Index Page E-Kernel Required Reading

## Table of Contents

       E-Kernel Required Reading
          Abstract
          References
          Introduction
          EK subsystem components
             EK science plan component
             EK sequence component
          EK experimenter's notebook component
       Sequence EK Concepts
          Relational database functionality
          The sequence EK data model
             Tables
             Column attributes
          The EK query language
             Query syntax
             The SELECT clause
             The FROM clause
             The WHERE clause
             The ORDER BY Clause
             Case sensitivity
             White space
             Numeric values
             String values
             Time values
             Null values
             Reserved Words
             Query grammar
             Examples of syntactically valid queries
             Examples of syntactically invalid queries
             Examples of semantically invalid queries
          Sequence EK Files
             Segments
             The comment area
          Sequence EK tools
             INSPEKT
             COMMNT
             TOXFR and TOBIN
             SPACIT
       Reading sequence EKs
          Loading and unloading sequence EKs
          Query-and-fetch interface
             Issuing queries
             Fetching data from matching rows
             Query support utilities
          Record-oriented reader interface
             Opening files for record-oriented reading
             Column entry readers
          Informational functions
             Summarizing EK files
             Summarizing loaded tables
       Writing sequence EKs
          Introduction
          Opening a sequence EK for writing
             Beginning a new sequence EK
             Opening an existing sequence EK for writing
          Choosing a writing method
             Specifying segment attributes
             Table and column names
             Column declarations
             Consistency of schemas
          Using the record-oriented sequence EK writers
             Beginning a segment
             Adding records to a segment
          Using the fast writers
             Initiating a fast write
             Adding columns to the segment
             Completing a fast write
             Restrictions
          Updating an existing sequence EK
          Closing a sequence EK
       Appendix A --- Summary of E-kernel Functions
          Summary of mnemonics
          Summary of Calling Sequences
          Revisions
             March 23, 2016 NJB (JPL)
             February 24, 2010 EDW (JPL)
             April 1, 2009
             Feb. 06, 2002
             Jan. 15, 2002

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# E-Kernel Required Reading

Last revised on 2016 MAR 23 by N. J. Bachman.

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## Abstract

The SPICE events subsystem and Events Kernel (EK) are used to implement the sequence component of the Events Kernel (EK/ESQ), and may be used in any other application where a modest SQL-like database is called for.

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## References

NAIF document numbers are shown preceding document titles.

`1.` [218] KERNEL Required Reading (kernel.req)

`2.` [222] SCLK Required Reading (sclk.req)

`3.` [225] TIME Required Reading (time.req)

`4.` [278] COMMNT User's Guide (commnt.ug)

`5.` [284] INSPEKT User's Guide (inspekt.ug)

`6.` [286] DAS Required Reading (das.req)

`7.` [333] Converting and Porting SPICE Data Files (convert.ug)

`8.` [A] (No NAIF document number available) SPICE Tutorial chapter: ``Events Kernel Notebook Component ENB''

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## Introduction

The E-kernel (``EK'') is the logical component of the SPICE system that deals with ``event'' data. In the context of space science missions, event data may be interpreted as the collection of information concerning planned or unplanned mission activities or occurrences that can assist in extracting the full value of the science data returned from those missions. Event data may also include data used to assist mission operations. The definition of event data given here is deliberately broad; selection of appropriate event data must be carried out on an application-by-application basis. Examples of event data include, but are not limited to, statements of scientific objectives, planned or actual sequences of commands executed onboard spacecraft, and notebook or log entries of scientists or mission operations personnel.

The SPICE E-kernel (EK) subsystem is intended to support convenient recording, electronic transfer, archival, examination, and manipulation of event data by human users and software. Because the form, content, and quantity of event data may vary widely from one mission or application to next, the EK subsystem emphasizes flexibility in accommodating event data and imposes few restrictions on the types of data that can be included within the subsystem.

The EK subsystem includes two separate software mechanisms for storing and handling event data. One of these is a simple, stand-alone relational database system. This system includes event data files, SPICE software that manipulates those files, and documentation. The data files used by this system are called ``sequence E-kernels,'' ``sequence EK files'' or ``sequence EKs''; often the qualifier ``sequence'' is omitted. SPICE EK software enables sequence EKs to be examined, interactively or through an application programming interface (API), by means of a simple, SQL-like query language. The sequence EK file format and associated software are discussed in detail below.

