ZTF Known Bugs and Issues
Software version released: May 2023.
This list last updated: May 2023
Table of Contents
Reporting BugsSuggested Browsers
Known Major Bugs
Known Minor Bugs
Idiosyncrasies
Reporting Bugs
The known bugs and issues in this version of the ZTF service are listed here. If you think you have found a bug, before reporting it, please check this list, and read the online ZTF help. It may be a "feature" we already know about.
If you have found a real bug then please do let us know by sending email to the Help Desk. Please include your operating system version and your browser software and version.
Suggested Browsers and Platforms
- Safari: at least version 12
- Firefox: at least version 90
- Google Chrome: at least version 90
- Edge: at least version 90
- Tablets: iPad Safari : Seems to work ok, though not on the iPhone. Cursory testing of a Droid tablet suggests it probably works ok.
Known Major Bugs
None known.Known Minor Bugs
- Regions files saved from large catalogs do not include all the
sources. If the file has >15,000 sources, it will make a
heatmap plot and show only a fraction of the sources on the image,
even if the image is zoomed in. Saving the regions file at that point
will not save all the sources.
Workaround: Filter down the catalog by position or SNR until you have <15,000 sources.Posted: 14 Oct 2020 - VO catalog results not displayed
For VO catalog searches, the tool retrieves the catalog but is unable to display it.
Known Idiosyncracies
'Lost' Downloads
Depending on how your browser is configured, when you download data, your browser may save it in a counter-intuitive place. Under Safari (on the Mac), for small downloads, it might not appear to have done anything at all. It actually has; it's trying to be helpful by doing it quickly. To find where your browser has put your data, (a) search on your local disk for recently modified files; (b) look in the preferences for the browser configuration option of where to put downloaded files; or (c) look for a directory called "Downloads" or something similar.
Strange behavior when requesting catalogs
Our catalog search options depend on other services, often other IRSA services, to search and display the catalogs. Sometimes these other services are down for maintenance or may be experiencing unusually heavy loads. On those occasions, the user may get an "Unresponsive script" error or a "Call failed on the server" error. Please do let us know if you continue to get these errors; we may not be aware of an overloaded or down server.
Slow behavior when requesting large tables
When rendering long tables, the table can take several seconds to finish loading. For example, if you conduct a search returning 10000 entries, and change the page size from 50 to 2000, the browser will struggle for a few seconds trying to load the table. A red message appears to let you know that that is what is going on.
Strange behavior, often transient
Sometimes there can be unusual behavior in the tool. If something isn't working (especially if it used to work), try opening a new window without cookies, e.g., a "private window" in Firefox, or an "incognito window" in Chrome) and start the tool there. This usually resolves most of the odd behavior.