INTRODUCTION

Use the Deepsky 2000 ADC/CDS Database Import Wizard software to import astronomical catalogs into the Deepsky 2000 database file DeepPro413000.mdb or DeepPro13000.mdb.  This software will enable you to import any Fixed Length ASCII file into Deepsky.  The ADC and CDS maintain hundreds of astronomical catalogs from stars to deepsky objects.  Most of these catalogs are in Fixed Length ASCII format and can be imported easily into Deepsky.

RECOMMENDED USERS

Importing other catalogs into Deepsky 2000 is recommended for intermediate to advanced users.  Most amateur's will not need to import additional catalogs into Deepsky since Deepsky contains over 400,000 objects on the CD ROM version.  Do not use this feature until you feel comfortable with Deepsky 2000  and astronomical catalogs in general.

VERY IMPORTANT - After an import, it is easy to remove it if the data looks bad.  Just delete it by clicking on the catalog in the list of catalogs.  Databases residing on CD ROM cannot be updated.

This software directly changes the main Deepsky database.  It is important to follow all instructions carefully so that you do not import bad data into the database.  Failure to understand the import process in detail can cause problems in the Deepsky software.  However, this software program will allow you to back out any changes made by deleting the catalogs you imported incorrectly.

Please make a backup copy of the main database file  DeepPro413000.mdb  or DeepPro13000.mdb and  your logbook file Logbook2000.mdb before importing any catalogs.  This software will only work if the database resides in the Deepsky directory on your hard disk.  Importing is not allowed if you are running from the CD ROM.  Since Deepsky uses a non-normalized relational database design, the size of the database will grow as you add more records to the database.  Remember to monitor disk space as you are importing catalogs.  You are limited by only how much disk space you have for the number of catalogs or records imported.

Remember to always verify the Deepsky database after an import is complete to ensure that the data was imported correctly.  Make sure you examine the right ascension and declination fields and match them up to the source import file.  Deepsky stores right ascension and declination in the following format :  hh mm.t and dd mm.t    Any right ascension and declination values you import including seconds of RA or Dec will be converted to this format.

When mapping fields from the ASCII file to the Deepsky database, make sure you specify the object Id as a unique number.  Deepsky's primary key to the database is CATALOG ID, OBJECTID  .   Some catalogs do not include an Object ID field.  As a result you must map other characters in the import data to the Object ID field in Deepsky.  What I usually do is specify the RA and Dec as the Object ID because in most cases this combination will be unique.  Some catalogs contain a sequential number.  You can specify this number as the Object ID.

DELETING CATALOGS
If after reviewing a completed import you determine that the data doesn't look quite right, you can undo the import by simply clicking on the catalog that appears in the import options list box.  You should make sure the Compact check box is checked when you delete your last import so that the deleted records will be removed permanently from the database.  This will ensure that the database is as small and efficient as possible.

REVIEWING CATALOGS

After you import a catalog into the Deepsky database you should review the catalog by selecting the REVIEW THE DATABASE option on the first screen.  When you select this option, an ACCESS like screen will appear showing you a blank spreadhsheet.  Next, just click SELECT A CATALOG TO VIEW option and select the catalog you imported.  Within a few seconds, the catalog will appear on your screen.  Finally, review the fields that you imported to determine if the import is correct.  Pay special attention to the Right Ascension and Declination columns making sure they match the source import file.  Keep in mind, that Deepsky formats these values like hh mm.t  and dd mm.t  .  This may or may not be the format that was in the original source import file.

DOWNLOAD 

The first step in the process of importing data is to download the catalog from either the CDS or ADC along with its associated documentation.  To begin, click on the appropriate button on the main screen.  If you live in North America, the ADC should provide the fastest link, otherwise European users should download from the CDS in France.

Once the appropriate website is displayed, you can retrieve the desired catalog by browsing the list of catalogs.  For Deepsky objects, you might select the NONSTELLAR and EXTENDED OBJECTS link.  Once the link is selected, you will see a list of catalogs that can be downloaded.  Find the catalog you want and click the link.  The next screen that appears often describes the file and shows you what positions the fields are in (file layout).  Make sure you save this screen as a text file so that you can use it when you map the fields to the Deepsky database.  Some catalogs don't show the file layouts on the HTML page and you have to download it separately from the ftp site.  When you are ready, find the ftp site link for the catalog and go there.  When the directory of files are shown, you should download the appropriate file corresponding to the catalog.  Now this might get a little tricky.  In some cases, you can spot the catalog file because it's the largest file shown.  However, this may not be the case.  Furthermore, the name of the catalog will often be inconsistent with other catalogs you may come across.  What you should look for is a name like : ZWICKY.DAT.GZ  or CATALOG.DAT.GZ    .  The catalogs will most often end in a GZ extension which is a compressed file.  You can use Winzip 6.3 or later to uncompress these files (http://www.winzip.com) after you have downloaded them to your local computer.  If you did not see a file layout on the HTML page for the catalog, look for it in the list of files in the FTP directory you downloaded the catalog from.  This file will be called README or something similar, and will be a small file.

IMPORTING

Once you have the catalog on your local PC and have unzipped it if it was compressed, you are ready to SPECIFY IMPORT OPTIONS.

