Chapter 2. Known problems and bugs in HSpot and proposal handling

Table of Contents

2.1. General issues
2.2. Herschel Tools
2.2.1. Herschel Confusion Noise Estimator (HCNE) bugs
2.2.2. Herschel Reserved Observation List (ROL) Tool bugs
2.3. Instrument AOT and AOR issues
2.3.1. PACS bugs
2.3.2. SPIRE bugs
2.3.3. HIFI bugs
2.3.4. SPIRE PACS Parallel Mode bugs
2.3.5. On-line catalogues and display issues when preparing AORs
2.3.6. Proposal submission
2.4. Proposal handling system

2.1. General issues

  • On rare occasions HSpot may not install cleanly when upgrading from an older version. This can be manifested by the failure of certain HSpot applications, such as the reading in of AORs from disk on first opening a new version of HSpot.

    - Implication for user: Extremely disconcerting when experienced, but ultimately not serious as it has a simple fix. Probably due to old files remaining on disk after the update.

    - Recommended action: This will almost always be solved by closing down HSpot and reopening the program. To avoid this issue completely, uninstall HSpot using the HSpot uninstaller and remove any remaining Herschel files and directories by hand by entering the Herschel directory on disk (see the HSpot Manual for details of where this is on different operating systems) and then install a new version.

  • There may be problems with editing constraints if an AOR within a constraint is renamed.

    - Implication for user: The AOR may become corrupted and uneditable.

    - Recommended action: This is a consequence of changing the default starting string of the AOR name (i.e. PSpec, HPoint, ...). We strongly recommend not renaming AORs within constraints after setting up the constraint or, you you need to do it, changing the termination of the identifier, e.g. PPhoto-0000 --> Photo-0000-M31_1.

    If you have done it inadvertantly and find that your AOR has been corrupted, it is possible to edit the XML file on disk with a text editor to restore it. In case of problems, contact Helpdesk describing carefully the steps that you carried out.

  • HSpot v3.0.x cannot read a target list created by HSpot v2.0.

    - Implication for user: Old target files created with previous versions of HSpot cannot be read in without being edited first.

    - Recommended action: Open the target list file on disk with a text editor and change the AorIoVersion from 0.5 to 0.6. HSpot will now read in the file correctly.

  • Timing information is lost when concatenated AORs are saved to disk and then recovered.

    This problem and the ones that follow immediately below all seem to be related and due to a problem in the way that the links to concatenations are stored to disk by HSpot.

    - Implication for user: When an AOR file is saved and recovered the time estimates for all concatenated AORs are lost and must be recalculated.

    - Recommended action: This problem has no solution at present other than to recalculate the times for all out of date AORs. Only concatenated AORs are affected, so it is not necessary to recalculate for all AORs.

  • When an AOR is part of a concatenated chain, opening the AOR and pressing Observation Est gives an incorrect observatory overhead when the target is the same.

    - Implication for user: The total time of the AORs presented in HSpot will be longer than they should be when the time estimate is computed in this way, although it will be correct in the version in the HSC database when submitted.

    - Recommended action: The time is correctly computed when done via the menu Tools with the option Recompute All Estimates. When you want to know precisely the time for your observations select Recompute All Estimates. You can do this for All AORs, Checked AORs (use the Disable AORs without G/F constraints from the Edit menu first to quickly select all AORs with Grouping or Follow-on constraints, although only the concatenated ones are effected) or individually via Current AORs.

  • If a constraint has been defined, the time estimate will change to out of date if the constraint editor is opened to view the constraint, even if no changes are made in the constraint and the user cancels out of constraint editor.

    This bug is not present in Solaris. It is present in Mac and Windows and, to a lesser degree (i.e. for some reason fewer AORs get declared out of date), in Linux.

    - Implication for user: This is an annoyance rather than a serious bug.

    - Recommended action: Ensure that your time estimates are up to date before proposal submission if you have opened the constraint editor at any point, otherwise the total time displayed by HSpot will be out of date.

  • There is a known bug in Java that affects the display of the HSpot User Guide in Help. Sections are not properly numbered and some links show odd additional characters. This bug has been reported to Sun and is pending the appropriate patch.

    - Implication for user: This bug has little impact on the user apart from making Help difficult to read on occasions. Unfortunately there is no workaround that would improve display.

  • Numbers in HSpot do not yet follow the recommended IS0 31-0 standard. Users who are not familiar with the American system of commas to separate thousands and a decimal point should be wary when reading numbers that HSpot presents when you give an input. A change to ISO-conforming presentation is being implemented.

    - Implication for user: The non-standard implementation offers ample scope for confusion and the possibility of users believing that HSpot has read their input incorrectly when, in fact, the input is correct.

    - Recommended action: Users are urged to take care when checking numbers entered in HSpot and to be aware of the possible confusion between the decimal point and the comma(s) separating thousands.