1. Introduction

This document covers the extensive changes to fesh for FS 10.0.0.

2. fesh changes

Please use fesh -h for more information on using these features.

2.1. Encrypted access to cddis

fesh now supports encrypted access to cddis using FTP-SSL and HTTPS (closing #36).

This allows use of cddis after non-SSL FTP access was disabled there at the end of October 2020. FTP-SSL is the default method.

For FTP-SSL, it is recommended that the FESH_EMAIL environment variable be set to avoid having to provide an email address as the anonymous FTP-SSL password for each invocation.

Tip
 The FTP-SSL method may not work from behind some firewalls. If it doesn’t work for you, you can either use HTTPS for cddis or use a different data center (see Additional data centers below).
Caution
 The use of FTP-SSL by cddis may be deprecated in the future.

Using HTTPS can be activated for cddis by setting the FESH_CDDIS_METHOD environment variable to https.

Note
 Using HTTPS for cddis requires an EarthData login and setting it in your .netrc file. If you don’t have an EarthData login, you should be able to get one by selecting REGISTER at: https://urs.earthdata.nasa.gov/.

2.2. Additional data centers

fesh now supports bkg, cddis, opar, and vlbeer data centers (closing #37).

The data center can be selected with the FESH_DATA_CENTER environment variable or the -D command line option. The default data center is cddis. For vlbeer only .vex files are supported; for the others, only .skd. Running drudg automatically is not supported for vlbeer.

Tip
 For FSL8 and other old Linux distributions, access to cddis may not be possible, due to out-of-date certificates (for both FTP-SSL or HTTPS). If you are in that situation, bkg or opar may be suitable alternatives.

2.3. Respect skedf.ctl

fesh now respects the /usr2/control/skedf.ctl control file (closing #65).

Previously fesh assumed that the directory for .skd files was /usr2/sched/ regardless of what was in the $schedules block of /usr2/control/skedf.ctl. This only worked if the directory specified was /usr2/sched or was the working directory (i.e., not specified or .). This prevented use with different directories, such as /usr2/exper, for .skd files. Thanks to Jon Quick (HartRAO) for reporting this.

2.4. Optional drudg prompts for geodesy

fesh now provides support for drudg optional prompts for geodesy schedules (partially closing #38).

It is assumed that for geodesy the answers to these questions for a station do not vary. This feature is intended to allow stations that observe both astronomy and geodesy schedules to use fesh to drudg geodesy schedules. The environment variables FESH_GEO_TPICD, FESH_GEO_CONT_CAL, FESH_GEO_CONT_CAL_POLARITY, and FESH_GEO_VSI_ALIGN or the command line options -tcpa can be used to supply answers to the corresponding drudg prompts.

Important
 Let the user beware. This feature must be used with extreme care. The answers that are specified must correspond exactly to the questions that drudg will ask. If they don’t correspond correctly, drudg may produce subtly incorrect output with no obvious indication of a problem. The fesh script does what consistency checking it can, e.g., if FESH_CONT_CAL is specified as off, no answer can be supplied for FESH_CONT_CAL_POLARITY since that question will not be asked. It is important to verify that correct output is being produced.
Important
 The feature will not work for schedules that have more than one mode. It is extremely rare for geodesy schedules to have more than one mode, but it is possible.

2.5. New environment variable LIST_DIR

Use of an environment variable, LIST_DIR, was added to specify the directory for drudg listings. If not set, the .skd file directory is used.

2.6. New environment variable NETRC_DIR

Use of an environment variable, NETRC_DIR, was added to specify a directory other than the user’s home directory (~) for the .netrc file used with HTTPS access for cddis. The same variable is used by the plog script for the same purpose.

Note
 Normally, the .netrc file would be in the user’s home directory. However, some systems have security policies that forbid that. This variable provides a way to have the .netrc file in a different directory, perhaps /usr2/control.

2.7. User name ftp used for FTP

The user name for the unencrypted FTP access to bkg, opar, and vlbeer, is explicitly set to ftp to avoid potential conflicts with other accounts specified in ~/.netrc.

Note
 For FTP, use of NETRC_DIR does not affect which .netrc file is used, i.e., FTP in fesh always uses ~/.netrc.

2.8. New command line options

Several new command line options were added:

  • -y to override the year directory accessed for a geodesy data center (the default is the current year).

    This is particularly useful for getting schedules for the next year.

  • -x to trigger also downloading the .txt file associated with a geodesy schedule.`

  • -m to override the month directory accessed for vlbeer (the default is the current month).

    This is particularly useful for getting schedules for a future month.

  • -H to disable the default use of the .latest sub-directory of the month directory for vlbeer.

  • -D to override the data center if the FESH_DATA_CENTER environment variable is set, or change the data center from the default if it is not set.

  • -s to override the station code if the STATION environment variable is set, or set it if it is not set.

  • -a to set or override the FESH_GEO_VSI_ALIGN value

  • -c to set or override the FESH_GEO_CONT_CAL value

  • -p to set or override the FESH_GEO_CONT_CAL_POLARITY value

  • -t to set or override the FESH_GEO_TPICD value

2.9. Typo in error message fixed

A typo in the error message for when the schedule is already downloaded was fixed (closing #34). Thanks to Morgan Goodrich (KPGO) for reporting this.

2.10. Internal version print-out was changed.

The format of the version print-out was changed.