NRAO AIPS++ Users Group Meeting - PRELIMINARY AGENDA

Date: 2003-10-22 (Wednesday)
Time: 1300 MDT
Video Hub: CV-conf
Rooms: SOC317/CV311/GB241/TUCN505

AIPS++ Threat Level is: Yellow = Elevated
  [Face it - we live in a culture of fear.]

Agenda:

1. NAUG News

   o SS2 has been further delayed due to some problems in calibrater.
     It should be available this week.

   o Joe and the team will provide example scripts for the
     new functionality to be tested.  These will appear on a new
     testing page.

2. AIPS++/ISD Status Report

   o Bug fixing and documentation contines as SS2 is still being built.
     Check-in's for SS3 development will commence as soon as the stable
     is blessed.

   o We have been discussing how we want to deal with distribution in the 
     near future (we no longer provide CD releases of AIPS++, and
     and our ISO image is out of date as a basis for aupdate).  We are
     investigating options such as supplying .rpm files.

   o Discussions have continued with the former consortium partners ATNF
     and NFRA regarding mutual development of AIPS++.  Joe met with some
     of the developers at ADASS, and it appears there is willingness to
     move forward with an informal partnership (without an MOU).

3. ALMA

   o The current plan is still that the NAUG should have exercised most 
     if not all of the testables by that time using the SS3 (01Dec03) stable.
     Debra has compiled a user test definition for Jan 2004 testing.  It
     consists of four datasets and four NAUG testers (Shepherd, Myers,
     Zavala, and Brisken) and four ALMA testers.  See:

   http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~dshepher/alma/offline.tests/Jan04.TestPlan.26sep04

     for details.  Debra will be providing an updated "IRAM with AIPS++"
     cookbook by the end of November (for the use of those trying out 
     IRAM datasets).  These tests will use general AIPS++ functionality 
     (ie. not in the iramcalibrater module) wherever possible.

4. EVLA

   o The EVLA Post-processing requirements document was completed, and
     an audit is the next order of business.  It is not clear what the
     timescale for this should be.

     *Action Item: STM should clean up and finish the VLA Audit we did
      earlier this year.

   o John Hibbard and Ed Fomalont have agreed to take charge of testing the
     (E)VLA HI line and L-band continuum datasets, which will parallel the
     ALMA testing.

5. Main Event - Presentations and Discussion Items

   o Nothing scheduled, but we will get Joe (and anyone else who was there)
     to recap any related highlights from ADASS.

   o Upcoming discussion items:

     - Visualization (Brisken, 12Nov?)

6. AIPS++ Developments - see latest targets and info at Project Office:
     http://projectoffice.aips2.nrao.edu/

     NOTE -- these are the same as last meeting.

   o Specific development items (for SS2 build 19.156):

     *Performance: I/O improvements implemented.  See

      http://aips2.nrao.edu/projectoffice/imager.ps

      STATUS: NAUG test ready.

     *Performance: calibrater improvements implemented. See

      http://aips2.nrao.edu/projectoffice/calibrater.pdf

      STATUS: NAUG test ready.

     *Infrastructure: MS split capability. See

      http://projectoffice.aips2.nrao.edu/split.html

      STATUS: developer testing.

     *Calibration: correction for specified zenith opacity is available in
      the calibrater.setapply function using the 'TOPAC' type and opacity
      argument. See the calibrater documentation for calibrater.setapply in 
      the daily URM doc tree:

      http://aips2.nrao.edu/daily/docs/user/Refman/Refman.html

      STATUS: developer testing.

     *Calibration: iramcalibrater functionality is now mostly integrated 
      into calibrater.  There are calibrater.setsolvegainspline and 
      calibrater.setsolvepoly functions, and 'BPOLY' and 'GSPLINE' types
      in calibrater.setapply.  See the calibrater documentation for calibrater
      in the daily URM doc tree:

      http://aips2.nrao.edu/daily/docs/user/Refman/Refman.html

      STATUS: developer testing.

     *Viewer - Dave King has added blinking and slicing functionality to
      the viewer.  There is some documentation under 'Graphical User
      Interface' under the viewerdisplaypanel in the URM (see daily docs)

      http://aips2.nrao.edu/daily/docs/user/Refman/Refman.html

      and a more comprehensive description in the Volume 1 - Basic Tools
      section of Getting Results 
      
      http://aips2.nrao.edu/daily/docs/cookbook/cbvol1/cbvol1.html

      under 3. Display of Data (e.g. 3.10.2 Blinking Between Images).

      STATUS: developer testing.

     *Viewer:  parameters added to cursor readout.  See viewer documentation in

      http://aips2.nrao.edu/daily/docs/user/Refman/Refman.html

      STATUS: developer testing.

   Comments on any of these are welcome.

7. Upcoming meetings and deadlines:
   o 2003 Nov 14-15      ALMA SSR face-to-face (Socorro, NM)
   o 2003 Dec 1          AIPS++ SS3
   o 2004 Jan 15         AIPS++ SS4
   o 2004 Jan 15         ALMA User Testing begins?
   o 2004 Apr 1          ALMA Release 1.1
   o 2004 Jun 1          ALMA CDR2 = Judgement Day!

   The agendas for past NAUG meetings are archived at:
   http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~smyers/aips++/agenda/

   The minutes for past NAUG meetings are archived at:
   http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~smyers/aips++/minutes/