Catalog Data Dictionary Form Service (CatDD)

A database data dictionary (DD) describes the attributes of the columns of tables that are ingested into the IRSA archive from an IPAC ASCII table. It includes information such as the column description, units, and formats and relationships between columns.

IRSA provides a tool to generate an ASCII data dictionary from an IPAC ASCII table.

CatDD returns the data dictionary of a catalog hosted at IRSA, and output in XML, HTML, or ASCII format.

The general format of an HTTP GET query is:

[URL of program]?[keyword1=value1]&[keyword2=value2]&...[keywordn=valuen] The URL of the IRSA catalog data dictionary service, CatDD, is
https://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/Gator/nph-dd

The service accepts the following keywords:

For Public Data Dictionaries CGI parameters: mode optional html ___ display Gator query page in HTML (default). xml ___ output DD content in XML. ascii ___ output DD content in IPAC ASCII.   catalog required catalog name inside database. Click here to choose a catalog.   short optional 1___ display short DD with default selected columns. (default) 0___ display long DD with all columns. Short DD means the default list of columns on the Gator query page; long DD means full list of columns on the Gator query page.   onlist optional 1___ catalog is visible through Gator web interface (default). 0___ catalog has been ingested into IRSA but not yet visible through Gator web interface This parameter will generally only be set when users are supporting testing and evaluation of new catalogs at IRSA's request.   Form Examples: Short List Long List    Catalog   Looking for other catalogs? Click here.   XML HTML IPAC ASCII   Note: Netscape 7.0, Opera, and Safari do not render XML structure correctly.   URL Examples: (1) Get the data dictionary of the 2MASS All-sky Point Source Catalog using default values of short, onlist and mode. Display contents of default columns (standard query form) in HTML format. https://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/Gator/nph-dd?catalog=fp_psc.   View Result in HTML     (2) Get the data dictionary of the 2MASS All-sky Point Source Catalog and display the result in XML. https://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/Gator/nph-dd?mode=xml&catalog=fp_psc   View Result in XML     (3) Get the data dictionary of the 2MASS All-sky Point Source Catalog . Display in HTML the results for the full list of columns on the Gator query page. https://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/Gator/nph-dd?short=0&catalog=fp_psc   View Result in HTML   For Project Internal and External Data Dictionaries Click here.