Class FitsUtil

java.lang.Object
uk.ac.starlink.fits.FitsUtil

public class FitsUtil extends Object
Utilities for working with FITS files.
Since:
4 Mar 2022
Author:
Mark Taylor
  • Field Details

    • BLOCK_LENG

      public static final int BLOCK_LENG
      FITS block length in bytes (2880).
      See Also:
    • CARD_LENG

      public static final int CARD_LENG
      FITS header card length in bytes (80).
      See Also:
    • CARDS_PER_BLOCK

      public static final int CARDS_PER_BLOCK
      Number of header cards per FITS block (36).
      See Also:
    • MAX_NCOLSTD

      public static final int MAX_NCOLSTD
      Maximum No. of columns in standard FITS BINTABLE extension (999).
      See Also:
    • FLOAT_REGEX

      public static final String FLOAT_REGEX
      Regex pattern matching floating point value, no grouping.
      See Also:
  • Method Details

    • isMagic

      public static boolean isMagic(byte[] buffer)
      Indicates whether the supplied buffer is the start of a FITS file. Its contents is checked against the FITS 'magic number', which is the ASCII string "SIMPLE  =".
      Parameters:
      buffer - a byte buffer containing the start of a file to test
      Returns:
      true iff the bytes in buffer look like the start of a FITS file
    • isFitsCharacter

      public static boolean isFitsCharacter(int ch)
      Indicates whether a given character is a legal FITS header character (0x20..0x7e inclusive).
      Parameters:
      ch - character to check
      Returns:
      true iff ch is legal for inclusion in a FITS header
    • readHeader

      public static FitsHeader readHeader(InputStream in) throws IOException
      Reads a FITS header from an input stream. The stream is read until the end of the last header block. If the stream is positioned at its end on entry, or if there is any error in reading or parsing the header, an IOException is raised.
      Parameters:
      in - input stream positioned at start of HDU
      Returns:
      header, not null
      Throws:
      IOException
    • readHeaderIfPresent

      public static FitsHeader readHeaderIfPresent(InputStream in) throws IOException
      Reads a FITS header from an input stream if the stream has content. The stream is read until the end of the last header block. If the stream is positioned at its end on entry, null is returned.
      Parameters:
      in - input stream positioned where an HDU may start
      Returns:
      header, or null if the stream has no content
      Throws:
      IOException
    • parseCard

      public static ParsedCard<?> parseCard(byte[] buf80)
      Turns an 80-byte array into a ParsedCard. This will always succeed, but if the card doesn't look like a FITS header, the result will have CardType.UNKNOWN.
      Parameters:
      buf80 - 80-byte array giving card image
    • skipHDUs

      public static long skipHDUs(InputStream in, int nskip) throws IOException
      Skips forward over a given number of HDUs in the supplied stream. If it reaches the end of the stream, it throws an IOException with a Cause of a TruncatedFileException.
      Parameters:
      in - the stream to skip through, positioned at start of HDU
      nskip - the number of HDUs to skip
      Returns:
      the number of bytes the stream was advanced
      Throws:
      IOException
    • roundUp

      public static long roundUp(long value, int blockSize)
      Utility method to round an integer value up to a multiple of a given block size.
      Parameters:
      value - non-negative count
      blockSize - non-negative size of block
      Returns:
      smallest integer that is >=count and a multiple of blockSize
    • writeHeader

      public static int writeHeader(CardImage[] cards, OutputStream out) throws IOException
      Writes a FITS header whose content is supplied by an array of cards. No checks are performed on the card content. An END card must be included in the supplied array if required. Padding is written to advance to a whole number of FITS blocks.
      Parameters:
      cards - cards forming content of header
      out - destination stream
      Returns:
      number of bytes written, including padding
      Throws:
      IOException
    • writeEmptyPrimary

      public static void writeEmptyPrimary(OutputStream out) throws IOException
      Writes a data-less Primary HDU. It declares EXTEND = T, indicating that extension HDUs will follow.
      Parameters:
      out - destination stream
      Throws:
      IOException
    • checkColumnCount

      public static void checkColumnCount(WideFits wide, int ncol) throws IOException
      Checks that a table with the given number of columns can be written. If the column count is not exceeded, nothing happens, but if there are too many columns an informative IOException is thrown.
      Parameters:
      wide - extended column convention - may be null for FITS standard behaviour only
      ncol - number of columns to write
      Throws:
      IOException - if there are too many columns
    • asNumericArray

      public static Object asNumericArray(String txt)
      Attempts to interpret a string as a formatted numeric array. The string has to be of the form "(x, x, ...)", where x has the same form as a floating point header value. Whitespace is permitted. The output will be an int[] array if the tokens all look like 32-bit integers, or a double[] array if the tokens all look like floating point numbers, or null otherwise.

      This is a bit hacky, it doesn't correspond to prescriptions in the FITS stanard, but it's useful for some purposes.

      Parameters:
      txt - string
      Returns:
      int[] array or double[] array or null