suggestions.txt

Suggestions for improvement of DPPP, LoSoTo and other LOFAR-related software,
as conceived during PiLF development.


DPPP:
- Currently (Sept. 2017), DPPP exports ParmDB files, which can be converted into H5Parm files using
  Francesco's h5parm_importer.py. In the future, DPPP will export H5Parm files directly.
  DPPP should read the MS POLARIZATION subtable to read polarisation names (and not blindly assume
  that the polarisations are 'XX', 'XY', 'YX' and 'YY'). This is important for the uGMRT, which uses
  circular polarisation.
- DPPP should add the field name (e.g. '3C147') to the H5Parm file. This is useful for plotting in LoSoTo.


LoSoTo:
- The PiLF uGMRT-dedicated bandpass - TEC separator program should be incorporated in LoSoTo as a function.
- When using the function losoto.h5parm.h5parm.makeSolset(addTables = True), one should have an option to
  give a path to a MS where the 'antenna' and 'source' tables are created from.


PiLF:
- Documentation should be written to explain the code structure of PiLF for future developers.