-------- The GUI: -------- The otcom GUI is invoked as "otgui". It cannot be started until otcom is running. There is no real limit to the number of clients which otcom will serve, so many copies of otgui can be run. Otgui can accept the following arguments: -host XYZ - connect to otcom running on host XYZ instead of localhost -countdown - count down exposure time to zero instead of counting up -countup - count up exposure time to completion instead of counting down -evesdrop - view what's happening with otcom, but send no commands Using "-host mkbill.ifa.hawaii.edu" on a local machine (which has the otgui Tk/tcl code) is more efficient than running otgui on mkbill and letting X display on the remote machine. << see gui_normal.gif >> Most of the GUI should be familiar from the descriptions of the otcom commands in Manual_otcom_cmd, and detailed descriptions of what the commands do are found there. Starting at the top: The upper left has a menu bar with four items: Init - Download - Power - Exit View - OT params - Recent Macro Tel - On/Off - Windscreen - Mirror Cover - Dome Fluorescents - Dome Incandescents Help - otcom commands - Manual - JT Phone The Init commands are for downloading (df) and powering on (pon) The View - OT params command pops up a window to control the OT parameters (tparam) and will be discussed in detail below. The View - Recent Macro pops up a window which keeps track of your macro calls and allows you to reexecute any one by clicking on it. The Tel menu items, for the UH2.2-m only, implement some telescope commands which are helpful for taking dome flats. The Help menu items will pop up various sections of the manual. Please do *not* use the "JT Phone" unless you are ready to pay $180/hr. The upper middle of the top bar shows the voltages which are green if they are in range and red if not (the volts command). The upper right shows the CCD temperature (temp) and an entry window where the temperature can be set, followed by the electronics temperature. Again a green color indicates good values and blue or red indicates too cold or hot. Between the CCD temperature and the CCD set temperature is a little thermometer graph which shows the percentage of heater which is on to maintain the CCD temperature. The next line in the GUI is an entry window for setting the file prefix (fprefix) and file number (fnumber). Clicking on these allows you to enter a value and hitting return within the window executes the command. There is a slight subtlety to these (and other entry forms), namely that they are intended both to display the current state of otcom as well as accept input to send to otcom. Otcom updates the GUI every 30 seconds if otcom is otherwise idle (the otcom heartbeat) and this could interfere with user input. Therefore every time you click on an entry form to start input, the background turns pink and the entry is disconnected from being updated. When you hit or otherwise send your value to otcom the form changes to the normal background and raises up, indicating that it is again reflecting the state of otcom. Therefore beware of pink entry forms. The color indicates that you may not have sent a value that you intended to, and at the very least the form is not keeping up to date with otcom. Right of the file entry forms is the filter selection buttons. They indicate the current filters and if you click on a button it will execute the command (filter) to change filter. (At WIYN the filter is controlled through the telescope command, so these buttons are not correct.) The next line is the exposure time and format control. The left half is the science observations, ETime sets the exposure time in seconds (etime), and you can choose a 1x1 or 2x2 full-frame readout with the two buttons. Clicking the Other button will pop up a new row which offers complete control of readout format (sformat). There is a button to execute the command and another to dismiss the popup. << see gui_sf.gif >> To the right is the guide time and format control. You can select the guide exposure time in milliseconds (gtime), and guide formats which are binned 2x2 and have size 16x16 and 24x24. Other formats can be obtained with the "Other" button which pops up a new row which offers complete control of guide readout format (sgformat). << see gui_sg.gif >> The next row down is the exposure control. The left half of this line has an elapsed time counter, buttons to do an FGS (with default exposure of 2 seconds), a GO button (the button changes to PAUSE and RESUME during an exposure), a button to clear the CCD (its color changes between green and pink depending on whether the shutter is closed or open). The individual exposure commands can be accessed by using the "More" button to pop up a new row with "Shutter", "Expose", "Read", and "Write". << see gui_go.gif >> << see gui_expose.gif >> To the right is the control of the auto parameters. Three buttons are available: "Snap" to take an unshifted snapshot (auto 1 1 1 1 0 0 0), "OT" to take a tracked image (auto 1 1 1 1 1 1 1), and "Other" which pops up a new row where each of the auto options can be checked off and then set. << see gui_auto.gif >> The two essential and variable telescope guide parameters are visible at the left of the next line. PA displays (and sets) the PA of the top of the detector. The checkbutton tells whether telescope guiding is enabled or not. The "Gpar" button pops up a row which offers control of the rest of the guide parameters (gparams). << see gui_gpar.gif >> The right half of this line is used to issue telescope offset commands. The "Focus:" entry can accept an absolute focus value and hitting Enter will issue the "telescope afocus" command. If the value entered is less than 500, it is assumed to be a relative focus offset and a "telescope dfocus" command is sent from the GUI instead. The next two entries are used to enter offsets in arcseconds and issue them to the telescope. The "XYoff" button pops up a new window which offers the two "tel xyoff" formats, two arguments for an offset in unbinned pixels and five for a from,to x,y pair with a specified bin factor. << see gui_xyoff.gif >> The "View - OT params" menu item pops up a window which shows the current OT parameters (tparam), as well as offering a menu to set the prediction and tracking algorithm. To the right is an attractive schematic of the two CCDs whose color reflects each region's use. Guide stars are drawn in this window, and because of what appears to be a bug in Tk they are never deleted until the window is dismissed and reinvoked. << see gui_tpar.gif >> Finally, there is a log window where the commands which are being issued to otcom are echoed after a ">>" prompt, and output information from otcom is printed. Below this is an entry window in which you can type any command and send it to otcom. This will be sent if you hit enter or if you click the "Run it" button. To the left of the command window is a little button which changes state with each heartbeat, i.e. with each command or every 30 seconds. The lower right has a "Macro" button which can be popped up to select a script. Selection of a script and use of the "Open" button will do a "call script", but it's far easier to just type it. Recall that there is a menu entry under "View" which will bring up a new window in which macro calls are maintained for reexecution with a single mouse click.