for APT release 17.4.
APT can be run in batch, but is generally only run in this mode by operations personnel and software developers and testers. These instructions have been written for this audience. If you find you need to run APT in batch and need help getting started, please contact help@stsci.edu.
APT accepts command line arguments according to the following syntax:
runAPT [ options - see below ] [ proposal-file ... ]
APT will automatically load (or optionally batch process) the proposal files listed on the command line. If no proposals are specified, then APT will come up with no proposal, or if the auto-load preference is set, the proposal(s) from the previous session.
These command options are case-sensitive. When used, they will override the system properties which are still available to achieve the same functionality. All of the command options can be abbreviated to their shortest unique form, so '-f' and '-m STScI' are acceptable.
Causes APT to run in batch mode with no GUI and then exit.
Turns on APT debug messages and send them to standard out. Where:
<classname> := Turns on debug messages for class named only.
ALL := Turns on all debug messages.
(Note that if you do not give a value the next command line argument will be assumed to be a classname - and will not be properly interpretted.)
When used with -nogui, the Orbit Planner processing will include auto-adjustment of applicable exposures. Ignored if not running batch.
Ignored if not running batch. Causes APT to save each proposal after performing "Run All" on it.
Ignored if not importing from RPS2 files. Currently if the RPS2 importer creates any diagnostics during an import, the imported proposal is stripped of its CoI, targets and visits. Using this argument forces those things to be preserved in the imported file regardless of diagnostics. It's important to note that some import diagnostics cause parsing to stop, so the imported proposal may not be complete even with this setting.
Causes APT to make the CAL, ENG and SM categories available.
Causes APT to interpret the command line list of proposal files as file of type <import-type> rather than as normal APT files. For example, an <import-type> of prop would cause APT to import all the specified proposal files as RPS2 .prop files. Supported import types are:
Causes APT to export each loaded proposal to each of the specified export types. <export-type-list> is a comma (,) separated list of export report types.
Currently supported exporters are:
| Type | Description |
| diag | Diagnostic Summary |
| pro | Listpro (with option for no subexposures) |
| prop | Older Text format (with option for no subexposures) |
| targets | Fixed targets in comma delimited format |
| targetTemplate | Fixed target template in comma delimited format |
| implementation | Implementation only report (previously called "avail") |
| tdf | Trans input file |
| sql | ADF format |
| moss | Percy file |
| vdf | all Spike input files (including pv-vdf, pp-pdf, and pp-ldf) |
| availableFields | A list of new diagnostics that appear from changing the Proposal's mode from "Available" to "Supported" |
| af-link | Links.af file (one file per linkset) |
| af-prop | Links.af file (one file per proposal) |
An example of an import/export batch command (should be all on one line) is:
runAPT -mode STScI -nogui -import prop -export prop,targets,diag testdata/1.prop testdata/2.prop
That command would import testdata/1.prop and testdata/2.prop and output the following files:
testdata/1.apt
testdata/1.diag
testdata/1.prop
testdata/1.targets
testdata/2.apt
testdata/2.diag
testdata/2.prop
testdata/2.targets
Forces exporters not to include subexposure data in the output. See the -export option for a list of exporters that support this option.
Specify a comma (,) delimited list of input directories to search for input files.
Specify an output directory to which APT should write output files. In GUI mode this also defines the default directory for the File Chooser for exporters.
Ensures fast loading of proposals by turning off the OCM and stopping address verification and proposal status and version lookup. Note that this will lead to spurious errors due to the absence of OCM status and should be used with caution. It's primary use is for speeding up rendering of tv-desc files in the Orbit Planner.
Loads and processes only those visits which are specified in the <visit-list>.
<visit-list> is a comma (,) delimited list of visit numbers.
Causes APT to perform a "Run All" on each proposal specified on the command line. Has the same effect as the Run ALL button in the GUI, doing all batch processing of tools, but for each loaded proposal.
Prevents visit status from effecting the editing of a proposal. Visit status will still be obtained from the status server and displayed but visits will remain editable and no warnings will be generated.
Disables the STScIEditNumber version checking in APT. APT will not access the STScI database either.
If this option is specified then only those tools included in <tool-list> will be loaded. This is most useful for constraining which tools will be included for batch processing via -runall. -Tools "None" may be used to run APT with no tools loaded.
<tool-list> is a comma delimited list of tool names or tool short names with no whitespace. If any tool name includes whitespace then the whole list should be quoted, e.g.:
-Tools "Orbit Planner,Errors and Warnings"
Generally short names are preferred for obvious reasons. The currently accepted tool names and short names are:
| Tool Name | Short Name |
| BOT | BOT |
| Orbit Planner | OP |
| Visit Planner | VP |
| Aladin Sky Atlas | Aladin |
| PDF Preview | |
| Submission | Submit |
If -Tools is not specified all the above tools are loaded. The following Tools are built in and are loaded regardless of the -Tools parameter:
| Tool Name | Short Name |
| Form Editor | FE |
| Spreadsheet Editor | SE |
| Errors and Warnings | Diag |
APT will record specific timing and memory metrics during execution. The raw data is written to the file Metrics.xml in APT's runtime directory (the same directory as the runAPT executable) and is also written as a report to stdout when APT is quit.
