Executing Scripts
MODS scripts are ascii files which contain the set of commands sent through the MODS User Interface to the instrument and telescope. For spectroscopic observations, there are two scripts: one for acquisition and another for observation, but for imaging observations, there is just one script. The script engine, acqMODS (acqBinoMODS) is used for spectroscopic acquisition scripts, but for all of the other types of scripts, execMODS (execBinoMODS) is used.
The script engines read the scripts and send the commands one-by-one through the MODS User Interface. The script engines may add context-driven commands which are not explicitly in the script, and they correctly interpret the script commands “pause” and “sleep #s”, which pause the script for collimation (imaging scripts) or for alignment of the target on the slit (spectroscopic acquisition scripts) or to wait # seconds for something, e.g. for a lamp to warm up. To see all commands, explicit and implicit, run “listMODS <scriptname.txt>”. An example of a context-driven, implicit, command would be the IMCSlock which always follows an “instconfig <dual/blue/red> <imaging/grating/prism>” command. If a user were to enter “instconfig dual grating” outside the context of the script engine, then only the instrument configuration would be done, not the IMCSlock.
A note about pausing and stopping scripts and exposures:
- The script will only pause if it has a “pause” command in it. To abort a script, enter Control-C in the script-running window, which may be the upper left (MODS1) or right (MODS2) modsTerm tmux panel in binocular operation or a terminal window in monocular operation.
- Exposures cannot be paused or stopped with the new Archon controllers, only aborted or allowed to finish and readout. With the original controllers, it was possible to pause an exposure, which would close the shutter and pause the countdown timer and then resume it later, or to stop an exposure midway and readout the charge which had accumulated.
This section contains the detailed procedures for all types of MODS observations:
MODS Scripts — at this link you can find examples and of various types of scripts (imaging, long-slit, long-slit with a blind offset, MOS and spectrophotometric standard star), with brief explanations of what the commands do.
