What is Reflex?

Reflex is a collection of scientific workflows to be executed by a workflow engine. Reflex is currently based on the Kepler workflow engine. In addition to the native Kepler actors, Reflex workflows are based on customized actors that provide specific functionalities, e.g. data organization based on rules and header keywords, execution of data reduction modules based on the ESO Common Pipeline Library, etc.
The top-level functionalities of Reflex are:

• Reflex executes instrument specific workflows.
• The data organization necessary to run the recipes is fully automatic.The knowledge on the necessary steps and data is fully built into the workflow.
• Reflex allows to graphically specify
• Advanced users can plug in their own modules and steps into the workflow.

For further information, please, refer to the latest Reflex User Manual.

Reflex Latest Public Version

The latest public version of Reflex is v1.0

Reflex System Requirements

Reflex is written in Java and at present is certified for:

• Scientific Linux 5.3

running with a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 1.6.0 (update 18).

Installing and running Reflex

Prerequisites

Reflex v1.0 requires a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 1.6.0, it is recommended to use at least update 18. Workflows may have other requirements, please refer to the workflow user manual. There are two installation option: the automatic and the manual one.

Automatic Installation (recommended)

A script is provided that takes care of all the required steps to install and run Reflex:

• it downloads and installs a pipeline kit
• it downloads and installs some test data
• it donwloads and installs Reflex
• it configures Reflex to point to the installed pipeline

If you want to use this method download the script and follow the instructions.

Manual method

If you don't want to use the automatic method you can manually download and install Reflex: all you have to do is downloading the latest stable version, uncompress it, and execute the reflex command in the bin directory.
Note: you will have to take care of installing the pipeline kit you are interested in, only the recipes present in the output of

esorex --recipes

will be available to Reflex.

Reflex User Manual

Current Issue: 0.7

The Reflex User Manual is available for download in PDF format (0.5Mbytes).

Bug Reports

If you experience an unexpected behavior of Reflex, please, first refer to the troubleshooting section in the User Manual. For any other issues or requests, pleas,e send a report to the ESO User Support Department, describing:

• the Reflex release you are using
• the pipeline release you are using
• the version of your OS
• the exact sequence of actions you performed before the bug occurred
• what were precisely the symptoms and the possible error message(s)
• whether the bug is repeatable