Expects exactly one argument. That argument defines a system property that can be used by APT or any of it's tools. The argument looks a lot like a Java Property definition, i.e., <property name>=<property value>.
There can be no intervening spaces in the name/value pair unless they are part of the property value. There *must*, however, be a space between the -Property and the name/value pair.
Unlike Java Property definitions, no quotes are required around the property value. You may use quotes as needed to deal with building the argument in the command shell, but the actual argument that arrives inside APT should not have quotes unless they are part of the property value.
-Property
may be used
as many times as desired on a command line. If the same property is
defined more than once, only the last one will take effect. Property
definitions will only be used if APT or one of its tools expects them.
Unexpected property defintions will be ignored. Some examples of legal
-Property arguments are:
# 3 different ways to specify the transIORFile property:
runAPT -Property transIORFile=/home/donald/myIOR
runAPT -Prop transIORFile=/home/donald/myIOR
runAPT -P transIORFile=/home/donald/myIOR
#Specifying both the transIORFile and transOutputDir properties:
runAPT -P transIORFile=/home/donald/myIOR -P transOutputDir=/var/tmp
#Specify file that will contain overrides to Orbit Planner properties:
runAPT -P op.properties.file=/home/donald/OrbitPlanner.prop
#Specifying a property that's unknown to any APT tools has no effect:
runAPT -P useless.definition=will.be.ignored
Commonly available supported properties include:
| Property | Possible values | Description |
| ocm.debug | <yes | no> | Used for turning on OCM Debug statements |
| vp.expandobs | <true | false> | Used for Phase I->II LRP generation |
| apt.database | < Test | Operational> | Configure which database APT Servers should use (overrides default database and server combinations) |
| apt.release | < Test | Operational> | Define the Servers APT should connect to (related to apt.database) |
| apt.registry.port | <2020##> | Specifies which port to use to connect to the status server. |
| op.properties.file | <file> | Used for loading OP properties for overrides |
| tina.plugins | <directory> | Used to override Plug-In directory |
| bot.padding | <true | false> | |
| bot.votable | <true | false> | |
| bot.catalog | <catalog> | |
| moss.cycle.start | <date> | Overrides the cycle start date |
| moss.cycle.end | <date> | Overrides the cycle end date |
| moss.show.windows | <true | false> | Indicates whether MOSS files should include SHOW WINDOW commands |
| apt.hst.propversion | <integer> | Proposal version number from PLIB |
| apt.hst.propdate | <date> | Date the proposal was checked into PLIB (may include dja in place of spaces) |
| apt.db | <database> | Selects which Assist database to connect to, by name (if unspecified, ASSIST_DB must be defined) |
| apt.db.server | <machine> | Selects the name of the machine on which to connect to the Assist database (or define DSQUERY) |
| apt.db.user | <username> | Overrides the username to use for connecting to the Assist database |
| apt.db.pass | <password> | Overrides the password to use for connecting to the Assist database |
| apt.db.pmdb | <database> | Selects which SPSS database to connect to, by name (either this or SPSS_DB must be set) |
| apt.db.pmdb.server | <machine> | Selects the name of the machine on which to connect to a database (or define DSQUERY) |
| apt.db.pmdb.user | <username> | Overrides the username to use for connecting to the SPSS database |
| apt.db.pmdb.pass | <password> | Overrides the password to use for connecting to the SPSS database |
| apt.vp.start | <nominal | yy.ddd> | If nominal then VP calculations start when the proposal cycle began. Otherwise uses given year day. |
| apt.vp.end | <nominal | yy.ddd> | If nominal then VP calculations end when the proposal cycle ends. Otherwise uses given year day. |
| apt.debug | <true | false> | This property defaults to false and is set to true when -debug is specified. |
| apt.vp.manualcasmconnect | <true | false> | Tells the VP that the CASM image it should use will be connected manually. |
| logOutput | <directory> | Specifies where to put the APT console log. |
| maxLogs | <integer> | Specifies how many logs to keep. If 0 all logs will be deleted and no console log will be generated. |
For more information on properties that can be used with the Orbit Planner, see the Trans Developers' Guide to Running APT.
Sets the revision number in the prop or xml file.To do this specify the option -STScIEditNumber where must be a non-negative integer. If -STScIEditNumber is specified, an APT file must also be specified on the command line. -STScIEditNumber will cause the revision number to be set to regardless of any previous value that may have been in the APT or prop file. The shorthand for -STScIEditNumber is -S. -STScIEditNumber will be used when APT is run during PLIB check-in.
Puts APT into DG mode. In this mode the Orbit Planner will search the input path for desc and diag files generated by Trans. These files are used to build the OP timeline displays in place of its cache files or an active Trans run.
Puts APT into diff mode. Loaded proposals are diffed with the given <proposal> which appears in uneditable form in the GUI. The difference report is written for each loaded proposal. If :new is used, then the propsal is differenced against an empty proposal, marking everything in it as Added for differencing purposes.
Must be used in conjunction with the -diff option. Causes APT to update the ASSIST database with the results of change checking and to perform database consistency checks.
Used to force the Special Commanding Email to go to the spec-com-test mailing list instead of the operational one.
Used to display a simplified listing of command line arguments. When part of the command line, APT will not run normally.