Starting up MAKE_SE v.0.20 


NAME 
    make_se v.0.20 -- a script to allow the user to create XTE/SE
    (Event) data files from a list of input files which may contain
    Good_Xenon Mode data files and/or Transparent Mode data files. As
    with all XTE Perl scripts, will work from either a single
    command-line entry, or a simplified Q/A session.

USAGE
    make_se -[dilp]

DESCRIPTION 

    MAKE_SE is a Perl script which allows the user to create sensible
    Event Files from a list of Good_Xenon or Transparent Mode files.
    The script checks the list to ensure that it contains a consistent
    set of data, reading the DATAMODE and TSTART keywords from the FITS
    files themselves, ignores files that do not contain Good_Xenon or
    Transparent data, subgroups the rest of the list, checks the times, 
    then enters each subgroup as input to the relevant FTOOL (XENON2FITS 
    or TRANS2FITS).

    The output is a set of N FITS Event files, where N is the number of
    subgroups. All necessary information can be supplied by the 
    user as switches on the command line, and the script can/will
    take sensible defaults in the absence of overriding user input. 
    Alternatively, the script can be run interactively, in which case
    the user will be prompted for important parameters not supplied
    as switches.

    As it preserves the paths of all the individual files, the tool can
    accept an arbitrary large file list from XDF and churn through it,
    processing all the Good_Xenon and Transparent mode data and ignoring
    everything else - although some user cunning (and use of the Logfile)
    may be necessary to keep track of which data is in which output file.


PARAMETERS  (actually SWITCHES/FLAGS) (grouped by function):

     -i {file} - provide name of ASCII file containing list of data
            files                (assumed default: 'fits_files.txt').

     -p {file} - provide root filename for product files - i.e., 
	    'make_se -p paris' will create files paris_X0, paris_X1 
             ...paris_X(N-1), where X=t/gx, for Transparent/GoodXenon 
            data respectively, and N is the number of groups of data 
            files in the input file       (assumed default: 'event').

     -d   - Take default values for all parameters not set on the command
            line.
     -l   - logfile switch. Currently, logging is the default (in a
            file make_se.log), and  -l will disable this logging.
     -h   - Print this help information.


EXAMPLES

     make_se -i dax -p sisko
            take as input the ASCII file 'dax' and process it to create
            a bunch of N Event Data files called sisko_X0, sisko_X1 ...
            where X=t/gx, for Transparent/GoodXenon data respectively,
            and N is the number of groups of data files in the original
            'dax' file.
     make_se -d
            will take the file 'fits_files.txt' and create Event Data
            files event_X0, event_X1, etc, where X=t/gx for Transparent/
            GoodXenon data respectively.
     make_se
            will prompt the user for the input file and output root 
            filename.

NOTES

    MAKE_SE is intended as a 'fast' tool to minimize the amount of
    FTOOLing around for the user with straightforward data analysis
    requirements. It is not intended to replace or reproduce the full
    functionality available from the individual FTOOLS. However, I am
    open to suggestions about how to improve the script to meet
    commonly-occuring data analysis needs. 

    The XENON2FITS and TRANS2FITS tools themselves display a lot of 
    debugging information when they run. This output is suppressed in
    MAKE_SE. If you want to see it, take the Perl code and change the
    'runcom' command to a 'yakker' command.

BUGS

    Please report problems to xtehelp@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov.

SEE ALSO

    TRANS2FITS, XENON2FITS for further information on the core tools
    invoked by this script.