The P roposal ED itor ("PED") is a graphical editor meant to be used for writing and modifying Phase II proposals ( .prop files); it is included in the Cycle 8 RPS2 software installation package. Users, both new and old, will find preparing their proposal much easier when using this editor instead of a regular text editor. Instead of typing into an ASCII text file, PED allows you to enter data quickly and easily with specially designed forms and tables, and you get immediate syntax checking and feedback on illegal entries.
To use PED, you must have a terminal or workstation that supports XWindows.
A new Phase II proposal can be created with PED, and existing proposals can be revised with PED. When proposals are saved in this editor, a new .prop file is written to your directory.
PED uses the same syntax checking software as the RPS2 Preprocessor (PP); it checks for the legality of all entries you make, such as spectral elements, apertures, special requirements, and so on. Because there are so many rules and possible combinations, sometimes PED can take a few seconds to react to an entry.
If you do not use PED to edit your proposal, the PP must generate the necessary intermediate files used by other subsystems when you process your proposal.
There are a few, relatively minor changes in Proposal Editor for this cycle.
PED does not have the following (though desired) features for Cycle 8:
PED works best when all proposal editing is done with it because the editor has much greater control over the entries you make. However, as mentioned in the previous section, there are several instances when it might be useful to switch to another editor temporarily.
As with all editors, caution must be exercised if you have more than one editor open on a file at one time. If changes are made in one editor, they do not automatically appear in the other. Furthermore, saving the wrong version can lead to lost data if a file is overwritten. It is strongly recommended, therefore, that you save your proposal in PED and exit PED completely before changing to another editor (It is not necessary to exit RPS2).
After using a regular text editor, you can read the proposal back into PED by choosing " Edit " from the RPS2 User Interface, assuming RPS2 is configured to use PED as your default editor (see Changing the Default Editor), or by typing rps2-ped at the unix prompt (include the full path name if necessary). If you have made any typing errors outside of PED, PED may not be able to understand what you have entered:
To open PED from RPS2, click on the " Edit " button on the RPS2 User Interface after selecting a proposal file.
If this is the very first time you are editing a proposal through this version of RPS2, you will be prompted to select an editor: PED or your default editor (e.g., emacs or vi). You can always switch editors later by choosing the " Configure Editor " option under the RPS2 " Configure " button.
If you do not have RPS2 open, you can still run PED by typing <path of installation>rps2-ped & at the unix prompt.
The PED User Interface has a similar appearance as the RPS2 User Interface. By default, the proposal you select in RPS2 is selected for editing in PED. Therefore, PED will immediately perform syntax checking on that proposal and provide a dialog box of any existing syntax diagnostics. This may take a minute or so to complete.
PED also will create a backup file ( #.prop-ped_backup ) before you can make any changes to the proposal.
The following buttons appear across the top of the PED user interface:
Except for " File ", each of the top row buttons corresponds to a unique section of the Phase II proposal file. Therefore, clicking on one of those last 5 buttons will bring up a particular editor screen where the user can enter or modify data. A description of each button is given in the following sections: File Menu, General Information Page, Targets List, Visits List, Data Distribution Page and Scan Data Page.
The following buttons appear at the bottom of the PED user interface:
The various PED screens are all structured similarly. The following information and tips will be relevant to most of the PED screens.
1. Data can be typed directly into the highlighted entry boxes ( blue on most systems). To enter data, position the mouse in the box and click once. A blinking cursor will appear. At this time, it is not possible to move between entry boxes using the Return or Tab keys; you must reposition the mouse and click once. If an entry box is darkened ( grey on most systems), it means that it is not legal to enter data there due to other options or configurations you have chosen.
2. Any box that turns slightly darker when you position the mouse pointer over it can be clicked on to make a selection or bring up another list or data entry box.
3. Some entry screens contain " sliders ." To enter data, you can either type directly into the entry box or move the slider. To move the slider, place the mouse over the slider button and click and drag it in the desired direction.
4. Many screens contain lists of certain items. As an example, the Visit List is illustrated below:
To add a new <item>, click the " New <item> " button below the list.
To renumber the <items>, click the " Renumber <item> " button below the list.
