Next subroutine.....

I've almost forgotten what 'subroutines' do!

However, managed to load onto GITHUB the first routine called by the ROBFIT background fitting code BKGFIT detailed in previous posts.

The code BKLINK is now available for viewing. Though think I should have put more comments into the code!

Anyway - this is another of the routines used in the background fitting process - it is essentially an input routine that reads user defined values from a file called BKGFIT.MNU - which I still need to find!

Why bother fitting the background when the idea is to be looking for small peaks?

The code has been mainly developed around fitting of gamma-ray spectra but can be used on any data set which required the identification of peaks in among significant background 'noise'. Once you have identified what the background looks like and have represented it mathematically the search for small variations from this representation is made easier. Exactly like the identification of the signal for the Higgs Boson reported upon this week. Blimey I am topical - it wasn't planned!

Essentially the operation of the ROBFIT code follows a sequence;

1. Read in data required to be analysed
2. Fit the background (this can be a separate file or the code can be run 'all-up' with it fitting background and peaks)
3. Search for 'channels' above a cutoff level
4. Search for peak regions
5. Identify peaks in these regions
6. Refit all peaks in the regions
7. Update the peak list

which seems a fairly straightforward sequence.

Except it gets a bit more complicated......more on that later!

The next challenge......

OK - I have the next revival project sorted!

I'ts a bit of back to the future related to the ROBFIT code myself and Bob Coldwell of the University of Florida physics department developed towards the back end of the 1980's.

So that's the 'back' bit!

After 20 years I have managed to resurrect the Fortran files - from 3 1/2" floppies - just finding a drive to read these was an exercise in itself. Thanks to mumbam for digging out an old work computer - though she did then go on about how the version of Excel loaded on the machine was far better than the modern one which was slightly worrying.

Anyway I have now extracted the files - cold sweat as I remember the work put into writing these. All seem fine - I now have a list of files that makefiles,

BKGFIT
FSPDIS
FSPFIT
RAWDD
STDIS
STGEN
VRMAIN
XCALIBER

now need to figure out what they do, maybe I should read the book :O. However, I have contacted Bob and have decided to load this version of the code onto a proper 'open' repository.

That's the 'future' bit.

I have been reliably informed by Bambofy (many thanks again) that 'github' is the place for this so my very next task is to figure out how to do that.

The journey goes back in time.....