Previous changes

Changes between release 3.70 and 3.80

• Improvement to the query_disc routine in inclusive mode;
• update of the required IDL-astron library routines, and Coyote library routines (2021-04-08).

Changes between release 3.60 and 3.70

• Addition of read_fits_partial and write_fits_partial to read and write FITS files containing polarized or unpolarized maps defined on a fraction of the sky.

Changes between release 3.50 and 3.60

• addition of outline_earth to create a structure outlining Earth features such as coastlines, rivers, country boundaries, ...
• azeqview, cartview, gnomview, mollview, orthview visualization routines: support for color and thickness in outline keyword
• Update of the required IDL-astron library routines, and Coyote library routines (2019-10-30).

Changes between releases 3.40 and 3.50

• fits2cl: addition of /PLANCK3 keyword to read the fiducial $\Lambda$-CDM $C(\ell)$ model which best fits the 2018 Planck data analysis (available from Healpix/data/planck2018_lcdm_cl_v3.fits);
• rotate_coord: addition of optional variable Delta_Psi containing rotation of polarization on output, and of keyword Free_Norm to deal with un-normalized input coordinate vectors

Changes between releases 3.31 and 3.40

• The routines ianafast and ismoothing can now use pixel-based quadrature weights. Addition of the supporting functions nside2npweights and unfold_weights.

• ianafast and ismoothing: test the value of the POLCCONV FITS keyword when reading a polarized map, and interpret the polarization accordingly, as described in the note on POLCCONV in The HEALPix Primer.
• change_polcconv has been improved to allow the change of polarization convention (by changing the sign of U Stokes parameter and updating POLCCONV value) in FITS files containing polarized maps generated by standard HEALPix tools, as well as for specific formats brewed by the WMAP and Planck projects throughout the years.
  An equivalent python facility change_polcconv.py is now available as well.
• New help_st to get information on a structure and its sub-structures
• azeqview, cartview, gnomview, mollview, orthview visualization routines:
  • addition of the keywords CUSTOMIZE and DEFAULT_SETTINGS for extensize customization of the figures produced
  • GLSIZE and IGLSIZE can now be 2-element vectors to control separately the size (and presence) of labels on the parallel and meridian graticules
  • fine control of polarisation rods thickness with POLARIZATION
  • addition of the SILHOUETTE keyword to add a tunable silhouette around the projected map (mollview and orthview only)
• Improved support for GDL and FL (Fawlty Language).
• Update of the required IDL-astron library routines, and Coyote library routines (2018-05-15).

Changes between releases 3.30 and 3.31

• Improved support for GDL;
• update of the required IDL-astron library routines, and Coyote library routines (2016-08-19).

Changes between releases 3.20 and 3.30

• azeqview, cartview, gnomview, mollview, orthview visualization routines:
  • addition of PDF keyword for production of Adobe PDF outputs;
  • addition of LATEX keyword for genuine or emulated L^ATEX processing of character strings;
  • addition of PFONTS keyword to select origin and type of character font;
  • the CROP keyword now has the same behavior for all output media (GIF, JPEG, PDF, PNG, PS, ... and X); the NOBAR keyword now removes the color bar or the polarization color wheel, as applicable; correct EQUINOX date in header of output FITS map; the double precision maps and those with constant value are now correctly handled.
• fits2cl: addition of /PLANCK2 keyword to read best fit $C(\ell)$ model to Planck 2015 data.
• new routines nest2uniq and uniq2nest for conversion of standard pixel index to/from Unique ID number. See ”The Unique Identifier scheme” section in ”HEALPix Introduction Document” for more details.
• HEALPix enabled GDL commands (hgdl and hgdlde) are defined during the configuration process.
• update of the required IDL-astron library routines, and Coyote library routines (2015-09-23).

Changes between releases 3.11 and 3.20

• addition of ialteralm to modify Spherical Harmonics coefficients ($a_{\ell m}$).
• addition of planck_colors to modify current color table to one used in Planck 2013 publications.
• cartview, gnomview, mollview, orthview:
  • addition of BAD_COLOR, BG_COLOR and FG_COLOR keywords to change the color of the missing pixels, background and foreground labels and lines.
  • support for COLT='planck1' and COLT='planck2' to use the Planck color tables defined in planck_colors
• Bugs correction in bin_llcl, query_disc.
• update of the required IDL-astron library routines, and their supporting Coyote routines (2014-11-10).

