 
E-Kernel Required Reading
===========================================================================
 
   Last revised on 2009 APR 01 by B. V. Semenov.
 
 
Abstract
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   The SPICE events subsystem and Events Kernel (EK) are used to implement
   the sequence component of the Events Kernel (EK/ESQ), and may be used in
   any other application where a modest SQL-like database is called for.
 
 
References
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   NAIF document numbers are shown preceding document titles.
 
       1.   [218] KERNEL Required Reading (kernel.req)
 
       2.   [222] SCLK Required Reading (sclk.req)
 
       3.   [225] TIME Required Reading (time.req)
 
       4.   [278] COMMNT User's Guide (commnt.ug)
 
       5.   [284] INSPEKT User's Guide (inpekt.ug)
 
       6.   [286] DAS Required Reading (das.req)
 
       7.   [333] Converting and Porting SPICE Data Files (convert.ug)
 
       8.   [A] (No NAIF document number available) SPICE Tutorial chapter:
            ``Events Kernel Notebook Component ENB''
 
 
Introduction
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   The E-kernel (``EK'') is the logical component of the SPICE system that
   deals with ``event'' data. In the context of space science missions,
   event data may be interpreted as the collection of information
   concerning planned or unplanned mission activities or occurrences that
   can assist in extracting the full value of the science data returned
   from those missions. Event data may also include data used to assist
   mission operations. The definition of event data given here is
   deliberately broad; selection of appropriate event data must be carried
   out on an application-by-application basis. Examples of event data
   include, but are not limited to, statements of scientific objectives,
   planned or actual sequences of commands executed onboard spacecraft, and
   notebook or log entries of scientists or mission operations personnel.
 
   The SPICE E-kernel (EK) subsystem is intended to support convenient
   recording, electronic transfer, archival, examination, and manipulation
   of event data by human users and software. Because the form, content,
   and quantity of event data may vary widely from one mission or
   application to next, the EK subsystem emphasizes flexibility in
   accommodating event data and imposes few restrictions on the types of
   data that can be included within the subsystem.
 
   The EK subsystem includes two separate software mechanisms for storing
   and handling event data. One of these is a simple, stand-alone
   relational database system. This system includes event data files, SPICE
   software that manipulates those files, and documentation. The data files
   used by this system are called ``sequence E-kernels,'' ``sequence EK
   files'' or ``sequence EKs''; often the qualifier ``sequence'' is
   omitted. SPICE EK software enables sequence EKs to be examined,
   interactively or through an application programming interface (API), by
   means of a simple, SQL-like query language. The sequence EK file format
   and associated software are discussed in detail below.
 
   The second mechanism is an e-mail and web-based software system that
   allows users to archive and share text notes and e-mail messages, the
   latter of which may optionally include MIME attachments. This is known
   as the ``experimenter's notebook'' or ``ENB'' system. The ENB system is
   documented in reference [A].
 
   While the EK subsystem allows users to package an almost limitless
   variety of event data, the subsystem is designed to support in
   particular three of the categories of data listed above:
 
       --   Statements of scientific objectives
 
       --   Sequences of spacecraft commands
 
       --   Notebook or log entries
 
   The EK subsystem is partitioned into three ``components,'' each one
   designed to accommodate one of the types of data listed above. The names
   of these components are, respectively,
 
       --   The Science Plan
 
       --   The Sequence Component
 
       --   The Experimenter's Notebook (``ENB'')
 
 
EK subsystem components
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   Below, we present a high-level description of the components of the EK
   subsystem and suggested applications of these components.
 
 
EK science plan component
 
   The purpose of the Science Plan component of the SPICE EK subsystem is
   to record high-level descriptions of planned mission activities,
   particularly, but not necessarily limited to, those pertaining to
   science experiments. Science plan entries should enable the reader to
   understand the objectives of mission activities, and where appropriate,
   should give a high-level description of how they are carried out. A
   description of a mosaic of optical photographs might belong in the
   science plan; the commands used to execute the mosaic probably would be
   best relegated to the EK sequence component, which is described below.
 
   Depending on mission requirements, either the ENB or Sequence EK system
   may be suitable for storing Science Plan data.
 
 
EK sequence component
 
   The sequence component of the SPICE EK subsystem is intended to deal
   with event data that fit the relational database paradigm: specifically,
   data that can be meaningfully and advantageously represented as a series
   of tables, each one of which is characterized by a collection of rows
   and columns. This type of organization is likely to be appropriate when:
 
       --   The structure of the data is regular
 
       --   The volume of the data is large
 
       --   The capability of searching the data rapidly, preferably in
            random-access fashion, for items of interest is required
 
       --   The capability of specifying relational search constraints is
            required
 
       --   The data must be accessible by software as well as by human
            readers
 
   This last criterion may apply even when the primary means of access to
   the data is visual inspection, if the data volume is large enough:
   software may be required to enable users to select manageable subsets of
   the data to browse on-line or in the form of printed listings.
 
   Data stored in the sequence component of the EK subsystem might
   represent sequences of time-tagged ``events.'' Sequences of commands
   sent to a spacecraft are an example of such event data. Terse notes
   indicating occurrences of geometric events such as equator crossings or
   times of closest approach of a spacecraft relative to a target are
   another example of suitable data to include in this component.
 
   When event data consist of or include descriptions of state changes of
   systems of interest, a sequence EK containing these data could be used
   to find the states of the corresponding systems at a given time.
 
   The data comprising an event may correspond to a row in a table, and
   attributes of the event could be represented by entries in different
   columns within the row. A trivial, fictitious example of this sort of
   logical organization is shown in the table below:
 
                (column 1)   (column 2)           (column 3)
 
                   TIME       MNEMONIC              EVENT
 
               +------------------------------------------------------+
      (row 1)  | 3987:64:2 | CMD,PWRON  |  Turn camera power on       |
               +------------------------------------------------------+
      (row 2)  | 3989:01:0 | CMD,FILCLR |  Select CLEAR filter        |
               +------------------------------------------------------+
      (row 3)  | 4000:01:5 | CMD,SHUTR  |  Shutter photo              |
               +------------------------------------------------------+
      (row 4)  | 4000:01:5 | COMMENT    |  OPNAV photo #1 complete    |
               +------------------------------------------------------+
          .                               .
          .                               .
          .                               .
 
 
   With regard to such a table, we might wish to construct queries such as:
 
      "Find the filter selection commands that occurred between
      spacecraft clock times 5000:23:0 and 5001:00:0"
 
      "Find the events containing the word ``camera'' and display them
      ordered by mnemonic"
 
      "Find the last event description starting with the string ``Turn''
      prior to the UTC time 1-JAN-1997 12:14:02"
 
      "Find the times of all the ``Shutter photo'' events"
 
   We might want to display the rows satisfying these queries on our
   terminals, dump them to a file, or use them to drive a program. All of
   these functions are supported by the sequence EK subsystem. Note that
   the queries shown above are English paraphrases of the equivalent
   expressions in the EK query language.
 
   The functional capabilities described above are provided by files and
   software capable of accessing those files. The EK API contains
   ``writer'' software that enables users to create sequence EK files that
   contain data organized in a tabular fashion. The data then can be
   accessed via ``reader'' functions from the EK API, or interactively via
   the EK browsing program INSPEKT.
 
   Sequence EK files are binary files and therefore cannot be read directly
   via text editing programs. However, the program INSPEKT can dump any
   selected portion of any sequence EK as a text file, using user-specified
   formats, so in a sense sequence EK files are more flexible than flat
   text files as a repository for event information. By using a
   database-style internal data representation rather than a
   format-oriented one, they avoid the constraints on their contents that
   would be imposed by adoption of fixed file formats.
 
   Sequence EK files may be ported between computer systems having
   different internal data formats; the SPICE Toolkit utilities TOBIN and
   TOXFR support this function.
 
   Sequence EK files may also have labels and free-form text inserted into
   them to assist in clear and complete identification of the files; the
   SPICE Toolkit utility COMMNT may be used for this purpose.
 
   A detailed discussion of the functional characteristics of the sequence
   component is given below in the chapter titled ``Sequence EK Concepts.''
 
 
EK experimenter's notebook component
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   The experimenter's notebook component of the EK subsystem is primarily
   intended to be a mechanism for recording after-the-fact observations,
   particularly of anomalies or other unplanned events. Notes of general
   interest to scientists may also be appropriate.
 
   More generally, the experimenter's notebook component may include any EK
   data that don't fit into the other two components. For example, if the
   available, human-readable command sequence data are extremely small in
   volume, it may be more practical to include them in the experimenter's
   notebook than to insert them into a binary sequence EK.
 
 
Sequence EK Concepts
===========================================================================
 
 
Relational database functionality
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   The sequence EK subsystem is a simple, stand-alone relational database
   system, with a few modifications to better adapt the system to
   EK-specific applications.
 
   The sequence EK subsystem provides an application programming interface
   (API) for creating, modifying, reading, summarizing, and annotating
   sequence EK files. In particular, the API supports reading via a
   query-and-fetch mechanism: an application passes a request for data
   called a ``query'' to the EK subsystem, then retrieves the data via a
   suite of API routines. Queries are expressed in a simple language that
   closely resembles the standard relational database query language SQL.
 
   The sequence EK query capability is also provided via the CSPICE
   interactive browsing utility INSPEKT. However, INSPEKT does not support
   any sequence EK writing functionality.
 
