;+
;+++
;                            iii                                                
;               HHH     HHH  iii                                ddd             
;`              HHH     HHH                                     ddd             
;X8VX<.         HHH     HHH                                     ddd             
;@@@%/B3`       HHH     HHH  iii  nnn nnnn     oooooo      dddddddd     eeeee   
;@@@@@@@@@$8g~  HHH     HHH  iii  nnnnnnnnn   oooooooo    ddddddddd   eeeeeeee  
;@@@@@@@@@@@@@V HHHHHHHHHHH  iii  nnnn  nnn  oooo  oooo  dddd  dddd   eee  eeee 
;@@@@@@@@@@@@@@XHHHHHHHHHHH  iii  nnn   nnn  ooo    ooo  ddd    ddd  eee    eee 
;@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@CHH     HHH  iii  nnn   nnn  ooo    ooo  ddd    ddd  eeeeeeeeee 
;@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@CHH     HHH  iii  nnn   nnn  ooo    ooo  ddd    ddd  eee        
;@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@CH     HHH  iii  nnn   nnn  ooo    ooo  ddd    ddd  eee        
;@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@CH     HHH  iii  nnn   nnn  oooo  oooo  dddd  dddd   eee   eee 
;@@@@@@@g0@@@@@@@@C     HHH  iii  nnn   nnn   oooooooo    ddddddddd   eeeeeeee  
;@@@@@@V/GV%@@@@@@@@@(  HHH  iii  nnn   nnn    oooooo      dddddddd     eeeee   
;C38B83X(:X<(B@@@@@@@@^                                                         
; ```^^^^^^^^/@@@@@@@@^                            IDL - Library - Routines     
;     `````.^^/@@@@@@@X^                                        Version 1.0     
;    ```^^^^^`^~@@@@@<G                                                2007     
;    ``````^^^``~@@@@@C                                                         
;           ```  0@@@@/                                                         
;    ``</(/VX/`  G@@@^                  Thomas Straus (straus@oacn.inaf.it)     
;` `.<8$@@@@@@@( 3@@%(                                                          
; `^(8g@@@@B%^^  <@C                                                            
; `^<X8 8$8 (/^  `X                                                             
;^^~(^</X/(~^``   <                                                             
;^^^^^^.^^~^^    `                                                              
;^`^^^^^`.``     ^                                                              
;. `.^^`^^^^                                                                    
;.`````` ```     `                                                              
;%</B%C^`       `                                                               
;g$B$%:<^^.     <                                                               
;BBB$$088V<^    ^                                                               
;XX(</XVG%g~  ` `                                                               
;88G800XXVC^^^^^                                                                
;(X^```..^<~^(~                                                                 
;$08(^^^^^<(^/                                                                  
;~(<^^`^/0%3(                                                                   
;.:<<<<<B@@~                                                                    
;G/GCCBB@0/3(                                                                   
;00B0@@38V~@0$$g@%                                                              
;@@$B%gCX3^@@$@$0$@@03<                                                         
;$0BBB%G%^<@@@@@B0$$@@$GGgCG/                                                   
;C3CC3X<^^0@@@@@@B0BB@@@@00000G Use and disribute freely, at your own risk!     
;/(<<^^^^V@0$@$$@$B00$$$@@BB000 Please keep track of author when you distribute!
;<<~~~<<0@B@0$@BB@BB00@@@@@$B00_________________________________________________
;---
;++
;
; NAME:
;	FG_PREP_BATCH
;
; PURPOSE:
;       Wrapper routine for FG_PREP that can split long runs into multiple
;       threads
;
; CATEGORY:
;	Hinode/HINODE/SOT
;
;--
; CALLING SEQUENCE:
;
;       fg_prep_batch,files, index, data
;
;++
; INPUTS:
;       files: String array of input FITS files
;
;	
; KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
;       HELP = 1: Print short usage information
;            = 2: Print help information
;            = 3: Print full information
;
;	NUM_THREADS = Number of desired threads
;
;	/PROGRESS: show progress of all threads by displaying a slice data(*,ny/2,*)
;
;	LOGFILE = 1:      concatenate output of all threads into file "fg_prep_batch.log"
;		= <path>: concatenate output of all threads info file <path>
;
;	All other keywords are passed to fg_prep
;	
;
; OUTPUTS:
;       index: see FG_PREP
;       
;        data: see FG_PREP
;
;
; COMMON BLOCKS:
;       NONE
;
;+++
; SIDE EFFECTS:
;       NONE
;
; RESTRICTIONS:
;       NONE
;
; PROCEDURE:
;       opens multiple IDL_IDLBridge objects to run fg_prep in the background
;	each thread runs a command "fg_prep,files,-1,index,data" on a subset of input files
;	output of all threads is concatenated
;
;
; REQUIRES:
;       IDL version 6.3 and higher
;	a modified version of fg_prep and make_str in the same directory as routine itself
;---
;++
;
; MODIFICATION HISTORY:
; 	Written by:	Thomas Straus (straus@oacn.inaf.it), 30 Sep, 2009  -- version 0.1beta
;			TS, bugs (/log and /progress) corrected		   -- version 0.1a_beta
;			TS, 6 Oct, 2009: removed passing of compiled routines
;									   -- version 0.1b_beta
;--
;-