EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY

La Silla Observatory

SCIENCE OPERATION DEPARTMENT

Action/project::
nttexec handover:User's requests

LSO-XXX-ESO-9XXXX-X/X.0

SciOp Internal Use Only
DRAFT

Prepared	E. Pompei	2005-12-01
Reviewed	XXX XXX	2005-12-?
Released	Michael Sterzik	2005-12-?

Revision History

0.1	2005-12-01 first draft, epompei

Content

1.- Introduction
- 1.1- Purpose and Scope
- 1.2- Stylistic Conventions
- 1.3- Acronyms and Definitions
- 1.4- Documents and References
2.- SECTION

1.- INTRODUCTION

NTT was the test bench for the development of VLT; as such most of the functions now routinely implemented in VLT software were not available at the time of the start of the operations of NTT in 1989 and later in 1993, after the "big-bang". To ease this problem, a series of scripts, internally known as "Oli-scripts" were written by O. Hainaut; these added an user-friendly interface to many functions of the telescope control software, like interactively offsetting the telescope along a chosen direction, manually selecting a guide star different from the one selected by the catalog and the like.
All these scripts were collected in a cmm module named "nttexec", under the control of NTT team first, and La Silla Science Operation later. The drawback of this module was that, being non VLT-standard, it required significant intervention after each VLT sofware upgrade and each time some part of the hardware was changed.
As now the VLT software has reached a very good level of functionality, and there is a request from software team to put under configuration control by SOF team all the scripts which are considered critical for operation, it has been decided to split the nttexec module. All the scripts which are not operation critical will be maintained by La Silla Science Operations, and incorporated in a dedicated module, whose name will be included in the nttops list, while those labelled operation critical will be handed over to software team.
This document list which scripts will go where, their priorities and the Users's request for the hand-over.

Document Nr: TBD

Version control etc:

1.2- STYLISTIC CONVENTION

In this document, "he" and "his" refer to the position described. In practice, these position can be occupied by people of any known or unknown gender. So, this note replaces all the she/her.

1.3- ACRONYMS AND DEFINITIONS

SciOp: La Silla Science Operation Department
LED: La Silla Engineering Department

NTT: New Technology Telescope
OpA: Operation Astronomer
TIO: Telescope and Instrument Operator
SOF: software team
APEX: Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment

1.4- DOCUMENTS AND REFERENCES

TBD

2.- nttexec splitting and priorities

The module has been divided in 3 parts and for each of them priorities in order of decreasing importance from I to III have been assigned to the scripts, when applicable:

nttexec scripts to be handed over to software team: these scripts and their priorities are:


src directory
Name of the script	Priority	Notes

nttexecM1Forces.tcl	I	not sure if it works after VLT2006 upgrade, to be tested in technical nights
nttexecOffsets.tcl	I	at the moment it has problems due to the new orientation of the NGTCCDs
nttexecPointGui.tcl	I	at the moment it has problems due to the new orientation of the NGTCCDs
nttexecAoFocus.tcl	I	ok, works after the upgrade
stella.tcl	I	DIFFICULT AND LONG, might become a project
stella_off	I	as above
nttexecHttpGet.c	I	part of the stella software
nttexecFocus.tcl	I
seeing.c	I
nttexecNewRotAlarm.pan	II	modified by E. Barrios after the VLT2006 upgrade
nttexecNewRotAlarm.pan.bck	II
nttexecRotAlarm.tcl	II
nttexecPosAngle.tcl	II
nttM1SetAber	II
nttexecAlarm	II
nttexecAlarm.exe	II
nttexecTimeDisplay.pan	III	to be checked
nttexecDigitalTutankhamun.tcl	III
nttexecEmmiStatus.tk
tstMakeFile		not really sure if it belongs here.


