Changes between Version 28 and Version 29 of PublicPages/MayallZbandLegacy/NotesforObservers/MosBot

Timestamp:

Feb 7, 2017 1:02:39 PM (8 years ago)

Author:

Dustin Lang

Comment:

--

PublicPages/MayallZbandLegacy/NotesforObservers/MosBot

@@ -20 +20 @@
 the mayall-2 display.  You don't need to read any of the output it
 produces, but you should check periodically that it is still running;
-the code is under development and some bugs remain.  If mosbot crashes,
+the code is under development and some bugs remain.
+
+If mosbot crashes,
 please report it!  If you can copy-and-paste the last page or two of log output, or at
 the very least note the exposure number when the crash occurred, this will make
@@ -39 +41 @@
   * when a new image appears:
     * measures sky, seeing, and transparency from the image
-    * decides which pass number to observe in the upcoming exposures
+    * decides which pass number to observe in the upcoming exposures (by looking for 'forcepass*' files, or based on conditions)
     * computes exposure times for the upcoming exposures
     * overwrites the mini scripts for these upcoming exposures
@@ -69 +71 @@
 == During the night ==
 
-=== To Restrict to Pass 2 and/or 3 ===
+=== Use The Force ===
 
-If, say, the weather has worsened and is highly variable, then you can force Mosbot to always choose a given
-pass for upcoming exposures by creating files:
+By default, Mosbot will choose which pass to do (ie, which of the three plan files to select tiles from) based on the conditions. However, this can result in long slews as it switches between passes.  Therefore, observers are encouraged to *use the force* -- to tell the Mosbot which pass it should be doing.
+
+Do this by creating a file in the directory `~/exec/mosbot`.  Files are checked in this order:
+
+* `~/exec/mosbot/forcepass1` -- tiles from the first JSON file  (pass1.json) will be scheduled
+* `~/exec/mosbot/forcepass2` -- tiles from the second JSON file (pass2.json) will be scheduled
+* `~/exec/mosbot/forcepass3` -- tiles from the third JSON file  (pass3.json) will be scheduled
+* `~/exec/mosbot/nopass1` -- tiles from the second or third JSON files will be selected, based on conditions.
+
+These files can be created using the `touch` command:
 {{{
 touch ~/exec/mosbot/forcepass2
 }}}
-or
-{{{
-touch ~/exec/mosbot/forcepass3
-}}}
+and be sure to `rm` the other `forcepass` files!
 
-OR, if you want to forbid pass 1, but allow Mosbot to choose between pass 2 or 3, you can create the file:
-{{{
-touch ~/exec/mosbot/nopass1
-}}}
+NOTE that Mosbot will *delete* the `forcepass?` and `nopass1` files every time it is started up, so if you have to restart it, be sure to re-create the `forcepass` file for your chosen pass!
 
-These files are NOT deleted by the `tonight.sh` script or by Mosbot,
-and will remain in effect until you delete them!
 
 Note that it is Mosbot that pays attention to these files (not