[vsnet-announce 18] VSNET report formatting tools

[Taichi Kato <tkato>]

VSNET report formatting tools

Dear all,

    For those who have difficulties in formatting reports to VSNET,
or are searching for a quick formatting tool, please try the following
DOS tool.

    The programs, executables and document are placed under:

    ftp://ftp.kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp/pub/vsnet/others/prog/DOS/

    for more specific URLs, try

    ftp://ftp.kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp/pub/vsnet/others/prog/DOS/pp1vs.exe
    ftp://ftp.kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp/pub/vsnet/others/prog/DOS/utrep.exe
    ftp://ftp.kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp/pub/vsnet/others/prog/DOS/vpre.exe
    ftp://ftp.kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp/pub/vsnet/others/prog/DOS/vpost.exe

    [The programs were originally placed in 1996, now replaced by
the Y2K-compliant version].

Manuals for reporting programs (pp1vs, utrep, vpre and vpost)
-------------------------------------------------------------

   The programs pp1vs and utrep are designed to make easy inputting and
reporting variable star observations.  The present executables work on
DOS environments, but we hope the source codes in C will be portable
to other environments after minimum rewriting.

                   ---  1. Before Execution  ---

   Before execution, first set two environmental variables: VSTZ and VSORG.

   The variable VSTZ defines the time zone (in hours) of your location,
which is used to convert your local time to the universal time (UT).
If you are using UT in recording observations, set VSTZ=0.

   The setting may be like:

   set VSTZ=9.0     (e.g. Japanese Standard Time)

   The variable VSORG defines the organization name like AAVSO, BAA etc.,
which is reflected to the report.  This setting may be skipped.

   It would be convenient to make these settings in autoexec.bat.


                    ---  2. Extering Data  ---

   In this syetem, you can use your familiar editor in entering the data.
The data file may be like:

#O Kat
#D 20010129

2340LEOR 70
2500LEOT <131
2500COMAL <135

   The line #O Kat defines the observer's code (sorry only traditional
3-letter code is supported).  The line #D defines the date of observation.
The following lines might be self-explanatory: 2340LEOR 60 means "R Leo was
observed at magnitude 6.0 at 23h 40m local time."  Note there should be _NO_
space characters between the time and the object name.  Take a space between
the object name and magnitude.

   The name of the object is composed of the 3-letter constelattion code
in _upper_ cases and the variable name.  CETomicron for Mira, PERbeta for
Algol, PUPnova2000, etc.

   The local time tends to pass 0h during observations.  In this system,
use 24h, 25h ... etc. instead of counting a day.


                    ---  3. Making reports  ---

   Once you have entered the data (assuming 'test.dat' for its file name),
you have only to enter:

   pp1vs <test.dat | utrep >test.rep

   You will obtain a reporting form named test.rep, which, we hope, can be
posted to vsnet-obs without serious modification.  If errors are reported,
revise the corresponding line and try again.

   If you have sort.exe (or other equivalent sorting program), you can
obtain a more regularly aligned report:

   pp1vs <test.dat | sort | utrep >test.rep

   The output files of pp1vs (pp1vs <test.dat >output) and utrep are
designed so that they can be easily converted to other reporting formats,
such as AAVSO reports.

   You will obtain a report in the order of GCVS designation by inserting
encoder/decoder programs (vpre.exe and vpost.exe) like this:

   pp1vs <test.dat | vpre | sort | vpost | utrep >test.rep


                   ---  4. Entering more easily  ---

   Actually, pp1vs allow several short-cuts: 1) A sequence of the same
constellation name can be replaced by one space.  2) A sequence of the
same hour can be replaced by one space.  By these rules, the example in
Chapter 2 may be written as follows:

#O Kat
#D 20010129

2440LEOR 70
 00 T <131
2500COMAL <135

   For VERY expreienced observers, pp1vs provides a further short-cut:
When the times of observations are omitted, they will be complemented
by interpolation.

2400LEOR 70
 X <135
 T <131
2403 RZ <135

   will be interpreted as

2400LEOR 70
 01 X <135
 02 T <131
2403 RZ <135

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Enjoy observing, and reporting!

   There programs can be freely copied and distributed.

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