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3.5 Supplied Input Handlers

The table input handlers supplied with STIL are listed in this section, along with notes on any peculiarities they have in turning a string into a StarTable. By default, any of these can be used in a StarTableFactory's named format mode, but only some of them in automatic format detection mode.

In most cases the string supplied to name the table that StarTableFactory should read is a filename or a URL, referencing a plain or compressed copy of the stream from which the file is available. In some cases an additional specifier can be given after a '#' character to give additional information about where in that stream the table is located.

This table summarises which input handlers are available, what format strings they use, and whether they are tried in automatic format detection mode.

    Format string  Format Read                          Automatic Format Mode?
    -------------  -----------                          ----------------------
    FITS-plus      FITS with VOTable metadata in HDU#0  yes
    FITS           FITS BINTABLE or ASCII extension     yes
    VOTable        VOTable 1.0/1.1                      yes
    ASCII          Whitespace-separated ASCII            no
    CSV            Comma-separated values                no
    WDC            World Data Centre format              no


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STIL - Starlink Tables Infrastructure Library
Starlink User Note 252
STIL web page: http://www.starlink.ac.uk/stil/
Author email: m.b.taylor@bristol.ac.uk
Starlink: http://www.starlink.ac.uk/