   The functionality of sequence EK software is almost completely
   independent of its intended application as a system for handling event
   data. One could think of the software system not as an ``event kernel''
   but simply as a ``database kernel,'' and in fact the term ``database
   kernel'' and the acronym ``DBK'' have been used in some CSPICE
   documentation. However, since the ``EK'' prefix has already been widely
   used in naming functions belonging to the EK API, we'll stick with the
   name ``EK'' in our discussion.
 
 
The sequence EK data model
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   Below we discuss the logical organization of data in the sequence EK
   subsystem.
 
 
Tables
 
   A sequence EK database is logically a set of tables. Each table is made
   up of rows and columns. Tables are ``rectangular'': there is the same
   number of rows in each column. The intersection of a row and column is
   called a ``column entry.'' All columns within a table have the same
   number of entries---one per row.
 
   The sequence EK data model diverges slightly from the relational model
   in that columns are allowed to have arrays as entries. We call such
   columns ``array-valued'' or ``vector-valued.'' When a column entry is an
   array, we call the components of the array ``column entry elements'' or
   ``elements'' if the context is clear.
 
 
Column attributes
 
   Each column has a number of attributes that characterize the data it
   contains. These attributes apply uniformly to the entries within a
   column:
 
       --   Data type
 
            Column entries may have INTEGER, CHARACTER, DOUBLE PRECISION,
            or TIME data type.
 
            The TIME data type is used to represent epochs. As such, the
            TIME type plays the same role as the DATE datatype in the SQL
            language.
 
       --   Dimension
 
            Column entries may have fixed or variable dimension. When a
            column has fixed-dimension entries of size 1, the column is
            said to be ``scalar-valued.'' Otherwise, the column is said to
            be ``array valued,'' ``vector valued,'' or, if the dimension is
            variable, ``variable-sized.'' There is no limit imposed by the
            EK subsystem on the dimension of a column's entries.
 
            Array-valued columns may not be referenced in query contraints.
 
       --   String length (applies only to character columns)
 
            Array-valued columns having entries of CHARACTER type have a
            fixed, maximum string length associated with them.
            Scalar-valued CHARACTER columns may have variable-length
            strings as entries. For all CHARACTER columns, the maximum
            allowed string length is 1024 characters.
 
       --   Whether null values are allowed
 
            At the time an EK segment is created, each column declaration
            indicates whether the column may contain null values. In
            columns that allow null entries, entries may be designated as
            null when segments are written.
 
 
The EK query language
--------------------------------------------------------
 
 
Query syntax
 
   An EK query is a character string that specifies a set of EK data to
   select from those present in currently loaded EK files. A query
   specifies columns and tables of interest, and optionally specifies
   constraints that entries in the tables' rows must match. We refer to
   rows that satisfy the constraints as ``matching rows.''
 
   The selected data will be retrievable via the EK fetch routines ekgc_c,
   ekgd_c, and ekgi_c.
 
   The query consists of four clauses, the third and fourth of which are
   optional. The general form of a query is
 
      SELECT <column list>
      FROM <table list>
      [WHERE <constraint list>]
      [ORDER BY <ORDER BY column list>]
 
   where brackets indicate optional items. The elements of the query shown
   above are called, respectively, the ``SELECT clause,'' the ``FROM
   clause,'' the ``WHERE clause,'' and the ``ORDER BY clause.'' The result
   of a query may be thought of as a new table, whose columns are those
   specified in the SELECT clause and whose rows are those satisfying the
   constraints of the WHERE clause, ordered according to the ORDER BY
   clause.
 
 
The SELECT clause
 
   The SELECT clause specifies a list of columns from which data are to be
   selected. In a simple (non-join) query, these columns must belong to the
   single table specified in the FROM clause.
 
   The form of a SELECT clause is
 
      SELECT <column name> [ , <column name>...]
 
   In queries having multiple tables in the FROM clause (see below), column
   names are ambiguous if they occur in more than one table in the FROM
   clause. Such column names must be qualified with table identifiers.
   These identifiers may be the names of the tables to which the columns
   belong, or table ``aliases,'' names (usually short ones) associated with
   tables in the FROM clause. Table aliases have duration limited to the
   execution of the query to which they belong.
 
   The form of a qualified column name is
 
      <table name>.<column name>
 
   or
 
      <table alias>.<column name>
 
   Columns named in the SELECT clause must be present in some loaded EK for
   the query to be semantically valid.
 
 
The FROM clause
 
   The FROM clause specifies the tables from which data are to be selected.
   In simple queries, only one table is listed. In this case the form of
   the FROM clause is
 
      FROM <table name>
 
   In queries involving multiple tables, the form of the FROM clause
   becomes
 
      FROM <table name> [<table alias>]
           [ , <table name> [<table alias>] ... ]
 
   The aliases associated with the table names must be distinct and must
   not be the actual names of loaded EK tables.
 
   Queries involving multiple tables are called ``joins.''
 
   The meaning of a FROM clause containing multiple tables is that the
   output is to be a subset of the rows of the Cartesian product of the
   listed tables. Normally, WHERE clause constraints are supplied to reduce
   the selected rows to a set of interest.
 
   The most common example of a join is a query with two tables listed in
   the FROM clause, and a WHERE clause constraint enforcing equality of
   members of a column in the first table with members of column in the
   second table. Such a query is called an ``equi-join.'' A join in which
   columns of different tables are related by an inequality is called a
   ``non-equi-join.'' Any type of join other than an equi-join may be very
   slow to evaluate, due to the large number of elements that may be
   contained in the Cartesian product of the listed tables.
 
 
The WHERE clause
 
   The WHERE clause lists constraints that must be met by each row
   satisfying the query. The constraints are specified as a logical
   combination of relational expressions. The form of the constraint list
   is
 
      WHERE <constraint expression>
 
   where each <constraint expression> consists of one or more simple
   relational expressions of the form
 
      <column name> <operator> <RHS symbol>
 
   Here
 
      <RHS symbol>
 
   is a column name, a literal value, or the special symbol
 
      NULL
 
   and
 
      <operator>
 
   is any of
 
      EQ, GE, GT, LE, LIKE, LT, NE, NOT LIKE, <, <=,
      =, >, >=, !=, <>
 
   For comparison with null values, the special expressions
 
      <column name> IS NULL
      <column name> IS NOT NULL
 
   are allowed.
 
   The LIKE operator allows comparison of a string value against a
   template. The template syntax is that allowed by the CSPICE routine
   MATCHI. Templates may include literal characters, the wild string marker
   '*', and the wild character marker '%'. Case is significant in
   templates.
 
   Templates are bracketed by quote characters, just as are literal
   strings.
 
   The query language also supports the BETWEEN and NOT BETWEEN constructs
 
      <column> BETWEEN <symbol 1> AND <symbol 2>
 
      <column> NOT BETWEEN <symbol 1> AND <symbol 2>
 
   The tokens
 
      <symbol 1>
      <symbol 2>
 
   may be literal values or column names.
 
   The BETWEEN operator considers values that match the bounds to satisfy
   the condition: the BETWEEN operator tests for inclusion in the closed
   interval defined by the bounds.
 
   The order of the bounds doesn't matter: the bounds are considered to
   define the interval from the smaller bound to the larger.
 
   In the WHERE clause, simple relational expressions may be combined using
   the logical operators AND, OR, and NOT, as in the Fortran programming
   language. Parentheses may be used to enforce a desired order of
   evaluation of logical expressions.
 
   The expression syntax is NOT symmetric: literal values must not appear
   on the left hand side of the operators that apply to them.
 
   Data types of the columns or constants used on the right-hand-sides of
   operators must match the data types of the corresponding columns on the
   left-hand-sides, except that comparison of integer and double precision
   quantities is permitted.
 
   The columns named in a WHERE clause must belong to the tables listed in
   the FROM clause. If the query is a join, qualifying table names or
   aliases are required wherever their omission would result in ambiguity.
 
   Columns referenced in a WHERE clause must be scalar-valued.
 
 
The ORDER BY Clause
 
   The ``ORDER BY'' clause indicates which columns to use to order the
   output generated by the query. The columns in the order-by clause define
   a dictionary ordering, with the first listed column acting as a primary
   key, the second column acting as a secondary key, and so on.
 
   For each ORDER BY column, the keywords ASC or DESC may be supplied to
   indicate whether the items in that column are to be listed in ascending
   or descending order. Ascending order is the default. The direction in
   which data items increase is referred to as the ``order sense.''
 
   The ORDER BY clause, if present, must appear last in the query.
 
   The form of the ORDER BY clause is
 
      ORDER BY <column name> [<order sense>]
               [ ,<column name> [<order sense>]...]
 
   Rows satisfying the query constraints will be returned so that the
   entries of the first column specified in the ORDER BY clause will appear
   in the order specified by the order sense keyword, which is assumed to
   be ASC if absent. When entries in the first through Nth ORDER BY column
   are equal, the entries in the (N+1)st ORDER BY column determine the
   order of the rows, and so on.
 
   As in the WHERE clause, ORDER BY column names must be qualified by table
   names or table aliases where they would otherwise be ambiguous.
 
   In order for a column to be eligible to be referenced in an ORDER BY
   clause, the column must scalar valued.
 
