There are many read-only variables that are already defined. Some of these always return the same value (SPACE is a space character), some have their values set by previously run script commands, and some are evaluated on-the-fly as the script runs. If a script tries to change a read-only variable, a fatal error occurs.

Read-only variables are global in scope, unless noted.

Category and Variable Name

Description



Script Related


MYPROCESSID

The Windows process id of the ARAP program.

NUMPARAMS

The number of parameters passed to the current script

SCRIPTNAME

The name of the currently running script, less the .dtl extension. Note that this is a local variable.

PARENTSCRIPTNAME

The name of the script, less the .dtl extension, that called the currently running script. If there is no parent, then this variable is set an empty string. Note that this is a local variable.

TEMPDIRECTORY

The location where temporary files can be saved.

VERSION

The version number of ARAP



Connected States


ARAPCONNECTED

True if the connection to ARAP is enabled

CCDCONNECTED

True if the connection to the CCD camera (via MaxIM DL/CCD) is enabled

CLOUDSENSORCONNECTED

True if the connection to the cloud sensor is enabled

COMPORTCONNECTED

True if the connection with the COM Port driver is active.

DATABASECONNECTED

True if the connection to the database is enabled

DOMECONNECTED

True if the connection to the dome is enabled

ECUCONNECTED

True if the connection to the Earth Centered Universe software is enabled

FOCUSERCONNECTED

True if the connection to the focuser is enabled

MAXIMCONNECTED

True if the connection to MaxIm DL is enabled

SMCONNECTED

True if the connection to the BGO Social Media Gateway software is enabled

SWITCHCONNECTED

True if the connection to the switch is enabled

TELESCOPECONNECTED

True if the connection to the telescope is enabled

X10CONNECTED

True if the connection to the X10 interface is enabled



Date and Time


DATE

The local date in the format: 'YYYY-MM-DD'. If USESYSTEMTIME is "true", the computer's clock is read first.

DATETIME

The local date and time in the format:  'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS'. If USESYSTEMTIME is "true", the computer's clock is read first.

SIDEREALTIME

The current sidereal time in hours. If USESYSTEMTIME is "true", the computer's clock is read first.

TIME

The local time in the format: 'HH:MM:SS'. If USESYSTEMTIME is "true", the computer's clock is read first.



Telescope


GUIDING

The current telescope guiding state as set by the getguiding command

NATIVERESULT

The result returned from the telescope following a nativecommand command

PARKED

The current telescope parked state as set by the getparked command

SLEWING

The current state of telescope slewing as set by the getslewing command

TELESCOPEERRORMESSAGE

The error message reported by an ASCOM telescope driver if an error occurs

TELESCOPEERRORNUMBER

The error number (in 8-digit hexadecimal) reported by an ASCOM telescope driver if an error occurs

TRACKING

The current state of telescope tracking as set by the gettracking command

HOMED

The current state of telescope tracking as set by the gettracking command



Dome


DOMEAZIMUTH

The current azimuth of the dome as set by the getdomeazimuth command

DOMEHOMED

The "homed" state of the dome as set by the getdomehomed command

DOMEPARKED

The "parked" state of the dome as set by the getdomeparked command

DOMEVOLTAGE

The current dome shutter voltage as set by the getdomevoltage command



Focuser


FOCUSERPOSITION

The current position of the focuser (valid for absolute focuser) as set by the getfocuserstatus command

FOCUSERSTEPSIZE

The step size, in microns, of the focuser as set by the getfocuserstatus command

FOCUSERTEMPERATURE

The temperature of the focuser (valid only for focusers that have a temperature sensor) as set by the getfocuserstatus command

FOCUSERMAXSTEP

The maximum position of the focuser (absolute focusers only) as set by the getfocuserstatus command

FOCUSERMAXINCREMENT

The maximum amount that the focuser position can be moved at one time as set by the getfocuserstatus command

FOCUSERTEMPCOMP

The current state of focuser temperature compensation



SWITCH


SWITCHSTATE

The switch state as set by the getswitchstate command

SWITCHVALUE

The switch value as set by the getswitchvalue command



CCD



The current state of the CCD camera cooler as set by the getccdcoolerinfo command

CCDCOOLERPOWER

The current CCD camera cooler power level as set by the getccdcoolerinfo command

CCDTEMPERATURE

The current CCD camera temperature as set by the getccdcoolerinfo command

CCDTEMPERATURESETPOINT

The current CCD camera temperature set point as set by the getccdcoolerinfo command



Miscellaneous Hardware


SERVORX

The data received back from the Pololu Maestro Servo Controller as set by the servo command

PERSEUS

Returns the current port of the Perseus Instrument Selector, as set by the setperseus command

RELAYS

The current relay state as set by the relay command



Photometry


AREAAVERAGE

The average pixel value as set by the areainfo command

AREAMAX

The maximum pixel value as set by the areainfo command

AREAMIN

The minimum pixel value as set by the areainfo command

AREASD

The standard deviation of pixel values as set by the areainfo command

PHOTOAIRMASS

The airmass associated with the most recent photometry command (0 if unknown)

PHOTOAPERATUREUSED

The radius of the aperture, in pixels, set and used by the photometry command's auto-aperture feature

PHOTOBGAVE

The average of the background annulus (set by the photometry commands)

PHOTOBGSD

The standard deviation of the background annulus (set by the photometry commands)

PHOTODATEMID

The mid-exposure date and time (taken from the DATE-MID fits header key) associated with the most recent photometry command (0 if unknown).