The second mechanism is an e-mail and web-based software system that allows users to archive and share text notes and e-mail messages, the latter of which may optionally include MIME attachments. This is known as the ``experimenter's notebook'' or ``ENB'' system. The ENB system is documented in reference [A].

While the EK subsystem allows users to package an almost limitless variety of event data, the subsystem is designed to support in particular three of the categories of data listed above:

`--` Statements of scientific objectives

`--` Sequences of spacecraft commands

`--` Notebook or log entries

The EK subsystem is partitioned into three ``components,'' each one designed to accommodate one of the types of data listed above. The names of these components are, respectively,

`--` The Science Plan

`--` The Sequence Component

`--` The Experimenter's Notebook (``ENB'')

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## EK subsystem components

Below, we present a high-level description of the components of the EK subsystem and suggested applications of these components.

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### EK science plan component

The purpose of the Science Plan component of the SPICE EK subsystem is to record high-level descriptions of planned mission activities, particularly, but not necessarily limited to, those pertaining to science experiments. Science plan entries should enable the reader to understand the objectives of mission activities, and where appropriate, should give a high-level description of how they are carried out. A description of a mosaic of optical photographs might belong in the science plan; the commands used to execute the mosaic probably would be best relegated to the EK sequence component, which is described below.

Depending on mission requirements, either the ENB or Sequence EK system may be suitable for storing Science Plan data.

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### EK sequence component

The sequence component of the SPICE EK subsystem is intended to deal with event data that fit the relational database paradigm: specifically, data that can be meaningfully and advantageously represented as a series of tables, each one of which is characterized by a collection of rows and columns. This type of organization is likely appropriate when:

`--` The structure of the data is regular

`--` The volume of the data is large

`--` The capability of searching the data rapidly, preferably in random-access fashion, for items of interest is required

`--` The capability of specifying relational search constraints is required

`--` The data must be accessible by software as well as by human readers

This last criterion may apply even when the primary means of access to the data is visual inspection, if the data volume is large enough: software may be required to enable users to select manageable subsets of the data to browse on-line or in the form of printed listings.

Data stored in the sequence component of the EK subsystem might represent sequences of time-tagged ``events.'' Sequences of commands sent to a spacecraft are an example of such event data. Terse notes indicating occurrences of geometric events such as equator crossings or times of closest approach of a spacecraft relative to a target are another example of suitable data to include in this component.

When event data consist of or include descriptions of state changes of systems of interest, a sequence EK containing these data could be used to find the states of the corresponding systems at a given time.

The data comprising an event may correspond to a row in a table, and attributes of the event could be represented by entries in different columns within the row. A trivial, fictitious example of this sort of logical organization is shown in the table below:

                 (column 1)   (column 2)           (column 3)

                    TIME       MNEMONIC              EVENT

                +------------------------------------------------------+
       (row 1)  | 3987:64:2 | CMD,PWRON  |  Turn camera power on       |
                +------------------------------------------------------+
       (row 2)  | 3989:01:0 | CMD,FILCLR |  Select CLEAR filter        |
                +------------------------------------------------------+
       (row 3)  | 4000:01:5 | CMD,SHUTR  |  Shutter photo              |
                +------------------------------------------------------+
       (row 4)  | 4000:01:5 | COMMENT    |  OPNAV photo #1 complete    |
                +------------------------------------------------------+
           .                               .
           .                               .
           .                               .

With regard to such a table, we might wish to construct queries such as:

       "Find the filter selection commands that occurred between
       spacecraft clock times 5000:23:0 and 5001:00:0"

       "Find the events containing the word ``camera'' and display them
       ordered by mnemonic"

       "Find the last event description starting with the string ``Turn''
       prior to the UTC time 1-JAN-1997 12:14:02"

       "Find the times of all the ``Shutter photo'' events"

We might want to display the rows satisfying these queries on our terminals, dump them to a file, or use them to drive a program. All of these functions are supported by the sequence EK subsystem. Note that the queries shown above are English paraphrases of the equivalent expressions in the EK query language.

The functional capabilities described above are provided by files and software capable of accessing those files. The EK API contains ``writer'' software that enables users to create sequence EK files that contain data organized in a tabular fashion. The data then can be accessed using ``reader'' functions from the EK API, or interactively using the EK browsing program INSPEKT.

