10.5 Examples

Here are some examples of invoking TOPCAT from the command line. In each case two forms are shown: one using the topcat script, and one using the jar file directly. In the latter case, the java command is assumed to be on the your path, and the jar file itself, assumed in directory my/tcdir, might be named topcat.jar, topcat-full.jar, or something else, but the form of the command is the same.

No arguments

    topcat
    java -jar topcat.jar

Output usage message

    topcat -h
    java -jar topcat.jar -h

Load a FITS file

    topcat testcat.fits
    java -jar my/tcdir/topcat.jar testcat.fits

Loading files of various formats

    topcat t1.fits -f ascii t2.txt t3.txt -f votable t4.xml
    java -jar my/tcdir/topcat.jar t1.fits -f ascii t2.txt t3.txt -f votable t4.xml

Use disk storage format and boosted heap memory

    topcat -Xmx256M -disk 
    java -Xmx256M -jar my/tcdir/topcat.jar -disk

Make custom functions available

    topcat -classpath my/funcdir/funcs.jar -Djel.classes=my.ExtraFuncs t1.fits
    java -classpath my/tcdir/topcat.jar:my/funcdir/funcs.jar \
         -Djel.classes=func.ExtraFuncs \
         uk.ac.starlink.topcat.Driver t1.fits

Make PostgreSQL database connectivity available

    topcat -classpath my/jdbcdir/pg73jdbc3.jar -Djdbc.drivers=org.postgresql.Driver
    java -classpath my/tcdir/topcat.jar:my/jdbcdir/pg73jdbc3.jar \
         -Djdbc.drivers=org.postgresql.Driver uk.ac.starlink.topcat.Driver

Use custom I/O handlers

    topcat -classpath my/driverdir/drivers.jar \
           -Dstartable.readers=my.MyTableBuilder \
           -Dstartable.writers=my.MyTableWriter \
    java -classpath my/tcdir/topcat.jar:my/driverdir/drivers.jar \
         -Dstartable.readers=my.MyTableBuilder \
         -Dstartable.writers=my.MyTableWriter \
         uk.ac.starlink.topcat.Driver