The document is fourfold and describes the DFS Operations Model for the VLT from the point of view of an instrument project. In Section 3 the main concepts of the Data Flow system are introduced and the instrument-dependent components of the system are identified. Baseline concepts for Pipeline and Quality Control are presented. The next Sections will detail the responsibilities and interfaces for the development and operation of the Data Flow products.
Section 4 details the role of the different groups involved in interfacing the Data Flow system to a particular instrument. The instrument project responsible in the Instrumentation Division has an important role as he requests and approves the Data Flow products. In the Data Management Division, the products are developed by the User Support Group and the Data Pipeline Group and after release are operated by the User Support Group and the Data Flow Operations Group.
Section 5 describes the content of the documentation produced in parallel to the software and data products related to an instrument: User Requirements, Software Requirements, Detailed Design for phase II, data reduction and simulations, Calibration Plan, and User Manual. Some of these documents, like the Calibration Plan are living documents, regularly updated and made visible to the community, for instance on the Web.
Section 6 addresses software development issues such as development platform, contract policy, and maintenance. Development environment, coding standards, interface documents valid for the Data Flow project are listed in this Section.