Sequence EK files are binary files and therefore cannot be read directly using text editing programs. However, the program INSPEKT can dump any selected portion of any sequence EK as a text file, using user-specified formats, so in a sense sequence EK files are more flexible than flat text files as a repository for event information. By using a database-style internal data representation rather than a format-oriented one, they avoid the constraints on their contents that would be imposed by adoption of fixed file formats.

Sequence EK files may be ported between computer systems having different internal data formats; the SPICE Toolkit utilities TOBIN and TOXFR support this function.

Sequence EK files may also have labels and free-form text inserted into them to assist in clear and complete identification of the files; the SPICE Toolkit utility COMMNT may be used for this purpose.

A detailed discussion of the functional characteristics of the sequence component is given below in the chapter titled ``Sequence EK Concepts.''

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## EK experimenter's notebook component

The experimenter's notebook component of the EK subsystem is primarily intended to be a mechanism for recording after-the-fact observations, particularly of anomalies or other unplanned events. Notes of general interest to scientists may also be appropriate.

More generally, the experimenter's notebook component may include any EK data that don't fit into the other two components. For example, if the available, human-readable command sequence data are extremely small in volume, it may be more practical to include them in the experimenter's notebook than to insert them into a binary sequence EK.

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# Sequence EK Concepts

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## Relational database functionality

The sequence EK subsystem is a simple, stand-alone relational database system, with a few modifications to better adapt the system to EK-specific applications.

The sequence EK subsystem provides an application programming interface (API) for creating, modifying, reading, summarizing, and annotating sequence EK files. In particular, the API supports reading using a query-and-fetch mechanism: an application passes a request for data called a ``query'' to the EK subsystem, then retrieves the data using a suite of API routines. Queries are expressed in a simple language that closely resembles the standard relational database query language SQL.

The sequence EK query capability is also provided using the CSPICE interactive browsing utility INSPEKT. However, INSPEKT does not support any sequence EK writing functionality.

The functionality of sequence EK software is almost completely independent of its intended application as a system for handling event data. One could think of the software system not as an ``event kernel'' but simply as a ``database kernel,'' and in fact the term ``database kernel'' and the acronym ``DBK'' have been used in some CSPICE documentation. However, since the ``EK'' prefix has already been widely used in naming functions belonging to the EK API, we'll stick with the name ``EK'' in our discussion.

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## The sequence EK data model

Below we discuss the logical organization of data in the sequence EK subsystem.

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### Tables

A sequence EK database is logically a set of tables. Each table is made up of rows and columns. Tables are ``rectangular'': there is the same number of rows in each column. The intersection of a row and column is called a ``column entry.'' All columns within a table have the same number of entries---one per row.

The sequence EK data model diverges slightly from the relational model in that columns are allowed to have arrays as entries. We call such columns ``array-valued'' or ``vector-valued.'' When a column entry is an array, we call the components of the array ``column entry elements'' or ``elements'' if the context is clear.

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### Column attributes

Each column has a number of attributes that characterize the data it contains. These attributes apply uniformly to the entries within a column:

`--` Data type

`` Column entries may have INTEGER, CHARACTER, DOUBLE PRECISION, or TIME data type.

`` The TIME data type is used to represent epochs. As such, the TIME type plays the same role as the DATE datatype in the SQL language.

`--` Dimension

`` Column entries may have fixed or variable dimension. When a column has fixed-dimension entries of size 1, the column is said to be ``scalar-valued.'' Otherwise, the column is said to be ``array valued,'' ``vector valued,'' or, if the dimension is variable, ``variable-sized.'' There is no limit imposed by the EK subsystem on the dimension of a column's entries.

`` Array-valued columns may not be referenced in query constraints.

`--` String length (applies only to character columns)

`` Array-valued columns having entries of CHARACTER type have a fixed, maximum string length associated with them. Scalar-valued CHARACTER columns may have variable-length strings as entries. For all CHARACTER columns, the maximum allowed string length is 1024 characters.

`--` Whether null values are allowed

`` At the time an EK segment is created, each column declaration indicates whether the column may contain null values. In columns that allow null entries, entries may be designated as null when segments are written.

