This section describes the messages which TOPCAT can transmit to other tools which understand the SAMP or PLASTIC protocol, and how to cause them to be sent. Approximately the same behaviour results for either SAMP or PLASTIC, except as noted.
In most cases you can choose two ways to transmit a message from TOPCAT:
Below is a list of places you can cause TOPCAT to transmit messages. The SAMP MTypes and PLASTIC message IDs are listed along with the descriptions; unless you are a tool developer you can probably ignore these.
SAMP MTypes:
table.load.votable
,
table.load.fits
table.load.cdf
or
table.load.stil
;
PLASTIC Message IDs:
ivo://votech.org/votable/load
or
ivo://votech.org/votable/loadFromURL
Note the non-standard MType table.load.stil
is
supported for loading tables with SAMP. This is like the other
table.load.*
MTypes, but any table format supported
by the application is permitted. This MType has an additional
parameter "format
", which must contain the table format
name (not case sensitive).
Also, whenever a new subset is created, for instance by entering an algebraic expression or tracing out a region on a plot (see Section 3.1.1), you have the option of transmitting the subset directly to one or all listening applications as an alternative to adding the new subset to the table's subset list.
SAMP MType: table.select.rowList
;
PLASTIC Message ID: ivo://votech.org/votable/showObjects
A similar facility is available as the Transmit Row option in the Activation Actions window itself - the checkbox is just a convenience for a commonly-used option.
SAMP MType: table.highlight.row
;
PLASTIC Message ID: ivo://votech.org/votable/highlightObject
SAMP MType: coord.pointAt.sky
;
PLASTIC Message ID: ivo://votech.org/sky/pointAtCoords
Also, the View URL as Image Activation Action option allows you to identify a column which contains an image URL and to send it to a suitable image viewer or viewers.
SAMP MType: image.load.fits
;
PLASTIC Message ID: ivo://votech.org/fits/image/loadFromURL
SAMP MType: spectrum.load.ssa-generic
;
PLASTIC Message ID: ivo://votech.org/spectrum/loadFromURL
SAMP MTypes: voresource.loadlist.cone
,
voresource.loadlist.siap
,
voresource.loadlist.ssap