12 Writing spectrograms to file

The currently displayed spectrogram can be saved to a file using the Save as and Save menu options in the main input menu (see Sec. 1.1).

 

The generated files comply with the IVOA SED Data Model standard (http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~jcm/vo/docs/spec0.93.html). This is a self-descriptive XML format that leverages on the Virtual Observatory VOTable standard (a future version will enable serializing the SED output into FITS files).

 

Files generated by such mechanism can be read back into Specview. However, some of the features in the original files may be modified or lost. Header information is preserved within the bounds imposed by the SED Data Model. Auxiliary arrays such as the background and net arrays present in IUE and HST STIS files are lost. These drawbacks should be removed as the SED Data Model standard evolves.

 

12.1 Simple output in FITS and text formats

The Save as text, Save as CSV, and Save as FITS menu entries in the input menu create a simple tabular output of the currently displayed data. The main purpose of this type of output is to provide a means to export data from Specview to other applications.

 

The FITS, CSV, and text files thus created can be read back by Specview, but information is lost in the process since a plain FITS or text table cannot preserve the entire contents of complex spectrograms. In particular, spectrograms made of multiple individual components cannot be saved in FITS or text format. For that purpose, the Save as and Save menu entries explained above should be used instead.