 
Case sensitivity
 
   Case is not significant in queries, except within literal strings. For
   these case sensitivity depends on the relational operators applied to
   the strings. All comparison operators other than the LIKE operator are
   case sensitive: for example, the strings
 
      "And"
 
   and
 
      "and"
 
   are not considered to be equal. On the other hand, the expression
 
      ANIMAL LIKE "*A*"
 
   would be considered true when ANIMAL takes the value
 
      "cat"
 
   Case is not significant in time values.
 
 
White space
 
   The blank is the only character considered to be a white space character
   in the EK query syntax. In particular, tabs are not treated as white
   space characters.
 
   Within string constants, leading or embedded white space is significant.
   Elsewhere, any string of one or more consecutive blanks is interpreted
   as a single blank.
 
   White space is required to separate alphanumeric tokens, such as
 
      SELECT
 
   and
 
       LT
 
   White space may be omitted between special characters and alphanumeric
   tokens, such as
 
      )
 
   and
 
      WHERE
 
 
Numeric values
 
   Any numeric format accepted by the CSPICE routine prsdp_c may be used to
   represent numeric values in relational expressions.
 
   The equality operator EQ indicates a test for exact equality. Care must
   be taken in testing double precision column entries for equality with a
   specified value; round-off errors may cause such tests to fail
   unexpectedly.
 
 
String values
 
   Literal strings used in the right hand side of relational expressions,
   such as the string
 
      SSI_EVENT
 
   in the query
 
      * where event_type eq "SSI_EVENT"
 
   are always bracketed by quotation marks. Either single or double quotes
   may be used, as long as the string is started and terminated with the
   same character. Within character string values, quote characters must be
   doubled in order to be recognized.
 
 
Time values
 
   Time values are considered to be strings and require bracketing quotes.
   Either single or double quotes are allowed, as long as the quote
   characters match. The allowed time values are strings accepted by the
   CSPICE routine str2et_c, and SCLK strings in SPICE format.
 
   When SCLK strings are used, they must be prefixed by a substring
   indicating the name of the clock, followed by the token SCLK. For
   example:
 
      MGS SCLK 2400001.125
 
   Time values specified in queries are always converted to barycentric
   dynamical time (TDB) before comparisons with column entries are
   performed. Therefore, programs using the EK subsystem should load a
   leapseconds kernel and any appropriate SCLK kernels before attempting to
   issue queries involving time values to the EK subsystem. See [222] and
   [225] for further information on time conversions.
 
   As with double precision values, time values cannot generally be
   reliably tested for exact equality with column entries. It's usually
   better to test whether a time column entry is in a desired range than to
   test whether it's equal to a specific value.
 
 
Null values
 
   The symbol
 
      NULL
 
   may be used on the right-hand-side of relational expression in which the
   column named on the left-hand of the expression allows null values, when
   the relational operators are either of
 
      IS NULL
      IS NOT NULL
 
   The case of the letters in the symbol ``NULL'' is not significant. The
   symbol is written without quotes.
 
 
Reserved Words
 
   The query language contains the following reserved words:
 
      ALL
      AND
      ASC
      AVG
      BETWEEN
      BY
      COUNT
      DESC
      DISTINCT
      EQ
      FROM
      GE
      GROUP
      GT
      HAVING
      IS
      LE
      LIKE
      LT
      MAX
      MIN
      NE
      NOT
      NULL
      OR
      ORDER
      SELECT
      SUM
      WHERE
 
   Some of the above are not currently used but are reserved for upward
   compatibility.
 
   Reserved words must be separated from other words in queries by white
   space.
 
 
Query grammar
 
   A BNF representation of the sequence EK query grammar is as shown:
 
      <QUERY>                 =>    <SELECT clause> <FROM clause>
                                    <WHERE clause> <ORDER BY clause>
 
      <SELECT clause>         =>    SELECT <select list>
 
      <select list>           =>    <column entry>
                                  | <select list>, <column entry>
 
      <column entry>          =>    <table name>.<column name>
                                  | <column name>
 
      <FROM clause>           =>    FROM <table name list>
 
      <table name list>       =>    <table entry>
                                  | <table name list>, <table entry>
 
      <table entry>           =>    <table name>
                                  | <table name> <table alias>
 
      <WHERE clause>          =>    WHERE <relational expression>
                                  | <NIL>
 
 
      <relational expression>  =>   <simple expression>
 
                                  | <NULL value expression>
 
                                  | NOT <relational expression>
 
                                  |   ( <relational expression> )
 
                                  |     <relational expression>
                                    AND <relational expression>
 
                                  |     <relational expression>
                                    OR  <relational expression>
 
 
      <simple expression>      =>   <LHS> <operator> <RHS>
 
                                  | <LHS> BETWEEN     <RHS> AND <RHS>
 
                                  | <LHS> NOT BETWEEN <RHS> AND <RHS>
 
 
      <NULL value expression>  =>   <LHS> <Null operator> NULL
 
 
      <LHS>                    =>   <name>
 
 
      <RHS>                    =>   <name>
                                  | <value>
 
 
      <name>                   =>   <identifier> . <identifier>
                                  | <identifier>
 
 
      <operator>               =>   EQ
                                  | GE
                                  | GT
                                  | LE
                                  | LT
                                  | NE
                                  | LIKE
                                  | NOT LIKE
                                  | =
                                  | >=
                                  | >
                                  | <=
                                  | <
                                  | !=
                                  | <>
 
 
      <NULL operator>         =>    IS
                                  | IS NOT
                                  | EQ
                                  | NE
                                  | =
                                  | !=
                                  | <>
 
 
      <value>                 =>    <character value>
                                  | <d.p. value>
                                  | <integer value>
 
 
      <ORDER BY clause>       =>    ORDER BY <order-by list>
                                  | <NIL>
 
      <order-by list>         =>    <order-by column entry>
                                  | <order-by list>,
                                    <order-by column entry>
 
      <order-by column entry> =>    <column entry> <order>
                                  | <column entry>
 
      <order>                 =>    ASC
                                  | DESC
 
 
Examples of syntactically valid queries
 
   Below is a collection of examples of strings containing syntactically
   valid queries.
 
   The column names referenced in the queries are used as examples and are
   not meant to suggest that columns having those names will be present in
   any particular EKs.
 
      SELECT COL1 FROM TAB1
 
      select col1 from tab1 where col1 gt 5
 
      SELECT COL2 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL2 > 5.7 ORDER BY COL2
 
      SELECT COL2 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL1 != 5
 
      SELECT COL2 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL1 GE COL2
 
      SELECT COL1, COL2, COL3 FROM TAB1 ORDER BY COL1
 
      SELECT COL3 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL5 EQ "ABC"
 
      SELECT COL3 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL5 = "ABC"
 
      SELECT COL3 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL5 LIKE 'A*'
 
      SELECT COL3 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL5 LIKE 'A%%'
 
      SELECT COL4 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL4 = '1995 JAN 1 12:38:09.7'
 
      SELECT COL4 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL4 = "1995 JAN 1 12:38:09.7"
 
      SELECT COL4 FROM TAB1 WHERE
      COL4 NE 'GLL SCLK 02724646:67:7:2'
 
      SELECT COL1 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL1 != NULL
 
      SELECT COL1 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL1 IS NULL
 
      SELECT COL1 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL1 IS NOT NULL
 
      SELECT COL1, COL2, COL3 FROM TAB1
      WHERE (COL1 BETWEEN 4 AND 6) AND (COL3 NOT LIKE "A%%")
      ORDER BY COL1, COL3
 
      SELECT COL4 FROM TAB1
      WHERE COL4 BETWEEN "1995 JAN 1 12:38" AND
      "October 23, 1995"
 
      SELECT COL1, COL2 FROM TAB1 WHERE
      NOT (    ( ( COL1 <  COL2 ) AND ( COL1 > 5   ) )  OR
               ( ( COL1 >= COL2 ) AND ( COL2 <= 10 ) )      )
 
 
      SELECT T1.COL1, T1.COL2, T2.COL2, T2.COL3
      FROM TABLE1 T1, TABLE2 T2
      WHERE T1.COL1 = T2.COL1
      AND T1.COL2 > 5
      ORDER BY T1.COL1, T2.COL2
 
 
Examples of syntactically invalid queries
 
      SELECT TIME WHERE TIME
      LT 1991 JAN 1                      {FROM clause is absent}
 
      select time from table1 where
      time lt 1991 jan 1                 {time string is not
                                          quoted}
 
      select time from table1
      where time .lt. '1991 jan 1'       {operator should be lt}
 
      select cmd from table1
      where "cmd,6tmchg" != cmd          {value is on left side
                                          of operator}
 
      select event_type from table1
      where event_type eq ""             {quoted string is empty
                                          ---use " " to indicate
                                          a blank string}
 
      select event_type from table1
      where event_type = "COMMENT"
      order TIME                         {ORDER BY phrase is
                                          lacking BY keyword}
 
      select COL1 from table where
      where COL1 eq MOC_EVENT            {literal string on
                                          right-hand-side of
                                          operator is not quoted}
 
 
Examples of semantically invalid queries
 
   In the following examples, we'll assume that an application program has
   loaded a sequence EK containing two segments containing columns having
   the following names and attributes:
 
