[fitsbits] Output array type when BZERO is an integer {External}

[Steve Allen]

On Mon 2024-03-11T17:01:36+0000 Dubois-Felsmann, Gregory P. via fitsbits hath writ:
> I agree entirely with you that these matters should be formally
> clarified.  I don't have a lot of experience turning the crank of the
> FITS-standard engine, however, so I'd be hard-pressed to give you an
> estimate on how long this might take.  I do note that the history on
> https://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_standard.html indicates that the last
> time a point release was created was 19 years ago, and there's no
> recent history of "errata" or similar clarifications.

I concur this deserves a formal revision of the standard document.
There has been little recent activity on FITS so I think a change
might take a triennium starting with ascertaining who is now IAUFWG
and under what auspices of IAU it currently operates.

If we engage in such an effort there are a few other tweaks that
deserve attention.  One I can name is that the allowed date formats
should consider whether more closely to match ISO 8601 so that it is
easier to use standard computer library routines for handling date
strings in FITS.

--
Steve Allen                    <sla at ucolick.org>              WGS-84 (GPS)
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