topcat issue using NOIRLAB TAP

Question

Hello, just an FYI.

If I use preview mode in NOIRLAB TAP browser interface a weird thing happens and the same thing happens in TopCat TAP interface resultant table of the columns being off by one from the table headings.

For example

SELECT pts_key, obsjd, magpsf
FROM pgir_dr1.photometry

in both the browser preview (set to a limit of 10) and TopCat downloaded table the first column pts_key is a tickbox in the former and blank in the latter.  obsjd returns pts_key value and magpsf returns the obsjd value and magpsf isn't returned at all (so columns can't be renamed).  This doesn't appear to happen with pgir_dr1.sources though.

Strangely if I use the NOIRLAB TAP via browser and instead of preview I download a result.txt file (default), even up to the 500,000 limit, column headings and columns are returned properly.

Finally, whilst magpsf != 'nan' seems to work in NOIRLAB TAP browser interface (and I think 'infinity' too), TopCat doesn't seem to like that, especially the 'infinity' case.  I know topcat can be a bit esoteric in the way it approaches null and NaN but I thought it was all supposed to be in ADQL (which unfortunately isn't a standard as SELECT fields' syntax seems to be highly pedantic depending on which TAP service is used) so it may just be me doing things wrong in that instance.

I'm using latest TopCat 4.10.

NB python interfaces are most certainly not a solution for me, even if I can get it to run in linux code doesn't always play, over and above my lack of programming skills in that language.

PS google based not a robot tests are a pain too!!!  Had to do it again in another browser and unblock google and disable ad blockers.

Answer 1

Thanks for reaching out. We are unable to reproduce the behavior you are reporting. We tried with at least three different TOPCAT versions: 4.6, 4.8, 4.10, all showing the result of this query correctly:

SELECT top 5 pts_key, obsjd, magpsf FROM pgir_dr1.photometry

pts_key,obsjd,magpsf
887801434,2459265.0,15.50951
887801592,2459265.0,12.879687
887801603,2459265.0,14.811593
887801684,2459265.0,14.427381
887801737,2459265.0,15.120502

I.e., we don't see a tickbox in the TOPCAT result table. And the tickbox in the browser preview is just a checkbox before the pts_key values. It is not part of the table itself.

If you could send us (to datalab@noirlab.edu) some screenshots of the observed behavior, and write down the steps you take that lead to the observed behavior, that would be great. Please also mention which browser you are using.

Regarding your comment about "not robot" process: you can avoid this by ensuring that you have logged on into your Data Lab account on the website.

Best regards,
Robert for the DL team