To edit an existing <item>, position the mouse over the appropriate <item>. The line will become highlighted. Click the left mouse button, and a pull-down menu will appear. Choose "Edit <item>". Alternatively, you can just double click on the item to edit it.
To copy an <item>, position the mouse over the appropriate <item>. The line will become highlighted. Click the left mouse button and choose "Copy <item> from the pull-down menu.
To delete an <item>, position the mouse over the <item> and click the left mouse button. Choose "Delete <item>" from the pull-down menu.
5. Most of the entry screens contain two boxes: " Done " and " Check <item> ", where " <item> " may be flux, optional parameter, target, exposure, visit, proposal, etc. Click on " Done " if you are finished entering data and want to close the screen without performing an immediate syntax check. Otherwise, choose " Check <item> " to perform a syntax check on the data in that screen. In this way, you choose whether to check entries in individual screens as you go (e.g, flux data, exposure) or check a whole target or visit at once. If problems are found, a new window will pop up with diagnostic messages.
6. Just as with RPS2 diagnostics, the messages are generally short, but longer explanations are available by clicking on the message of interest.
7. Much of the exposure-level data (e.g., instrument configuration, operating mode) is entered by selecting items from pop-up menus. These menus list both the available and unavailable options, as detailed in the Phase II Proposal Instructions . You can click on any of the available options (on the left side of the menu) to add them to your proposal. If you click on any of the unavailable options (on the grey , right side of the menu), text will appear at the bottom of the screen explaining why that option is not available.
This button contains a pop-down menu (obtained by clicking on the button) of the following options:
In this screen, you can enter/edit the following portions of your template:
For GOs, this information will be already filled in from the Phase I proposal. However, GOs should review the text sections and update them as necessary.
In this screen, you can enter a new target, modify, renumber or delete an existing target(s), and check the syntax for all targets. All your targets are listed here. See item 4 in Information Regarding All PED screens for information on how to edit the Target List.
When adding a " New Target ", a menu will appear. Chose one of the following:
The appropriate Target Editor page (shown below) then will appear. When you add a new target, a default target name will be entered automatically. Be sure to change that default name to the proper target name.
This screen contains the existing visit(s), the target(s) used in each visit, and any visit-level special requirements. From this list, you can create a new visit, modify, renumber or delete existing visits, and check the syntax for all visits. See item 4 in Information Regarding All PED screens for information on how to edit the Visit List.
When you add or modify a visit, the PED Visit Editor is brought up on your screen (see next section).
This page lists visit-level special requirements and the individual exposures contained in the visit. You can add, delete or edit the special requirements or exposures. You can also renumber the exposures. Refer to item 4 in Information Regarding All PED screens for information on how to edit these lists. From this page, you can also copy or delete one or more exposures in the current visit. This page also contains areas to enter visit-level comments and "On Hold" comments.
When you add or modify an exposure, the PED Exposure Editor is brought up on your screen (see next section).
On this page, you enter all the exposure-level data such as Science Instrument, configuration, aperture, etc. This page also lists the exposure-level optional parameters and special requirements. See item 4 in Information Regarding All PED screensfor information on how to edit these lists. Each exposure has its own Exposure Editor page.
From this page you can also add, modify, or delete an exposure's optional parameters and comments.
On the data distribution screen, you can enter the following information:
Click on the boxes to make your selections. To check your entries, click on " Check Data Distribution ." To close the screen, click on " Done ."
From this screen, you can add a new Scan (Dwell or Continuous), modify, renumber or delete existing Scans, and check the syntax for all Scans. Once you have Scans entered, they will all be listed on this screen. See item 4 in Information Regarding All PED screens for information on how to edit the Scan Data List. Note that FGS Scans have been eliminated.
On-line help is available via the " Help " button on the RPS2 User Interface, and on the Visit Editor, Exposure Editor, and Data Distribution pages. Clicking on this button will open a World Wide Web client which will open the RPS2 Help Page at STScI. From this page, you can find up-to-date information and advisories about PED and RPS2.
If you need additional assistance, contact your Program Coordinator (see the Program Information page) at any time.
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This button brings up this PED General Proposal Information page.
This button brings up the Targets List Page
This button brings up the PED Visit List.
This button brings up the PED Data Distribution editor.
This button brings up the Scan Data List Page.