As seen in details in the Packages section, most packages reuse the corresponding software developed for the VLT Unit telescopes.
This software is actually reused now in many ESO Telescopes and can now be regarded as a generic Common TCS. Most packages have been originally designed with reuse in mind.
A very important aspect to be kept in mind is that the same software packages are in use on many different telescopes and that software changes introduce for one telescope can have unexpected side effects on other units. For this reason it is important to comply to the following reuse rules:
- Minor must be done using sub-classing. Many packages already foresee abstract classes to be sub-classed for specific telescope implementations, in places where the possibility of changes was identified at design time. This cannot introduce side effects on the other telescopes, but requires anyway to edit and change shared software modules.
- Major telescope-specific changes to shared packages must be implemented by developing completely independent software modules that inherit and modify the behavior in the base shared ones. This is completely transparent to other telescopes.
- A basic, non telescope-specific change to shared packages, must be approved in advance by all telescopes using the Common TCS. This practice should be kept to a minimum and limited to the fixing of bugs, since it can have unexpected side effect on other systems.
- See the Packages section for details on reuse percentage and conditions package by package.
Last modified: Fri Jun 25 14:45:24 METDST 1999