<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN"> <!--Converted with LaTeX2HTML 98.1p1 release (March 2nd, 1998) originally by Nikos Drakos (nikos@cbl.leeds.ac.uk), CBLU, University of Leeds * revised and updated by: Marcus Hennecke, Ross Moore, Herb Swan * with significant contributions from: Jens Lippmann, Marek Rouchal, Martin Wilck and others --> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Introduction</TITLE> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="Introduction"> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="vol2"> <META NAME="resource-type" CONTENT="document"> <META NAME="distribution" CONTENT="global"> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <LINK REL="STYLESHEET" HREF="vol2.css"> <LINK REL="next" HREF="node373.html"> <LINK REL="previous" HREF="node371.html"> <LINK REL="up" HREF="node371.html"> <LINK REL="next" HREF="node373.html"> </HEAD> <BODY > <!--Navigation Panel--> <A NAME="tex2html6093" HREF="node373.html"> <IMG WIDTH="37" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="next" SRC="icons.gif/next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html6090" HREF="node371.html"> <IMG WIDTH="26" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="up" SRC="icons.gif/up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html6084" HREF="node371.html"> <IMG WIDTH="63" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="previous" SRC="icons.gif/previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html6092" HREF="node1.html"> <IMG WIDTH="65" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="contents" SRC="icons.gif/contents_motif.gif"></A> <BR> <B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html6094" HREF="node373.html">Overview of the Data</A> <B> Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html6091" HREF="node371.html">The Data Organizer</A> <B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html6085" HREF="node371.html">The Data Organizer</A> <BR> <BR> <!--End of Navigation Panel--> <H1><A NAME="SECTION002210000000000000000"> Introduction</A> </H1> <P> Before being able to actually reduce and analyse a new set of observations, the observer has to prepare, sort out and arrange the data. That is, for instance, make a first quality check, classify data according to a set of rules and associate with each science frame a set of relevant calibration frames . This task can be cumbersome because of the complexity of the instruments and the large number and the diversity of the data files they produce. For instance, the EMMI instrument mounted on the New Technology Telescope allows a wide range of observing modes from wide-field imaging to high-dispersion spectroscopy, including long-slit, multiple-object spectroscopy and a dichroic mode where spectra are taken simultaneously in the blue and in the red arm of the instrument. The FITS files that are produced contain more than 50 different keywords, and making sense of this information without a proper tool may be very difficult. <P> The Data Organizer is built entirely on existing capabilities of the MIDAS Table File System. Therefore the astronomer does not have to learn any new computer jargon, change environments, or convert data formats. The output files created by the Data Organizer are MIDAS Tables and can therefore be used by any reduction package. <P> The concept of a Data Organizer tool is new and this first implementation may be subject to revisions as experience with processing of large amounts of data is obtained. <P> <HR> <!--Navigation Panel--> <A NAME="tex2html6093" HREF="node373.html"> <IMG WIDTH="37" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="next" SRC="icons.gif/next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html6090" HREF="node371.html"> <IMG WIDTH="26" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="up" SRC="icons.gif/up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html6084" HREF="node371.html"> <IMG WIDTH="63" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="previous" SRC="icons.gif/previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html6092" HREF="node1.html"> <IMG WIDTH="65" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="contents" SRC="icons.gif/contents_motif.gif"></A> <BR> <B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html6094" HREF="node373.html">Overview of the Data</A> <B> Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html6091" HREF="node371.html">The Data Organizer</A> <B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html6085" HREF="node371.html">The Data Organizer</A> <!--End of Navigation Panel--> <ADDRESS> <I>Petra Nass</I> <BR><I>1999-06-15</I> </ADDRESS> </BODY> </HTML>
