STILTS v1.0b release

Dear VOers,

This is to announce the v1.0b release of STILTS, the Starlink Tables Infrastructure Library Tool Set, which is a set of command-line table/VOTable manipulation tools. V1.0 is a major revision, featuring a new crossmatch tool and fully overhauled parameter system amongst other things.

I will be presenting a poster on this (P.3) at ADASS next week, and I'll mention it in the VOTable session at the following IVOA interop meeting. It's relevant to applications as well, but I won't be presenting it in the apps IG session for fear of repeating myself. Of course I'll be more than happy to discuss it with anyone who's interested.

Announcement is below; more info on the website:

   http://www.starlink.ac.uk/stilts/

cheers

Mark

P.S. TOPCAT gets a new release simultaneously - improved crossmatching

      options and ACR-based MySpace access are the headline items.
      See http://www.starlink.ac.uk/topcat/

STILTS V1.0b

STILTS is a package of command-line table processing tools, suitable for use from shell scripts, the command line, server-side workflows etc. Like TOPCAT, it is based on STIL, Starlink's generic table/VOTable I/O and processing library. Amongst other things, it provides non-graphical equivalents of a number of the functions available within TOPCAT. It also provides some commands specifically for handling VOTable documents.

The package is pure java, open source, scalable, efficient, robust and fully documented.

The current list of commands is:

   tcopy   - Table format converter
   tpipe   - Generic all-purpose table pipeline utility
   tmatch2 - Crossmatcher                              (NEW)
   tcat    - Table concatenater                        (NEW)

   votcopy - VOTable encoding translator    votlint - VOTable validity checker

   calc    - Quick expression evaluator                (NEW)

All these tools work (on the whole) in streaming mode, and so are suitable for use with very large tables.

The STILTS web page, which contains an overview, downloads, and full documentation is at

    http://www.starlink.ac.uk/stilts/

-- 
Mark Taylor   Astronomical Programmer   Physics, Bristol University, UK
m.b.taylor@bris.ac.uk +44-117-928-8776 http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/~mbt/