CIMA Latest News

Important news about CIMA

This page gives You some important news about CIMA. For more detailed news and information, please, check the various web pages available on the CIMA homepage, especially the ones containing logs and descriptions of current versions.

The CIMA version history log is the most up-to-date page which lists all changes made to different versions of CIMA.

08 July 2013: CIMA-PUPPI

The PUPPI test version of CIMA has been released.

Please note that this is a test version:

Some of the aspects of PUPPI cannot be control by CIMA (such as adjusting power). You would have to login to PUPPI and do that manually.
In case of any error during observation, please be prepared to switch to puppi command line mode. You will need parfile for your sources, and its quicker if you have saved a CIMA configuration file.
Please do let me know if you will be using CIMA-PUPPI for your observation, so I can keep an eye out for it. If you are new to either CIMA and/or PUPPI, let me know. We can help you with couple of assisted observations.
Some of the things are new/different in CIMA-PUPPI compared to other versions. So please use the offline version of CIMA to familiarize yourself. IMPORTANT: Please go through CIMA-PUPPI page for more details.
Please provide me with any feedback, new features you want, documentation etc.

22 April 2013: ProjectID Area

In 'Line' mode, CIMA will look for project directory first in '/share/obs4/usr/', and if not found, then in '/share/obs4/usr/pulsars' . In 'Pulsar' mode, CIMA will first look for project directory in '/share/obs4/usr/pulsar', and if not found, then in '/share/obs4/usr/'.

Current setup wont be affected. Problems might happen if there is project directory both in '/share/obs4/usr/' and '/share/obs4/usr/pulsar'.
So I would seek your help to :

Just have one project directory. Very Important.
For pulsar projects, put it in '/share/obs4/usr/pulsar'. For other projects in '/share/obs4/usr/', regardless of the 'line or pulsar mode'. (Just a suggestion)
This does not have to be done right away, and I will be happy to help with moving stuff around for individual projects .
Please be careful of merging folder, that might contain same file name, and moving files which might have absolute path for your configuration, cat and cmd files.

13 November 2012: Vacation

Due to injury in my hand I was in sick leave between 07 May - 30 Sep, 2012. If you have send me bugs during this period, I will look into it, but feel free to email them to me again. I am on vacation between 20 Dec - 10 Jan, but reachable through email.

15 March 2012: Version Cleanup for 02 April 2012

Svnwork, Mocksp, Smart, Old and Untested Versions will be removed from the "Current Version selection window". During the transition period, users can still use these versions by clicking on the "Frozen Version" or by specifying its specific location in the terminal. Read the news below regarding the Frozen Version.
The Normal version (3.0.14) will be renamed to Old version (3.0.14), and will no longer be the Default version.
Stable Version (3.3.00) will be the new Default version.
Users of Mocksp, Svnwork, Untested can use Stable version without any updates. Users of Smart version would have to update their configuration files to use Stable Version.
Users of Normal Version (3.0.14) can continue using Old version (3.0.14) without any updates. However, users are recommended to use the Stable version, in which case, updates on both configuration and command files are required.

Before After Comments

Svnwork Stable No Updates
Mocksp Stable No Updates
Smart Stable Update configuration file
Normal Old No Updates
Old Stable Rigorous updates needed
Untested Stable No Updates

Before	After	Comments
Svnwork	Stable	No Updates
Mocksp	Stable	No Updates
Smart	Stable	Update configuration file
Normal	Old	No Updates
Old	Stable	Rigorous updates needed
Untested	Stable	No Updates

15 March 2012: Frozen Version

Svnwork, Mocksp, Smart, Old and Untested Versions have been copied over to Frozen Versions. These frozen versions are to facilitate users during the transition process of migrating to a new CIMA Version. DO NOT use these versions on a CONTINUOUS basis, as these Versions will not be maintained. In cases where you still want to use them, you can do so by clicking on the "Frozen_Versions" button on the CIMA selection window. From terminal use the following commands respectively:

Version Name Version Number Command

Svnwork a.1.02 cima --a /home/cima/Software/frozen_old_versions/a.1
Mocksp 3.2.05 cima --a /home/cima/Software/frozen_old_versions/3.2
Smart 3.1.08 cima --a /home/cima/Software/frozen_old_versions/3.1
Old 2.2.40 cima --a /home/cima/Software/frozen_old_versions/2.2
Untested x.x.00 cima --a /home/cima/Software/frozen_old_versions/x.x

