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Describing Astronomical Catalogues and Query Results with XML

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This short document details the first attempt of XML usage for tabular output description following the Strasbourg meeting June 23-25, 1999.

Participants:


  1. Basic Principles
  2. Example
  3. Document Definition
  4. The XSL used


Basic Principles

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a language used here to supply both data and metadata in the same document. Associated with an XSL style file, such documents can be displayed and processed by the new generation browsers supporting XML (like IE5).

We chose to use XML entities (i.e. <tag> ... </tag>) for pieces of data which are normally displayed to the end user, and attributes (i.e. <tag ... name="value" ...>) for specifications which are mostly control information.

Most of the control information is necessary for an automated interpretation for XML front-end tools.


Example

This example is an hypothetical output of a query on the GSC catalogue around some astronomical target.

If your browser supports XML, you may try:

<?xml version = "1.0"?> <!DOCTYPE ASTRO SYSTEM "astrores.dtd"> <ASTRO xmlns:astro="http://astrores.xml.org"> <Description about="http://astrores.xml.org/ASTRO-Spec-0.2"> See mailing list </Description> <!-- DEFINITIONS a. COOSYS, the system of astronomical coordinates used b. for photometric system or others.. --> <DEFINITIONS> <COOSYS ID="myJ2000" system="eq_FK5" equinox="2000." epoch="2000."/> </DEFINITIONS> <!-- The output is made of several tables related together --> <RESOURCE ID="I/254"> <NAME>GSC1.2</NAME> <TITLE>The HST Guide Star Catalog, Version 1.2 (Lasker+ 1996)</TITLE> <DESCRIPTION> This is an excerpt of the GSC1.2. This version was re-reduced with PPM catalogue; see more details about the <A HREF="http://www-gsss.stsci.edu/gsc/gsc.html">GSC catalogues</A> </DESCRIPTION> <!-- Now comes the definition of each of the individual tables --> <TABLE ID="gsc_out"> <NAME>gsc.out</NAME> <TITLE>Output from GSC1.2 Server</TITLE> <DESCRIPTION> Default result of GSC1.2 Server around a target </DESCRIPTION> <FIELD ID="_r" ucd="POS_ANG_DIST" unit="arcmin" datatype="F" width="7" precision="4"> <NAME>_r</NAME> <DESCRIPTION>Distance from target NGC40</DESCRIPTION> <VALUES type="actual"> <MIN value="0.0"/> <MAX value="10.0"/> </VALUES> </FIELD> <FIELD ID="gsc" datatype="A" width="10" ucd="IDENT" > <NAME>GSC-Id</NAME> <TITLE>Unique object id</TITLE> <DESCRIPTION> The GSC-Id is made of 10 digits, the first 5 representing the place number, and the last 5 the object number on the plate. </DESCRIPTION> </FIELD> <FIELD ID="ra" ref="#id($myJ2000)" ucd="POS_EQ_RA" unit="deg" datatype="F" width="9" precision="5" format="%RAh %RAm %RAs"> <NAME>RA(J2000)</NAME> <DESCRIPTION>Right ascension in J2000, epoch of plate</DESCRIPTION> <VALUES type="actual"> <MIN value="3.0"/> <MAX value="3.6"/> </VALUES> </FIELD> <FIELD ID="dec" ref="#id($myJ2000)" ucd="POS_EQ_DE" unit="deg" datatype="F" width="9" precision="5" format="%DEd %DEm %DEs"> <NAME>Dec(J2000)</NAME> <DESCRIPTION>Declination in J2000, epoch of plate</DESCRIPTION> </FIELD> <FIELD ID="pos_err" unit="arcsec" datatype="F" width="4" precision="1" ucd="ERROR" > <NAME>PosErr</NAME> <DESCRIPTION>Mean error on position</DESCRIPTION> </FIELD> <FIELD ID="Pmag" ucd="PHOT_PHG_MAG" unit="mag" datatype="F" width="5" precision="2"> <NAME>Pmag</NAME> <DESCRIPTION>photographic magnitude (see n_Pmag)</DESCRIPTION> </FIELD> <FIELD ID="e_Pmag" ucd="ERROR" unit="mag" datatype="F" width="5" precision="2"> <NAME>e_Pmag</NAME> <DESCRIPTION>Mean error on photographic magnitude</DESCRIPTION> </FIELD> <FIELD ID="class" ucd="CLASS_CODE" datatype="I" width="1" dataset="$stargal"> <NAME>Class</NAME> <DESCRIPTION>Class of object (0=star; 3=non-stellar)</DESCRIPTION> <VALUES type="actual"> <OPTION value="0">star</OPTION> <OPTION value="3">galaxy</OPTION> </VALUES> </FIELD> <!-- This section displays the data, in compact CSV form --> <DATA type="csv" colsep="|" headlines="2" ><![CDATA[ _r | GSC-id |RA2000 |DE2000 |Err|Bmag|Err|m arcmin|----------|deg |deg |arcsrc|mag|mag| 0.0146|0430201297|00 13 00.93|+72 31 19.9|3.6|8.59|0.20|0 0.9704|0430200545|00 12 50.07|+72 30 48.2|0.2|12.18|0.34|0 0.9730|0430200545|00 12 50.04|+72 30 48.1|0.2|12.09|0.20|0 1.5843|0430202363|00 12 44.05|+72 30 22.6|0.2|14.38|0.34|0 2.8586|0430200269|00 12 33.10|+72 29 22.6|0.3|14.96|0.20|3 2.9198|0430200153|00 13 24.64|+72 33 38.3|0.2|12.89|0.20|0 2.9215|0430200153|00 13 24.66|+72 33 38.4|0.2|13.06|0.34|0 3.0487|0430202336|00 12 53.35|+72 34 18.7|0.2|14.38|0.34|0 3.2247|0430200121|00 13 36.48|+72 29 30.2|0.2|12.39|0.21|0 3.2269|0430200121|00 13 36.46|+72 29 29.8|0.2|12.50|0.34|0 ]]></DATA> <LINKGROUP> <LINK content-role="doc" title="documentation" href="http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/Cat?I/254"/> <LINK content-role="hints" title="Hints for the display interface" href="http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/Cat?I/254&-hints"/> </LINKGROUP> </TABLE> </RESOURCE> </ASTRO>


