[fitsbits] Start of "column limits" public comment period

This is to announce the start of the Public Comment Period on the FITS
"Column Limits" keyword convention that has been submitted for inclusion in
the "Registry of FITS Conventions" maintained by the IAU FITS Working Group.
A document describing this convention, and a sample FITS file that uses
it, are available for public review and comment from the FITS registry web
page at

http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_registry.html

This is a fairly simple convention that defines 4 keywords that can be used
to specify the allowed minimum and maximum values in a table column (TLMINn
and TLMAXn) and the actual minimum and maximum values in the column (TDMINn,
and TDMAXn).

The Public Comment Period normally lasts 30 days, but since this is a
vacation period for many, the comment period will remain open until
mid-September. Any major comments should be posted here on the FITSBITS
mail exploder. Minor or typographical issues can be sent directly to the
person that submitted the convention to the registry (myself in this case).

Because this is the first convention to be submitted to the Registry, it may
be useful to summarize the purpose of the registry and the public comment
period. The IAU FITS Working Group set up the registry to provide a central
and authoritative place for documenting the many FITS conventions that have
been developed by various groups over the past 25 years. Many conventions
are now in use in FITS files, yet it can be difficult to find documentation
on how to use and interpret them. Anyone may submit a convention to the
registry; all that is needed is a brief document that describes the
convention and a sample FITS file that uses it.

The submitted material is made available for public comment on the FITSBIT
email list (and the associated sci.astro.fits newsgroup). The main purpose
of this public comment period is to consider whether the submitted material
is as clear and complete as possible. Comments about the actual
implementation of the convention or suggestions on ways to improve it are
also welcome, but if the convention is already in wide-spread use it may not
be possible to change the implementation of the convention.

Bill Pence
(on behalf of the IAU FITS Working Group)
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__________________________________________________ __________________
Dr. William Pence
NASA/GSFC Code 662 HEASARC +1-301-286-4599 (voice)
Greenbelt MD 20771 +1-301-286-1684 (fax)