Filetype

The type of file determines which internal device driver is used by CFITSIO to read and/or write the file. Currently supported types are

        file://  - file on local magnetic disk (default)
        ftp://   - a readonly file accessed with the anonymous FTP protocol.
                   It also supports  ftp://username:password@hostname/...
                   for accessing password-protected ftp sites.
        http://  - a readonly file accessed with the HTTP protocol.  It
                   does not  support username:password like the ftp driver.
        root://  - uses the CERN root protocol for writing as well as
                   reading files over the network.
        shmem:// - opens or creates a file persists in the computer's
                   shared memory.
        mem://   - opens a temporary file in core memory.  The file
                   disappears when the program exits so this is mainly
                   useful for test purposes when a permanent output file
                   is not desired.

If the filetype is not specified, then type file:// is assumed. The double slashes '//' are optional and may be omitted in most cases.