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starconvert(1)		     General Commands Manual		  starconvert(1)

NAME
     starconvert - convert text data files to StarPlot format

SYNOPSIS
     starconvert [ options ] spec-file input-file [ output-file ]

DESCRIPTION
     Although  many  stellar  data  files are publicly available on the Internet
     from NASA and other astronomical organizations, there is no set format  for
     these  files.  The program starconvert acts as a buffer between this confu-
     sion and the format in which StarPlot requires data files.  To  do  so,  it
     uses  a  specification file that details how various fields of stellar data
     (name, distance, right ascension, etc.) may be extracted from the	original
     data file.

     On  the  StarPlot web site are available some packages of data that include
     both an original data file from  NASA,  and  also	a   specification  file.
     These  packages  are referred to as "data sets", from which starconvert can
     produce a data file in StarPlot format.  For ease of use,	this  should  be
     done via the starpkg(1) shell script.

     The starconvert command uses the specifications in spec-file to convert in-
     put-file  to  StarPlot data format and writes the results to output-file if
     specified, or standard output if not.  The  first	two  arguments	are  re-
     quired.  Exactly ONE may be replaced with a dash `-' for reading from stan-
     dard input.

OPTIONS
     --     Signals  the end of the options.  This allows you to use a spec-file
	    whose filename begins with the '-' character.

     --add-sun
	    Add an entry for the Sun to the generated StarPlot-format data file,
	    if it is not already present in the original raw data file.  This is
	    the default behavior, so this flag has an effect only if it reverses
	    an earlier --no-add-sun flag.

     --no-add-sun
	    Do not add an entry for the Sun  to  the  generated  StarPlot-format
	    data  file,  unless  it  is  present  in the original raw data file.
	    Adding the Sun is otherwise done by default, since most  star  cata-
	    logs do not include it.

SPECIFICATION FILES
     For  detailed information on how to write a specification file, see the ex-
     ample file listed below.  Be aware that I expect to change the default for-
     mat of starconvert spec files after version 1.0, although starconvert  will
     remain backwards-compatible.

FILES
     /usr/local/share/doc/starplot/ - Contains documentation
     /usr/local/share/doc/starplot/examples/example.spec - Example specification
     file

SEE ALSO
     starplot(1), starpkg(1)

AUTHOR
     Copyright	 (C)   2000-2002   under   the	GNU  GPL  by  Kevin  B.  McCarty
     <starplot@starplot.org>.  The StarPlot web page is at www.starplot.org.

				    Nov 2002			  starconvert(1)

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