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ASCACALDB Exploder FAQ (Periodic Posting)

To: ascacaldb@ascasrv.gsfc.nasa.gov
Subject: ASCACALDB Exploder FAQ (Periodic Posting)
From: "IAN M GEORGE, MAIL CODE 660.2, NASA/GSFC, USA" <GEORGE@LHEAVX.GSFC.NASA.GOV>
Date: Tue, 2 Apr 1996 21:38:51 -0500 (EST)
CC: GEORGE@LHEAVX.GSFC.NASA.GOV

        The ASCACALDB Exploder - Frequently Asked Questions
	---------------------------------------------------

This is a periodic posting of the FAQs regarding the above exploder.

_____________________________MAIN INDEX___________________________________
1) The Intent of this Exploder
    	a) What is the ASCACALDB Exploder intended/used for ?
    	b) What is it's relationship with other ASCA-related Exploders ?
2) The Membership of this Exploder
    	a) Who is allowed to be a recipient ?
    	b) Who can post messages ?
    	c) Who are the other recipients ?
    	d) Should/can I subscribe ?
	e) How do I subscribe ?
    	f) How do I get off this exploder ?!
3) The Traffic on this Exploder
    	a) What are the messages about ?
    	b) How often/many messages are posted ?
    	c) How Reliable/Informative are they ?
    	d) On whose Authority are they posted ?
4) Other Sources of Information
    	a) Archival exploder messages on the WWW
    	b) Information regarding the HEASARC CALDB
    	c) Information regarding the ASCA GOF at NASA/GSFC
    	d) Related (CALDB) exploders

______________________THE INTENT OF THIS EXPLODER__________________________

1a) What is the ASCACALDB Exploder intended/used for ?
------------------------------------------------------
.. The ASCACALDB exploder is primarily intended to distribute information 
regarding calibration files/software to "managers" of Calibration Databases
(CALDBs) other than at the HEASARC (aka OGIP) at NASA/GSFC. 
.. This information consists of:
    - updates/instructions regarding maintenence of a CALDB
    - updates &amp; big fixes the the CALDB access software
    - new ASCA files added to the HEASARC CALDB.
    - discoveries/rumours of corrupt/incorrect ASCA files in the HEASARC CALDB
.. "Managers" of CALDBs are free to pass the information onto their 
user community as they see fit.

1b) What is it's relationship with other ASCA-related Exploders ?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
.. The information posted on the ASCACALDB exploder IS NOT intended 
to replace the information distributed by the ASCA project or GOF. As
such it should not be necessary for all Principal Investigators and
Co-Investigators to subscribe to the ASCACALDB exploder. Information that
all PIs/Co-Is need to be informed of will be officially distributed by the 
ASCA project/GOF via the appropriate means.

____________________THE MEMBERSHIP OF THIS EXPLODER_________________________

2a) Who is allowed to be a recipient ?
--------------------------------------
.. This exploder is open to all
.. However, to repeat 1a) &amp; 1b), it is primarily intended for "managers" of 
CALDBs are remote sites. Thus, potential subscribers may be querried as to 
whether they fully understand the intent to the exploder (empasizing that
the primary source of calibration information for the general GO/Co-I is 
the project/GOF).
.. Subscribers who 'abuse' the system may be removed.
(Those of you who recieve this message via e-mail are already subscribers)

2b) Who can post messages ?
---------------------------
.. Only HEASARC Calibration Database (Caldb) personel are currently allowed 
to post messages to the ASCACALDB exploder. This is primarily to keep 
the traffic on the exploder to a reasonable minimum of "official CALDB"
postings, and to channel questions directly to the most appropriate 
people.
.. General question/comments regarding 
 - the contents/software of the HEASARC Caldb should be addressed to:
	Caldb Help desk <caldbhelp@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov>
 - the ASCA mission, the onboard instruments, and the extraction/analysis 
   of data therefrom should be addressed to:
	ASCA Help Desk <ascahelp@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov>

2c) Who are the other recipients ?
----------------------------------
.. The current list of non-concealed subscribers can be obtained my sending
e-mail to:
	listserv@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov
with the main text (NOT the subject) of the message containing 
	recipients ascacaldb 
.. The reply should consist of a list of non-concealed subscribers.

2d) Should/can I subscribe ?
----------------------------
(Those of you who recieve this message via e-mail are already subscribers)

.. You *should* subscribe if you are responsible for setting up and 
maintaining a copy of the HEASARC CALDB for ASCA are your site. If this is 
the case, then you will be what the HEASARC refers to as a "remote CALDB 
manager".

