Observer Target List

This app is a simple interface for sending science targets to the TCS:

The list is loaded into the app via a text file and displayed in a table. The format for the text file is:
"Vega - Alpha Lyrae" 18 36 56.336 +38 47 01.28 2000 200.94 286.23 0.03

• name (surrounded in double quotes)
• Right Ascension (h:int, m:int, s:int or float)
• Declination (d:int, m:int: s:int or float) - plus sign is optional for the degrees
• equinox
• Proper Motion in RA (mas/yr)
• Proper Motion in Dec (mas/yr)
• Magnitude

The fields should all be separated by at least one space. The columns do not have to line up and all fields are mandatory. Magnitude is included in case the observer wishes to sort the table based on brightness. It is not used by the TCS.

The table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers. First click will do an ascending sort. Second click will do a descending sort and third click will revert to original order.

The Menu Bar contains several items but the main item is File --> Open Target List:

Open Target List will open a standard dialog box for selecting the input file. The default extension for the input file is *.tls and all other types are greyed out. The input file has to be a standard ASCII text file but it can have any extension (or none at all). Binary file will not be read correctly.

The open file dialog box allows selection of other file extensions via a drop down menu. The user can choose "All Files (.)" from the file type drop down menu and that allows selection of any file in the directory. They files other than *.tls would still be grey but they can be selected and loaded into the app:

Multiple input files can be used during one session and each file would be loaded into a separate tab.

The process of sending the target to the TCS is a 2 step process. First a target is selected from the table. The data is loaded into the upper view for a final check by the observer. It can be sent to the TCS as a science target by pressing the button.