Changes between releases 3.00 and 3.11

• Latest edition (version 3.11)
  • ang2pix_ring and pix2ang_nest routines now accept scalar arguments
• Previous edition (version 3.10)
  • bug corrections: query_disc: correct handling of empty disc; bin_llcl: correct handling of optional argument.
  • double precision of input now preserved in gaussbeam and euler_matrix_new.
  • fits2cl: addition of /PLANCK1 keyword to read best fit $C(\ell)$ model to Planck 2013 + external data.
  • it is now possible to read a specific FITS file extension identified by its (0-based) number or its case-insensitive EXTNAME value with the Extension keyword added to fits2cl, getsize_fits, read_fits_map, read_fits_s and read_tqu.
  • update of the required IDL-astron library routines, and their supporting Coyote routines (2013-02-08).

Changes between releases 2.20 and 3.00

• Previous edition (version 3.0)
  • New routines to go from circular beam profile to transfer function (beam2bl), and back (bl2beam); to go from indexed list of $a_{\ell m}$ to a(l,m) 2D table (alm_i2t), and back (alm_t2i); and to compute the angular distance between pairs of vectors (angulardistance).
  • addition of iprocess_mask interface to F90 process_mask facility to compute the angular distance of valid pixels to the closest invalid pixels for a input binary mask.
  • creation of hpx2dm routine to generate DomeMaster images of HEALPix maps that can be projected on planetariums.
  • the pixel query routines query_triangle, query_polygon, and in particular query_disc, have been improved and will return fewer false positive pixels in the inclusive mode
  • improved accuracy of the co-latitude calculation in the vicinity of the poles for high resolution in nest2ring, ring2nest, pix2ang_*, pix2vec_*, $\ldots$
  • cartview, gnomview, mollview, orthview: the length and spacing of the headless vectors used to represent polarization is now user-controlled via POLARIZATION keyword. The COLT keyword now allows the use of an interactively modified color table.

  • orthview now accepts STAGGER keyword to overplot staggered spheres (with a twist) in order to detect periodic boundary conditions on the sky
  • fits2cl: addition of WMAP7 keyword to read best fit $C(\ell)$ model to WMAP 7yr data.
  • read_fits_map can now read N_side=8192 HEALPix maps and is generally faster than previously for smaller maps
  • update of astron library routines (01-Feb-2012).

Changes between release 2.0 and 2.20

Several routines have been added or improved since version 2.0, as listed below. Note that thanks to the newer IDL-astron library, FITS read/write routines in IDL-Healpix routines can now deal with FITS files larger than 2GB (on architectures supporting 64bit addressing).
Using 64 bit integers available since version 5.2 of IDL the maximum resolution parameter Nside supported has increased from 2¹³=8192 to 2²⁹=536870912, corresponding to $3.46\ 10^{18}$ pixels on the sphere.

• Recent edition (versions 2.20 and 2.20a)
  • fits2cl: addition of WMAP1 and WMAP5 keywords to read best fit $C(\ell)$ model to WMAP 1st and 5yr data respectively,
  • cartview, gnomview, mollview, orthview: the OUTLINE option now accept symbols with PSYM > 8, using cgsymcat symbols definition.

• Recent editions (versions 2.15 and 2.15a)
  • cartview, gnomview, mollview, orthview:
    • export of projected map into a FITS file (FITS keyword), or an IDL array (MAP_OUT option) now available with all viewing routines,
    • added CHARTHICK support; accept array of OUTLINE structures (if they have the same fields), and still support structure of structures,
    • correction of a bug (in loaddata_healpix) that was affecting the behavior of these viewing routines after consecutive calls with very partial cut-sky and then full-sky data sets [2.15a];
  • remove_dipole now outputs the monopole and dipole covariance matrix;
  • write_fits_map, write_tqu, write_fits_sb: BAD_DATA keyword added to FITS header;
  • update of astron library routines (24-May-2010) for improved WCS support.

