User manual

7 Aladin for experts

In this section we briefly outline some of the advanced features of Aladin. These include:

 How to use Aladin in script mode;

 How to use Aladin as an applet;

 Extending the capabilities by developing java plug-ins for Aladin;

 How to use IDL with Aladin

7.1 Aladin script mode

As an alternative to the graphical interface, Aladin may be controlled by contextual

commands. The commands may be entered interactively at the command line, or be

uploaded via a file containing the script commands. The script commands may also be

issued to Aladin via another program.

The various ways of using script commands

Script commands may be used in various different contexts:

 An alternative to using the mouse

 To control Aladin 'remotely' using another program via:

 the standard input. By this way, a shell script or other scripting languages like

PERL can control Aladin

 the “execCommand(String)” method so that another application sharing the

same java virtual machine (JVM) can interact with Aladin (see - http://aladin.u-

strasbg.fr/java/FAQ.htx#Launch)

 the

“

execAsyncCommand(String)” method to control Aladin in applet mode using

JavaScript (see below).

 How to launch an Aladin applet (see below)

 To write macros (see above)

Example script

Example : Download an image from a URL, add a SIMBAD plane, activate

a coordinate grid, and specify a colour table (BB) for the display:

get File(http://myServer/mImage.fits)

sync

get Simbad

grid on

cm bb noreverse