The STIS and WFPC2 regression suites have been successfully run through OTFC using the operational DADS pipe and the new hardware.
There is a DADS problem with using offline platters in the test pipe. It has been fixed in the code, but not tested or installed. It will be installed as part of DADS 8.01 in early 2000. The test pipe will not be used until then. We will go ahead with our release plans without the use of this capability.
There have been some problems in running the OTFC pipeline on the development system DAFFY. The system says that there is insufficient swap space for running many calibration processes.
ACTION: Mike and Lynn will investigate.
A fix to deliver files from CDBS to both the test and operational data caches is complete (opr 40155), but not yet installed.
We reviewed procedures for handling OTFC problems. In the event of a problem, the operators will first attempt to restart the processing. This will sometimes be sufficient for temporary network or database problems. At the next level, problems will be reported to appropriate people through an email distribution list that has been set up. In OPUS operations, operations astronomers determine who to contact. They serve as an intermediary between the operator and the people who supply the fix. There is no system like this for the archive now, but there may be with the reorganization. We will also be tracking these problems to be determining their frequency and cause.
OTFC is on schedule for release on 12/13 or 12/14. The main task ahead is to change the contents of the operational database. Lisa is on vacation and will start this as soon as she returns on Sunday 12/12.
When the operational system is running on the week of 12/13, the user interfaces to the archive will support OTFC externally. But we will not advertise this capability on the Starview welcome screen or the STScI web page, until initial testing is complete. We plan to advertise on 12/20.
NAOJ (Japan) will continue to receive data from the archive as soon as it is public. The distribution process will include a run of the data through OTFC.
Currently POD files are stored offline and so cannot be used in an OTFR (reprocessing) system. We expect that we will need to wait until the POD files are on the new magneto-optic drives. We expect the POD files to be available within 6 months. Part of the preparation of POD files requires the conversion to UNIX. The conversion could begin anytime. There was also discussion about how to provide a generic capability for associations with OTFR. OTFR can easily handle standard associations, as they are now built in the initial calibration pipeline. However, for associations determined after initial calibration, some additional capabilities are required. These were considered before in the context of OTFC and should be revisited for OTFR.