Start up the PST using the instructions given in the download page. You will be presented with an introductory page which allows you to create a new proposal, load an existing proposal or simply exit the tool again. Select "New" or "Load" to proceed. If you have not used the tool before, you might like to load the example proposal (gbtDemo.xml) and examine it's structure.
You will now be presented with the main PST screen. The PST is divided into two main sections - the common section and the NRAO GBT section. Each section is further divided into a series of tab pages. Upon startup, you are presented with the Title tab page of the common section. To move between sections or individual tab pages, simply click on the tab label.
The tab pages in the common section prompt for telescope independent information such as investigator names and contact details, and the scientific justification. The NRAOGBT tab pages prompt for information specific to the GBT, such as instrumentation to be used and the details of the observations and their scheduling.
As well as the tab pages, the PST has three drop-down Menus (upper left corner): File, Observatories and Help. The "File" menu allows the usual file manipulation (New, Open, Save, Save As), plus a Close option to close individual windows if more than one proposal is opened at the same time. An Exit option quits the PST completely, however, you are prompted to 'save and quit' the file if changes to the proposal have not been previously saved. The "Observatories" menu will eventually allow the selection of different facilities and load observatory specific information. Currently, only the GBT is available (and of course Gemini in the original version of the tool). The "Help" menu activates the context sensitive, on-line help.
Context sensitive help is also available at any time by clicking the help icon on the top right hand side of the tool.
To create a complete proposal, you must complete every tab page. For new users, the simplest route is to start with the "title" page of the "common" section, move left to right through each of these pages, and the proceed in the same fashion for the NRAOGBT pages. However, you are free to complete the pages in any order you choose. Once again, you may save partially completed proposals and exit the tool at any time.
The far right tab page of the "NRAOGBT" section - Summary - will produce a summary page of the proposal as it has been completed so far. This page is formatted as HTML, and may be saved to disk. The penultimate tab page of the "NRAOGBT" section - Submit - contains a button "check proposal" which will verify the proposal and inform you if any required information has not yet been entered.
To submit a proposal during the normal trimester call period you MUST press the submit button on the Submit tab page. You will be notified of asuccessful submission and be informed of the proposal code for the submission.
All resuests for Rapid Response Science (RRS) proposals must be prepared using this submission tool. However, the procedures are slightly different depending on the type of Rapid Response Science request.
All Rapid Response Science requests of type 1 (known Transient Phenomena) must be submitted during one of the regular trimester call periods. The only requirement is that the abstract or scientific justification should indicate that the proposal is a target of opportunity.
All Rapid Response Science requests of type 2 (Exploratory Time) or type 3 (Target of Opportunity) will be handled slightly differently from RRS type 1 and regular proposal calls. These can be submitted at any time. Once the proposal has been prepared and all changes have been saved the final step of submitting the proposal is different. DO NOT use the submit button! You must email the main proposal file (named when saved - it has an extension of xml) and any attachments to cbignell@nrao.edu. Like RRS type 1 the type of request (Exploratory Time or Target of Opportunity) should be indicated within the abstract and/or science justification.
The following links give more on the individual tab pages - this is the same information that is available through the HELP button within the tool itself.
PST Sections: The PST is divided in two Sections (Common and NRAO GBT). Each Section contains several Pages (e.g., Scientific Justification, Targets, etc). To select (either a Section or one of its Pages), just click once on the corresponding "folder tab" at the top.
Drop-down Menus: The PST has three drop-down Menus (upper left corner): File, Observatories and Help. The "File" menu allows the usual file manipulation (New, Open, Save, Save As), plus a Close option to close individual windows if more than one proposal is opened at the same time. An Exit option quits the PST completely, however, you are prompted to 'save and quit' the file if changes to the proposal have not been previously saved. The "Observatories" menu will eventually allow the selection of different facilities and load Observatory specific information. Currently, only the GBT is available (and of course Gemini in the original version of the Tool).. The "Help" menu activates the context sensitive, on-line help.
Page Buttons: Most of the individual Pages within the PST contain file (Load, Save) as well as text (Cut, Copy, Paste) manipulation buttons. These buttons are located inside the Page window and refer explicitly to the text box below them not the whole proposal. Please read the Help pages entitled "File Tools" and "Cut, Copy Paste" for more information.
Saving a Proposal: To save the full text of the Proposal, use the Save (or Save As) command under the File Menu. The Save File button, associated with most of the individual Pages, will save the content of that Page text box only.
Text Length: The PST does not limit the length of the text in the Abstract, Scientific and Technical Justification Pages. You should follow existing NRAO guidelines. Suitable limits may need to be enforced if authors start to abuse the guidelines!
Cut/Paste between Windows: If more than one proposal window is opened at the same time or you want to move/copy text from one page to another, it is possible to cut, copy and paste between windows/pages using the "Cut", "Copy", and "Paste" buttons. From external processes/windows on a Unix box these buttons do not work due to differences in the cut/paste buffers between Unix and Java. However, if text is selected (highlighted) in another text application (e.g. a UNIX text editor or xterm), it can be copied using the keyboard "copy" key and pasted in a PIT text box using ctrl-v. Under Windows, ctrl-x (cut), ctrl-c (copy) and ctrl-v (paste) can be used.
Text Format: It is not necessary to format the typed text within the PST (i.e. include CR/LF at the end of each line) since the program will automatically wrap each line, however, there is no way to unformatted previously formatted text imported/included from an external file other than manually deleting each end-of-line line feed. Auto formatting of text in text boxes (e.g. in the scientific justification section) is now enabled in the 'Save as Html' feature on the Submit page and hence, the text will appear easily readable in the html saved document.
LaTeX: It is possible (but not recommended) to include LaTeX control sequences in any text input to text boxes within the PST. However, no LaTeX processing is performed by the program and hence, all LaTeX commands appear in their raw format in the saved/submitted xml file and in a saved html file.
Highlighted Text: Highlighted items (e.g. using left-click drag with the mouse) turn green.
Sample Proposal: A sample proposal is included with the distribution (the file named gbtiDemo.xml). It is highly recommended for first time users to load it and examine its contents and structure.
HELP!!!: If everything else fails, consult the PST web pages or the context-sensitive on-line help. If this doesn't help, contact Richard Prestage