[fitsbits] HST, HDFS, FITS, CFITSIO, and GEIS

[adm]

Hello,

I'm an undergrad trying to work with HDF South data from WFPC2.  I know
the datasets for this instrument are processed in an archival FITS
format, and then need to be converted to GEIS to be played with in
IRAF/STSDAS, but what about using CFITSIO to look at these data?  Is
this "archival FITS format" a special kind of FITS?  If so, can CFITSIO
reliably look at these images?  If it cannot, do I convert them to GEIS
and then back to regular FITS in order to use CFITSIO?

As you can tell, I'm a bit confused by the terminology used in the
documentation.  I'm also having a problem getting SAOtng to save FITS
files in a GIF format, but that's secondary to the above (i'll look at
other programs mentioned in another thread).

Any clarifications would be greatly appreciated,
Adam H.
ahollidg at virtu.sar.usf.edu