PHOTOERR

The error estimate of PHOTOMAG

PHOTOFLATNESS

The flatness (0=round, non-zero=non-round) of the star inside the aperture (set by the photometry command)

PHOTOFWHM

The full width half max of the star inside the aperture (set by the photometry commands)

PHOTOGAPUSED

The width of the gap between the aperture and the annulus, in pixels, set and used by the photometry command’s auto-aperture feature

PHOTOHJDMID

The mid-exposure heliocentric julian date associated with the most recent photometry command (0 if unknown).

PHOTOINTENSITY

The integrated intensity inside the aperture (set by the photometry command)

PHOTOJDMID

The mid-exposure julian date associated with the most recent photometry command (0 if unknown).

PHOTOLM

The limiting magnitude of a star in the field at SNR=3 (calculated by photometry commands using the reference star magnitude).

PHOTOMAX

The maximum pixel value inside the aperture (set by the photometry commands)

PHOTOMIN

The minimum pixel value inside the aperture (set by the photometry commands)

PHOTOSNR

The signal to noise ratio of the star inside the aperture (set by the photometry commands)

PHOTOX

The X-coordinate centroid of the star inside the aperture (set by the photometry command)

PHOTOY

The Y-coordinate centroid of the star inside the aperture (set by the photometry command)



String Constants


CRLF

A string containing the ASCII carriage return and line feed characters

FALSE

Returns the boolean value: "FALSE"

NULL

An empty string

QUOTE

A string containing the " (double-quote) character

TAB

A string containing the ASCII tab character

TRUE

Returns the boolean value: "TRUE"



Miscellaneous


AGE

The age of the moon in days as set by the moonradec command

DECDMS

Formats the variable DEC like: +23d20'46"

HOURSHMS

Formats the variable HOURS like: 12:00:34

NUMFIELDS

The number of fields found as a result of the splitfields command

ORBITMAG

The magnitude of the most recently computed comet or asteroid

ORBITNAME

The name of the most recently computed comet or asteroid

ORBITNUMBER

The name of the comet or asteroid orbit found by the findorbit command

ORBITSLOADED

The number of orbits currently loaded

ORBITSFOUND

The number of orbits found by the searchorbitsbyname and searchorbitsbyposition commands

MOONPHASE

The phase of the moon in degrees as set by the moonradec command

PHASENAME

The name of the moon phase as set by the moonradec command

POSITIONERROR

The telescope position error, in arc-minutes, as set by the solveandsync command (set it -1 on error)

PPERRORMESSAGE

The error message as reported by PinPoint if a plate solve is unsuccessful

PPERRORNUMBER

The error number (in 8-digit hexadecimal) as reported by PinPoint if a plate solve is unsuccessful

PROCESSID

The Windows process id of the program just run by 'execute' command

RAHMS

Formats the variable RA as: 05:38:38.9

RANDOMMAX

Sets the largest random number, less 1, returned by the RANDOM variable

RISETIME

The object rise time in hours as set by the calcfixedrisesettransit, and calcmovingrisesettransit commands

RSTFLAGS

The rise and set flags as set by the calcfixedrisesettransit, and calcmovingrisesettransit commands. Its value has the following meanings: 0 = object both rises and sets, 1 = object is always above the horizon, 2 = object never rises above the horizon, 3 = the Moon does not rise today, 4 = The Moon does not set today

SETTIME

The object set time in hours as set by the calcfixedrisesettransit, and calcmovingrisesettransit commands

STARCOUNT

The number of stars found by the getstarinfo and plate solve commands

STARSATURATEDCOUNT

The number of saturated stars found by the getstarinfo command

STARBRIGHTESTPIXEL

The brightest pixel in the brightest non-saturated stars as set by the getstarinfo command  

STRINGLENGTH

The length of a string as set by the getstringlength command

TRANSITTIME

The object transit time in hours as set by the calcfixedrisesettransit, and calcmovingrisesettransit commands

XMLCOUNT

The number of nodes by the parsexmlindex and parsexmlnodename commands



Earth Centered Universe


ECUCATALOG

The source catalog of the object found by the ecu search command

ECUCONNECTIONS

The number of ECU automation client connections as set by the ecu getconnections command

ECULOCKED

The locked state of ECU as set by the ecu getlocked command

ECUPRIMARYNAME

The primary name of the object found by the ecu search command

ECUMAGNITUDE

The magnitude of the object found by the ecu search command (-20 means unknown)

ECUMOVINGOBJECT

True if the object found by the ecu search command is a planet, the sun, the moon, a comet or an asteroid

ECUOBJECTTYPE

The type of object (an integer) found by the ecu search command



Database


DATABASERECNO

The current database record number - set by most database commands

DATABASERECORDS

The number of database records - set by most database commands



ARAP


ARAPISSRIPTRUNNING

True if a script is running as set by the arap getisscriptrunning command

ARAPVARIABLEVALUE

The variable value as set by the arap getvariable command



Social Media


SMERRORNUMBER

The error number (in 8-digit hexadecimal) reported by the Social Media commands when SMERROR is true.

SMERRORMESSAGE

The error message reported by the Social Media commands when SMERROR is true.