Target File Format


The Format

The format for target files submitted to the ClassX system is currently a little restrictive, but it will be loosened in the future to support other capabilities, such as sexagesimal coordinates.

The current file format is very simple - the file must be a text file, with one target listed per line. Each line must contain the right ascension and declination of the target, in that order, in decimal degrees. The right ascension may be optionally preceded by a target ID string. Fields must be separated by a delimiter string, which by default is one or more white space (spaces or tabs) characters. Leading and trailing white space are permitted on each line. The length of the ID string is arbitrary, but if it contains spaces, a non-whitespace delimiter must be specified. Target ID strings must be supplied for all targets, or none. If target ID strings are not provided, the ClassX pipeline will number targets sequentially in the order they were provided in the target list, beginning with 0.

Example

Below is an example of a valid target file, with no target ID strings provided:

0.0525 1.7725
0.1600 79.6769
0.1771 62.1761
0.3150 70.9265
0.3508 39.6133
0.4329 52.2128
0.7358 71.3686
0.7483 39.9621
1.1771 17.0729
1.2208 34.6596

These targets would be provided the numeric identifiers 0 through 9, since target ID strings were not provided.

Below is an example of a valid target file, with target ID strings provided:

SourceA 0.0525 1.7725
SourceB 0.1600 79.6769
SourceC 0.1771 62.1761
SourceD 0.3150 70.9265
SourceE 0.3508 39.6133
SourceF 0.4329 52.2128
SourceG 0.7358 71.3686
SourceH 0.7483 39.9621
SourceI 1.1771 17.0729
SourceJ 1.2208 34.6596

Below is an example of an invalid target file - the ID strings contain spaces, but no new delimiter was specified:

Source A 0.0525 1.7725
Source B 0.1600 79.6769
Source C 0.1771 62.1761
Source D 0.3150 70.9265
Source E 0.3508 39.6133
Source F 0.4329 52.2128
Source G 0.7358 71.3686
Source H 0.7483 39.9621
Source I 1.1771 17.0729
Source J 1.2208 34.6596

Below is an example of a valid target file - the ID strings contain spaces, but '|' was used as the delimiter:

Source A|0.0525|1.7725
Source B|0.1600|79.6769
Source C|0.1771|62.1761
Source D|0.3150|70.9265
Source E|0.3508|39.6133
Source F|0.4329|52.2128
Source G|0.7358|71.3686
Source H|0.7483|39.9621
Source I|1.1771|17.0729
Source J|1.2208|34.6596

Below is another example of an invalid target file - the ID strings are not uniformly provided:

SourceA 0.0525 1.7725
SourceB 0.1600 79.6769
0.1771 62.1761
0.3150 70.9265
SourceE 0.3508 39.6133
SourceF 0.4329 52.2128
SourceG 0.7358 71.3686
0.7483 39.9621
1.1771 17.0729
1.2208 34.6596

Date of last modification: Monday, December 01, 2003
Responsible NASA official: Tom McGlynn

Curator: Eric Winter