Document Definition

<!-- DOCUMENT TYPE DEFINITION FOR THE ASTRONOMICAL RESOURCES Version 0.2 - 12 july 1999 Version 0.1 - 29 june 1999 This DTD describes the architecture of XML documents for astronomical resources. Astronomical resources means in this context: . excerpt tables or complete tables . lists of table descriptions . lists of server descriptions The aim is to give enough knowledge to the user interfaces to manipulate these resources (units, formats, anchors, natural language descriptions, nomenclatures, value ranges...). Syntax policy ============= - The element names are in uppercase in order to help the reading. - The attribute names are preferably in lowercase (exception for ID from the Xpointer standard) - The attribute values are not set directly in the DTD but indicated in comments to facilitate the reading and future extensions. Remarks about the ID attribute ============================== This DTD use the ID attribute defined by Xpointer standard in order to refer the elements between them: The attribute ID can take any authorized values in XML. Each ID must be unique in the XML document. To refer to an element the Xpointer standard is used. For example #id(myJ2000) refers to the element that contains ID="myJ2000" in the current XML document. An alternative to this notation has been introduced with the classical $NAME variable (or ${NAME}). This notation will be prefered in case of substitutions (URL template, epochs depending of the row values,... ex: http://vizir.u-strasbg.fr?cgi-bin?-c=$ra+$de&-r=10) Remarks about DATA element ========================== The DATA element can indicate different structures depending of the origin and the size of the DATA. -> CSV embedded (Character Separated values) -> Full XML tagging -> anchor to external data In case of CSV syntax, headings are authorized to help the reading. Remarks about LINKGROUP element =============================== The LINKGROUP element has been defined to set together several URL templates for queries, documentation, additional information... It follows the Xlink syntax. --> <!ELEMENT RESOURCE (DEFINITIONS*, NAME?, TITLE?, DESCRIPTION?, FIELD*, TABLE+, (LINK | LINKGROUP)? ) > <!-- Astronomical table --> <!ELEMENT TABLE (NAME?, TITLE?, DESCRIPTION?, (LINK | LINKGROUP)?, DATA?) > <!ATTLIST TABLE ID CDATA #IMPLIED > <!-- 1) In TABLE tag: Catalog or table shortname ex: "GSC1.2 2) In FIELD tag: field name ex: "RA(J2000)" --> <!ELEMENT NAME (#PCDATA) > <!-- 1) In TABLE tag: Catalog or table description (paragraph) ex: "This is an excerpt of the GSC1.2. This version was re-reduced with PPM catalogue; see more details about..." 2) In FIELD tag: field description (paragraph) --> <!ELEMENT DESCRIPTION (#PCDATA) > <!-- 1) In TABLE tag: Catalog or table title in one line ex: "The HST Guide Star Catalog, Version 1.2 (Lasker+ 1996)" 2) In FIELD tag: field description (paragraph) ex: "Right ascension in J2000, epoch of plate" --> <!ELEMENT TITLE (#PCDATA) > <!-- Definition of a field --> <!ELEMENT FIELD (NAME?, DESCRIPTION?, VALUES?, (LINK | LINKGROUP)? ) > <!-- ID To refer this element unit Unit used for the field (see appendix) datatype Datatype of field value F-float, D-double, I-integer, A-ascii L-boolean (logical), E-exponential precision Precision of field value: number of significant digits after the dot (ex: "3") width number of characters "8" format indicate the format by a "%fmt" template (as "printf()" in language C). Use for coordinate format, time and date formats (ex: "%RAh:%RAmd %DEd:%DEmd" - (see appendix) ref Reference to the system for this field. For example it can be a coordinate or a photometric system. ex : #id("myJ2000") -> The syntax comes from Xpointers name Alternative to specify the name of the field if it uses only ascii characters (see the NAME element for the other possibility) ucd Unified column descriptor "POS_EQ_RA" (ESO/CDS work) type To characterize the field hidden for fields used typically for server/client exchange no_query for fields