config directory
Name of the script	Priority	Notes

nttexecAoFocus.hlp	I
nttexecM1Forces.hlp	I
nttexecOffset.hlp	I
nttexecPointGui.hlp	I
stella.hlp	I
nttexecRotAlarm.hlp	II

nttexec scripts to be kept by SciOps and moved to a new module::

src directory
Name of the script	Prority	Notes

ws_cleanup	I	used each day on all INS WS
nttexecSendMidasPCO	I
nttReboot.sh	I	obsolete for NTT, NOT obsolete for EMMI and SUSI2
nttexecInstall	I	needed during the transition period with modifications
nttexecHelp.tcl	I
nttexecMoveStarOnSlit.tcl	I	WILL BECOME AN EMMI TEMPLATE
nttexecMoveStarOnSlit_LONG.tcl	I	as above
nttexecDiskMonit.tcl
nttopsInstallMidwork.sh
nttexecInstall		needs to be re-written
RestoreID	III	restore original WFI filenames (unknown why it's on NTT though..)
disk2tape	III	old 2.2 team script to write tapes
tape2disk	III	old 2.2 team script to read tapes
tapeSpace
fitslist	I	this will be DROPPED when NightLog v.2 is accepted by SciOps in La Silla (Jan 2006)
fitslist.README
fitslistCD.f
fitslistSO/fitslistSO.f
fitslist_cdOutput.inc
fitslist_dicDef.inc
fitslist_dicSet.inc
fitslist_exe.f
fitslist_header.f
fitslist_header_TIMMI.f		again, not really clear why this lives on the NTT
fitslist_stdOutput.inc
replace

config directory
Name of the script	Prority	Notes

fitslist.config
fitslist_header.DEFAULT.config
fitslist_header.NTT.config
fitslist_header.TIMMI.config		again, not clear why this is on NTT
moveStarOnSlit.hlp		useful for the template writing
midas_proc.dat

midas_proc directory

ALL OF IT

Obsolete scripts (not to be archived or maintained any longer):

src directory
Name of the script	Prority	Notes

nttexecAllInstall
nttexecSofiRTD
wemmi-backup
wemmi-backup-generic
wemmi-backup-xcopy
wsofi-backup
wsofi_backup-xcopy
woffMonitor
ws_backup
dfsCheckAll
nttexecCleanDupFlag
nttexecCmmArchive
nttexecCmmModify
nttexecCountFiles		dfits+fitsort now available
nttexecDfsCheckAll.tcl
nttexecDoorSide.tcl
printlog
corrfitsAmbient
corrfitsGeneric
corrfitsIraf
runCorrfits
RtapShutdownForce
nttInstallRebootSomeLCUs
nttM4.tcl
nttopsInstallStdcal.sh		not clear why it's in nttexec module

config directory
Name of the script	Prority	Notes

corrfitsAmbient.ht
corrfitsIraf.ht
nttexecDfsCheckAll.hlp

3.- nttexec splitting: Actions and requirements

We request the "nttexec" module to be split according to the distribution in Section 2; SOF team will take over the scripts considered operation critical, while the SciOps members responsible for modifying and improving the nttops module will follow-up the integration of the new scripts in a dedicated module, whose name will be incorporated in the nttops list.

.
This hand-over must follow few basic requirements, which are taken as Users's requirements:

The operation critical modules must always be operational. To ensure this, during the transition period SOF+SciOps will take care to have the existing scripts in working conditions. Those listed with problems will be tested again during the incoming technical nights in December 14-16 at the NTT
The transition must be transparent to the users. The functions performed by the scripts must be kept as the current state or improved, with no problem for the users (SciOps members)
It is not requested to SOF team to maintain the actual structure of the operation critical scripts, nor their language. As long as the functionality of the script is preserved, they can be incorporated in the TCS panels or other VLT standard software tools.
The new implementation must be forward compatible: it is highly desirable to avoid loss of control or loss of functionality when there is any hardware or software upgrade, as it has been the case for VLT2006+NGTCCD upgrades
The re-distribution and implementation of the scripts in a different way must be documented, in such a way that any user will be able to get familiar with the new "look-and feel" of the telescope and that any future software or hardware upgrade will not be in the dark.
For the more difficult "Stella" package, a small project can be considered, with an eventual evolution from Stella to the standard VLT guiding interface, as it is now implemented in Paranal.

4.- Distribution list

--oOo--