FITS I/O (readers and writers) code tends to be very tedious and repetitive. One of our goals from the beginning was to reach a point where we could generate the source code for FITS readers and writers, rather than hand-crafting it. With the rapid development rate of a major project, hand-crafting these essential routines seemed like an invitation to error and confusion.
Steve undertook the task of transforming Memes database information into source code. I undertook a related task: transforming the same information into C variable and type declarations, with proper use of structures and pointers. In each case our object was to avoid spending much time on predictable, repetitive, error-prone coding. We hope to save time and money for the project by our ability to generate and regenerate this type of code at will and in a matter of seconds. See the main page for a demo of generated data structures and generated FITSIO writer code.