which specify some parameters (e.g. the equinox of a coordinate system) trigger for fields which contain a parameter for an action to execute (e.g. an image number to be passed to a link) actualvalues Reference to the range or list of actual values (it is an alternative to the <VALUES> entity in order to be able to factorize them) legalvalues Reference to the range or list of legal values (it's an alternative to the <VALUES> entity in order to be able to factorize them) --> <!ATTLIST FIELD ID CDATA #IMPLIED unit CDATA #IMPLIED datatype (F|I|D|E|A|L) #IMPLIED precision CDATA #IMPLIED width CDATA #IMPLIED format CDATA #IMPLIED ref CDATA #IMPLIED name CDATA #IMPLIED ucd CDATA #IMPLIED type (hidden|no_query|trigger) #IMPLIED actualvalues CDATA #IMPLIED legalvalues CDATA #IMPLIED > <!-- To specify ranges or lists of values In case of use in <FIELD> tag, the type attribute can be used to indicate the kind of values. The multiple attribute specifies that it is not an exclusive list of value, and in this case the separator value indicates the character to separate several values type legal|actual multiple yes|no separator a letter, by default "," --> <!ELEMENT VALUES (MIN*, MAX*, OPTION*, NULL?) > <!ATTLIST DATA ID CDATA #IMPLIED multiple (yes |no) "no" type (legal|actual) "legal" > <!-- Min of a value range value the min inclusive yes|no (default: yes) --> <!ELEMENT MIN (#PCDATA) > <!ATTLIST DATA value CDATA #REQUIRED inclusive (yes |no) "yes" > <!-- Max of a value range value the max inclusive yes|no (default: yes) --> <!ELEMENT MAX (#PCDATA) > <!ATTLIST DATA value CDATA #REQUIRED inclusive (yes |no) "yes" > <!-- Item of list of values. The content of the OPTION tag can be not empty to indicate a corresponding sentence (ex: value="I/239" and content: "Hipparcos catalog" --> <!ELEMENT OPTION (#PCDATA) > <!ATTLIST DATA value CDATA #REQUIRED > <!-- Specify the value for the null representation value the null representation --> <!ELEMENT NULL (#PCDATA) > <!ATTLIST DATA value CDATA #REQUIRED > <!-- Set of links. --> <!ELEMENT LINKGROUP (LINK+) > <!-- Link to relevant information. The link may contain $ symbols indicating variable substitution, (see "Remarks about the ID attribute" above) The kind of information which can be returned is defined by the content-role attribute; proposed keys are: query URL template to query the resource hints URL template to get additional information proposed by the server for use by the application doc URL template to get documentation about the resource .... (other tbd's) --> <!ELEMENT LINK (#PCDATA) > <!ATTLIST DATA title CDATA #IMPLIED content-role (query|hints|doc) "query" href CDATA #IMPLIED value CDATA #IMPLIED > <!-- Data of the table. The type attribute determines the way that the data are embedded type csv Character separed values in an escape section <![CDATA[....]]> xml fully tagged (Ed. Shaya prop) xlink link to the data recsep for CSV, record separator (by default \n) (ex: "\r") colsep for CSV, column separator (by default \t) (ex: "|") headlines for CSV, number of heading lines to ignore (comment lines) --> <!ELEMENT DATA (#PCDATA) > <!ATTLIST DATA type (csv|xml|xlink) "csv" recsep CDATA #IMPLIED colsep CDATA #IMPLIED headlines CDATA #IMPLIED > <!-- General definitions for default system coordinates and set of values --> <!ELEMENT DEFINITIONS (COOSYS*) > <!-- Coordinate system declaration --> <!ELEMENT COOSYS (#PCDATA) > <!-- ID to refer it "myJ2000" system eq_FK4|eq_FK5|ICRS|ecl_FK4|ecl_FK5| galactic|supergalactic|xy|barycentric|geo_app equinox the equinox epoch the epoch x Alternative for referring to RA y Alternative for referring to DE --> <!ATTLIST COOSYS ID CDATA #IMPLIED system (eq_FK4|eq_FK5|ICRS|ecl_FK4|ecl_FK5|galactic|supergalactic|xy|barycentric|geo_app) "eq_FK5" equinox CDATA #IMPLIED epoch CDATA #IMPLIED x CDATA #IMPLIED y CDATA #IMPLIED > <!