Version Name	Version Number	Command
Svnwork	a.1.02	cima --a /home/cima/Software/frozen_old_versions/a.1
Mocksp	3.2.05	cima --a /home/cima/Software/frozen_old_versions/3.2
Smart	3.1.08	cima --a /home/cima/Software/frozen_old_versions/3.1
Old	2.2.40	cima --a /home/cima/Software/frozen_old_versions/2.2
Untested	x.x.00	cima --a /home/cima/Software/frozen_old_versions/x.x

15 March 2012: Stable Version 3.3

Stable: A new CIMA version 3.3.00 was released called "Stable". This version is phil's svnwork dated 15 March 2012 with added support for Mock spectrometer including "Time Series" data mode. Details about this version can be found here

01 March 2012: Several Updates

The previous CIMA administrator had to leave and this page has not been updated since. Here is a summary of major updates since January 2009. More detailed information can be found at The CIMA version history log and The CIMA user's log.

Svnwork: CIMA Version a.1 was released on November 2010 (details). It added further support for the mock spectrometer. It went through upgrades from a.1.00 to a.1.02 (modifications). The latest version number is a.1.02. This is the most up-to-date stable CIMA version.
Mocksp: CIMA Version 3.2 was released on October 2009 (details). It provided single pixel observing with the Mock spectrometer and introduces the 800 Mhz Receiver. This version went through upgrades from 3.2.00 to 3.2.05 (modifications). The latest version number is 3.2.05.
Smart: CIMA Version 3.1 went through upgrades from 3.1.02 to 3.1.08 (modifications). The latest version number is 3.1.08.
Normal: CIMA Version 3.0 went through upgrades from 3.0.10 to 3.0.14 (modifications). The latest version number is 3.0.14.
Old: CIMA Version 2.2 went through upgrades from 2.2.38 to 2.2.40 (modifications). The latest version number is 3.2.40.

16 December 2008: CIMA version 3.1 ("Smart") released

Version 3.1 of CIMA called "Smart" has been officially released. Among the new features are better support of the Mock spectrometer for ALFA observations, some new options for the use of winking cal and continuous data taking for all spectral line observing modes, some new command file features as well as the new smart basketweaving observing mode. You can read about the new version here. Also note that many CIMA web pages (like the visual guide to the CIMA windows) already are updated for this new version.

4 December 2008: Two new web pages added

A new web page describing the data taking modes available in CIMA has been added as well as a new page outlining the new 'auto-observing' mode which will be developed for CIMA version 3.2.

27 October 2008: New default version of CIMA

Version 3.0 of CIMA which so far has been called 'Next' has become the default version and its name has been changed to 'Normal' as a result of this. The previous 'Normal' version (version 2.2) has been renamed the 'Old' version. The old version of CIMA will be available at least until the end of this year, but all users are recommended to switch over to version 3.0 as soon as convenient. All observers are strongly recommended to try out version 3.0 in off-line mode before using it on the telescope.

NOTE the incompatibility issues with the previous versions of CIMA! Observers using 2.2 and earlier versions of CIMA are advised to consider the following four points:

All old configuration files ('.gui', '.iflo' and '.wapp') created by version 2.2 and older are INCOMPATIBLE with version 3.0. It is thus necessary to create new configuration files ('.conf') using the new version. This can be done in off-line mode.
Source catalogs may need updating if they don't have a a coordinate type, reference velocity, velocity frame and velocity type defined for all sources.
There has been a number of changes of the command file syntax so most observers using command files will have to update their command file scripts.
There is a new set of preferences to select from, including a number of options to customize the log format.

For further information, see this web page.

27 September 2008: Even more new web pages

Links have been added to the CIMA software components web page so that You now can see examples of how the various CIMA programs appear. This also includes CIMA itself so that You now can see all windows that You may encounter during Your observing session (only for version 3.0 of CIMA).

24 September 2008: More new web pages

A new set of web pages describing new observing capabilities has been added as well as a new page describing some common problems encountered when observing with CIMA and another web page describing how the different backends are supported from CIMA.

16 September 2008: New web pages added

A new web page describing the log formats used both in the CIMA log display windows and in the CIMA log files has been added as well as a new page describing buttons and error handling.

2 July 2008: CIMA version 2.3 'Unusable' removed

The development version of the next generation of CIMA (called version 2.3 'Unusable') has been removed since the official version (called 3.0 'Next') is available.

