This development version of pySAS can be used with versions 20 and up of XMM-Newton SAS. After installing SAS following the installation instructions you can then clone this repository to use this development version of pySAS.
This repository can be cloned by going into the directory where pySAS is installed to remove the current version of pySAS using
> cd /path/to/sas/install/xmmsas_202XXXXXX_YYYY/lib/python/
> rm -rf ./pysas
and then clone this version of pySAS by executing the command,
> git clone https://github.com/XMMGOF/pysas.git
You can then use pySAS like normal.
To incorporate new changes to pySAS from GitHub, from the pysas directory use the following command,
> git pull https://github.com/XMMGOF/pysas.git
The very first time you run this version of pySAS you can set SAS defaults that will be used by pySAS. To set the defaults run the script setup_pysas.py found in the top level of this repository (i.e. /path/to/sas/install/xmmsas_202XXXXXX_YYYY/lib/python/pysas/setup_pysas.py). This script will set:
- sas_dir: The directory where SAS is installed. If you are running the script from inside the SAS directory this will be auto-detected.
- sas_ccfpath: The directory where the calibration files are stored. If you already have them downloaded, just enter the directory where they are. But if you have not downloaded them yet, you will be given the option to download them after the setup. The script will even create the directory for you.
- data_dir: You will have the option of designating a defaut data directory. All observation data files will be downloaded into this directory. If the data directory does not exist it will be created for you.
You can run this script using the following commands:
> cd /path/to/sas/install/xmmsas_202XXXXXX_YYYY/lib/python/pysas/
> python setup_pysas.py
Note: After initializing SAS you must add the pySAS directory to your PYTHONPATH environment variable. For example:
> export PYTHONPATH=/path/to/sas/install/xmmsas_202XXXXXX_YYYY/lib/python:$PYTHONPATH
It is recommended that you add this line to your .bash_profile file (or equivelent shell file).
We have included a few example scripts and Jupyter notebooks in the directory titled example. We will be expanding the number of example scripts and Jupyter notebooks.
Q: Will this break my SAS inatallation?
A: No. All changes have been made to keep this developmental version of pySAS working with SAS.
Q: I have already been working with pySAS and I have several Python scripts already written. Will this make them break?
A: No. This developmental version of pySAS is fully backwards compatible with the standard pySAS distributed with SAS. The develomental version only adds capabilites. The features included here will eventually work their way into the standard version of pySAS.
Q: Can I contribute changes to pySAS?
A: YES! That is the purpose of this repository! The whole idea is to provide a place where changes can be made and tested, issues can be raised, and features can be requested for pySAS. User input is greatly encouraged.
Q: Can I use pip to install pySAS?
A: Not yet! But that is something we are working on!
Q: What about using conda to install pySAS?
A: One thing at a time. We're still working on pip.
Q: Can I use pySAS to update the XMM-Newton calibration files?
A: Not yet! But that is something we are working on!
Q: What version of pySAS is installed on SciServer?
A: This one!
Q: Why have this version of pySAS separate from the standard version you can download from ESA when you download SAS?
A: Because of the realities of developing across multiple systems. Changes were needed to make pySAS run on systems such as SciServer (and other future online systems that are in the works, stay tuned!). The development timetable for SciServer did not match up with the development timetable for SAS. This allows us to continuously develop pySAS to match all of the development timetables. This also allows us to get feedback from the XMM-Newton user community about what they want to see in pySAS.