-- APPENDIX "unit" attibute values (FIELD element) ______________________________________ % percent 10-2 A Ampere A a year 3.15576x10+7s al light-year 9.46053x10+15m Angstroem Angstroem (0.1nm) 10-10m arcmin minute of arc 4.62963x10-5 arcsec second of arc 7.71605x10-7 atm atmosphere 1.01325x10+5Pa (kg.m-1.s-2) AU astronomical unit 1.49598x10+11m au astronomical unit 1.49598x10+11m bar ?bar(10+5Pa) 10+5Pa (kg.m-1.s-2) barn barn(10-28m2) 10-28m+2 bit binary information unit byte byte(8bits) C Coulomb C (s.A) c c(speed_of_light) 2.99792x10+8m.s-1 cal calorie 4.1854J (kg.m+2.s-2) cd candela(lumen/sr) cd ct count D Debye (dipole) 3.33333x10-30m.s.A d day 8.64x10+4s deg degree 2.77778x10-3 dyn dyne(10-5N) 10-5N (kg.m.s-2) e e(electron_charge) 1.60218x10-19C (s.A) erg erg(10-7J) 10-7J (kg.m+2.s-2) eV electron-Volt 1.60218x10-19J (kg.m+2.s-2) F Farad F (kg-1.m-2.s+4.A+2) G G(gravitation) 6.67x10-11kg-1.m+3.s-2 g gram 10-3kg gauss Gauss(10-4T) 10-4T (kg.s-2.A-1) H Henry H (kg.m+2.s-2.A-2) h hour 3.6x10+3s hr hour(use 'h') 3.6x10+3s Hz Herz Hz (s-1) inch inch 2.54x10-2m J Joule J (kg.m+2.s-2) JD Julian Day 8.64x10+4s Jy Jansky(10-26W/m2/Hz) 10-26kg.s-2 K Kelvin K k k(Boltzmann) 1.38062x10-23kg.m+2.s-2.K-1 kg kilogram kg l litre 10-3m+3 lm lumen 7.95775x10-2cd lx lux(lm/m2) 7.95775x10-2m-2.cd lyr light-year (c*yr) 9.46053x10+15m m metre m mag magnitude mag mas milli-second of arc 7.71605x10-10 me electron_mass 9.10956x10-31kg min minute 6x10+1s MJD Mod. JD (JD-2400000.5) 8.64x10+4s mmHg mercury_mm 1.33322x10+2Pa (kg.m-1.s-2) mol mole mol month month mp proton_mass 1.67266x10-27kg N Newton N (kg.m.s-2) Ohm Ohm(V/A) Ohm (kg.m+2.s-3.A-2) Pa Pascal Pa (kg.m-1.s-2) pc parsec 3.0857x10+16m ph photon pi pi(=3.14...) 3.14159 pix pixel R R(gas_constant) 8.3143kg.m+2.s-2.K-1.mol-1 rad radian 1.59155x10-1 Ry Rydberg(13.6eV) 2.17989x10-18J (kg.m+2.s-2) S Siemens(A/V) S (kg-1.m-2.s+3.A+2) s second s sec second (use 's') s solLum solar luminosity 3.826x10+26W (kg.m+2.s-3) solMass solar mass 1.989x10+30kg solRad solar radius 6.9599x10+8m sr steradian 7.95775x10-2 Sun Solar unit T Tesla T (kg.s-2.A-1) t ton 10+3kg V Volt V (kg.m+2.s-3.A-1) W Watt W (kg.m+2.s-3) Wb Weber(V.s) Wb (kg.m+2.s-2.A-1) yr year 3.15576x10+7s "format attibute value (FIELD element) ______________________________________ COOd entire coord. string in decimal degrees (76.96583 -76.44222) COO entire coord. string in sex. format (05 07 51.8 -76 26 32) RA RA in standard sexagesimal form (05 07 51.8) RAdeg RA in degrees (76.96583) RAh hours of right ascension (05) RAhd RA in decimal hours (5.13106) RAm minutes of RA (07) RAmd minutes of RA including any fractional minutes (07.9) RAs seconds of RA (52) RAsd seconds of RA including fractional seconds (51.8) DE DE in standard sexagesimal form (-76 26 32.0) DEdeg DE in degrees (-76.44222) DEd degrees of DE (-76) DEm minutes of DE (26) DEmd minutes of DE including fractional minutes (26.5) DEs seconds of DE (32) DEsd seconds of DE including fractional seconds (32.0) LON longitudinal coord. in degrees (288.48372) LAT latitudinal coord. in degrees (-32.30250) --> <!-- APPENDIX "time" formats (Astrobrowse and GLU Definitions) See http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ab/time.html ("UTC", "TAI", or "other") Symbol Meaning Example ==================================================== YYYY 4-digit year 1999 YYYYffff 4-digit year with fractional year 1999.0877 YY 2-digit year 99 DDD 3-digit day of year 032 DDDffffff 3-digit day of year with 6-digit 032.218142 fractional day MM 2-digit month 02 DD 2-digit day of month 01 DDfff 2-digit day of month with 3-digit 01.218 fractional day hh 2-digit hour of day 05 mm 2-digit minute of hour 14 ss 2-digit seconds of minute 07 ssff seconds of minute with fraction 07.45 hhffff hours with decimal fraction 05.1242 month name of month in lowercase february Month name of month (capitalized) February mon abbrev name of month feb JD Julian Date 2451210.71814178 TJD Truncated Julian Date 11210.2181417824 MJD Modified Julian Date 51210.2181417824 SHF SHF: short history file time key 602313260 XTE XTE mission day with fractional 1857.21818287037 day -->


