Subject: Re: DATE-OBS='31/12/99'

From: Guy Rixon <gtr at ast.cam.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 27 Jun 1996 10:23:20 +0100

Rob Seaman wrote:
> 
> Ideally one would determine the unsegmented keyword (e.g., MJD-OBS) and
> derive the DATE-OBS and UT from that.  MJD is not a very human friendly
> format, and many types of pilot processing errors are likely if readable
> calendar dates and clock times aren't immediately accessible to the
> scientist.

Ok then, how about this: use MJD-OBS as the standard, machine-readable date
descriptor, but always encode in its _comment_ the human-readable date and
time.  Then throw away DATE-OBS.

-- 
Guy Rixon,				gtr at ast.cam.ac.uk 
Software Engineering Group,		Tel: +44-1223-374000
Royal Greenwich Observatory 		Fax: +44-1223-374700