[daip] Problem between record length and block size, with READISK

[Eric Greisen]

Belles Pierre-Emmanuel wrote:
>   Hello,
> 
>      While using the READISK procedure to load AIPS-format files onto my 
> new laptop (running on Leopard), I've got the following error message:
> LOCALH> FITLD1: TAPIO: RECORD LENGTH   2688 INCONSISTENT WITH BLOCK SIZE 
>  2880
> LOCALH> FITLD1: UVFDAT: ERROR READING TAPE. IERR=    10
> LOCALH> FITLD1: ERROR     10 RETURNED FROM UVFDAT
> LOCALH> FITLD1: Destroyed  1 extension files of type HI
> 
> The files were written with the WRTDISK procedure, while I was working 
> on a Linux machine. For some reason, WRTDISK wrote data blocks with only 
> 2688 bytes, making the files unreadable by READISK (which seems to 
> expect to receive fits-format files, with blocks having n*2880 bytes). 
> Strangely, this only affects only some of my files, not all of them.
> 
>    I tried to change the "corrupted" input files and add extra bytes 
> until reaching 2880, using the task TCOPY. According to the help file, 
> "TCOPY may be used to insert missing end-of-file marks between 
> FITS-format data sets". But I got the same kind of error message:
> LOCALH> TCOPY1: Task TCOPY  (release of 31DEC11) begins
> LOCALH> TCOPY1: DISK OUTPUT VALID ONLY FOR FITS FORMAT, NOT RECORDS OF 
>  2688 BYT
> LOCALH>         ES
> LOCALH> TCOPY1: WARNING: NO files copied
> 
>     I tried to load the files on another laptop, with a former version 
> of AIPS. Same pb.
> 
>     If you have any suggestions on how to solve this pb, please, they 
> are welcome !

AIPS FITS writing tasks FITTP and FITAB will write n*2880- byte files at 
all times except when they encounter a serious error.  That must have 
happened in the WRTDISK procedure which should have brought it to a 
jarring halt.  Do you have any idea what happened there?

Eric Greisen