From: <jon_at_email.protected>
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2010 14:40:24 +0200 (SAST)

Hi John

Trimming and answering in-line below:

On Thu, December 9, 2010 6:00 am, John Reynolds wrote:
>Some problems were experienced at Parkes during the recent Oct/Nov session
>in fringe-checking with the Mk5, using disk2file.
>
>o In the original schedule a non-existent target directory
>/home/oper/data was specified for the data;
>
>disk2file=,/home/oper/data/vx999e_pa_no0005.m5a,10h27m49.00s,10h27m50.00s,
>
>NB: the above command specifies a *.m5a suffix instead of *.m5b.

I think both of those are configurable in DRUDG, or more specifically in
the control file /usr2/control/skedf.ctl

>o The original schedule contained commands;
>
>disk2file=abort,,
>?ERROR 5f -308 Parameter after abort must be 'autoftp' or blank.
>
>which fs-9.10.0 rejected. The latest fs 9.10.4 (now installed at
>Parkes)
>accepts it.

That one was a simple FS bug (now fixed)

>o Specifying start and stop times in a Mk5b disk2file command will
>invariably fail except on the last recorded scan. For example
>if there are 98 scans recorded on the active disk module;
>
>03:57:26;disk2file=98,,03h33m46s,03h33m47s
>03:57:42;disk2file=98,,03h33m50s,03h33m52s
>03:58:49;disk2file=98
>
>all works expected, but if I now record a 99th scan the first two
>commands above now fail;
>
>04:01:53;disk2file=98,,03h33m50s,03h33m52s
>04:01:53?ERROR m5 -900 Probably flawed scan
>
>I've raised this 'feature' with Dan Smythe and Ed Himwich.
>Dan seemed unfazed, remarking pithily;
>
>>> You have opened a can of worms.
>>> 'mk5=disk2file' is known not to work as advertised.

To make something more like fishing bait out of it. I have discovered that
the following invocation does seem to work (with Mark5A ... you would need
to confirm with dimino)

     mk5=scan_set=98
     mk5=scan_set=98:03h33m50s:03h33m52s
     mk5=disk2file=/home/oper/data/vx999e_pa_no0005.m5a

It is also possible, by using the command "mk5=scan_check?" straight after
the second "mk5=scan_set", to confirm that the correct region has been
selected before you trigger the "mk5=disk2file" (which otherwise might
take ages to complete if the whole scan happened to be selected.)

So it seems that you have to select the whole of the scan first before you
select a timed subsection, but once that is done, other Mark5 commands
will use the start and end offsets of that subsection as defaults.

Unless I'm missing something, it should be possible to make the FS hide
all of this inside its disk2file snap command (a task for Ed :-)

Regards
  Jon
Received on 2010-12-09 23:41:01