The XSL used

This is a very preliminary example of a style sheed presenting the document (displayed by XML-compliant browser only)

<?xml version="1.0" ?> <xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-xsl" xmlns:HTML="http://www.w3.org/Profiles/XHTML-transitional"> <xsl:template><xsl:apply-templates/></xsl:template> <xsl:template match="text()"><xsl:value-of/></xsl:template> <xsl:template match="/"> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE><xsl:value-of select="ASTRO/RESOURCE/NAME"/></TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <H1><xsl:value-of select="ASTRO/RESOURCE/TITLE"/></H1> <I><xsl:value-of select="ASTRO/RESOURCE/DESCRIPTION"/></I> <HR/> <xsl:for-each select="ASTRO/RESOURCE/TABLE"> <H2><xsl:value-of select="TITLE"/></H2> <H3>Column description:</H3><UL> <xsl:for-each select="FIELD"> <LI> <xsl:value-of select="NAME"/>: <xsl:value-of select="TITLE"/> <I><xsl:value-of select="DESCRIPTION"/></I></LI> </xsl:for-each> </UL> <H2>Data:</H2> <PRE><xsl:value-of select="DATA"/></PRE> </xsl:for-each> <HR/> </BODY> </HTML> </xsl:template> </xsl:stylesheet>

Version 16 July 1999


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