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 confusion 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 input-file to
       StarPlot data format and writes the results  to  output-file  if  specified,  or  standard
       output  if not.  The first two arguments are required.  Exactly ONE may be replaced with a
       dash `-' for reading from standard 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 catalogs do not include it.

SPECIFICATION FILES

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

FILES

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

SEE ALSO

       starplot(1), starpkg(1)

AUTHOR

       Copyright  © 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)