12 June 2008: Next generation of CIMA officially installed

The next generation of CIMA called 3.0 'Next' has been officially installed. It replaces the 2.3 'Unusable' version which was used for the development, and users of version 2.3 should switch to 3.0 as soon as possible. Note that You will have to reselect Your preferences since there has been a minor modification to the preference data. Configuration files from version 2.3 will also be reported as 'old' by version 3.0. To upgrade them, make a 'Load and apply' of the old configuration file and then save a new configuration file. Version 2.2 'Normal' is the old version. It has been upgraded to be compatible with modifications to the SCRAMNET broadcasts, WAPP communication and support library modifications and there is thus risks that bugs have been introduced. Apart from urgent bug fixes, all development of version 2.2 has (since long) been terminated. Version 3.0 is the future of CIMA and includes a lot of modifications and improvements. The improvements come with a price though: catalog files may need updating, command file syntax has changed and old configuration files can't be used - new ones have to be created with the new version. All observers are encouraged to migrate over to version 3.0, which will become the default version very soon, but do try it out off-line BEFORE getting on to the telescope to get familiar with it. The old version will be kept on-line for at least 6 months, maybe longer, to give all observers plenty of time to move over to the new version. Remember that You always can try out the new 3.0 version in off-line mode to see how it works. Some web pages have been updated to contain information on version 3.0 (2.3): the source catalog page, the preferences page, the log format page, the configuration file page and the command file page.

7 December 2007: CIMA WAPP software, CIMAFITS and WAPP pulsar header upgrade

A new version of the CIMA WAPP software has been installed which enables the WAPPs to run in 'dual board mode', where the two boards of each WAPP is used as an individual spectrometer or pulsar machine, thus allowing the WAPPs to cover up to 800 MHz bandwidth compared to 400 MHz in single board mode. As a result of this upgrade, the WAPP pulsar headers had to be upgraded to include extra information about the dual board mode. There has also been some bug fixes both to WAPP pulsar headers as well as to the CIMAFITS headers. Most of the bug fixes only affects engineering parameters, but one serious bug has been found and corrected which involves the automatic power adjustment in single polarization mode for the 'B' channel, which did not work properly. Observers that have been taking data with the WAPPs in single polarization pol-B mode either in spectral line or in pulsar mode should be aware that their data may be corrupted due to the fact that too little or too much power was going into the WAPPs during the observation. This bug has been in the system all the time up until now.

20 February 2007: Mailing list for CIMA news

A mailing list for distributing news about CIMA modifications and bug fixes have been set up. Anyone interested in receiving such news about CIMA, can sign up to this mailing list by sending an email with the word "subscribe" in the header to 'cima-news-request@naic.edu'. If You wish to subscribe using a different address, You can write "subscribe address=xxx@yyy.zzz" in the header.

General information for CIMA users

These are a few recommendations to CIMA users:

Check the CIMA web pages regularly before Your observing sessions so that You are aware of any changes made to CIMA.
Use the current CIMA versions page and the CIMA user's log page to decide which version of CIMA You want to use. Newer versions (indicated by a higher version number) usually provide new features, more functionality and fixes to old bugs. However, there is, of course, always a risk that some new bugs have been introduced, which is the reason why old versions are kept available.
If You find a newer version unsuitable or unusable for Your project, please, inform the CIMA administrator (Mikael Lerner) about Your problems or concerns so that the newer version can be fixed. Staying with an old version should be seen as a short-term solution.
Don't forget that You can familiarize Yourself with CIMA and test out many things by running CIMA off-line from basically any computer at the observatory. Don't be afraid of hitting any buttons --- CIMA will simulate some action for You when run in off-line mode, but it will NEVER send any commands to the telescope, the receivers or the back-ends.
Run CIMA in off-line mode once before starting a new project at the telescope. This will allow You to check that You have a proper project directory set up for You (the project number should stay black in the CIMA start-up window --- red numbers indicate that the directory is missing). It will also save You a minute or two of telescope time, since CIMA is going to ask You for some preference choices the very first time You start up a new project. You can also set up the IF/LO path as well as the back-end configuration and save them to a configuration file which You can use during Your observation.
Remote observers are recommended to use VNC since it faster and more reliable. See the remote observing instructions for details on how to use VNC.

All CIMA software is run from '/home/cima/bin'. Most software needed by the normal user like 'cima' itself or the 'alfadatawin' WAPP spectral line quick-look display have been set-up with links in '/usr/local/bin' so that the user should not have to bother about remembering the path. However, some software parts intended to be used mainly by the staff need to be called directly from the '/home/cima/bin' directory.

All WAPP spectral line data is accessible in the directory '/share/wappdata'. Avoid using names to specific disks like '/share/pserverf.sda3/wappdata' since they may change without warning.