      TABLE1:
      ==========
 
        Column name        Data type         Size       Indexed?
        -----------        ---------         ----       --------
        EVENT_TYPE         CHARACTER*32      1          YES
        EVENT_PARAMETERS   CHARACTER*(*)     1          NO
        COMMENT            CHARACTER*80      VARIABLE   NO
 
 
      TABLE2:
      ==========
 
        Column name        Data type         Size       Indexed?
        -----------        ---------         ----       --------
        EVENT_TYPE         CHARACTER*32      1          YES
        EVENT_PARAMETERS   CHARACTER*80      1          NO
        COMMENT            CHARACTER*80      VARIABLE   NO
        COMMAND            CHARACTER*80      1          YES
 
   Then the following queries are semantically invalid:
 
      SELECT EVENT_PARAMETERS
      FROM TABLE1
      WHERE EVENT_DURATION = 7.0         {No column called
                                          EVENT_DURATION
                                          is present in a loaded
                                          EK}
 
      SELECT COMMENT FROM TABLE2
      WHERE COMMENT EQ "N/A"             {The COMMENT column does
                                          not have size 1 and
                                          therefore cannot be
                                          referenced in a query}
 
 
 
Sequence EK Files
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   Sequence EKs are binary files conforming to the SPICE DAS architecture,
   which is described in the DAS Required Reading document, das.req. The
   SPICE file identification word occupying the first eight bytes of a
   properly created binary sequence EK file is ``DAS/EK ''. For more
   information on SPICE identification words refer to the Kernel Required
   Reading document, kernel.req. Most users will not need to understand the
   details of the structure of these files.
 
 
Segments
 
   Sequence EK files contain data organized in a series of logical tables
   called ``segments.'' This organization is logical, not physical---the
   physical layout of the data in the file is transparent to applications
   that access sequence EKs via the EK API.
 
   Each segment contains data belonging to one EK table. A sequence EK file
   may contain multiple segments for one or more distinct tables. Segments
   for a table may be distributed across multiple EK files.
 
   Spreading data for a table across multiple segments has no affect on
   query interpretation. However, performance degradation may result if a
   sequence EK file contains a very large number of segments.
 
 
The comment area
 
   Because sequence EK files are based on the DAS architecture, they
   inherit the DAS ``comment area'' feature; this allows sequence EKs to
   store free-form text comments. Comments may be labels or other
   descriptive text that fully identifies the file and indicates its
   intended purpose.
 
   The contents of the comment area must be printable text. The comment
   area is line-oriented; text inserted into the comment area can be
   retrieved with the original line breaks preserved. It is recommended
   that text to be inserted into the comment area have no lines exceeding
   80 characters in length.
 
   See the section ``Sequence EK tools'' for information on the SPICE
   Toolkit utilities that access the comment area.
 
 
Sequence EK tools
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   The SPICE Toolkit includes programs that may be used to create,
   summarize, or browse EK files. These are summarized below.
 
 
INSPEKT
 
   INSPEKT is an interactive program for browsing binary sequence EK files.
   INSPEKT presents a user interface similar to that of an interactive
   database program: a user can ``inspect'' one or more binary EK files by
   issuing queries in a SQL-like language; in response to each query,
   INSPEKT displays event data that satisfy the query. INSPEKT provides
   users with many options for formatting the output produced in response
   to queries.
 
   INSPEKT has an extensive, hyper-text style on-line help facility, and
   also has a detailed user's guide available as a paper document [284].
 
 
COMMNT
 
   COMMNT is an interactive, menu-driven program that allows users to
   manipulate the comment area of binary EK, SPK, CK, and PCK files. The
   supported operations are:
 
       --   Add or append comments to the comment area.
 
       --   Delete comments from the comment area.
 
       --   Extract comments from the comment area to a text file.
 
       --   Read the comment area.
 
   COMMNT's user's guide, commnt.ug, is NAIF Document [278].
 
 
TOXFR and TOBIN
 
   Since sequence EKs are instances of DAS files, the DAS file transfer
   mechanisms apply. The CSPICE utilities TOXFR and TOBIN may be used to
   convert binary sequence EKs to ASCII transfer format and back to binary
   format. See the CONVERT users's guide, convert.ug, [333] for details.
 
 
SPACIT
 
   The CSPICE utility SPACIT may also be used for converting sequence EKs
   between binary and transfer formats. SPACIT provides a rudimentary EK
   segment summary capability; however, INSPEKT is typically required to
   interactively extract useful information from a sequence EK.
 
 
Reading sequence EKs
===========================================================================
 
 
Loading and unloading sequence EKs
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   In order for a program to query one or more sequence EK files, the files
   must first be made available to the EK subsystem. This process is called
   ``loading'' the files. Loading EK files is normally accomplished by
   calling the generic CSPICE kernel loader furnsh_c:
 
      furnsh_c ( <fname> );                 {Load SPICE kernel}
 
   furnsh_c in turn invokes the low-level EK-specific loader eklef_c.
 
   A limited number of EK files may be loaded at any one time. The current
   maximum limit is 20 files.
 
   The inverse routine corresponding to furnsh_c is unload_c. unload_c
   removes a loaded kernel from the CSPICE system: the file is closed, and
   data stuctures referring to the file are updated to reflect the absence
   of the file. unload_c invokes the EK-specific unload routine ekuef_c to
   carry out its task.
 
   See [218] for further information on furnsh_c and unload_c.
 
   Before queries may be processed, any supplementary kernels required for
   time conversion should be loaded. To enable use of UTC times in queries,
   a leapseconds kernel is required. To enable use of SCLK values in
   queries, an SCLK kernel for the appropriate spacecraft clock must be
   loaded.
 
   All of the EK files loaded at any one time must have consistent table
   attributes: any two tables having the same name must have the same
   attributes, even if the tables belong to different files.
 
   Unlike the SPK subsystem, the EK subsystem supports no prioritization
   scheme for loaded kernels: no kernel supersedes another. Rather, all
   rows of all loaded EKs are considered during query processing.
 
 
Query-and-fetch interface
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   The sequence EK subsystem's ``query and fetch'' capability is the
   principal high-level access mechanism for reading EK data. There are two
   steps to retrieving data using this mechanism:
 
       1.   Specify the data of interest by issuing a query.
 
       2.   Fetch the data that satisfy the query.
 
   Data comprising the query results may be fetched in random order.
 
 
Issuing queries
 
   To issue a query to the sequence EK subsystem, use ekfind_c:
 
      ekfind_c ( <query>, <lenout>, &nmrows, &error, errmsg );
                                                              {Find rows
                                                               that
                                                               satisfy
                                                               query}
 
   Here
 
         `query'    is a string containing an EK query. See the section
                    ``The EK query language'' above for a complete
                    description of the language.
 
         `nmrows'   is the number of ``matching rows'': rows satisfying the
                    query constraints, if any. `nmrows' is defined only if
                    the query executed successfully.
 
         `error'    is a logical flag indicting whether the query executed
                    successfully. If the input query is incorrect, `error'
                    will be returned with the value SPICETRUE.
 
         `errmsg'   is a string containing an error diagnosis. `errmsg' is
                    set when `error' is SPICETRUE. and is undefined
                    otherwise.
 
   Query errors fall into a few categories:
 
       --   Scanning errors---these result from badly formed query in which
            ekfind_c could not identify all of the tokens. When these
            errors occur, EKFIND may be too confused to give a helpful
            diagnostic message.
 
       --   Parsing errors---these result from a badly formed query that
            ekfind_c was able to separate into tokens but that ekfind_c
            determined to be syntactically invalid.
 
       --   Name resolution errors---these result from referencing invalid
            or ambiguous column or table names in a query.
 
       --   Time resolution errors---these result from use of time strings
            that cannot be parsed.
 
       --   Miscellaneous semantic errors---these result from a
            syntactically valid query that violates a limit or a
            restriction on values used in a query.
 
   Some problems that may be encountered by ekfind_c are not due to invalid
   queries, but are genuine error conditions:
 
       --   No E-kernels are loaded at the time ekfind_c is called.
 
       --   A time value is used in a query before a leapseconds kernel is
            loaded.
 
       --   A SCLK value is used in a query before an SCLK kernel for the
            appropriate spacecraft clock has been loaded.
 
   These problems cause a SPICE error to be signaled. The outputs of
   ekfind_c are undefined in this case.
 
 
Fetching data from matching rows
 
   The EK fetch functions ekgc_c, ekgd_c, and ekgi_c return data of the
   indicated data type from rows satisfying an EK query.
 
   The EK fetch functions return one column entry element at a time, so it
   is not necessary to know in advance the size of the column entry.
 
   To fetch data from a character column, use
 
      ekgc_c ( <selidx>, <row>, <elment>, <lenout>,        {Get character
                cdata, &null, &found );                     data}
 
   Here
 
         `selidx'   is the index of the column of interest in the SELECT
                    clause of the query. Column indices range from 0 :
                    ncols-1 where `ncols' is the number of columns
                    referenced in the SELECT clause of the query.
 
         `row'      is the index of the row from which to fetch. Row
                    indices range from 0 : nmrows-1 where `nmrows' is the
                    number of matching rows returned by ekfind_c.
 
         `elment'   is the index of the column entry element to fetch.
                    Element indices range from 0 : nelts-1 where `nelts' is
                    the number of elements in the column entry. It is not
                    an error to specify an out-of-range value of `elment':
                    this will simply cause `found' to indicate no element
                    was found.
 