.. You may *wish* to subscribe if you are a PI/Co-I working on ASCA data
using HEASARC-supplied FTOOLS/XSELECT, and feel you want to keep up-to-date 
of new calibration files/software available from the HEASARC. 
HOWEVER, before subscribing consider the following:
   - all significant information will in any case be "officially" 
       distributed to all PI/Co-Is by the project/GOF, 
   - your mail box may be cluttered with irrelevant/boring messages
   - all significant posts on this exploder are flaged on the HEASARC
       CALDB's "Whats New" page on the WWW; URL:
         http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/caldb/caldb_wotsnew.html
   - there is an archive of all the traffic on this exploder available
       online via the WWW; URL:
         http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/listserv/ascacaldb/maillist.html

2e) How do I subscribe ?
------------------------
(Those of you who recieve this message via e-mail are already subscribers)

.. If you indeed decide that you wish to subscribe to the ASCA CALDB 
exploder, simply e-mail:
	listserv@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov
with the main text (NOT the subject) of the message containing 
	subscribe ascacaldb {your name}
where {your name} is your real name (eg: A.Einstein). 

.. Help on other features of the listserv software (some of which can be 
applied to the ASCACALDB exploder/archive) can be obtained by e-mailing:
	listserv@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov
with the text (NOT the subject) of the message containing the word help.

2f) How do I get off this exploder ?!
----------------------------------------------
.. If you have subscribed to ASCACALDB, but now wish to remove yourself
from the exploder, simply e-mail:
	listserv@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov
with the main text (NOT the subject) of the message containing 
	unsubscribe ascacaldb 
NOTE: This mail message should be sent from the same e-mail address as that 
to which ASCACALDB messages were formerly being sent.

____________________THE TRAFIC ON THIS EXPLODER_________________________
3a) What are the messages about ?
---------------------------------
.. As stated in 1a), the ASCACALDB exploder is primarily intended to distribute 
information regarding calibration files/software to "managers" of Calibration 
Databases (CALDBs) other than at the HEASARC. 
.. This information consists of:
    - updates/instructions regarding maintenence of a CALDB
    - updates &amp; big fixes the the CALDB access software
    - new ASCA files added to the HEASARC CALDB.
    - discoveries/rumours of corrupt/incorrect ASCA files in the HEASARC CALDB
.. "Managers" of CALDBs are free to pass the information onto their user 
community as they see fit.

3b) How often/many messages are posted ?
----------------------------------------
.. The traffic on this exploder is usually very small 
  - approximately 1 or 2 messages per month

3c) How Reliable/Informative are they ?
---------------------------------------
.. The majority of messages over the last year have simply been intended 
to inform "remote CALDB managers" of new ASCA calibration datasets. 
Thus they have merely reported the location of the new files and whether
and how these new datasets relate to pre-existing datasets. In cases 
where the new datasets supercede a pre-existing dataset, information 
is also supplied on what action should be taken by remote CALDB managers 
to update their local CIFs.

3d) On whose Authority are they posted ?
----------------------------------------
.. The messages are usually constructed solely by the HEASARC CALDB staff. 
However, obviously they are constructed in close collaboration with 
the author/GOF when necessary.

____________________OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION________________________
4a) Archival exploder messages on the WWW
-----------------------------------------
An archive of all the traffic on the ASCACALDB exploder is available
online via the WWW; URL:
       http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/listserv/ascacaldb/maillist.html

4b) Information regarding the HEASARC CALDB
-----------------------------------------=--
.. The best starting point for information regarding and available via 
the HEASARC CALDB is the CALDB's "Home Page" on the WWW; URL:
       http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/caldb/caldb_intro.html
This page has links to appropriate data, documentation & software areas.
Much of the documentation is available online in both postscript and HTML
versions.

.. All significant posts on the ASCACALDB exploder are also flaged 
on the HEASARC CALDB's "Whats New" page on the WWW; URL:
       http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/caldb/caldb_wotsnew.html

4c) Information regarding the ASCA GOF at NASA/GSFC
---------------------------------------------------
.. The best starting point for information regarding the ASCA GOF
at NASA/GSFC is the ASCA GOFs "Home Page" on the WWW; URL:
       http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/asca/ascagof.html
This page provides numerous links to documentation, status reports,
observation timelines etc

4d) Related (CALDB) exploders
-----------------------------
.. Information concerning other e-mail exploders maintained by the 
HEASARC CALDB is available on the WWW; URL:
       http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/caldb/caldb_exploders.html

___________________________________________________________________________
Ian M George, HEASARC CALDB				        1996 Apr 03
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