• Previous edition (version 2.14a)
  • cartview, gnomview, mollview, orthview:
    • OUTLINE=, GRATICULE=, IGRATICULE= work again with virtual windows (WINDOW<0)
    • YPOS= and RETAIN= keywords active again
    • PS= keyword fixed
  • orthview: fixed problems with /SHADE keyword, which now outputs 8-byte (instead of 16-byte) PNG files
  • ianafast, ismoothing: fixed problem with processing of polarized maps stored in memory.
  • ud_grade: improved handling of flagged pixels on Double Precision input maps
  • remove_dipole: COORD_IN= and COORD_OUT= now accept lower case values; /SILENT keyword added.

• Old edition (version 2.13)
  • new healpix_doc routine to browse HTML and PDF documentations
  • cartview, gnomview, mollview, orthview:
    • introduction of the TRUECOLORS= keyword to generate color image from 3 channel map
    • extended capability of the TRANSPARENT= keyword
    • addition of MAP_OUT= to gnomview
  • improved compatibility with GDL (free IDL clone). See ”HEALPix Installation Document” for current GDL limitations.
  • update of the IDL-astron library routines, which now require IDL 6.1 or more
  • fits2alm: new LMAX= and LMIN= keywords
  • fits2cl: new LLFACTOR= keyword
  • init_healpix defines substructure with complete path to HEALPix subdirectories (test, data, bin)
  • slightly faster write_fits_cut4 and write_fits_sb routines.
  • ianafast, ismoothing: solved problem with W8DIR= keyword.

• Older editions (versions 2.11 and 2.12a)
  • ianafast, ismoothing, isynfast: the TMPDIR keyword now works properly, and $IDL_TMPDIR is used as the default temporary directory ; more stable behaviour of these routines
  • ud_grade:
    • correctly flags bad output pixels with bad_data value when upgrading maps
    • cut sky map: improved, faster routine, now works for Nside > 8192
  • cartview, gnomview, mollview, orthview:
    • using a virtual window (ie, setting WINDOW to a negative value) now allows faster generation of GIF and PNG files (especially useful over remote connections);
    • addition of RETAIN= keyword;
    • deals correctly with user provided MIN and MAX in LOG and ASINH modes
    • polarization norm map can be offset (POLARIZATION=1 mode)
    • original color table and plot settings are restored when leaving these routines
  • orthview: addition of /SHADED keyword for 3D rendering
  • issues warning when non-integer pixel indexes are fed to nest2ring, ring2nest, pix2ang_*, pix2vec_*, ...
  • ximview:
    • fixed problem with cut-sky FITS files
    • color scale bar added to PNG output
    • version 0.6.2, fixed bug in pixel coordinates
  • cosmetic editions to remove_dipole

• New routines in version 2.10 include
  • ximview: visualisation routine developed by J. P. Leahy intended for quick-look inspection of HEALPix images (as well as ordinary 2-D images) at the level of individual pixels. Features include panning, zooming, blinking, image statistics and peak finding.
  • hpx2gs: turns a healpix data set into a Google Earth/Google Sky-compatible image
  • ianafast: interface to (F90) anafast and (C++) anafast_cxx facilities
  • isynfast: interface to F90 synfast facility
  • ismoothing: interface to F90 smoothing facility
  • bin_llcl: $C(\ell)$ binning
  • bl2fits: writes $B(\ell)$ or $W(\ell)$ window into FITS file
  • neighbours_nest, neighbours_ring: find immediate neighbours of a given pixel
  • query_strip: find pixels lying within a colatitude strip
• Routines with extended/improved user interface or new functionalities include
  • mollview, gnomview, cartview, orthview:
    • ONLINE keyword is now redundant,
    • introduction of GLSIZE and IGLSIZE to control automatic labeling of graticules, see Fig. 2,
    • addition of SILENT and EXECUTE keywords, see Fig. 2,
    • addition of ASINH keyword to allow better visualisation of highly contrasted maps; see Figure 3,
    • under certain circumstances, can process high resolution cut sky data sets without creating full sky dummy maps,
    • accept gzip compressed FITS files,
    • accept polarized cut sky maps,
    • accept multi-dimensional online arrays,
    • more robust OUTLINE option.

  • median_filter: bugs correction
  • ud_grade: more robust user interface
  • change_polcconv: new /FORCE keyword
  • remove_dipole: more accurate
  • query_disc: when the disc center is located at one of the poles, only the pixels overlapping with the disc are now returned.
• Miscellaneous
  • mollcursor, gnomcursor...: an X11 patch is given so that these routines work under Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5.