Info not available

[Goonster]

I have just been using my Voyeger 2 add on , but when I right click and choose the info option all I get is HTTP 404 not found . IE7 cannot download the page .
Is this no longer available or is there a way around the problem?

Goonster

[BobHegwood]

:? I have just been using my Voyeger 2 add on , but when I right click and choose the info option all I get is HTTP 404 not found . IE7 cannot download the page .
Is this no longer available or is there a way around the problem?

Goonster

You clicked on the InfoURL, yes?

If it doesn't work at the moment, it may again at some other point in
time. Web sites are constantly going up and down again.

Also, if it continues NOT to work at all, then simply change the
associated InfoURL within the add-on's .ssc file using notepad.

In fact, you may wish to look at that file, and simply copy the URL.
Then, simply paste into your current browser and see what you
get.

[Goonster]

Hi Bob . Yeh I`ll have to try that . Never changed anything in .ssc files before . If it does not work it won`t affect the add on will it?

Goonster

[BobHegwood]

Hi Bob . Yeh I`ll have to try that . Never changed anything in .ssc files before . If it does not work it won`t affect the add on will it?

Goonster

It will if you screw up the SSC file. Just make a backup first...

Have fun.

[selden]

Goonster,

If you look in the Voyager SSC file, you'll discover that there are no InfoURLs specified.

When no InfoURL is included, Celestia assumes an SSC object is a planet and sends a query to
http://www.nineplanets.org/<name_of_object>.html

nineplanets knows nothing about either of the Voyagers.

If you want your favorite Addons to include appropriate InfoURLs, you should contact their authors and ask them to update their work.

[BobHegwood]

When no InfoURL is included, Celestia assumes an SSC object is a planet and sends a query to
http://www.nineplanets.org/<name_of_object>.html

nineplanets knows nothing about either of the Voyagers.

If you want your favorite Addons to include appropriate InfoURLs, you should contact their authors and ask them to update their work.

Yeah, FAT lot of good that will do...

Rather add the following to your SSC file:

InfoURL "http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/"

[Goonster]

Thanks Seldon . That has cleared things up nicely .Much obliged.
Can`t get over how slow this website is at the moment!

Goonster

[BobHegwood]

SEE ABOVE....

[Goonster]

When no InfoURL is included, Celestia assumes an SSC object is a planet and sends a query to
http://www.nineplanets.org/<name_of_object>.html

nineplanets knows nothing about either of the Voyagers.

If you want your favorite Addons to include appropriate InfoURLs, you should contact their authors and ask them to update their work.

Yeah, FAT lot of good that will do...

Rather add the following to your SSC file:

InfoURL "http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/"

Thanks Bob.

[BobHegwood]

Sorry,

Would like to know if it might be possible for Celestia to be modified so that
the "Info" tag does NOT show up under an object's right-click menu when the
object actually has NO InfoURL defined?

This feature would be very nice in determining when an InfoURL might be
needed or desired.

Thanks very much. Just a polite request from Brain-Dead Bob.

[selden]

Bob,

Celestia provides default values for InfoURL for various classes of objects.
For example, by default, the Info link for a planet goes to http://www.nineplanets.org/

Before the code could be changed so that the lack of an infourl would not provide an Info entry, someone would have to edit all of Celestia's SSC files to add appropriate InfoURLs.

[BobHegwood]

Bob,

Celestia provides default values for InfoURL for various classes of objects.
For example, by default, the Info link for a planet goes to http://www.nineplanets.org/

Before the code could be changed so that the lack of an infourl would not provide an Info entry, someone would have to edit all of Celestia's SSC files to add appropriate InfoURLs.

Okay, I appreciate the information, Selden.
My problem, however, lies in the fact that the default goes to the Nine Planets web site.
I absolutely HATE that website. Popups and advertisements from everywhere.
Is this a good place to default to?

By the way, I would be happy to edit the InfoURLs for ALL of Celestia's
objects, but my problem lies in the fact that I have no idea what you
guys would find as acceptable.

I know what my own tastes are, but yours (as seen by the current default)
are obviously different from mine.

[chris]

Bob,

Celestia provides default values for InfoURL for various classes of objects.
For example, by default, the Info link for a planet goes to http://www.nineplanets.org/

Before the code could be changed so that the lack of an infourl would not provide an Info entry, someone would have to edit all of Celestia's SSC files to add appropriate InfoURLs.

Okay, I appreciate the information, Selden.
My problem, however, lies in the fact that the default goes to the Nine Planets web site.
I absolutely HATE that website. Popups and advertisements from everywhere.
Is this a good place to default to?

