Extracting light curves

Hi John

For access to the AAVSO International Database (AID), Java apps like Zapper and VStar use direct SQL via JDBC. As far as I am aware, the LCG and other web based tools also use straight SQL to the AID. Unlike tools such as VStar and Zapper, they are server-side already of course.

Awhile back I raised the possibility of a Web Service (WSDL-based or RESTful) to:

a. Keep all SQL access server-side (security, performance, ...).

b. Broaden the class of apps that could get access to the AID. I was thinking specifically of devices like the iPhone and iPad and before seeing your iPhone app, had been considering working on a light curve reader for the iPhone. But now I can let someone else worry about that. :)

I'm happy to contribute to further discussion and investigation regarding an AID Web Service however, assuming AAVSO is supportive of such a thing.

This VStar SourceForge wiki page summarises the input methods VStar uses:

https://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/vstar/index.php?title=Input

although since the web page upgrade, the download format page link has broken.

More recently, we've added support for arbitrary data sources via VStar's plug-in capability. See http://www.aavso.org/vstar-plugin-library for examples.

In addition to being able to read AAVSO download format files, I've wondered about taking an http stream from selection of a dataset via a page like this http://www.aavso.org/data-download, but modified to allow parameters such as AUID and date range to be passed in the URL rather than having to use a form, making it amenable to programmatic access. This is presumably the approach you take to VSX access in your iPhone app, right?

There's also the XML VOTable format, but I'll make that the subject of another post since I have a question about it.

There may well be other methods I'm not aware of. Chris, Aaron, Sara, others?

You asked for code snippets. Here is a VStar class that shows SQL to access the AID via JDBC:
http://vstar.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/vstar/trunk/src/org/aavso/tools…

See also http://vstar.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/vstar/trunk/src/org/aavso/tools… for other data access classes.

This fairly ugly data access layer code is undergoing further refactoring as I get time.

As this class suggests, I convert datasets irrespective of source to a canonical format:
http://vstar.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/vstar/trunk/src/org/aavso/tools…

Regards,

David Benn

Multiple people have expressed interest in having access to the LCG and other tools via an API. At some point in the future I'd like to provide a RESTful API to those tools.

Will's plan to develop RESTful APIs is terrific and opens up many interesting possibilities for creating third-party apps and for disseminating AAVSO data. AND for ensuring the stability of applications in lieu of inevitable schema design changes. Does vstar have a dedicated mysql account with various access privileges defined? Or is it a dedicated account for all third-party software? Two more quick questions:

1. Who has a db schema? Will?
2. Where do I sign up for such access? :-)

John / RJB