This is a simple program which communicates with the asteroid_server .  It lets a user type commands and see the results on a terminal screen.  The main purpose of this program is to show how to communicate with the asteroid_server.  No processing or interpretation of results is made.  Asteroid_client requires two arguments in the command line:  server address and user identification word.  First introduction string sent by the server is displayed on the  screen and a prompt appears afterwards. Here are some examples:

Asteroid server 1.17
Asteroid>help
Available commands:
-------------------
help
set_observatory
get_observatory
info
check
efemeride
fits
get_elements
Type help command for details

Asteroid>get_observatory
Observatory name=WWW
Longitude=-14.000000
Latitude=+46.000000
Altitude=100 meters

Asteroid>help fits
fits time crval1 crval2 crpix1 crpix2 cdelt1 cdelt2 crot width height mag
  time is expressed in Julian days
  crval1 crval2 crpix1 crpix2 cdelt1 cdelt2 crot are WCS values from the FITS header.
  width and height are the width and height of the image expressed in pixels,
  mag is the maximum magnitude
  This command returns a list of all asteroids below the given magnitude which fall
  on the image.  Output format is as following:
  number name ra dec xpix ypix mag
  If the asteroid is not numbered, the number is 0.
  ra if given HH:MM:SS.ss format.
  dec is given +DD:MM:SS.s format.
  xpix and ypix are the asteroid pixel coordinates.

Asteroid>efemeride Ceres "1999 04 01 00:00:00" 1d 3 
Asteroid (1) Ceres             
1999 04 01 00:00:00 2451269.500000 04:49:42.32 +24:40:57.9  8.83  20  63   2.646874   2.941737
1999 04 02 00:00:00 2451270.500000 04:51:09.66 +24:45:03.4  8.83  20  63   2.646169   2.952943
1999 04 03 00:00:00 2451271.500000 04:52:37.70 +24:49:06.2  8.83  19  62   2.645467   2.964076

Asteroid_client uses readline and history libraries, so that the previous commands can be recalled and easily modified to make new queries.  It was written and tested in Linux but there should be no significant problems compiling it on other Unix platforms.

Program is finished by pressing ^D.

Download   asteroid_client .
 
 

Asteroid_client.py performs mostly the same functions as the asteroid_client.  The only difference is that it is written in Python.  It provides a simple class which makes connection to the server a little bit easier. You can download the Python source