Troublesome picture

[kpooi]

Hello to all api gurus.

I have a problem here that have been giving me a headache for the pass few months now.

I want to print out an image stored in a fits file. Fits or Flexible Image Transport System contains quite a long header which ends with the word "END" and then followed by a 16 bit grayscale image. I need to display this image out on a picturebox but has not been successful so far. I was told it could be done with API functions but i am not an API expert.

So sorry that i cant attach any fits file cause its too large around 300 k.
But there are plenty here that will give u a better idea of what it is

http://www.telescope.org/rti/examples/index.html

Pleasee help me out. I really need it.
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VB RuLeS

[jim mcnamara]

Okay.

I investigated the FITS format - it was interesting. First off, the graphics in a FITS file can be different types, all seem to be raster images using one of 5 different datatypes in an array. The images ARE NOT necessarily windows compatible. You have to read the FITS header information to figure out how to open & read the graphics. api will not solve your problem. You will have to write a FITS viewer application from scratch, or copy one. There is no magic bullet to solve your problem.

But I did find this:

http://www.sira.it/msb/avis.htm

The page is for a utility that will convert FITS graphics to BMP files.
AVIS FITS viewer. Everything there is freeware. Chances are good that is was written in C++. There is an email contact.
If it was written in VB, he may share some code with you. I cannot say.

However.

You can open the app in VB (shell), use SendMessage to control what the app does, and get it to open a FITS file, then EXPORT the file to a format you can handle in VB, like BMP. This is a poor work around, but if you must use your own app to view files, this is about your only choice.

[jim mcnamara]

Here is sourcecode for a dll (written in C++). If you know somebody who has Visual C++, get them to compile it for you.
It creates a .dll that you can use to view FITS files from VB.

http://www.projectpluto.com/get_dss.htm#what_oses

[kpooi]

thanks for the help
i will try to compile the dll


u saved my life

[kpooi]

wow....so many files
would u happen to know how to use the get_dss.dll with vb after compiling ?

[jim mcnamara]

I haven't read the code. If you read the

get_dss.def

file, it lists the functions that are exported by the dll. Go into the C code and look at the function prototype (or header) for each of the exported functions.

That will show you how to call the dll functions.

[kpooi]

do you think its possible to read in the 16 bit greyscale values from the fits image and display it using code ?

i tried to compile the dll but there seems to be a lot of errors.

[kpooi]

i have finally compiled the dll file
would it be too much to ask if u could teach me how to use it ?