[fitsbits] Start of "column limits" public comment period

[Robert Hanisch]

This convention seems reasonable and has apparently been in use for some 13
years.  I have no objections.

Bob


On 7/14/06 1:43 PM, "William Pence" <pence at milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov> wrote:

> This is to announce the start of the Public Comment Period on the FITS
> "Column Limits" keyword convention that has been submitted for inclusion in
> the "Registry of FITS Conventions" maintained by the IAU FITS Working Group.
>   A document describing this convention, and a sample FITS file that uses
> it, are available for public review and comment from the FITS registry web
> page at
> 
> http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_registry.html
> 
> This is a fairly simple convention that defines 4 keywords that can be used
> to specify the allowed minimum and maximum values in a table column (TLMINn
> and TLMAXn) and the actual minimum and maximum values in the column (TDMINn,
> and TDMAXn).
> 
> The Public Comment Period normally lasts 30 days, but since this is a
> vacation period for many, the comment period will remain open until
> mid-September.  Any major comments should be posted here on the FITSBITS
> mail exploder.  Minor or typographical issues can be sent directly to the
> person that submitted the convention to the registry (myself in this case).
> 
> Because this is the first convention to be submitted to the Registry, it may
> be useful to summarize the purpose of the registry and the public comment
> period.  The IAU FITS Working Group set up the registry to provide a central
> and authoritative place for documenting the many FITS conventions that have
> been developed by various groups over the past 25 years.  Many conventions
> are now in use in FITS files, yet it can be difficult to find documentation
> on how to use and interpret them.  Anyone may submit a convention to the
> registry; all that is needed is a brief document that describes the
> convention and a sample FITS file that uses it.
> 
> The submitted material is made available for public comment on the FITSBIT
> email list (and the associated sci.astro.fits newsgroup). The main purpose
> of this public comment period is to consider whether the submitted material
> is as clear and complete as possible.  Comments about the actual
> implementation of the convention or suggestions on ways to improve it are
> also welcome, but if the convention is already in wide-spread use it may not
> be possible to change the implementation of the convention.
> 
> Bill Pence
> (on behalf of the IAU FITS Working Group)