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## The EK query language

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### Query syntax

An EK query is a character string that specifies a set of EK data to select from those present in currently loaded EK files. A query specifies columns and tables of interest, and optionally specifies constraints that entries in the tables' rows must match. We refer to rows that satisfy the constraints as ``matching rows.''

The selected data will be retrievable using the EK fetch routines ekgc_c, ekgd_c, and ekgi_c.

The query consists of four clauses, the third and fourth of which are optional. The general form of a query is

       SELECT <column list>
       FROM <table list>
       [WHERE <constraint list>]
       [ORDER BY <ORDER BY column list>]

where brackets indicate optional items. The elements of the query shown above are called, respectively, the ``SELECT clause,'' the ``FROM clause,'' the ``WHERE clause,'' and the ``ORDER BY clause.'' The result of a query may be thought of as a new table, whose columns are those specified in the SELECT clause and whose rows are those satisfying the constraints of the WHERE clause, ordered according to the ORDER BY clause.

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### The SELECT clause

The SELECT clause specifies a list of columns from which to select data. In a simple (non-join) query, these columns must belong to the single table specified in the FROM clause.

The form of a SELECT clause is

       SELECT <column name> [ , <column name>...]

In queries having multiple tables in the FROM clause (see below), column names are ambiguous if they occur in more than one table in the FROM clause. Such column names must be qualified with table identifiers. These identifiers may be the names of the tables to which the columns belong, or table ``aliases,'' names (usually short ones) associated with tables in the FROM clause. Table aliases have duration limited to the execution of the query to which they belong.

The form of a qualified column name is

       <table name>.<column name>

or

       <table alias>.<column name>

Columns named in the SELECT clause must be present in some loaded EK for the query to be semantically valid.

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### The FROM clause

The FROM clause specifies the tables from which to select data. In simple queries, only one table is listed. In this case the form of the FROM clause is

       FROM <table name>

In queries involving multiple tables, the form of the FROM clause becomes

       FROM <table name> [<table alias>]
            [ , <table name> [<table alias>] ... ]

The aliases associated with the table names must be distinct and must not be the actual names of loaded EK tables.

Queries involving multiple tables are called ``joins.''

The meaning of a FROM clause containing multiple tables is that the output is to be a subset of the rows of the Cartesian product of the listed tables. Normally, WHERE clause constraints are supplied to reduce the selected rows to a set of interest.

The most common example of a join is a query with two tables listed in the FROM clause, and a WHERE clause constraint enforcing equality of members of a column in the first table with members of column in the second table. Such a query is called an ``equi-join.'' A join in which columns of different tables are related by an inequality is called a ``non-equi-join.'' Any type of join other than an equi-join may be very slow to evaluate, due to the large number of elements that may be contained in the Cartesian product of the listed tables.

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### The WHERE clause

The WHERE clause lists constraints that must be met by each row satisfying the query. The constraints are specified as a logical combination of relational expressions. The form of the constraint list is

       WHERE <constraint expression>

where each <constraint expression> consists of one or more simple relational expressions of the form

       <column name> <operator> <RHS symbol>

Here

       <RHS symbol>

is a column name, a literal value, or the special symbol

       NULL

and

       <operator>

is any of

       EQ, GE, GT, LE, LIKE, LT, NE, NOT LIKE, <, <=, =, >, >=, !=, <>

For comparison with null values, the special expressions

       <column name> IS NULL
       <column name> IS NOT NULL

are allowed.

The LIKE operator allows comparison of a string value against a template. The template syntax is that allowed by the CSPICE routine MATCHI. Templates may include literal characters, the wild string marker '*', and the wild character marker '%'. Case is significant in templates.

Templates are bracketed by quote characters, just as are literal strings.

The query language also supports the BETWEEN and NOT BETWEEN constructs

       <column> BETWEEN <symbol 1> AND <symbol 2>

       <column> NOT BETWEEN <symbol 1> AND <symbol 2>

The tokens

       <symbol 1>
       <symbol 2>

may be literal values or column names.

The BETWEEN operator considers values that match the bounds to satisfy the condition: the BETWEEN operator tests for inclusion in the closed interval defined by the bounds.

The order of the bounds doesn't matter: the bounds are considered to define the interval from the smaller bound to the larger.

