Installing this software

The software has been compiled and tested on computers running both the Linux and SunOS operating systems. To compile it, you will need the Gnu compilers gcc and g77 and the utility called make. The scripts run on IRAF version V2.11 and Perl version 5.5 (sometimes called 5.005) and later. It is also possible to run this software without IRAF. This is done by using the fortran replacement for the IRAF script rctcom.cl. The software comes in two bundles, cfitsio2401.tar.gz and rctprogs.tar.gz. You don't have to install the software as root, but it might be nice.

Step by step, here are brief installation instructions...

1. Find a location (a directory) to compile and store the cfitsio library. Copy cfitsio2401.tar.gz there, g-unzip, and untar it. There will be a README file in the cfitsio directory you've created with detailed installation instructions. Installation is probably as easy as typing './configure' then 'make' while in the cfitsio directory. This should create the static library file libcfitsio.a.
2. Find a location (a directory) to put the other software packages. Copy rctprogs.tar.gz there, g-unzip and untar it. Next you will have to edit a number of files to point towards libraries and executable programs on your system...
3. The four fortran programs are compiled using make. The fortran programs are imgets, rcthedit, rctcom, and rctred and each one's code appears in a subdirectory by that name along with its makefile. If you will not be using the fortran version of rctcom, you will not have to bother with this program. For each fortran program you want to use, you must edit the makefiles:
   1. Change the directory after LIBSTUFF variable to point to that where libcfitsio.a is found.
   2. Change LIBSTUFF line to link with other libraries if need be.
4. Compile the fortran programs by typing 'make' then 'make clean' in the directory for each of the programs. This should create an executable file for each.
5. Edit the top line of each perl script to point to your perl executable. The perl scripts are rctcom.pl, setcom, rctnight, setnight, and setred. The top line of the perl scripts will probably be something like:

         #!/usr/bin/perl
   

6. Edit the top line and another line near the top of the IRAF script called rctcom.cl:
   1. The top line should show the location of cl.e executable file. This is somewhere in the directory structure where IRAF has been installed. At the end of this line is the option '-f'. The line might look something like this:

                  #!/usr/local/iraf/irafbin/bin.linux/cl.e -f
      

   2. Another line near the top should say 'set arch=.ssun' or 'set arch=.linux' etc. Have this line reflect your operating system. If you were to start up IRAF interactively and type 'show IRAFARCH' at the cl> prompt, the 'architecture' value shown will be appropriate (when prefixed with the dot).
7. Now you must decide which version of rctcom you will want to run. To run the iraf version, create a symbolic link in the rctcom/ directory called rctcom which points to rctcom.cl, e.g.,

         ln -s rctcom.cl rctcom
   

   To run the fortran version, type 'make' in the rctcom/ directory to compile the fortran executable called rctcom. Typing 'make clean' after that will clean up the unecessary the object files.
8. You might have to change permissions to make the appropriate files executable. The fortran codes you compiled should already be executable. You may have to run the 'chmod' command to give the correct permission on the other files (see the list in the following step).
9. Now make all of the executable files visible in any directory you wish to run the software from. This probably means all directories. You might do this by creating symbolic links to the executable files in some directory in your PATH, creating aliases, copying the executables to some directory in your PATH, etc. The executable files are: rctimgets, rcthedit, rctred, setred, rctcom, rctcom.pl, rctcom.cl, setcom, rctnight, and setnight. When defining symbolic links to the executables, it is advisable to use full pathnames.