         `lenout'   is the string length of the column name array `cnames'.
 
         `cdata'    is a string containing the specified column entry
                    element.
 
         `null'     is a flag indicating whether the entry is null.
 
         `found'    is a flag indicating whether the specified column entry
                    element was found.
 
   To fetch double precision or TIME column entry elements, use ekgd_c:
 
      ekgd_c ( <selidx>, <row>, <elment>,
               &ddata,   &null, &found   );               {Get d.p. data}
 
   The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of
   ekgc_c, except that `ddata' represents a double precision number.
 
   To fetch integer column entry elements, use ekgi_c:
 
      ekgi_c ( <selidx>, <row>, <elment>,
               &idata,   &null, &found   );           {Get integer data}
 
   The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of
   ekgc_c, except that `idata' represents an integer.
 
 
Query support utilities
 
   While an application can fetch array-valued column entries by calling
   the fetch routine of the appropriate data type in a loop, continuing
   until `found' is false, it is more elegant to find the size of the entry
   in advance. The function eknelt_c provides this service:
 
      nelts = eknelt_c ( <selidx>, <row> );      {Get number of elements}
 
   Here
 
         `selidx'   is the index of the column of interest in the SELECT
                    clause of the query. Column indices range from 0 :
                    ncols-1 where `ncols' is the number of columns
                    referenced in the SELECT clause of the query.
 
         `row'      is the index of the row from which to fetch. Row
                    indices range from 0 : nmrows-1 where `nmrows' is the
                    number of matching rows returned by ekfind_c.
 
         `nelts'    is the number of elements in the column entry.
 
   The EK fetch functions ekgc_c, ekgd_c, ekgi_c, together with the utility
   eknelt_c, suffice for applications in which the SELECT clause of the
   query is known in advance. For such applications, the data types of the
   SELECT columns are known in advance, so it is clear which fetch function
   to call to retrieve any column entry.
 
   Some more complex EK applications may require the ability to fetch
   results from an arbitrary query. In order to do this, an application
   must be able to determine at run time the names and data types of the
   SELECT columns. If an application needs to unambiguously identify the
   columns, the names of the tables to which the columns belong are needed
   as well.
 
   Applications need not analyze a query to determine the fully qualified
   names and attributes of the SELECT columns---the EK subsystem provides
   the function ekpsel_c to do this job.
 
   Note: in the discussion below, there are references to substrings in the
   SELECT clause as ``expressions.'' Currently, the only supported
   expressions in the SELECT clause are column names. However, ekpsel_c has
   been designed to support possible query language enhancements, such as
   specification of general expressions in the SELECT clause.
 
   Calls to ekpsel_c are made as shown:
 
      ekpsel_c  ( query,   msglen,  tablen,  collen,
                  n,       xbegs,   xends,   xtypes,
                  xclass,  tabs,    cols,    error,  errmsg ); { Parse
                                                                 SELECT
                                                                 clause }
 
   Here
 
         `query'    is the query to be analyzed.
 
         `msglen'   is the length of the output error message.
 
         `tablen'   is the length of the strings in the output table name
                    array.
 
         `collen'   is the length of the strings in the output column name
                    array.
 
         `n'        is the number of expressions (columns) in the SELECT
                    clause of the query.
 
         `xbegs'    is an array of starting indices of expressions in the
                    SELECT clause.
 
         `xends'    is an array of ending indices of expressions in the
                    SELECT clause. The ith expression occupies query
                    elements `query'[ `xbegs'[i] ] through `query'[ `xends'
                    [i] ].
 
         `xtypes'   is an array of data types of the expressions in the
                    SELECT clause of the query.
 
         `xclass'   is an array of classes of the expressions in the SELECT
                    clause of the query. The ith element of `xclass'
                    indicates whether the ith SELECT expression is a column
                    name, a function, or a more general expression. The
                    elements of `xclass' have data type SpiceEKExprClass.
                    See the header SpiceEK.h for details.
 
         `tabs'     is an array containing table names corresponding to the
                    SELECT columns. Actual table names are returned, even
                    if the column names are qualified by aliases in the
                    query. Elements of `tabs' corresponding to SELECT
                    expressions that are not column names are undefined.
 
         `cols'     is an array containing unqualified versions of the
                    column names appearing in the SELECT clause. The ith
                    element of `cols' is defined only if the ith expression
                    in the SELECT clause is a column name.
 
         `error'    is a flag indicating whether a parsing error occurred
                    while analyzing the query. If an error occurred, the
                    other outputs, with the exception of the error message,
                    are undefined.
 
         `errmsg'   is a string containing an error diagnosis, if a parsing
                    error occurred. Otherwise, ERRMSG is returned empty.
 
 
Record-oriented reader interface
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   The EK record-oriented reader functions provide applications with a
   low-level interface for examining EK data. Using these functions, an
   application has direct access to specified EK column entries.
 
 
Opening files for record-oriented reading
 
   The record-oriented readers may be used to read EKs open for either read
   or write access. If the EK is to be opened for read access, the function
   ekopr_c is convenient:
 
      ekopr_c ( <fname>, &handle );              {EK, open for read}
 
   If the EK to be read is to be queried, then the EK should be loaded via
   eklef_c or furnsh_c.
 
      eklef_c  ( <fname>, &handle );        {EK, load event file}
 
      furnsh_c ( <fname> );                 {Load SPICE kernel}
 
   If furnsh_c is used, the file's handle may be obtained via a call to the
   CSPICE function kinfo_c.
 
 
Column entry readers
 
   The record-oriented readers return a specified column entry from a
   specified EK. To read a character column entry, call ekrcec_c:
 
      ekrcec_c  ( <handle>, <segno>,  <recno>,  <column>,
                  <lenout>  &nvals,   cvals,    isnull   );
 
                                                          {read character
                                                           column entry}
 
   Here
 
         `handle'   is the file handle of the sequence EK to be read.
 
         `segno'    is the ordinal position in the EK of the segment
                    containing the desired column entry.
 
         `segno'    is the ordinal position in the segment of the record
                    containing the desired column entry.
 
         `column'   is the name of the column containing the desired entry.
 
         `lenout'   is the string length of the elements of the array
                    `cvals'.
 
         `nvals'    is the number of array elements in the column entry.
 
         `cvals'    is the column entry itself. Note that CVALS must have
                    sufficient size to accommodate the entire column entry.
                    CVALS is defined only if the column entry is non-null.
 
         `isnull'   is a flag indicating whether the column entry is null.
 
   To read a double precision or TIME column entry, call ekrced_c:
 
      ekrced_c  ( <handle>, <segno>,  <recno>, <column>,
                  &nvals,   dvals,    isnull            );
 
                                                          {read d.p.
                                                           column entry}
 
   The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of
   ekrced_c, except that `dvals' represents a double precision array.
 
   To read an integer column entry, call ekrcei_c:
 
      ekrcei_c  ( <handle>, <segno>,  <recno>, <column>,
                  &nvals,   ivals,    isnull            );
 
                                                          {read integer
                                                           column entry}
 
   The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of
   ekrcec_c, except that `ivals' represents an integer array.
 
 
Informational functions
--------------------------------------------------------
 
 
Summarizing EK files
 
   To summarize an EK file, the file must be open for read or write access,
   and the file handle must be available. If the file is open for write
   access, the file must be structually valid: for example, a fast write
   operation on the file must not be partially executed.
 
   The number of segments in an EK is found by calling eknseg_c:
 
      n = eknseg_c ( <handle> );              {Return number of segments}
 
   The summary of the segment at ordinal position `segno' is returned by
   ekssum_c:
 
      n = eknseg_c ( <handle>, <segno>, &segsum );        {Summarize
                                                           segment}
 
   Here
 
         `handle'   is the file handle of the sequence EK containing the
                    segment of interest.
 
         `segno'    is the ordinal position in the EK of the segment to be
                    summarized.
 
         `segsum'   is an structure of type SpiceEKSegSum which describes
                    the schema of the segment. See the header SpiceEK.h for
                    details.
 
 
Summarizing loaded tables
 
   A ``loaded EK table'' is a virtual table consisting of the union of all
   rows of data from segments having a given table name and schema, where
   the segments belong to loaded EKs. These tables exist in the EK query
   subsystem when EKs are loaded via furnsh_c.
 
   The number of loaded tables may be found by calling ekntab_c:
 
      ekntab_c ( &n );              {Return number of loaded tables}
 
   The name of the nth loaded table may be found by calling ektnam_c:
 
      ektnam_c ( <n>, <lenout>, table );         {Return table name}
 
   The number of columns in a specified, loaded table may be found by
   calling ekccnt_c:
 
      ekccnt_c ( <table>, &ccount );             {Return column count}
 
   The name and attributes of the column having a specified ordinal
   position within in a specified, loaded table may be found by calling
   ekcii_c:
 
      ekcii_c ( <table>, <cindex>, <lenout>,
                column,  &attdsc            );     {Return attributes
                                                    of column specified
                                                    by index}
 
   Here
 
         `table'    is the name of the table containing the column of
                    interest.
 
         `cindex'   is the ordinal position of the column of interest
                    within its table.
 
         `column'   is the returned column name.
 
         `attdsc'   is the returned column attribute descriptor. See the
                    header file SpiceEK.h for details.
 
