jun 2005 | CIAO 3.2.2 patch: change to asphist parameter file |
| 28 Jul 2005 | added Caveat: CIAO and and IDL (Mac OS X only) section |
| 23 Aug 2005 | renamed "Caveat: CIAO and and IDL (Mac OS X only)" section to "Caveat: Conflicts with Other Software Packages". |
| 01 Dec 2005 | updated for CIAO 3.3: version numbers |
| 01 Dec 2005 | CIAO and FTOOLS section updated for FTOOLS 6.x |
| 01 Dec 2006 | updated for CIAO 3.4: CIAO version; changed asphist example to dmgti example |
| 14 Dec 2007 | updated for CIAO 4.0: local parameter file directory is cxcds_param4 |
| 17 Mar 2008 | added Mac users: setting xrdb path section |
| 10 Apr 2008 | location of CIAO alias updated for bash users |
| 18 Dec 2008 | updated for CIAO 4.1: running CIAO 3.4 and 4.1 on the same system; removed the "Configuring CIAO" section and "setting xrdb path" section (both needed for .CXCdefaults file, which the GUIs no longer use); bash users should put alias in $HOME/.bashrc |
| 12 Mar 2009 | CIAO installation directory changed to /soft/ciao-4.1/ to match the Installing CIAO thread |
| 15 Jun 2006 | CIAO and XSpec section added |
