dparam: Dump a pset as a series of task.param=value assignments

Package: language

Usage

dparam pset [pset ...]

Parameters

pset: The name of the parameter set to be listed.

Description

Dparam lists one or more parameter sets. Psets are specified either by the name of the task with which the pset is associated, or by filename (pset files have the ".par" extension). If a file type pset is listed the extension must be included, since it is the presence or absence of the filename extension which dparam uses to distinguish between task-psets and named (file) psets.

Each parameter is listed on a single line with the following format. The list of assignments is terminated by the string "# EOF" so that programs reading the list from a stream can easily distinguish the end of the variable length list of parameters.

task.param = value

Here "task.param" is the name of the parameter, and "value" is the current value of the parameter. The assignment is skipped if the value is undefined. There is no way to distinguish between hidden parameters and query parameters.

The output from dparam is often used as input to programs, whereas the output from lparam is formatted in a way which makes it easier for humans to read. For example, the output from dparam may be redirected into a file and used on the IRAF main command line to set the task's parameters, when debugging a task standalone.

Examples

1. List the parameter for the task delete. Note that the positional parameters are listed first, in the order in which they must be specified on the command line, followed by the hidden parameters.

cl> dparam delete
delete.files = "temp"
delete.go_ahead = yes
delete.verify = no
delete.default_action = yes
delete.allversions = yes
delete.subfiles = yes
delete.mode = "ql"
# EOF

2. List the contents of the file pset "delete.par". Named psets such as this are most commonly produced using the ":w filename" colon command in eparam, e.g., to prepare several different versions of the parameter set for a task.

cl> dparam delete.par

Bugs

You cannot list the parameters of a task that does not have a parameter file (e.g., all builtin tasks).