ISIS

Quick Reference

To start using ISIS, see:

• Installing ISIS
  • Distubuted with conda, compatible with Unix and Mac.
• Intro to ISIS
  • A good primer, at the end there's an example you can try!
• Setting Up the ISIS Data Area
  • You'll need this to process images on your own.

For more info, see:

• Tutorials and Guides
• FAQ
• ISIS Application Manuals

For Development and Contributing, see:

• Building ISIS
• Contributing

In this README:

• Requests for Comment
• Citing ISIS
• System Requirements
• Semantic Versioning

Requests for Comment

The ISIS project uses a Request for Comment (RFC) model where major changes to the code, data area, or distribution are proposed, discussed, and potentially adopted. All contributors and users are welcome to review and comment on open RFCs.

See this repo's discussion page for open RFCs.

Citing ISIS

The badge at the top of this README lists the DOI of the most recent ISIS version. ISIS 8.3.0 was released on 10/01/2024 and its DOI is 10.5066/P13TADS5. (This section last updated on 04/01/2025, 8.3.0 is the latest ISIS version.)

The Releases Page on GitHub lists the DOI for each version of ISIS. Older versions may be listed on Zenodo. It is good practice to cite the version of the software being used by the citing work, so others can reproduce your exact results.

System Requirements

ISIS is supported on these UNIX variants (and may work on others, though unsupported):

• Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
• macOS 10.13.6 High Sierra
• Fedora 28
• CentOS 7.2

ISIS is not supported on Windows, but using WSL may be possible.

Architecture Support

• 64-bit x86 processors: Supported.
• Apple Silicon: In Development.

Storage Space Required

• 2.5 GB for ISIS binaries
• 10 GB up to multiple TB for mission data and processing large images

Semantic Versioning

Versions of ISIS now use a Major.Minor.Patch scheme (e.g., 8.3.0), detailed in RFC 2.

Major	Minor	Patch
8	.3	.0

• Patch Releases (i.e. 8.0.2 → 8.0.3) fix a bug, but don't make breaking changes or add features.

• Minor Releases (i.e. 8.2.0 → 8.3.0) add features, but no breaking changes.

• Major Releases (i.e. 8.3.0 → 9.0.0) add a breaking change.

Breaking Changes

A breaking change alters API signatures, existing arguments to ISIS apps, or output. Anything that could break backwards compatibility with a script is considered breaking*.

Additions (i.e, an added optional argument, and added column in a .csv file) aren't considered breaking, but changes to existing output or input (i.e, changing an existing argment, changing the title of an existing .csv output column) are breaking.

*.txt files, or output meant only for human readers, are excluded from ISIS's definition of a breaking change.

Contributors must make sure that breaking changes are well-identified. Breaking changes require input, discussion, and approval from the community before they can be adopted into ISIS.

Upgrade considerations

Most users can safely upgrade to Minor and Patch Versions, but should be more cautious about a Major upgrade, which may introduce changes that could alter their workflow. You can reference the Changelog for more specific information on the changes.

ISIS Release Cadence (LTS)

ISIS has a Long Term Support (LTS) model (RFC8, RFC14). This assumes that users will update at each LTS release (supported for 18 months), or use more frequent interim/dev releases with shorter-term support.