Configuration¶

A configuration file with the name species_config.ini is required in the working folder. It contains the global settings, such as the path of the HDF5 Database, the folder where data will be dowloaded, and the magnitude of Vega.

[species]
database = species_database.hdf5
data_folder = /path/to/store/data/
vega_mag = 0.03

Paths should be either absolute or relative to the working folder, so in this example the database is located in the working folder.

Important

The configuration file should either be located in the working folder, so the folder returned by os.getcwd(), or the file path can be set with the SPECIES_CONFIG environment variable:

>>> import os
>>> os.environ["SPECIES_CONFIG"] = "/path/to/species_config.ini"

The workflow with species is initiated with the SpeciesInit class:

>>> import species
>>> species.SpeciesInit()

A configuration file with default values is created in case this file is not present in the working folder.

Tip

The same data_folder can be used in multiple configuration files. In this way, the data is only downloaded once and easily reused by new instances of SpeciesInit. Also the HDF5 Database can be reused by including the same database path in the configuration file.

Important

A flux-calibrated spectrum of Vega is used for the conversion between a flux density and magnitude. The magnitude of Vega is set to 0.03 for all filters by default. If needed, the magnitude of Vega can be adjusted with the vega_mag parameter in the configuration file.

Introduction

Database