FXBADDCOL

       Adds a column to a binary table extension.

       Modify a basic FITS binary table extension (BINTABLE) header array to
       define a column.

       FXBADDCOL, INDEX, HEADER, ARRAY  [, TTYPE [, COMMENT ]]

       HEADER  = String array containing FITS extension header.
       ARRAY   = IDL variable used to determine the data size and type
                 associated with the column.  If the column is defined as
                 containing variable length arrays, then ARRAY must be of the
                 maximum size to be stored in the column.

       TTYPE   = Column label.
       COMMENT = Comment for TTYPE

       INDEX   = Index (1-999) of the created column.
       HEADER  = The header is modified to reflect the added column.

       None.

       VARIABLE= If set, then the column is defined to contain pointers to
                 variable length arrays in the heap area.
       DCOMPLEX= If set, and ARRAY is complex, with the first dimension being
                 two (real and imaginary parts), then the column is defined as
                 double-precision complex (type "M").     This keyword is
                 only needed prior to IDL Version 4.0, when the double
                 double complex datatype was unavailable in IDL
       BIT     = If passed, and ARRAY is of type byte, then the column is
                 defined as containg bit mask arrays (type "X"), with the
                 value of BIT being equal to the number of mask bits.
       LOGICAL = If set, and array is of type byte, then the column is defined
                 as containing logical arrays (type "L").
       NO_TDIM = If set, then the TDIMn keyword is not written out to the
                 header.  No TDIMn keywords are written for columns containing
                 variable length arrays.
       TUNIT   = If passed, then corresponding keyword is added to header.
       TSCAL   = Same.
       TZERO   = Same.
       TNULL   = Same.
       TDISP   = Same.
       TDMIN   = Same.
       TDMAX   = Same.
       TDESC   = Same.
       TCUNI   = Same.
       TROTA   = Same.
       TRPIX   = Same.
       TRVAL   = Same.
       TDELT   = Same.
       ERRMSG  = If defined and passed, then any error messages will be
                 returned to the user in this parameter rather than
                 depending on the MESSAGE routine in IDL.  If no errors are
                 encountered, then a null string is returned.  In order to
                 use this feature, ERRMSG must be defined first, e.g.
                       ERRMSG = ''
                       FXBADDCOL, ERRMSG=ERRMSG, ...
                       IF ERRMSG NE '' THEN ...

       FXADDPAR, FXPAR

       None.

       Warning: No checking is done of any of the parameters defining the
       values of optional FITS keywords.
       FXBHMAKE must first be called to initialize the header.
       If ARRAY is of type character, then it must be of the maximum length
       expected for this column.  If a character string array, then the
       largest string in the array is used to determine the maximum length.
       The DCOMPLEX keyword is ignored if ARRAY is not double-precision.
       ARRAY must also have a first dimension of two representing the real and
       imaginary parts.
       The BIT and LOGICAL keywords are ignored if ARRAY is not of type byte.
       BIT takes precedence over LOGICAL.

       If the data array is multidimensional, then a TDIM keyword is added to
       the header, unless either NO_TDIM or VARIABLE is set.
       No TDIMn keywords are written out for bit arrays (format 'X'), since
       the dimensions would refer to bits, not bytes.

       Data Handling, I/O, FITS, Generic.

       William Thompson, Jan 1992.
       W. Thompson, Feb 1992, changed from function to procedure.
       W. Thompson, Feb 1992, modified to support variable length arrays.

       William Thompson, GSFC, January 1992.

       Version 1, William Thompson, GSFC, 12 April 1993.
               Incorporated into CDS library.
       Version 2, William Thompson, GSFC, 31 May 1994
               Added ERRMSG keyword.
       Version 3, William Thompson, GSFC, 23 June 1994
               Modified so that ERRMSG is not touched if not defined.
       Version 4, William Thompson, GSFC, 30 December 1994
               Added keyword TCUNI.
       Version 5, Wayne Landsman, GSFC, 12 Aug 1997
               Recognize double complex IDL datatype

       Version 5, 12 Aug 1997
       Converted to IDL V5.0   W. Landsman   September 1997

[Home Page] [Software, Documentation] [IDL Documentation] [Quick Reference] [Feedback]