CDSARC BASIC CLIENT  ---                                       

     Centre de Donnees astronomiques de STRASBOURG, France
===============================================================================

On the Alpha and Linux computers of the Instituto di Radioastronomia was
installed  the clients that can copy data directly from the CDS Archive 
located at STRASBOURG, France.

   Note that any program can be executed with the -help option
	which display the very basic syntax

   findcat  allows to retrieve the existing catalogues in CDS Archive.
            Usage:
            findcat [key... | catalogue_number]
                 keys words to look for, e.g. RADIO,  Author's name ...
		 catalogue_number: e.g. 8019, VIII/19, J/A+AS/94/519 ...

   lscat    displays a summary of the files making up a catalogue
	    Usage: 
	    lscat catalogue_number [catalogue_number...]

   catcat   allows to copy a catalogue or a file extracted from a
	    catalogue, either in plain ascii, in tar format, 
	    or in FITS format. 
            Usage:
            catcat [-#] [-fits|-fits.Z|-tar|-tar.Z] catnum[/file]
	        -#: Specify how many lines from each file (default
		    all) are to be printed. 
	      -tar: Get catalogue file(s) in TAR format
	    -tar.Z: Get catalogue file(s) in TAR format, compressed
	     -fits: Get catalogue file(s) as FITS tables
	   -fits.Z: Get catalogue file(s) as FITS tables, compressed
	    catnum: e.g. 8019, VIII/19, J/A+AS/94/519 ...

	    Note: The decription file is generally named
		  ReadMe  for J-catalogues 
		  Intro   for other catalogues
            which means that short explanations may be displayed with commands
		  catcat VIII/19/Intro
		  catcat J/A+AS/94/519/ReadMe

   findacro ***not yet fully operational***
	    allows to retrieve the meaning, references, etc... of
	    catalogue designations from the
	    "2nd Reference Dictionary of the Nomenclature of Celestial Objects"
	    by Lortet M.C., Borde S. & Ochsenbein F.
	    published in CDS Special Publ. 24 (Aug. 1994)
	    (not yet ready). As an example, the command
	    findacro  BE
	    will provide all explanations about catalogue acronyms
	    starting with the two letters BE . It is possible to
	    restrict to only BE by appending a \$, i.e.
	    findacro  BE\$

   findgsc  allows to query by coordinates the Guide Star Catalogue
	    Version 1.1. Usage:
	    findgsc J2000-center [-r radius_in_arcmin]
   
   simref   allows to retrieve bibliographical references
	    (authors & title) from SIMBAD data-base.
	    Usage:  simref yyyyJJJJJvvvvMpppp       (dot-filled)
	    yyyy  = Year
	    JJJJJ = SIMBAD/NED Journal Abbreviation
	    vvvv  = Volumn number
	    M     = specific qualifer (L for Letter pages, etc...)
	    pppp  = Page number
	    Example: 1992A+AS.94.519

   simbib   allows to retrieve bibliographical references
	    from author's names or words from title.
	    Usage: simbib [minimal_year] word(s)...
	    Example:   simbib 1990 white dwarf X-ray
	    retrieves the references simce 1990 dealing about white dwarfs
	    in X-ray domain.

=====================================================================
Internet:  francois@simbad.u-strasbg.fr        SPAN: SIMBAD::FRANCOIS
   Phone:  +33 88 35 84 11                      Fax: +33 88 25 01 60
    Post:  Francois Ochsenbein
	Observatoire Astronomique
	11, rue de l'Universite
	67000 STRASBOURG, France
=====================================================================