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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 3092      2015 Jly 18 20.03UT
Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise,  Basingstoke,
Hants, RG22 4PP,England.Telephone/FAX(01256)471074Int:+441256471074
INTERNET: GUY@TAHQ.DEMON.CO.UK      Backup: gmh@wdcc1.bnsc.rl.ac.uk
WORLD WIDE WEB                         http://www.theastronomer.org
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NEW ASTROMETRY DATA EXCHANGE STANDARD
Steve Chelsey, Minor Planet Center relays on M.P.E.C. 2015-O06
That a new astrometry data exchange standard has been proposed and is
anticipated to be adopted by the Minor Planet Center after concurrence from
the IAU.  The new standard allows for communication of significantly more
information, in particular measurement uncertainties, than is possible with
the current submission format, which will initially be deprecated and
eventually disallowed for MPC astrometry submissions. 

The proposed standard is based on XML and thus is flexible, extensible and
hierarchical.  XML affords automated data validation and is supported by
input/output libraries across a wide range of computing languages and
platforms.  The standard includes an alternate plain-text representation
that is suitable for viewing and editing in conventional text editors.
Libraries and utility programs for file conversion, validation, input/output
and other functions will be developed and made publicly available in a
number of programming languages as a part of the transition to the new
standard.

The proposal will be discussed at the IAU XXIX General Assembly during the
Commission 20 Business Meeting.  The draft proposal can be obtained from
http://minorplanetcenter.net/iau/info/IAU2015_ADES.pdf
Community input regarding this proposal may be sent to the President of
Commission 20, Steven Chesley (JPL), whose contact information is available
at
http://www.iau.org/administration/membership/individual/9425/  

Guy M Hurst