Description:
This IDL function will
convert a Starlink NDF file of up to seven dimensions to an IDL array of an appropriate
type and shape.
Bad values in the NDF may be converted to specific values in the IDL
array.
If NDF on-the-fly conversion has been activated, the given filename may refer to a file of a
different data format which is to be converted.
Usage:
Result = READ_NDF( Ndf_name[,
Bad_value][,COMPONENT=Comp_name])
Arguments
Ndf_name
A string expression specifying
name of the NDF to be read.
Bad_value
Optional - A value to replace in the IDL array any
occurrence of the PRIMDAT bad value in the NDF component. The value must be the same type as the
array.
Keywords:
COMPONENT
Set this to a string expression specifying the NDF component to
be read. It may be "DATA"
, "VARIANCE"
or "QUALITY"
and defaults to "DATA"
. The case of the string
does not matter and it may be abbreviated to one or more characters.
Returned Value
Result An
IDL array of a size and type corresponding with the NDF. The type correspondence is as
follows:
-
- _REAL –
floating
-
- _DOUBLE –
double-precision
-
- _UBYTE –
byte
-
- _WORD –
integer
-
- _INTEGER –
longword integer
Examples:
Assuming
my_ndf.sdf
is an NDF of type _REAL,
IDL> data_array = read_ndf(’my_ndf’)
creates an
IDL floating array, data_array, with the same dimensions as the NDF and containing the values
from its DATA component. IDL> data_array = read_ndf(’my_ndf’, !values.f_nan)
As
above except that any occurrence of a bad value (VAL__BADR as defined by the Starlink
PRIMDAT package) in the NDF will be replaced by NaN in the IDL array. IDL> quality =
read_ndf(’my_ndf’,comp=’q’)
creates an IDL byte array from the QUALITY component of the
same NDF. (The QUALITY component is always type _UBYTE.) Note that the keyword
’component’ and the value ’QUALITY’ are case-independent and can be abbreviated.
Deficiencies
No conversion of the given bad value to the appropriate type for the array will be
attempted; instead an error will be reported.
Related Applications
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