In the WHERE clause, simple relational expressions may be combined using the logical operators AND, OR, and NOT, as in the Fortran programming language. Parentheses may be used to enforce a desired order of evaluation of logical expressions.

The expression syntax is NOT symmetric: literal values must not appear on the left hand side of the operators that apply to them.

Data types of the columns or constants used on the right-hand-sides of operators must match the data types of the corresponding columns on the left-hand-sides, except that comparison of integer and double precision quantities is permitted.

The columns named in a WHERE clause must belong to the tables listed in the FROM clause. If the query is a join, qualifying table names or aliases are required wherever their omission would result in ambiguity.

Columns referenced in a WHERE clause must be scalar-valued.

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### The ORDER BY Clause

The ``ORDER BY'' clause indicates which columns to use to order the output generated by the query. The columns in the order-by clause define a dictionary ordering, with the first listed column acting as a primary key, the second column acting as a secondary key, and so on.

For each ORDER BY column, the keywords ASC or DESC may be supplied to indicate whether the items in that column are to be listed in ascending or descending order. Ascending order is the default. The direction in which data items increase is referred to as the ``order sense.''

The ORDER BY clause, if present, must appear last in the query.

The form of the ORDER BY clause is

       ORDER BY <column name> [<order sense>]
                [ ,<column name> [<order sense>]...]

Rows satisfying the query constraints will be returned so that the entries of the first column specified in the ORDER BY clause will appear in the order specified by the order sense keyword, which is assumed to be ASC if absent. When entries in the first through Nth ORDER BY column are equal, the entries in the (N+1)st ORDER BY column determine the order of the rows, and so on.

As in the WHERE clause, ORDER BY column names must be qualified by table names or table aliases where they would otherwise be ambiguous.

In order for a column to be eligible to be referenced in an ORDER BY clause, the column must scalar valued.

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### Case sensitivity

Case is not significant in queries, except within literal strings. For these case sensitivity depends on the relational operators applied to the strings. All comparison operators other than the LIKE operator are case sensitive: for example, the strings

       "And"

and

       "and"

are not considered to be equal. On the other hand, the expression

       ANIMAL LIKE "*A*"

would be considered true when ANIMAL takes the value

       "cat"

Case is not significant in time values.

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### White space

The blank is the only character considered to be a white space character in the EK query syntax. In particular, tabs are not treated as white space characters.

Within string constants, leading or embedded white space is significant. Elsewhere, any string of one or more consecutive blanks is interpreted as a single blank.

White space is required to separate alphanumeric tokens, such as

       SELECT

and

        LT

White space may be omitted between special characters and alphanumeric tokens, such as

       )

and

       WHERE

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### Numeric values

Any numeric format accepted by the CSPICE routine prsdp_c may be used to represent numeric values in relational expressions.

The equality operator EQ indicates a test for exact equality. Care must be taken in testing double precision column entries for equality with a specified value; round-off errors may cause such tests to fail unexpectedly.

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### String values

Literal strings used in the right hand side of relational expressions, such as the string

       SSI_EVENT

in the query

       * where event_type eq "SSI_EVENT"

are always bracketed by quotation marks. Either single or double quotes may be used, as long as the string is started and terminated with the same character. Within character string values, quote characters must be doubled in order to be recognized.

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### Time values

Time values are considered to be strings and require bracketing quotes. Either single or double quotes are allowed, as long as the quote characters match. The allowed time values are strings accepted by the CSPICE routine str2et_c, and SCLK strings in SPICE format.

When SCLK strings are used, they must be prefixed by a substring indicating the name of the clock, followed by the token SCLK. For example:

       MGS SCLK 2400001.125

Time values specified in queries are always converted to barycentric dynamical time (TDB) before comparisons with column entries are performed. Therefore, programs using the EK subsystem should load a leapseconds kernel and any appropriate SCLK kernels before attempting to issue queries involving time values to the EK subsystem. See [222] and [225] for further information on time conversions.

As with double precision values, time values cannot generally be reliably tested for exact equality with column entries. It's usually better to test whether a time column entry is in a desired range than to test whether it's equal to a specific value.

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### Null values

The symbol

       NULL

may be used on the right-hand-side of relational expression in which the column named on the left-hand of the expression allows null values, when the relational operators are either of

       IS NULL
       IS NOT NULL

The case of the letters in the symbol ``NULL'' is not significant. The symbol is written without quotes.

