VizieR catalogue upload (HELP)

The first step consists in choosing a login which will be dedicated to the upload of a single catalogue.
The login can be reused until the completion of the process but not after submission.

Note : Please contact the VizieR staff (cats at cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr) if a modification to a recently submitted upload is needed.

The upload will generate:

• a ReadMe skeleton including the byte-by-byte based on your uploaded tables
• ASCII tables with aligned columns (FORTRAN Format / MRT (Machine Readable Table))

The tables uploaded will be ingested in the VizieR service. Please, upload here only the regular tabular data (tables).

Accepted file formats

The VizieR submit service detects automatically the input format.

Accepted formats are:

• TSV, CSV : TSV or CSV files containing a first line with column description is accepted (click the checkbox under the "upload" button).
• ASCII aligned files
• VOTable

What cannot be used: postscript or word/excel files.

Note: zip and gzip compression are allowed. Archives should not contain directories.

How to upload tables?

1. Select tables one by one (you can add more tables by clicking on the (+) button under the "browse button")
   Some simple checks are operated with each table selection; a message is displayed in case of error.
2. When all your tables are selected, click on the "upload" button.
   This operation generates a ReadMe file and standardized tables (MRT / FORTRAN format).
   The web page is refreshed with:
   • a link to remove the files: this action will delete all your uploaded files including the ReadMe
   • a FTP link to the temporary repository containing your files, ReadMe and the standardized files generated by the application.
3. Then, you can go to the next step.

Note: Check that all the tables are uploaded at this stage. Adding tables later implies to remove all tables and ReadMe.

Note for large volumetry

For spectra or time series in FITS format

A dedicated service for associated data improves the visibility of the data. This service accepts only FITS format. Such FITS files can be uploaded at a later stage.
In the last step ("Validate"), there is also an upload option for other resources.

In this step you will send the ReadMe file which describes your tables

Example of ReadMe file

What is the ReadMe ?

The ReadMe file aims at providing all necessary information to locate the catalogue (authors, title, abstract, keywords, acknowledgments, ...) and to interpret its contents by automatic procedures. The ReadMe is essential to the visibility and reusability of your data.

The ReadMe is a structured file following CDS standards.
A short overview of the conventions, with some tips on how to fill the ReadMe file, is also available. In particular the documentation of tables and columns in byte-by-byte sections:

• Basic unit symbol
• Conventions used for some labels. Nomenclature recognized by VizieR processsing which enables also to link columns.
  Example: errors are associated with their values when they are labeled: e_Vmag for Vmag error

How to fill my ReadMe file ?

The previous step generated a ReadMe based on your data, that you can :

• edit online
• or download and complete locally
• or upload your own ReadMe (see tools in the Alternative uploads)

Complete the ReadMe step-by-step:

1. Check the ReadMe consistency with: the uploaded files, the number of lines of the files, ...
2. Write abstract, authors, publication date, .. (look for the "<< ... >>" tags in the generated ReadMe).
3. Describe the columns with the corresponding units.
4. Add notes on columns, acknowledgement, links to other catalogues or websites, etc. (optional).
5. Submit the ReadMe with the "upload" button.
   This action will check the consistency between the ReadMe and your files. The page is refreshed and a report is displayed. This output is the result of the anafile package - see next section.
   In case of error, the CDS recommends to review the ReadMe (and remove the ReadMe).
   But, even if you encountered problems, you can still go to the next step.
6. Then, you can go to the next step.

Note: The online mode makes regular backups. You can restore the last version and force the backup.

Note: Check that all the tables are uploaded at this stage. Adding tables later implies to remove all tables and ReadMe.

FITS files will be indexed and made accessible through the associated data service .

To provide FITS spectra

The indexation is available only for FITS files. A good description is the key to discoverability. The meta-data comply with the ObsCore IVOA standards of the Virtual Observatory.

Examples of usage

• load spectra using CASSIS or Splat
• load images in Aladin

How to describe the spectra?

The FITS header contains useful information that can be automatically detected if they are compliant with the standards.
The FITS upload generates a mapping between the spectra FITS header and ObsCore keywords. We strongly encourage you to modify the mapping to better describe your data. See the publication notes, section 'Associated data'.

• Upload files or a collection of resources:
  
  • a single FITS file (possibly compressed)
  • a collection of independent FITS files gathered into an archive (.tar)
    Independent means that headers are not similar and each FITS needs a dedicated mapping
  • a collection of similar FITS files gathered into an archive (.tar)
    In that case, we make a unique mapping to describe all resources in the archive (.tar). Be careful, this option is available only if FITS have similar headers.
• For each upload, a report is available.
  It is recommended to verify the mapping by clicking on the report header.
  You can accept the automatic detection or make modifications (each update must be committed (the top right button of the report))
  The mapping report header is :
  • in green if the most important targets are resolved
  • in orange if positions are detected
  • in red if no positions are detected
  Note : all the information are not required, but a good mapping will improve the data visibility.
  
• For each upload, you can (using the top right buttons of the report):
  • modify the mapping
    to modify the mapping, click on the header report, verify and update the form.
  • remove a mapping: this action will delete both the mapping and the FITS files.
• When all your resources are uploaded and mapped you can go the next step.

Note for large volumetry

FITS files will be indexed and made accessible through the associated data service .

More information is available in the previous section.

See the publication notes, section 'Associated data'

This is the last step of your catalogue submission.

Please, verify that everything is correct before ending your session. Note that you can go back to the current work using the same login until you have submitted this page with the "Yes" button at the end of the page.

In the last step you can:

• upload additional files (*)
• add a message to the VizieR staff

(*) Note : what files cannot be used:
images : postscript, word/excel documents, GIF or JPEG images
spectra : postscript, word/excel documents, GIF or JPEG images

Email is required. The email will be used if additional information is needed.

Note : If a modification to a recently uploaded is needed, please contact the VizieR staff.

Tools

The CDS provides tools to build ReadMe file and aligned ASCII tables(Machine Readable Table in FORTRAN format).

The anafile package checks the concordance of the ReadMe file with the actual tables. The checking procedure is also available as the anafile package which can be installed with the standard configure and make Linux procedures.

A Python library is also available (in beta version) that enables to generate a ReadMe from a list of files in different formats (csv, asii, fits).

Other upload services

• the new submission page : https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/vizier.submit/ - see also the documentation.
• the (old) submission page : https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/Submit.
• FTP deposit or e-mail : see the Publication support page (https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/vizier/submit.htx#ToC4)

If you have questions or problems, please contact the VizieR staff (cds-cats@unistra.fr).