PyMidas - a Python interface to ESO-MIDAS

[Richard Hook <rhook@eso.org>]

PyMidas - a Python interface to ESO-MIDAS

We are pleased to announce a new interface between Python and the major 
ESO legacy
general purpose data processing system, MIDAS. This software is called
PyMidas and is now available as a first public release from 
www.eso.org/sampo/pymidas or
with the latest distributions of MIDAS at 
http://www.eso.org/projects/esomidas/. PyMidas was
developed by the Sampo project (*).

PyMidas allows the large body of applications in MIDAS to be integrated 
with modern data
reduction and analysis. It allows scripting in Python to evoke MIDAS 
commands, but still allows
full use of the original MIDAS system, using identical syntax, and 
allows flexible mixing with other
Python-based systems, in particular access to IRAF through PyRAF. 
PyMidas may be thought
of as an equivalent of PyRAF, except for MIDAS rather than IRAF, 
although it is implemented rather
differently.

PyMidas is distributed with MIDAS releases and will also be part of 
future ESO Scisoft
software bundle (www.eso.org/scisoft) releases. Note that PyMidas is an 
experimental product from a
pilot project and is not supported ESO software

The Sampo Team, ESO/Helsinki (pymidas@eso.org)

*  Finland joined the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in June 2004 
and part of the
joining fee was a contribution "in kind" of significant software effort 
which forms a project
called Sampo (www.eso.org/sampo). Sampo is looking at the future needs 
of the
ESO user community in the areas of data reduction and analysis and will
perform several pilot projects to assess different approaches and 
technologies
that will be needed to cope with data from ESO facilities during the next
decade and beyond. PyMidas is the first Sampo pilot project.

For more details about Sampo and its roll in ESO's plans for software 
support
of the community in the future please see the ESO Messenger, issue 120, 
page 17 
(http://www.eso.org/gen-fac/pubs/messenger/archive/no.120-jun05/messenger-no120.pdf