[fitsbits] Special index at end of a FITS file

[Joe Rosa]

I would like to corroborate on Richie's suggestion for an index at the end
of a FITS file. One of the most successful file structures is the PDF from
Adobe, and the trick for the speed resides on the 'xref-table' at the end
of the file - it is fantastic. We open a 1200 pages document in a blink of
an eye.

http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/tips/topic_tip31.html

Having a xref-table will allow to split data in many types of 'logical
chunks' and so processing/decompression/etc - and it will help a lot on
keeping 'future backwards compatibility': I read the xref and I know what I
can process and what I can't, so future add-ons will not interfere with the
capacity of processing what is recognisable by the current version.

So +1 to Richie's suggestion

Best,

Joe Rosa
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