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General SEQUENCER Command Reference


General commands

  • seqterm
    Opens a new sequencer xterm with commmand aliases set according to the option the user chose when it started.

    These options are 1: ALFOSC, 2: FIES: 3: NOTcam, 4: StanCam, 5: MOSCA.

    The accesscode will be set to whatever was set when the last observing system was started. If another access code is needed, use the command setenv TCSACCESSCODE 12345678 to set it for this terminal.

  • test-acc nnnnnn
    Tests if the TCS access code 'nnnnnn' is valid or not. If it is correct a '0' is returned. If it is wrong a '1' is returned.



Observer-alertness scripting commands

  • astrowakeup
    Sounds a loud audible alarm in the control room, and displays a big red window on the observing-system computer screen.
    Useful to alert the astronomer from within a script, near the script end, when astronomer-action is required.
  • playphone [N]
    Sounds a loud audible alarm in the control room.
    Useful to alert the astronomer from within a script, when astronomer-action is required. The argument specifies the sound number.
  • alert.bleepLoop, alert.killBleepLoop
    The first starts a bleep-loop, the second kills it. Another useful way to call the attention from the observer. (For now, the kill needs to be done on the same observing computer.)
  • alert.pressEnter ["string-for-user"]
    This is a script that starts the bleeploop, pops up an alert window, and prompts the user in the sequencer for " press ENTER to continue " in bold red fonts, or any other string passed on the command line in quotes. (The pop-up robs the mouse focus which is annoying.)

    After the user has pressed ENTER in the correct sequencer terminal, the bleeps will stop, the pop-up will disappear, and the flow control will be passed back to the calling script.



InfoSystem commands

Note that all the InfoSystem commands include their own help messages, which will be always authoritative, and could be more up to date than this web.

If you provide no subcommand (show, notify, etc), you'll be presented with an usage message.

In all cases, typing command help subcommand (eg. obslog help show) will provide specific and more verbose help on that subcommand.

  • instrument_name.reset-log
    This is a shortcut that makes use of infosys.kill and infosys.obslog to perform a reset of the InfoSystem and to set the obslog to a certain instrument afterwards. There's a per-instrument version (alfosc.reset-log, notcam.reset-log, ...), depending on which ObsLog do you want to show after the reset.

    If there's any error during the execution of this command, it will be notified, along with instructions on what to do next.

  • infosys.kill
    Restart the infosystem program. This will solve most problems (stuck observing log, weird problems with the screen, etc).

    N.B.: upon restart, the obslog is always empty because it's not showing an specific instrument. You can use infosys.obslog show or one of its alias to change this back to whatever instrument you're using.


  • infosys.obslog prefix <nightprefix>
    Makes the obslog to show files from a specific night, corresponding to the nightprefix provided as input. The prefix affects all instruments.

    nightprefix can be either the keyword current (which will show the files for ongoing night), or a valid NOT FITS prefix. E.g..

    • $ infosys.obslog prefix current
    • $ infosys.obslog prefix ub11

  • infosys.obslog show <instrument>
    Switches the observing log view in the info system to show the requested 'instrument' (one of ALFOSC, FIES, MOSCA, NOTCAM or STANCAM).

  • infosys.talker machine <filter> [ <filter> ... ]
    'machine' accepts one or more filter definitions. A filter definition may be one of:

    all-- Shows info from every machine
    machine_name-- Filters out everything except 'machine_name'
    +machine_name-- Keep current setup also showing 'machine_name' events
    -machine_name-- Filter out 'machine_name' events

    machine_name can be one of: camilla, selena, tessa.

    If more than one filter are specified, they will be applied in the order they've been passed. For example, to show only data relevant for FIES:

       $ infosys.talker machine selena +tessa

    If you wanted to hide only messages from NOTCam:

       $ infosys.talker machine all -marissa

    The default setup is: all

    NOTE: you cannot filter out 'elena'

  • infosys.talker notify <condition>
    A condition may be one of:

    • +errors
    • -errors
    • +warnings
    • -warnings

    '+condition' will activate the notification alert for that kind of messages, making an appropiate sound and popping-up a message on the observing screen to draw your attention to the talker window.

    '-condition' will deactivate such notification

    The default setup is: +errors +warnings


  • infosys.talker reset
    Sets the talker filter configuration to the default one (all -debug).

    This command is included in the startobssys

  • infosys.talker show <filter> [ <filter> ... ]
    'show' accepts one or more filter definitions. A filter definition may be one of:

    all-- Shows everything in the log
    filter_name-- Filters out everything except 'filter_name'
    +filter_name-- Keep current setup also showing 'filter_name' events
    -filter_name-- Keep current setup also hiding 'filter_name' events

    filter_name can be one of: error, warning, note, debug.

    If more than one filter are specified, they will be applied in the order they've been passed. For example:

       $ infosys.talker show error +warning

    Makes the talker show only error and warning messages



Staff only

  • infosys.talker file <xxxx>
    The talker reads a log file to show its information. This command makes it change from one file to another.

    If 'when' is 'current', then the talker will switch to the file currently being filled.

    If 'when' is a positive integer nn (1, 2, 3, 4...), then the talker will use a the log file from nn days ago (ie. infosys.talker file 1 will make use of last night's log).

    NB: if the file being loaded is big, the operation may take a while. Be patient.
  • infosys.screen <on | off>
    Switches on/off the infosys screen.
  • postprocess.kill [all|alfosc|fies|mosca|notcam|stancam]
    Terminates all processes related to the postprocessing and DS9 display for a given instrument.
  • system.lampstatus
    Checks the status of the FIES/ALFOSC/NOTCAM-baffle lamps and complains with a WARNING if any one lamp is on.
    The script is the first thing done in *all* the setup-tel-inst scripts.
  • system.store system id [override]
    Stores the current state of a system, where system can be any of ALFOSC,CCD8,FASU. For ALFOSC and FASU the state includes the actual wheel positions and is therefore only valid for as long as the wheel content and/or configuration is not changed. The state is stored with the name id, and if the optional flag 'override' is given, any state already defined with the name id will be overridden.
  • system.restore system id [simul]
    Restores the state of a system with name id. System can be any of ALFOSC,CCD8,FASU. For ALFOSC and FASU, the state to be restored will only be valid as long as the wheel content and/or configuration is not changed since the store command was executed. If the optional flag 'simul' is given, only a simulated restore will take place.
  • system.speedtest
    Test various file transfer speeds acroos the observing system. Useful for debuggin a slow network
Back to top Last modified: December 12 2022