Metadata

Assigning metadata to your datasets Data can only be properly interpreted and used when proper metadata are associated. Image pixel values without FITS header (with astrometric metadata, instrument information, epoch...), catalogue values without parameters description (column types, units, ...) are useless.
An important step when publishing data to the VO is to ensure that relevant metadata are provided, allowing wide usage of the corresponding data. Several metadata standards have been and are being developed in the IVOA context to ensure the use of homogeneous metadata across the VO, and allow good interoperability. ⇒

Metadata extraction: from FITS files to databases Publishing images and spectra in a VO-compliant format is a two step procedure: first making sure all data is valid and described in a common, homogeneous way, and then providing query interfaces to the data, using the validated data descriptions.
MEx is a tool to aid the first step (metadata ingestion) where the data descriptions are extracted from FITS headers into a data repository. A set of required and optional metadata are defined for each type of data, and are extracted from the FITS files through mapping rules. The data repository (most commonly a database) separates the metadata ingestion from the second step, the query service. ⇒

Catalogues

DMMapper The first objective is to allow a client to query a catalogue using the ADQL language, including the REGION search. Then, try to map the catalogue to the Source Catalogue DM, allowing clients to send uniform queries across different services. The client used to demonstrate this is VOQuest, and the server package is the DMMapper. ⇒

DSA The AstroGrid DSA (Data Set Access) component is a tool for making tabular data stored in an RDBMS (relational database) available on the VO. It can plug into a wide variety of different database systems and makes the data accessible for ADQL (Astronomers' Data Query Language) queries as well as cone searching tables. ⇒

Saada Saada transforms a set of heterogeneous FITS files or VOTables of various categories (images, tables, spectra....) into a powerful database deployed on the Web and provides standard VO interfaces to the data (ConeSearch, Simple Image Access, Simple Spectrum Access). The database (a SaadaDB) is located on your host and stays independent of any external server. This job does not require to write any line of code.
In this tutorial, participants will go through the following steps: creating a Saada DataBase, ingesting the data files in the database, assigning metadata, registering the service in a VO registry. Finally, participants will be able to access the data from various VO tools using standard interfaces provided by the Saada system. ⇒

Images and Spectra

DALToolKit The ESAVO DALToolKit publishing software is a Java based server allowing you to publish astronomical data in the Virtual Observatory following the Data Access Layer (DAL) protocol specifications. It should be flexible enough for you to configure and deploy any service of the Simple Access Protocol pattern (S*AP) and provides configuration templates for the following successfully tested protocols: SIAP version 1.0 and SSAP versions 0.1 and 1.0 ⇒

Saada Saada transforms a set of heterogeneous FITS files or VOTables of various categories (images, tables, spectra....) into a powerful database deployed on the Web and provides standard VO interfaces to the data (ConeSearch, Simple Image Access, Simple Spectrum Access). The database (a SaadaDB) is located on your host and stays independent of any external server. This job does not require to write any line of code.
In this tutorial, participants will go through the following steps: creating a Saada DataBase, ingesting the data files in the database, assigning metadata, registering the service in a VO registry. Finally, participants will be able to access the data from various VO tools using standard interfaces provided by the Saada system. ⇒

Time-based data

Integrating Event Data with AstroGrid with STAP The IVOA's VOEvent standard allows astronomical, solar, and STP events to be described in an XML format. VOEvents can be used by instrument teams notifying the community of new events, telescope operators publishing follow-up observations of related events, and users searching for VO data related to specific events.
Because time ranges are inherent to event descriptions, the AstroGrid Simple Time Access Protocol (STAP) web service implementation has been used to provide a queriable event interface through the client-side Workbench and VOExplorer tools. ⇒