 
Writing sequence EKs
===========================================================================
 
 
Introduction
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   This chapter describes how to create new sequence EKs and update
   existing ones.
 
   The basic sequence of operations by which a new sequence EK is created
   is:
 
       1.   Open a new sequence EK. This step prepares the sequence EK for
            the addition of data.
 
       2.   Add one or more segments to the sequence EK. A segment may be
            created using the record-oriented writers or the fast writers.
 
       3.   Close the sequence EK. This step writes bookkeeping information
            to the file, flushes to the file any remaining buffered data
            that have not been physically written out, and closes the file.
 
   Existing segments in a sequence EK may be updated: new records may be
   added, records may be deleted, and individual column entries in existing
   segments may be updated.
 
   An existing, closed sequence EK may be opened for write access, at which
   point all operations valid for a new sequence EK may be performed on the
   file.
 
   The comment area of a sequence EK may be written to when the file is
   open for write access.
 
 
Opening a sequence EK for writing
--------------------------------------------------------
 
 
Beginning a new sequence EK
 
   A new sequence EK is opened and prepared for writing via a call to
   ekopn_c:
 
      ekopn_c (  <fname>, <ifname>, <ncomch>, &handle );  {Open new EK}
 
   Here
 
         `fname'    is the name of the new sequence EK.
 
         `ifname'   is the internal file name of the new sequence EK. This
                    name may be up to 60 characters in length; it must
                    contain only printing characters and blanks. `ifname'
                    may be left blank.
 
         `ncomch'   is the number of comment characters to reserve in the
                    comment area. Zero is an acceptable value for `ncomch'.
                    However, reserving sufficient space for comments speeds
                    up addition of comments after the file is written,
                    since data records will not need to be shifted to make
                    room. See the COMMNT User's Guide, commnt.ug, for
                    further information.
 
         `handle'   is the returned file handle. `handle' will be used to
                    identify the file to other sequence EK functions.
 
 
Opening an existing sequence EK for writing
 
   Use ekopw_c to open an existing sequence EK for writing:
 
      ekopw_c (  <fname>, &handle );           {Open EK for writing}
 
   The arguments of ekopw_c have the same meanings as the corresponding
   arguments of ekopn_c.
 
 
Choosing a writing method
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   Before a new segment is started, the writing method must be selected:
   the choices are ``record-oriented'' or ``fast.''
 
   Record-oriented writing allows records to be added to a segment one at a
   time; this approach simplifies creating records from a streaming data
   source. In fact, records may be added to a segment in arbitrary order.
   Also, it is possible to build multiple segments simultaneously using the
   record-oriented writers.
 
   The significant limitation of the record-oriented approach is that it is
   slow, particularly if the segment being written contains indexed
   columns. When execution speed is critical, it may be advisable to use
   the ``fast writers.'' These routines can create a segment as much as 100
   times faster than their record-oriented counterparts. However, the fast
   writers require all of the segment's data to be staged before the
   segment is written.
 
   Below, we discuss aspects of segment creation common to both writing
   approaches. See the sections ``Using the record-oriented sequence EK
   writers'' and ``Using the fast writers'' below for specifics on how to
   implement either approach.
 
 
Specifying segment attributes
 
   When starting a new segment via either the record-oriented or fast
   writers, it is necessary to specify the name of the table the segment
   belongs to and the names and attributes of the columns in the table.
   When using the fast writers, it is also necessary to specify the number
   of rows in the segment.
 
 
Table and column names
 
   Table and column names must start with a letter and contain only
   characters from the set
 
      {A-Z, a-z, 0-9, $,  _}
 
   Case is not significant.
 
   Table names must not exceed SPICE_EK_TNAMSZ (see header file SpiceEK.h)
   characters in length. Column names must not exceed SPICE_EK_CNAMSZ (see
   header file SpiceEK.h) characters in length.
 
 
Column declarations
 
   Column attributes are specified in arrays of strings called ``column
   declarations.'' There is one declaration per column. The syntax for
   column declarations is independent of the writing method.
 
   Column declarations are strings that contain ``keyword=value''
   assignments that define the attributes of the columns to which they
   apply. The column attributes defined by a column declaration are:
 
      DATATYPE
      SIZE
      <is the column indexed?>
      <does the column allow null values?>
 
   When a segment is started via ekbseg_c or ekifld_c, an array of column
   declarations must be supplied as an input. The form of a column
   declaration string is a list of ``keyword=value'' assignments, delimited
   by commas, as shown:
 
      "DATATYPE  = <type>, "
      "SIZE      = <size>, "
      "INDEXED   = <boolean>, "
      "NULLS_OK  = <boolean>"
 
   For example, an indexed, scalar, integer column that does not allow null
   values would have the declaration
 
      "DATATYPE  = INTEGER, "
      "SIZE      = 1, "
      "INDEXED   = TRUE, "
      "NULLS_OK  = FALSE"
 
   Commas are required to separate the assignments within declarations;
   white space is optional; case is not significant.
 
   The order in which the attribute keywords are listed in declaration is
   not significant.
 
   Data type specifications are required for each column.
 
   Each column entry is effectively an array, each element of which has the
   declared data type. The SIZE keyword indicates how many elements are in
   each entry of the column. Note that only scalar-valued columns (those
   for which SIZE = 1) may be referenced in query constraints. A size
   assignment has the syntax
 
      SIZE = <integer>
 
   or
 
      SIZE = VARIABLE
 
   The size value defaults to 1 if omitted.
 
   The DATATYPE keyword defines the data type of column entries. The
   DATATYPE assignment syntax has any of the forms
 
      DATATYPE = CHARACTER*(<length>)
      DATATYPE = CHARACTER*(*)
      DATATYPE = DOUBLE PRECISION
      DATATYPE = INTEGER
      DATATYPE = TIME
 
   As the datatype declaration syntax suggests, character strings may have
   fixed or variable length. For example, a fixed-length string of 80
   characters is indicated by the declaration
 
      DATATYPE = CHARACTER*(80)
 
   while a variable-length string is indicated by an asterisk:
 
      DATATYPE = CHARACTER*(*)
 
   Variable-length strings have a practical length limit of 1024
   characters: the sequence EK writers allow one to write a scalar string
   of any length, but the sequence EK query functions will truncate a
   string whose length exceeds this limit.
 
   Variable-length strings are allowed only in scalar character columns.
 
   Optionally, scalar-valued columns may be indexed. Indexing can greatly
   speed up the processing of some queries, because indexing allows data to
   be found by a binary, rather than linear, search.
 
   Each index increases the size of the sequence EK file by an amount
   greater than or equal to the space occupied by two integers times the
   number of rows in the affected table, so for potentially large sequence
   EK files, the issue of whether or not to index a column deserves some
   consideration.
 
   To create an index for a column, use the assignment
 
      INDEXED = TRUE
 
   By default, columns are not indexed.
 
   Optionally, any column can allow null values; this is indicated by the
   assigment
 
      NULLS_OK = TRUE
 
   in the column declaration. By default, null values are not allowed in
   column entries.
 
 
Consistency of schemas
 
   All segments belonging to a given table, that is having the same table
   name, must have identical schemas: the same set of column names, with
   each pair of identically-named columns having identical declarations.
 
   The sequence EK writer functions don't diagnose segment schema
   inconsistencies (to do so would be cumbersome at best, since
   inconsistencies could occur in separate files). However, loading into
   the sequence EK query system segments with identical table names but
   inconsistent column declarations will result in an error diagnosis.
 
 
Using the record-oriented sequence EK writers
--------------------------------------------------------
 
 
Beginning a segment
 
   The first step in beginning a new segment using the record-oriented
   writers is to define the new segment's schema. This is done by calling
   ekbseg_c:
 
      ekbseg_c ( <handle>, <tabnam>, <ncols>, <cnmlen>,
                 <cnames>, <declen>, <decls>, &segno   ); {Begin
                                                           segment}
 
   The inputs to ekbseg_c are described below:
 
         `handle'   is the file handle returned by the function used to
                    open the sequence EK.
 
         `tabnam'   is the name of the table to which the new segment
                    belongs.
 
         `ncols'    is the number of columns in the table.
 
         `cnmlen'   is the string length of the column name array `cnames'.
 
         `cnames'   is an array containing the names of the columns in the
                    table.
 
         `declen'   is the string length of the column declaration array
                    `decls'.
 
         `decls'    is an array containing the declarations for each
                    column. See the section ``Column declarations'' above
                    for details.
 
   The sole output from ekbseg_c is:
 
         `segno'    This is the number of the new segment: the ordinal
                    position of the segment in the file. Segment numbers
                    start at 0 in CSPICE.
 
 
Adding records to a segment
 
   The record-oriented sequence EK write functions support building
   sequence EK segments one record at a time.
 
   A new segment is prepared for record-oriented writing via a call to
   ekbseg_c (see ``Starting a new segment'' above). Next, records are added
   to the segment. Records may be appended or may be inserted into the
   segment.
 
   To append a new, empty record to a segment, use ekappr_c:
 
      ekappr_c ( <handle>, <segno>, &recno );         {Append record}
 
   Here
 
         `handle'   is the EK's file handle.
 
         `segno'    is the number of the segment to write to. `segno' must
                    be a segment number obtained from ekbseg_c.
 
         `recno'    is the number of the new record; RECNO is an output
                    argument.
 
