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Edited for Parkes by Peter te Lintel Hekkert; re-edited for NRAO by Ron Maddalena

This is revision 1.0 of September 16, 1995 The Unipops Cookbook is the comprehensive Guide for any operator and/or observer of the NRAO single-dish telescopes. All comments should be send to Ron Maddalena
The UniPOPS software support person is Bob Garwood
.

Introduction to the unipops CookBook

The POPS (People-Oriented Parsing Service) command-line interpreter has been the basis for a number of the major data reduction system developed by NRAO over the past twenty years. From POPS original development by Jerry Hudson and Tom Cram, many programmers have contributed to its upgrading and adaptation to different computers and operating systems. It is currently the ``brain'' behind the LINE and CONDAR single-dish analysis packages at Green Bank and Tucson, as well as for the heavily-used AIPS package, and the 140-foot telescope control system at Green Bank.

A major development of the last few years has been the adoption of a Local Area Network (LAN) at Green Bank, based largely on the popular SUN-4 workstations. An evolution in this direction has also taken place in Tucson. In adapting the single-dish reduction packages to this new environment (LAN + workstations + UNIX), a version of the standard POPS system was implemented by Ron Maddalena at Green Bank. However, it was realized that this was only a temporary solution, and Ron undertook a complete reworking for the UNIX environment of both POPS and the reduction programs that operate under it. In addition, the program was rewritten such that it could handle data from both the Green Bank and Tucson telescopes. This has resulted in UniPOPS which, while appearing similar to ``traditional'' POPS for the user reducing his or her data, is effectively a total rewrite of POPS and its associated programs. UniPOPS was first launched at Green Bank in January 1991.

This Cookbook is intended to acclimatize new users to LINE and CONDAR, (the spectral-line and continuum analysis packages), and long-time users of ``traditional'' POPS. We hope that users will employ the REPORT facility of the program (see Section 4.5) to inform the UniPOPS programmers of problems that they encounter with the system and things they would like to see added to the available options.

A new update of UniPOPS -- Version 3.3 -- is being released in June of 1994, and this version of the Cookbook is updated to include the revisions and new features of this version.

Ron Maddalena has been the ``Father of UniPOPS''. Among those who have assisted with various aspects of the development are Bob Garwood, FrankGhigo, Chris Salter, and Bob Vance.

Using the Cookbook

The UniPOPS Cookbook has been prepared as an introduction for the new user, but it is hoped that it will also be a useful reference for more established users that need the occasional jog to their memory. To both these ends, an attempt has been made to incorporate a rather full index at the back of the volume. We have also tried to give many examples which illustrate the usage of the many facilities of the system.

The UniPOPS Reference Manual is the companion manual to the Cookbook and picks up where the Cookbook leaves off. That is, once you have learned the basics about UniPOPS, you will probably turn more and more to the Reference Manual. In it, you will find, in a dictionary format, complete details about every UniPOPS command, as well as general topics like syntax and data formats.

To use the Cookbook to best advantage, new users should read completely Chapters 2, 3, and 4 before attempting to use the program. Once you have mastered the contents of these chapters, you should use either the index or the table of contents to find the additional sections that may interest you. We also suggest that you keep the Cookbook's Appendix A, the "UniPOPS Verb, Adverb and Symbol Synopsis", at hand since it contains a listing of every UniPOPS commands with a brief description of each. If you are using UniPOPS, the IDENTIFY verb is extremely useful in locating information even when are not sure of the exact name of the topic you are looking for.

In the examples given in this manual, words given in UPPER-CASE letters can be typed in either UPPER or lower case in the program. Anything given in lower-case letters, can ONLY be typed in lower case. The symbols, <CR> and <LF>, should be read as "carriage return" and "line feed", respectively. Control characters are given in this manual as ^x, meaning hold down the "Control" key, and then type the symbol "x", (where "x" is any given key). In the examples given, we have tried to incorporate the appropriate UniPOPS or UNIX prompt that you will see when the system is awaiting your input.

Obtaining a Copy of UniPOPS

Should you possess a Sun workstation at your home institute, and decide that you would like a version of UniPOPS there to continue your data reduction at home, then the program is available from NRAO with full installation instructions. It can be obtained on magnetic tape (as either compressed or uncompressed ``tar'' files), or can be copied via a disk-to-disk transfer using the ftp facility. This full UniPOPS Cookbook will also come with the system as a set of associated files.

If you wish to avail yourself of this offer, you should send e-mail to popsmail@nrao.edu. You will receive instructions on how to obtain a copy of the package using ftp with full installation instruction. If you need additional advice, are having difficulty installing UniPOPS or have general questions about UniPOPS contact Bob Garwood at NRAO, Charlottesville, (Telephone No., 804 296-0235; Fax No., 804 296-0278 ; or  

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