SAMP MTypes

This page lists MTypes currently in use by applications which implement SAMP (beyond that small number of administrative MTypes currently defined in the SAMP document). It may at some point be formalised into an IVOA Note.

The items listed here are a work in progress, and may be revised, replaced or removed in the future. Discussion of the content on this page is best done on the apps-samp mailing list.

Application domain MTypes

The following MTypes are ones which application authors are using, or are considering using.

table.load.votable

Loads a table in VOTable format.

• Arguments:
  • url (string): URL of the VOTable document to load
  • table-id (string) optional: identifier which may be used to refer to the loaded table in subsequent messages
  • name (string) optional: name which may be used to label the loaded table in the application GUI
• Return Values: none

table.load.fits

Loads a table in FITS format.

• Arguments:
  • url (string): URL of the FITS file to load
  • table-id (string) optional: identifier which may be used to refer to the loaded table in subsequent messages
  • name (string) optional: name which may be used to label the loaded table in the application GUI
• Return Values: none

table.highlight.row

Highlights a single row of an identified table by row index. The table to operate on is identified by one or both of the table-id or url arguments. At least one of these must be supplied; if both are given they should refer to the same thing. Exactly what highlighting means is left to the receiving application.

• Arguments:
  • table-id (string): identifier associated with a table by a previous message (e.g. table.load.*)
  • url (string): URL of a table
  • row (SAMP int): Row index (zero-based) of the row to highlight.
• Return Values: none

table.select.rowList

Selects a list of rows of an identified table by row index. The table to operate on is identified by one or both of the table-id or url arguments. At least one of these must be supplied; if both are given they should refer to the same thing. Exactly what selection means is left to the receiving application.

• Arguments:
  • table-id (string): identifier associated with a table by a previous message (e.g. table.load.*)
  • url (string): URL of a table
  • row-list (list of SAMP int): list of row indices (zero-based) defining which table rows are to form the selection
• Return Values: none

image.load.fits

Loads a 2-dimensional FITS image.

• Arguments:
  • url (string): URL of the FITS image to load
  • image-id (string) optional: Identifier which may be used to refer to the loaded image in subsequent messages
  • name (string) optional: name which may be used to label the loaded image in the application GUI
• Return Values: none

coord.pointAt.sky

Directs attention (e.g. by moving a cursor or shifting the field of view) to a given point on the celestial sphere.

• Arguments:
  • ra (SAMP float): right ascension in degrees
  • dec (SAMP float): declination in degrees
• Return Values: none

Administrative MTypes

The following MTypes are ones which have been proposed for addition to the SAMP standard as administrative MTypes. If people agree, they will be added to the next version of the SAMP draft.

samp.hub.disconnect

Sent by the hub to a client if the hub intends to disconnect the client forcibly. This indicates that no further communication from that client is welcome, and any such attempts may be expected to fail. The hub may wish to disconnect clients forcibly as a result of some hub timeout policy or for other reasons.

• Arguments:
  • reason (string) optional: short message indicating the reason that the disconnection is being forced
• Return Values: none