WCSTools programs

scat over the World Wide Web

 Telescope Data Center
(also for sact, sgsc, siras, sppm, ssao, stmc, sty2, sua2, and susa2)
Version 2.8.6 and later of scat can be used on either end of an HTTP (World Wide Web) connection, as either a client or a server.

Catalog Serving with scat

To use scat as a catalog server, simply install it in the cgi-bin directory of a machine which acts as a web server. Built-in code can parse HTML query format URLs of the form: 
http://server/cgi-bin/scat?catalog=gsc&ra=10:00&dec=10:00&sys=J2000&rad=360&
where the available arguments defined here can be listed with 
http://server/cgi-bin/scat?help

For access to specific catalogs, hard links, not symbolic links, can be made, making the catalog argument unnecessary: 

http://server/cgi-bin/sgsc?ra=10:00&dec=10:00&sys=J2000&rad=360&
For example, NOAO uses scat as a catalog server for the 2MASS Point Source Catalog and USNO-B1.0 Catalog:

http://iraf.net/article.php/20070717121207801.

Remote Catalog Access with scat

To access a catalog remotely, set the environment path variable appropriate to the catalog you wish to access:
Catalog Enivonment Variable
HST Guide Star Catalog GSC_PATH
USNO-A2.0 Catalog UA2_PATH
ACT Catalog ACT_PATH
Tycho 2 Catalog TY2_PATH
The value of the environment variable should be the URL of the search program. For now, only access to servers using scat is supported, though support for access to ESO servers is coming soon. For example, to access the Guide Star Catalog with the query in the example above: 
> setenv GSC_PATH http://server/cgi-bin/scat
> scat -c gsc -r 360 10:00 10:00 J2000
 832.0882 10:00:14.455 +10:01:28.34  10.75    0  231.08
 829.0060 10:00:14.292 +09:55:50.70  12.02    0  326.70
 829.0317 09:59:54.089 +09:58:13.26  12.58    0  137.91
 832.0978 10:00:19.190 +10:02:46.93  13.72    0  328.96
 829.0269 10:00:03.989 +09:59:01.25  14.29    0   83.21
 832.1165 09:59:35.976 +10:01:17.18  14.75    0  363.17
 832.1249 09:59:54.763 +10:05:11.22  14.78    0  320.69
 829.0158 09:59:42.482 +09:57:06.88  15.25    3  311.36
 829.0290 10:00:23.112 +09:59:44.16  15.57    0  341.78
[scat] [sgsc] [sua1] [sua2] [susa1] [susa2]

[sact] [sujc] [sppm] [ssao] [siras]

Last updated 24 August 2007 by Doug Mink