The program package SAXS consists of a set of routines that allows processing of sequences of one or two-dimensional small- and wide angle scattering data. It can be used to normalize small angle scattering patterns to an absolute scale.

The SAXS routines are command line oriented and can be included into shell scripts for batch processing. They can also be included as subroutines into other programs. The command line history that is stored in the data file facilitates the creation of scripts. The package does not contain a graphical interface. To display data or to create masks graphically other programs can be used, e.g. EDFPLOT or FIT2D.

The SAXS routines perform tasks that typically arise during or after data acquisition, like pixel by pixel operations on single or multiple images. The SAXS routines support the storage of metadata like pixel size, wavelength, history etc. in the same file together with the scattering image. All experimental parameters can be saved together with the raw data during data acquisition and can be modified or updated later. It is possible to propagate statistical errors.

For this purpose a file format has been chosen that can store additional information together with the image data. The ESRF data format (EDF) is used. Metadata is written as keyword value pairs into a text header that can be viewed with commonly known editors, e.g. emacs or wordpad. The binary image data is appended to the end of the header. The package contains an implementation of input/output routines for EDF files that can be used for other developments. Because a commonly accepted definition of this format is missing a manual of  the SAXS format is available below.

1. Scattering geometry: I₀ (incident number of photons), I₁ (transmitted number of photons). i_s (number of scattered photons), C (point of normal incidence), L (distance between C and sample), p₁,p₂ (pixel size). The detector can be inclined with respect to the incident beam (rot₁, rot₂, rot₃).

2. Illustration of the WAXS projection. Pixel distances on a Saxs projection are proportional to distances on the detector. Pixel distances on a Waxs projection are proportional to distances in reciprocal space: sp=2*sin(Theta)*(WaveLength0/WaveLength), WaveLength0=1e-9 m.