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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-21T03:34:56+00:00

I’m reading documentation for CFITSIO (C library for working with FITS images and other

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I’m reading documentation for CFITSIO (C library for working with FITS images and other astronomical image data) when I come across an odd function definition.

int fits_movrel_hdu / ffmrhd
  (fitsfile *fptr, int nmove, > int *hdutype, int *status)

My question is what is the function of the “>” symbol in the third argument, int *hdutype. I see it occurs in many other functions in this library, but I have never come across it in any other API or C Code that I can recall.

You can see more examples of this being used at Hawaii’s Telescope Software Page

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  1. Editorial Team

    Quote from Advanced Interface Routines (the emphasis is mine) (click "Up" in the page you linked to)

    1. Each routine has 2 names: a long descriptive name and a short concise name. Both names are listed on the first line of the following descriptions, separated by a slash (/) character.

    2. A right arrow symbol (>) is used to separate the input parameters from the output parameters in the definition of each routine. This symbol is not actually part of the C calling sequence. Note that the status parameter is both an input and an output parameter.

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