There is no need for a separate data-conversion step in the processing and the potential is there to handle many other data formats. One pitfall with this system is that not all components of all NDFs have equivalents in the other formats, so data may be lost in the conversion process. This is particularly true of error estimate data, which are an intrinsic part of the Starlink NDF design but are absent from the other formats. The User's View Tasks may be invoked and parameters set in the normal IRAF ways. Starlink applications tend to have richer sets of parameters.
More diagnostic messages appear in the event of errors.
The Starlink Software Environment requires that application packages have an associated Interface File, which defines the parameters of its applications, and Package Definition Files which define the commands available and the source of help etc . Other environments, such as IRAF, require similar information presented in a different way. The format allows environment-specific inclusion or exclusion of elements of the description, for example where an application required in one environment is not relevant in another. Tcl scripts have been written to process a package IFD file and produce the files required by the Starlink and IRAF environments. The scheme could be extended for other environments.