ELBRUS: COMMUNICATION WITH OTHER PROGRAMS.

( 2 ) RECEIVING FROM ELBRUS THE STATUS FILE




Receiving from Elbrus the status file:

Elbrus writes elbrus.sta files in the "Images" folder:
- at the beginning of the image analysis
- at the end of image analysis = at the beginning of next waiting for things to happen.
So we have two possible states :
state 1: analysing
state 2: analysis ended. Here are the results. Waiting...
and so on...

The elbrus.sta file contains more information than the old elbrus.pos, therefore it is recommended to use elbrus.sta. The first line gives the status. So you can skip reading the following lines if needed.

Status code values:
-- status = 1: the analysis is ended and a solution was found. Waiting for the next message.
-- status = 2: the analysis is ended and no solution was found. Waiting for the next message.
-- status = 3: at the beginning, when this mode is launched. Waiting for the first message.
-- status = 4: analysing. Elbrus is busy.

So a normal sequence of status values might be like this:
3 = waiting for the first message.
4 = analysing.
1 = solution found. Waiting for the next message.
4 = analysing.
2 = solution not found. Waiting for the next message.
4 = analysing.
1 = solution found. Waiting for the next message.
4 = analysing.
1 = solution found. Waiting for the next message.
...

Example 1. Waiting for the first message:

Example 2. Analysing = busy:

Example 3. Solution found. Waiting for the next message:

Example 4. Solution not found. Waiting for the next message:

Format of the status file:

Line 1 format:
-- bytes 8 to 10: number of lines in the elbrus.sta file
-- bytes 18 to 25: date in YYYYMMDD format
-- bytes 27 to 34: hour in hh:mm:ss format
-- bytes 41 to 42: mode number
-- bytes 52 to 53: sought sky area code number
-- bytes 62 to 63: status code
Line 2 format:
-- explanatory text of the status code
Line 3 format:
-- bytes 8 to : analysed image path
Line 4 format:
-- bytes 1 to 3: sides in the polygone-solution
-- bytes 15 to 22: RA of the image center DDD.DDDD
-- bytes 27 to 34: DEC of the image center sDD.DDDD
-- bytes 39 to 46: RA of the image center HHhMM.Mm
-- bytes 52 to 58: DEC of the image center sDDºMM'
-- bytes 60 to 67: J2000 date in YYYYMMDD format
-- bytes 69 to 76: J2000 hour in hh:mm:ss format
Line 5 format:
-- same as line 4. But for actual equinox.
Line 6 format:
-- bytes 14 to 20: image angle as computed from the solved image
Line 7 format: shift of the image from the reference image
-- bytes 17 to 18: number of stars taken in account
-- bytes 35 to 41: shift in X direction sDDD.DD pixels
-- bytes 59 to 65: shift in Y direction sDDD.DD pixels
Line 8 format: shift of the image from the previous image
-- same as line 7

Mode code values:
-- mode = 0: manual mode. Selected image path.
-- mode = 1: manual mode. Image from the last message in the 'images' folder.
-- mode = 2: manual mode. Most recent image in the 'images' folder.
-- mode = 3: not used.
-- mode = 4: not used.
-- mode = 5: automatic mode. Wait for message.
-- mode = 6: automatic mode. Wait for image.

Sky area code values:
-- skyArea = 1: a 5 x 5 degrees sky area.
-- skyArea = 2: spherical ring.
-- skyArea = 3: the full sky.
-- skyArea = 4: 30 x 30 degrees field.
-- skyArea = 5: not used.
-- skyArea = 6: not used.
-- skyArea = 7: not used.
-- skyArea = 8: along the parallel of latitude.
-- skyArea = 9: along the meridian.

NOTE: The file elbrus.sta is written in every working mode. Not only in the 'Wait for message' mode.
You can go to the next page:
(3) Executing Elbrus with command line arguments

You can go back to:
(1) Sending a command file to Elbrus

(Updated November 2008, Alfonso Pulido)