Table Upload Restrictions for IPAC Tables

Version 1.2 5/23/13

There are some restrictions on IPAC Table Format Tables uploaded to IRSA's catalog search service ("Gator") and WISE Image Archive. The restrictions are given below. (Other IRSA services allow generic IPAC Tables, along with other table formats, see Table Upload Help.)

Table File Name Restrictions (Gator)

• No more than 180 characters.
• Letters, numbers, underscores ("_"), dashes("-"), interior periods (".") only.
• No spaces, pluses ("+"), or other special characters. Don't start or end with a period (".").

Table Requirements (Gator and WISE Image Archive)

You can download and edit this sample table (Red lines are not part of the table -- just for reference.)

\catalog = 'Sample Catalog'                                   Keywords (optional)
\ A sample table comment                                      Comments (optional)
|   ra      |    dec    |   n_obs  |    V     |   SpType   |  Column Names
|   double  |    double |   int    |   real   |   char     |  Data Types
|   deg     |    deg    |          |   mag    |            |  Data Units (optional)
|   null    |    null   |   null   |   null   |   null     |  Null Values (optional)
  165.466279  -34.704730      5       11.27       K6Ve        Data

• Position searches require column names "ra" and "dec" in lowercase, with values in J2000 coordinates in decimal degrees, as in the example.
• Position searches require Data Types when using the WISE Image Archive.
• Column names should be no more than 25 characters, with only letters, numbers, or underscores ("_"). No blank spaces, dashes ("-"), pluses ("+"), or any other special characters. For example, use "U_mag" instead of "U mag".
• Do not use column names "x", "y", or "z" (upper or lowercase).
• Do not start a column name with a number.

Some Common Problems

• "No region size information" -- Make sure to set a Cone Search Radius.
• "A syntax error has occured" -- Table violates one of the rules above or IPAC Table Format.