RDGEN is a collection of routines for data handling, display, and adjusting, with a facility which helps to set up files for using with VPFIT (ascl:1408.015); it is included in the VPFIT distribution file. It is useful for setting region boundaries and initial guesses for VPFIT, for displaying the accumulated results, for examining by eye particular redshift systems and fits to them, testing that the error array is a true reflection of the rms scatter in the data, comparing spectra and generally examining and even modifying the data.

The VPFIT program fits multiple Voigt profiles (convolved with the instrument profiles) to spectroscopic data that is in FITS or an ASCII file. It requires CFITSIO (ascl:1010.001) and PGPLOT (ascl:1103.002); the tarball includes RDGEN (ascl:1408.017), which can be used with VPFIT to set up the fits, fit the profiles, and examine the result in interactive mode for setting up initial guesses; vpguess (ascl:1408.016) can also be used to set up an initial file.

QSOSIM realistically simulates high-resolution quasar spectra using a set of basic parameters (magnitude, redshift, and spectral index). The simulated spectra include physical effects seen in the real data: the power-law quasar continuum, the narrow and broad emission lines, absorption by neutral hydrogen (HI) in the Lyman alpha forest, and heavy element transitions along the line of sight. The code uses empirical HI column density, redshift, and b-parameter distributions to simulate absorption in the Lyman alpha forest. All absorbers with column densities larger than log [N(HI)/cm²]>17 have heavy element absorption, for which the column densities are calculated using the plasma simulation code CLOUDY (ascl:9910.001) and the radiative transfer code CUBA. The code also simulates the clustering of the intergalactic medium along the line of sight, the proximity effect of the quasar, and the effect of the cosmic ultraviolet background. Each simulated spectrum is saved in a single FITS file in as a noiseless R=100000 spectrum, as well as a spectrum convolved with Sloan Digital Sky Survey resolution (R=10000) and realistic noise.