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RPS Processor Internal File Descriptions

* 'project'.paf (paf: Project Address File)

This file contains the e-mail address of the account(s) that receive the electronically submitted proposals. This file is required for all projects. If more than one e-mail address is specified, they should all appear on the same line, separated by spaces.

* 'project'.phf (phf: Project Help File)

This file contains mission specific help for each field on the proposal form. It is recommended that this file contain information as to which fields are required and maximum lengths for string fields. This file is required for all projects.

* 'project'.plf (plf: Project LaTeX File)

This is project LaTeX template. This file specifies the layout of the forms. This file is required for all projects. The RPS processor substitutes the user-supplied values for the appropriate variables in the LaTeX template. All variables are prefixed with !. These variable names must match the variable names specified in the .pdf's.

* 'project'_*.pdf (pdf: Project Description File)

Each mission must have at least the cover.pdf file. All .pdf files follow the same format and include information on the fields that appear on the proposal forms. Each line in the .pdf describes a separate field. For each field, the following must be defined:
  • hidden display flag - specifies if this field is filled in by the user or calculated by the RPS processor
  • required flag - specifies if a value must be entered by the user in the field (ie: Proposal Title) or if it is an optional field that the user may leave blank (ie: fax number)
  • field name - internal variable name for this field
  • display field name - field name that is displayed to the user
  • data type - 1=string, 2=short integer, 3=long integer, 4=float, 5=double
  • length of data - number of characters for strings, and number of digits for numeric fields
  • number of elements - 1=atomic, #=group or array
  • unit - unit for this field (ie: ksec). This column may be blank.
  • data format - similar to FORTRAN formats. A string of 200 characters would be A200, a four digit integer would be I4, etc.
  • default value - if there is a default value, it should be specified, otherwise this column should be blank.

* 'project'_cover.pdf

This is the cover form project descriptor file. This file is required for all projects. It contains a description of every field that appears on the cover and general forms. These forms generally contain the proposer's mailing address, the proposal title, the abstract, and Co-Investigator information.

* 'project'_target.pdf

This is the target form descriptor file. It is not required. It contains a description of every field that appears on the target forms. Proposals may have 0, 1, or multiple targets.

* 'project'_budget.pdf

This is the budget form descriptor file. It is not required. It contains budgetary information such as salaries, travel, and publication expenses.

* 'project'.pcf (pcf: Project Constraints File)

This is the project constraints file. It is not required. Any constraints on values are specified in this file. Constraints may fall into one of four categories: value, range, logical AND, and logical OR.
RPS Development Team: RPS Help Desk
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