   To insert a new, empty record into a segment, use ekinsr_c:
 
      ekappr_c ( <handle>, <segno>, <recno> );         {Insert record}
 
   The arguments are the same as those of ekappr_c, except that here
   `recno' is an input. `recno' is the desired ordinal position of the new
   record: `recno' must be in the range
 
      0 : nrec
 
   where `nrec' is the number of records already in the segment.
 
   Each new record starts out empty. The column entries in the record are
   filled in one by one via calls to the ``add column entry'' functions
   ekacec_c, ekaced_c, and ekacei_c. The column entries of a record may be
   written in any order.
 
   Character column entries are written by ekacec_c:
 
      ekacec_c ( <handle>, <segno>,  <recno>, <column>,
                 <nvals>,  <vallen>, <cvals>, <isnull>  );
 
                                                           {Add character
                                                            column entry}
 
   Here
 
         `handle'   is the DAS file handle obtained from ekopn_c.
 
         `segno'    is the number of the segment to write to. `segno' must
                    be a segment number obtained from ekbseg_c.
 
         `recno'    is the number of the new record; `recno' is an output
                    argument.
 
         `column'   is the name of the column to which data is to be
                    written.
 
         `vallen'   is the string length of the elements of `cvals'.
 
         `nvals'    is the number of elements in the column entry. For
                    scalar entries, `nvals' is 1. For null-valued entries,
                    NVALS is ignored.
 
         `cvals'    is the string or array of strings comprising the column
                    entry. `cvals' is ignored if the entry being added is
                    null.
 
         `isnull'   is a boolean flag indicating whether the entry being
                    added is null. If the column has fixed-length,
                    variable-size entries, and the entry being added is
                    null, the size of the entry is considered to be 1.
 
   Double precision column entries are written by ekaced_c:
 
      ekaced_c ( <handle>, <segno>,  <recno>, <column>,
                 <nvals>,  <dvals>,  <isnull>          );
                                                            {Add d.p.
                                                             column entry}
 
   The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of
   ekacec_c, except that `dvals' represents a double precision array.
 
   Value of type TIME are also added via ekaced_c. When a column contains
   TIME values (as indicated by its declared data type), the values are
   stored as ephemeris seconds past J2000 TDB. When starting with UTC or
   SCLK time values, the CSPICE conversion routines str2et_c or scs2e_c may
   be used to obtain equivalent double precision TDB values. See the
   TIME.REQ or SCLK.REQ Required Reading for details.
 
   Integer column entries are written by ekacei_c:
 
      ekacei_c ( <handle>, <segno>,  <recno>, <column>,
                 <nvals>,  <ivals>,  <isnull>          );
 
                                                           {Add integer
                                                            column entry}
 
   The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of
   ekacec_c, except that `ivals' represents an integer array.
 
   A record must have all of its column entries written in order to be
   valid: column entries do not have default values.
 
   No action is required to ``finish`` a segment created by the
   record-oriented writers, although ekcls_c must be called to close the
   file when all segments been written.
 
 
Using the fast writers
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   The sequence EK ``fast write'' capability (referred to as ``fast load''
   in older documentation) allows construction of a sequence EK segment
   much more quickly than is possible with the record-oriented writers, at
   the expense of some flexibility.
 
   The fast write approach involves creating one new segment at a time.
   Segments are constructed one column at at time: each column is added to
   a segment in one shot.
 
   In order to add a segment to a sequence EK, the sequence EK must be open
   for write access. New sequence EK files are opened by calling ekopn_c;
   existing sequence EKs are opened for writing by calling ekopw_c.
 
   The sequence of operations required to create a segment using the fast
   write functions is:
 
       1.   Initiate a fast write operation by calling ekifld_c. This call
            defines the segment's schema and size. The number of rows in
            the segment must be known at the time this call is made.
 
       2.   Add data columns to the segment by calling ekaclc_c, ekacld_c,
            or ekacli_c.
 
            Because each column is created by a single function call, all
            data constituting the column, along with null flags and entry
            size information, must be buffered in arrays declared or
            allocated by the user's application.
 
       3.   Complete the segment by calling ekffld_c. This call writes out
            bookkeeping information required to make the segment readable.
 
   When all segments in a sequence EK are complete, the sequence EK must be
   closed by calling ekcls_c.
 
   Below, we discuss the calling sequences of the fast writer functions.
 
 
Initiating a fast write
 
   The first step in creating a new segment using the fast writers is to
   define the new segment's attributes, specifically its schema and the
   number of rows in the segment. This is done by calling ekifld_c:
 
      ekifld_c ( <handle>, <tabnam>, <ncols>,  <nrows>,
                 <cnmlen>, <cnames>, <declen>, <decls>,
                 &segno,    rcptrs                     ); { Initiate
                                                            fast write }
 
   The inputs to ekifld_c are described below.
 
         `handle'   is the file handle returned by the function used to
                    open the sequence EK.
 
         `tabnam'   is the name of the table to which the new segment
                    belongs.
 
         `ncols'    is the number of columns in the table.
 
         `nrows'    is the number of rows in the new segment.
 
         `cnmlen'   is the string length of the column name array `cnames'.
 
         `cnames'   is an array containing the names of the columns in the
                    table.
 
         `declen'   is the string length of the column declaration array
                    `decls'.
 
         `decls'    is an array containing the declarations for each
                    column. The declaration syntax is identical to that
                    used by the record-oriented function ekbseg_c. See the
                    section ``Column declarations'' above for details.
 
   The outputs from ekifld_c are:
 
         `segno'    This is the number of the new segment: the ordinal
                    position of the segment in the file. Segment numbers
                    start at 0 in CSPICE.
 
         `rcptrs'   This is an integer work space array which must not be
                    modified by the caller. `rcptrs' must have dimension at
                    least equal to the number of rows in the segment.
                    `rcptrs' is passed as an input to the other fast writer
                    routines.
 
 
Adding columns to the segment
 
   There are three fast writer routines used to add columns to a segment;
   the routine to use depends on the data type of the column.
 
   To add a character column to a segment, call ekaclc_c:
 
      ekaclc_c ( <handle>, <segno>,  <column>, <vallen>,
                 <cvals>,  <entszs>, <nlflgs>, <rcptrs>,
                 wkindx                                 ); { Add
                                                             character
                                                             column}
 
   The inputs to ekaclc_c are described below.
 
         `handle'   is the file handle returned by the function used to
                    open the sequence EK.
 
         `segno'    is the segment number obtained from ekifld_c.
 
         `column'   is the name of the column to be added.
 
         `vallen'   is the string length of the character value array
                    `cvals'.
 
         `cvals'    is an array containing the entire set of column entries
                    for the specified column. The entries are listed in
                    row-order: the column entry for the first row of the
                    segment is first, followed by the column entry for the
                    second row, and so on. If the column is array-valued,
                    the successive elements of each column entry occupy
                    successive strings in the `cvals' array.
 
                    Regarding null values: for columns having fixed-size
                    entries, a null entry must be allocated the same amount
                    of space occupied by a non-null entry in the array
                    `cvals'. For columns having variable-size entries, null
                    entries do not require any space in the `cvals' array,
                    but in any case must have their allocated space
                    described correctly by the corresponding element of the
                    `entszs' array.
 
         `entszs'   is an array of integers, each specifying the number of
                    array elements in the corresponding column entry. The
                    values in the array `entszs' are used only for columns
                    having variable-size entries, but in all cases,
                    `entszs' must have dimension at least equal to the
                    number of rows in the segment. For null entries in
                    variable-dimension columns, the corresponding element
                    of `entszs' should be set to zero.
 
         `nlflgs'   is an array of boolean flags, each specifying whether
                    the corresponding column entry is null. For columns
                    that don't allow null values, the contents of this
                    array are ignored. In all cases, `nlflgs' must have
                    dimension at least equal to the number of rows in the
                    segment.
 
   To add a double precision column to a segment, call ekacld_c:
 
      ekacld_c ( <handle>, <segno>,  <column>, <dvals>,
                 <entszs>, <nlflgs>, <rcptrs>, wkindx  ); { Add
                                                            d.p.
                                                            column}
 
   The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of
   ekaclc_c, except that `dvals' represents a double precision array.
 
   Value of type TIME are also added via ekacld_c. When a column contains
   TIME values (as indicated by its declared data type), the values are
   stored as ephemeris seconds past J2000 TDB. When starting with UTC or
   SCLK time values, the CSPICE conversion routines str2et_c or scs2e_c may
   be used to obtain equivalent double precision TDB values. See the
   TIME.REQ or SCLK.REQ Required Reading for details.
 
   To add an integer column to a segment, call ekacli_c:
 
      ekacli_c ( <handle>, <segno>,  <column>, <ivals>,
                 <entszs>, <nlflgs>, <rcptrs>, wkindx  ); { Add
                                                            integer
                                                            column}
 
   The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of
   ekaclc_c, except that `ivals' represents an integer array.
 
 
Completing a fast write
 
   Once all columns have been added to the segment, the fast write
   operation on the segment is completed via a call to ekffld_c:
 
      ekffld_c ( <handle>, <segno>, <rcptrs> ) {Finish fast write}
 
   The meanings of the arguments of ekffld_c are identical to those of the
   same names belonging to ekifld_c.
 