When the import options screen appears, take a minute to examine the different things on the screen.  A list of current catalogs will be shown in the top right.     Also note the mappings spreadsheet which is identified as step 1.  This is where you enter the from and to positions corresponding to the file layout you downloaded with the data.  

The red colored cells indicate that the field is required.  The import program requires that you always map an ObjectID, RA Hours, RA Minutes, Dec Degrees, and Dec Minutes.  The white cells are optional.  If you want this data to appear in Deepsky and it is available in the catalog, then specify its starting and ending positions.  The black cells are off limits.  Do not enter anything in these.  

The From and To columns represent the column number positions in the import file that contain the data you want mapped to Deepsky's fields.  This information can either be found in the file layout file downloaded with the catalog, or you can use WORDPAD to load the Ascii import file and count the positions from the leftmost character on the screen.  The Tenths column is optional, but may be required if the tenths portion of either RA or DEC is not next to the rest of the RA and DEC in the file.

All the fields in the mapping process are easy to understand with the exception of RA and Dec and the EXTENDED DESCRIPTION.

RA AND DEC MAPPINGS
Right Ascension and Declination formats can be different depending on the catalog you are importing from.  Some catalogs will specify RA like  hh mm.t :    00457   while others like  hh mm ss : 004540 while others like hh mm ss.t : 0045403  .  It is important to note which characters map to which fields in  RA or DEC .  For example, if the RA looks like : 00457 and the file layout says that hours are positions 1 and 2, and minutes are 3 - 5, then you would put a 1 in the FROM and a 2 in the TO columns for the mapping.  Likewise, the minutes of RA would equal 45.7 and  would be entered like this in the mapping : FROM = 3 ,  TO = 5 .  If the format for RA or DEC is  hh mm ss   or   dd mm ss, then you would map the positions indicated in the file layout to the hours, minutes, seconds (RA) or degrees, minutes, seconds (DEC)  .  Since this can be a little confusing, you should always check the RA and DEC columns in the database after the import process is done.  If you make a mistake, you can easily delete the catalog and start over.

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION MAPPINGS
You will find that almost every catalog that you want to map to contains fields that the Deepsky database does not include.  You can still import this information into Deepsky's description memo field by following this process.  Keep in mind that the fields in the description field will not be sortable by the Deepsky software.  This information will be presented to you in a text editor like window for easy viewing.  In Deepsky, this information is viewed by right clicking on an object in the spreadsheet and selecting the DESCRIPTION DETAILS option.

You will note that the extended description field is the last one shown on the mapping screen.  To map other fields of information from the import file to Deepsky's description memo field, just do the following:

In the first column labeled FIELD on the row following the EXTENDED DESCRIPTION heading, type in a short caption for the information that will be imported.  For example, if you wanted to include the age of a star cluster in the database you might enter something like  "Star Cluster Age :" in the field column.  Make sure you enter this caption carefully because it will show up in Deepsky exactly as it is entered.  Next, enter the from and to positions for the field, like you did for all the rest.  If you want to add another EXTENDED DESCRIPTION field, then just go to the next row and repeat the process.  You can enter around 200 EXTENDED DESCRIPTION fields which will be stored in Deepsky's DESCRIPTION memo field.  Note: When Deepsky displays the description information, each field will be on a separate line for easy reading.

OTHER STEPS

Once the mapping process is complete, you should save the mapping by clicking the SAVE MAPPINGS button.  Mappings are a little confusing to some people, so once you get it right you don't want to have to re map the file.  So save the mapping!  If you ever want to retrieve a mapping, just click on OPEN MAPPING and the mapping will be retrieved.

Now you can complete the rest of the steps.  They are the easiest.  In Step 2, you specify the import file you downloaded from the ADC or CDS.  Remember to unzip them first before you open them here otherwise things won't work quite right.  In Step 3, refer to the file layout document you downloaded with the catalog and enter the record length for the file.  This is easily determined by looking at the last field's TO position in the file layout.  Next, in step 4 you should give a name to the catalog you are importing.  This name will be used to reference the catalog in Deepsky or if you want to delete it in the event the import failed.  Below the name, specify a description for the catalog so that you can easily find it later.  Then, in step 5, specify the epoch for which the coordinates are given.  This will most likely be 1950 or 2000.  Finally, in step 6, select the object type that is in the catalog.  If more than one type exists in the catalog, then you should map its positions on the mapping spreadsheet (most cases you wont have to do this).  If an object type doesn't appear in the list, then you will have to create a database entry record in Deepsky specifying the new object type.  Then redo the import.

Once all seven steps are complete, click the IMPORT button.  While the import is running, a status gauge will show you what percent of the process is complete.  Since this import routine reads byte by byte, you can see how many bytes out of the total have been processed by placing your mousepointer on top of the status gauge.  A tooltip will appear showing you the information.

If you want to stop the import before it is done, hit the STOP button.  A message will be displayed indicating that the import did not complete, and that you should delete the catalog since it is incomplete.

DONE!

Remember to review your import after it is finished by going into the REVIEW THE DATABASE screen located on the first screen of this import program.

CONTACT

If you have any questions or experience any problems, then please contact me at :

Steven S Tuma
1425 Greenwich Ln
Janesville, WI 53545

(608) 752-8366
stuma@inwave.com
http://www.deepsky2000.com