Not anymore. I think that Wikipedia would be a much better source of information for solar system bodies. I know some people have troubles with Wikipedia, but the articles on at the planets and major natural satellites seem quite good. Also, there are no ads

--Chris

[t00fri]

Not anymore. I think that Wikipedia would be a much better source of information for solar system bodies. I know some people have troubles with Wikipedia, but the articles on at the planets and major natural satellites seem quite good. Also, there are no ads

--Chris

Neither is really solid. The Nine Planets site is a one-man show. The author writes about himself:

I'm a software engineer. But I've tried over the years to learn a little about a lot of things.

Well... he looks like a nice guy (photo), but I would have much preferred a small team of professional astronomers for that job (who unlike Bill Arnett have learned over the years a lot about not so many things ).

As you indicated already some people don't like it: I am one of them. In scientific matters anonymous information is like a punch into the face!

A most basic "axiom" in science is that information transfer must be traceable at any time and scientific authors must take personal responsability for what they write...

Fridger

[chris]

Not anymore. I think that Wikipedia would be a much better source of information for solar system bodies. I know some people have troubles with Wikipedia, but the articles on at the planets and major natural satellites seem quite good. Also, there are no ads

--Chris

Neither is really solid. The Nine Planets site is a one-man show. The author writes about himself:
...
As you indicated already some people don't like it: I am one of them. In scientific matters anonymous information is like a punch into the face!

A most basic "axiom" in science is that information transfer must be traceable at any time and scientific authors must take personal responsability for what they write...

Have a better suggestion for a source of information on Solar System objects that's online, free of ads, and has information on a lot of different bodies? To my knowledge, there's no SIMBAD equivalent for the solar system.

--Chris

[t00fri]

Not anymore. I think that Wikipedia would be a much better source of information for solar system bodies. I know some people have troubles with Wikipedia, but the articles on at the planets and major natural satellites seem quite good. Also, there are no ads

--Chris

Neither is really solid. The Nine Planets site is a one-man show. The author writes about himself:
...
As you indicated already some people don't like it: I am one of them. In scientific matters anonymous information is like a punch into the face!

A most basic "axiom" in science is that information transfer must be traceable at any time and scientific authors must take personal responsability for what they write...

Have a better suggestion for a source of information on Solar System objects that's online, free of ads, and has information on a lot of different bodies? To my knowledge, there's no SIMBAD equivalent for the solar system.

--Chris

I certainly would have come forward with an alternative, if I knew one. But perhaps it's worth thinking again about it.

Fridger

[BobHegwood]

For what it is worth here, I would be very happy to populate the
various SSC's with InfoURL locations.

I'd be happy to download the latest solarsys.ssc, minormoons.ssc, and whatever
other SSC's you would like to take care of. I could then revise them and e-mail
the changed SSC files to Selden for a review if you'd like.

Is this worth pursuing?

Thanks very much at least for your interest here. I really enjoy being able
to click on an InfoURL in order to learn more about the object I'm seeing in
Celestia. I agree that there are some very good Wiki's available, but there
are also a host of other sites which provide the relevant information
concerning many of Celestia's objects. As I said, Selden could review any
changes I made, if that's okay with you Selden, and I'd be honored to at
least contribute something to the project.

Thanks again, Brain-Dead

[selden]

NASA's worldbook pages might be reasonable alternatives for many SSC objects
e.g.
http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/venus_worldbook.html

Unfortunately, they're not all that rigorous.

[BobHegwood]

So?
Should I start doing this or not?

Thanks, Brain-Dead

[rthorvald]

The problem with third-party URLs is that they sometimes change. And, of course, that information might be missing somewhere.

Optimally, the InfoUrls should go to a document that was part of the Celestia package. I know that is not practical today, of course... The next best thing would be that all InfoUrls goes to a directory of files at shatters (or somewhere) to look up the URL one wants, then is redirected there. The advantage of this is that the InfoUrl destinations can be continuously maintained, and changed at any time centrally, while being immediately recognized by everyone that uses Celestia; updates will not need to wait for the next Celestia release.

So, all InfoUrl?s points to http://www.celestiaproject.net/inforurl/item#. The browser reads # and is redirected to nineplanets.org or wherever the current "officialy sanctioned" info is located.

The beauty of this is of course that all the SSC entries, whatever type of object it is, will have an URL that will never change. In the cases where info is actually not in existence, anybody can contribute it by just uploading a txt file with the object?s name to a central depository. This file can be either an automatic redirect to a reputable site, or it can be the information itself. And this is VERY easy to set up. (We have been using this scheme at Celestial Matters for a couple of years already).

- rthorvald