   Calling ekffld_c is an essential step; the segment will not be
   structurally valid until this call has been made.
 
   Once the fast write operation has been completed, the segment may be
   modified via the record-oriented writers.
 
 
Restrictions
 
   Creating a segment via the fast writer routines should be regarded as an
   ``indivisible'' process: other EK operations should not be performed
   when a fast write is in progress.
 
   Record-oriented append, insert, and delete operations are not supported
   for a segment in the process of being constructed by the fast writers.
   Updating or reading column entries in the middle of a fast write is also
   not supported.
 
   Fast write operations may not be interleaved with query-and-fetch
   operations: an application may not start a fast write, issue a query,
   then continue the fast write, or vice versa.
 
   Only one segment can be created at a time using the fast writers.
 
   One cannot extend an existing segment using the fast write functions.
   However, a segment created using the fast writers, once completed via a
   call to ekffld_c, may be modified using the record-oriented write,
   update, or delete functions.
 
 
Updating an existing sequence EK
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   Except when a fast write is in progress, any segment of a sequence EK
   open for write access may be updated. Updates may consist of adding
   records, deleting records, or updating individual column entries.
 
   Adding records is done via the record-oriented writers, which are
   described above. Column entries may be updated using the functions
   ekucec_c, ekuced_c, and EKUCEI, which operate on, respectively,
   character, double precision (or time), and integer column entries. The
   argument lists of these functions are identical to the record-oriented
   column entry addition functions of the corresponding data types.
 
   When updating a variable-size column entry, it is permissible to replace
   the original entry with one having a different size. Variable-length
   strings also can be replaced with strings of different lengths.
 
   For columns that allow null values, null entries can be updated with
   non-null values and vice versa.
 
   Records are deleted via a call to ekdelr_c:
 
      ekdelr_c ( <handle>, <segno>, <recno> ); {Delete record}
 
   Here
 
         `handle'   is the DAS file handle obtained from ekopn_c or
                    ekopw_c.
 
         `segno'    is the number of the segment containing the record of
                    interest. `segno' must be a segment number obtained
                    from ekbseg_c or ekifld_c.
 
         `recno'    is the number of the record to delete.
 
   Deleting all records from a segment simply leaves an empty segment in
   the parent sequence EK; segments cannot be deleted.
 
 
Closing a sequence EK
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   When all segments in a sequence EK are complete, the sequence EK must be
   closed by calling ekcls_c. This step is necessary to create a
   structurally correct sequence EK, since some written data may be
   buffered but not yet written to the physical sequence EK after the last
   segment has been completed. Also, ekcls_c re-organizes (via the DAS
   subsystem) the physical records in the sequence EK to enhance read
   performance when the file is reopened.
 
   The record-oriented read routines may be used to read data from a
   sequence EK before it has been closed. However, a sequence EK open for
   write access may not loaded by furnsh_c or eklef_c, and hence is not
   accessible by the sequence EK query and fetch routines.
 
 
Appendix A --- Summary of E-kernel Functions
===========================================================================
 
 
Summary of mnemonics
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   CSPICE contains a family of functions that are designed specifically for
   use with binary EK files. The name of each function begins with the
   letters ```ek','' followed by a two- or three-character mnemonic. For
   example, the function that issues a query and finds the matching rows is
   named ekfind_c, pronounced ``E-K-FIND.''
 
   Many of the lower-level CSPICE functions have SPICELIB counterparts
   implemented in Fortran as entry points of another function.
 
   The following is a complete list of mnemonics and translations, in
   alphabetical order.
 
      Header files:
 
         SpiceEK.h
 
      CSPICE wrappers:
 
         ekacec_c   ( EK, add character data to column           )
         ekaced_c   ( EK, add d.p. data to column                )
         ekacei_c   ( EK, add integer data to column             )
         ekaclc_c   ( EK, add character column to segment        )
         ekacld_c   ( EK, add double precision column to segment )
         ekacli_c   ( EK, add integer column to segment          )
         ekappr_c   ( EK, append record onto segment             )
         ekbseg_c   ( EK, start new segment                      )
         ekccnt_c   ( EK, column count                           )
         ekcii_c    ( EK, column info by index                   )
         ekcls_c    ( EK, close file                             )
         ekdelr_c   ( EK, delete record from segment             )
         ekffld_c   ( EK, finish fast write                      )
         ekfind_c   ( EK, find data                              )
         ekgc_c     ( EK, get event data, character              )
         ekgd_c     ( EK, get event data, double precision       )
         ekgi_c     ( EK, get event data, integer                )
         ekifld_c   ( EK, initialize segment for fast write      )
         ekinsr_c   ( EK, insert record into segment             )
         eklef_c    ( EK, load event file                        )
         eknelt_c   ( EK, get number of elements in column entry )
         eknseg_c   ( EK, number of segments in file             )
         ekntab_c   ( EK, return number of loaded tables         )
         ekopn_c    ( EK, open new file                          )
         ekopr_c    ( EK, open file for reading                  )
         ekops_c    ( EK, open scratch file                      )
         ekopw_c    ( EK, open file for writing                  )
         ekpsel_c   ( EK, parse SELECT clause                    )
         ekrcec_c   ( EK, read column entry element, character   )
         ekrced_c   ( EK, read column entry element, d.p.        )
         ekrcei_c   ( EK, read column entry element, integer     )
         ekssum_c   ( EK, return segment summary                 )
         ektnam_c   ( EK, return name of loaded table            )
         ekucec_c   ( EK, update character column entry          )
         ekuced_c   ( EK, update d.p column entry                )
         ekucei_c   ( EK, update integer column entry            )
         ekuef_c    ( EK, unload event file                      )
 
      Low-level routines converted via f2c:
 
         eksrch_    ( EK, search for events                      )
 
 
Summary of Calling Sequences
--------------------------------------------------------
 
   The calling sequences for the EK functions are summarized below. The
   functions are grouped by purpose.
 
   Load files for query access, unload files:
 
      eklef_c  ( fname, &handle )
      ekuef_c  ( handle )
      furnsh_c ( fname )
      unload_c ( fname )
 
   Open files for record-oriented reading or writing, close files:
 
      dafllc_  ( &handle )
      ekcls_c  ( handle )
      ekopn_c  ( fname, ifname, ncomch, &handle )
      ekopr_c  ( fname, &handle )
      ekops_c  ( &handle )
      ekopw_c  ( fname, &handle )
 
   Obtain summaries of sequence EK segments:
 
      eknseg_c ( handle )
      ekssum_c ( handle, segno, &segsum )
 
   Obtain summaries of loaded tables:
 
      ekccnt_c ( table, &ccount )
      ekcii_c  ( table, cindex, lenout, column, &attdsc )
      ekntab_c ( &n )
      ektnam_c ( n,     lenout, table )
 
   Query and fetch:
 
      ekfind_c ( query,  lenout, &nmrows, &error, errmsg )
      ekgc_c   ( selidx, row,    elment,  lenout, cdata, &null,
                 &found                                         )
      ekgd_c   ( selidx, row,    elment,  ddata, &null,  &found )
      ekgi_c   ( selidx, row,    elment,  idata, &null,  &found )
      eknelt_c ( selidx, row );
      ekpsel_c ( query,  msglen, tablen, collen, &n,
                 xbegs,  xends,  xtypes, xclass, tabs,
                 cols,   &error, errmsg                );
 
   Record-oriented read:
 
      ekrcec_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, lenout, &nvals,
                 cvals   &isnull                               )
      ekrced_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, &nvals, dvals,
                 &isnull                                       )
      ekrcei_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, &nvals, ivals,
                 &isnull                                       )
 
 
   Fast write:
 
      ekifld_c ( handle, tabnam, ncols,  nrows,  cnmlen, cnames,
                 declen, decls,  &segno, rcptrs                 )
      ekaclc_c ( handle, segno,  column, vallen, cvals,  entszs,
                 nlflgs, rcptrs, wkindx                         )
      ekacld_c ( handle, segno,  column, dvals,  entszs,
                 nlflgs, rcptrs, wkindx                  )
      ekacli_c ( handle, segno,  column, ivals,  entszs,
                 nlflgs, rcptrs, wkindx                  )
      ekffld_c ( handle, segno,  rcptrs )
 
 
   Begin segment for record-oriented write:
 
      ekbseg_c ( handle, tabnam, ncols, cnmlen, cnames, declen,
                 decls,  &segno                                )
 
   Insert, append, or delete records:
 
      ekappr_c ( handle, segno,  &recno )
      ekdelr_c ( handle, segno,  recno  )
      ekinsr_c ( handle, segno,  &recno )
 
   Record-oriented write and update:
 
      ekacec_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, nvals, vallen,
                 cvals,  isnull                               )
      ekaced_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, nvals,
                 dvals,  isnull                       )
      ekacei_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, nvals,
                 ivals,  isnull                       )
      ekucec_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, nvals, vallen,
                 cvals,  isnull                               )
      ekuced_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, nvals,
                 dvals,  isnull                       )
      ekucei_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, nvals,
                 ivals,  isnull                       )
 
 
Revisions
--------------------------------------------------------
 
 
April 1, 2009
 
   Added a note about the SPICE file identification word for EK files.
 
 
Feb. 06, 2002
 
   Several typos were corrected.
 
 
Jan. 15, 2002
 
   Initial release.
 
