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# $Id: AstroImage.man3,v 1.1.1.1 2009/03/31 14:11:52 cguirao Exp $
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# who             when       what
# --------------  ---------  ----------------------------------------
# Allan Brighton  17 Oct 95  Created
#

NAME
AstroImage - C++ class for accessing astromical image servers (obsolete)

SYNOPSIS
#include "AstroImage.h"

class AstroImage {
...
public:
    AstroImage(const AstroImage&);
    virtual ~AstroImage();

    static AstroImage* open(const char* name);

    int getImage(const WorldCoords& pos, double width, double height);
    int getImage(const char* url);

    static const CatalogInfoEntry* firstCatalog();
    
    void feedback(FILE* f);

    int status();

    void tmpfile(const char* name);
    const char* tmpfile();

    const char* name();
    const char* longName();
    const char* shortName();
};


DESCRIPTION
Note: This class is obsolete. Please use class AstroCatalog, which now
also has the getImage method.

This class is used to retrieve images from an HTTP based image server
based on a name or position and a width and height in arcmin.  The
main entry point is the "open" method, which returns a pointer to an
AstroImage object allocated for use with the named image server.

IMAGE SERVERS
This class communicates with an image server via HTTP requests. The
list of servers and how to access them is kept in a configuration
file, which is also accessed via HTTP. The default config file is:

	http://archive.eso.org/skycat/skycat.cfg

The default can be overridden by defining the environment variable
SKYCAT_CONFIG to another valid HTTP URL.

UNITS
Unless otherwise stated, the units for all radius values are in arcmin.
Floating point values for RA and DEC are always in degrees. The
default equinox is J2000.

PUBLIC METHODS
open(name)
        Open the named image server and return a pointer to an AstroImage
 	object allocated for it, or NULL if errors occur.

    	Arguments:
		name (in ) - Image server name (long or short name from
			     catalog config file).
	Return value: 
		Pointer to an AstroImage object created for the given 
		image server.

getImage(pos, width, height)
        Pass a request to the image server to get a FITS file at the
        given position with the given size and return the status.
	The name of the file holding the result can be accessed as
	this->tmpfile().

    	Arguments:
		pos    (in ) - World coordinates of center of image.
		width  (in ) - Image width in arcmin.
		height (in ) - Image height in arcmin.
	Return value: 
		Status: 0 if OK, 1 for error.

getImage(url)
	Given a URL for the image, request the image from the image
	server and return the status.
	The name of the file holding the result can be accessed as
	this->tmpfile().

    	Arguments:
		url    (in ) - HTTP URL for image.
	Return value: 
		Status: 0 if OK, 1 for error.
		

firstCatalog()
	Return a pointer to the first catalog config entry (for link
	list traversal).
  
feedback(FILE)
	Set the file pointer to use for HTTP feedback during image
	transfers.

status()
        Return the status (after constructor) for error checking.
	A return value of 0 is normal, 1 for errors.

name()
longName()
shortName()
        Return the name (long name) or short name of the image server
	from the catalog config file.

tmpfile()
tmpfile(name)
	Get (or set) the name of the temporary file to use to hold images
	retrieved from the image server.

SEE ALSO
AstroCatalog, WorldCoords(3C++)
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