Conventions

Folder and File Name Conventions

The operation of pmutil assumes certain conventions regarding the directory structure and file naming.

The default directory structure and file names are as follows:

.
├── Bias
│   ├── Bias_001.cr2
│   ├── Bias_002.cr2
│   ├── Bias_003.cr2
├── Dark
│   ├── Dark_001.cr2
│   ├── Dark_002.cr2
│   ├── Dark_003.cr2
├── Flat-Bias
│   ├── Bias_001.cr2
│   ├── Bias_002.cr2
│   ├── Bias_003.cr2
├── Flat-Dark
│   ├── Dark_001.cr2
│   ├── Dark_002.cr2
│   ├── Dark_003.cr2
├── Flat
│   ├── Flat_001.cr2
│   ├── Flat_002.cr2
│   ├── Flat_003.cr2
├── Light
│   ├── Light_001.cr2
│   ├── Light_002.cr2
│   ├── Light_003.cr2
├── Calibrated
├── Sequence
├── Photometry
└── Transients

The Flat-Bias and Flat-Dark directories are optional; if they do not exist, the program will use the Bias and Dark directories to create flat frames.

The Calibrated, Sequence, Photometry, and Transients directories are automatically created by the program.

Both the directory name and file naming conventions can be overridden in the ppl.cfg configuration file.

If multiple objects are observed during a single night but share the same bias/dark/flat frames, it is sufficient to place these calibration frames in only one directory. However, different objects must be placed in separate directories.
In this case, the initial directory structure should look like this:

.
├── 20200101-object1
│   ├── Bias
│   ├── Dark
│   ├── Flat-Bias
│   ├── Flat-Dark
│   ├── Flat
│   ├── Light
├── 20200101-object2
│   ├── Light
└── 20200101-object3
    └── Light

During processing, it is sufficient to refer to directories by names such as 20200101, which will include all directories starting with that prefix.