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### Reserved Words

The query language contains the following reserved words:

       ALL
       AND
       ASC
       AVG
       BETWEEN
       BY
       COUNT
       DESC
       DISTINCT
       EQ
       FROM
       GE
       GROUP
       GT
       HAVING
       IS
       LE
       LIKE
       LT
       MAX
       MIN
       NE
       NOT
       NULL
       OR
       ORDER
       SELECT
       SUM
       WHERE

Some of the above are not currently used but are reserved for upward compatibility.

Reserved words must be separated from other words in queries by white space.

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### Query grammar

A BNF representation of the sequence EK query grammar is as shown:

       <QUERY>                 =>    <SELECT clause> <FROM clause>
                                     <WHERE clause> <ORDER BY clause>

       <SELECT clause>         =>    SELECT <select list>

       <select list>           =>    <column entry>
                                   | <select list>, <column entry>

       <column entry>          =>    <table name>.<column name>
                                   | <column name>

       <FROM clause>           =>    FROM <table name list>

       <table name list>       =>    <table entry>
                                   | <table name list>, <table entry>

       <table entry>           =>    <table name>
                                   | <table name> <table alias>

       <WHERE clause>          =>    WHERE <relational expression>
                                   | <NIL>

       <relational expression>  =>   <simple expression>

                                   | <NULL value expression>

                                   | NOT <relational expression>

                                   |   ( <relational expression> )

                                   |     <relational expression>
                                     AND <relational expression>

                                   |     <relational expression>
                                     OR  <relational expression>

       <simple expression>      =>   <LHS> <operator> <RHS>

                                   | <LHS> BETWEEN     <RHS> AND <RHS>

                                   | <LHS> NOT BETWEEN <RHS> AND <RHS>

       <NULL value expression>  =>   <LHS> <Null operator> NULL

       <LHS>                    =>   <name>

       <RHS>                    =>   <name>
                                   | <value>

       <name>                   =>   <identifier> . <identifier>
                                   | <identifier>

       <operator>               =>   EQ
                                   | GE
                                   | GT
                                   | LE
                                   | LT
                                   | NE
                                   | LIKE
                                   | NOT LIKE
                                   | =
                                   | >=
                                   | >
                                   | <=
                                   | <
                                   | !=
                                   | <>

       <NULL operator>         =>    IS
                                   | IS NOT
                                   | EQ
                                   | NE
                                   | =
                                   | !=
                                   | <>

       <value>                 =>    <character value>
                                   | <d.p. value>
                                   | <integer value>

       <ORDER BY clause>       =>    ORDER BY <order-by list>
                                   | <NIL>

       <order-by list>         =>    <order-by column entry>
                                   | <order-by list>,
                                     <order-by column entry>

       <order-by column entry> =>    <column entry> <order>
                                   | <column entry>

       <order>                 =>    ASC
                                   | DESC

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### Examples of syntactically valid queries

Below is a collection of examples of strings containing syntactically valid queries.

The column names referenced in the queries are used as examples and are not meant to suggest that columns having those names will be present in any particular EKs.

       SELECT COL1 FROM TAB1

       select col1 from tab1 where col1 gt 5

       SELECT COL2 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL2 > 5.7 ORDER BY COL2

       SELECT COL2 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL1 != 5

       SELECT COL2 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL1 GE COL2

       SELECT COL1, COL2, COL3 FROM TAB1 ORDER BY COL1

       SELECT COL3 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL5 EQ "ABC"

       SELECT COL3 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL5 = "ABC"

       SELECT COL3 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL5 LIKE 'A*'

       SELECT COL3 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL5 LIKE 'A%%'

       SELECT COL4 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL4 = '1995 JAN 1 12:38:09.7'

       SELECT COL4 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL4 = "1995 JAN 1 12:38:09.7"

       SELECT COL4 FROM TAB1 WHERE
       COL4 NE 'GLL SCLK 02724646:67:7:2'

       SELECT COL1 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL1 != NULL

       SELECT COL1 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL1 IS NULL

       SELECT COL1 FROM TAB1 WHERE COL1 IS NOT NULL

       SELECT COL1, COL2, COL3 FROM TAB1
       WHERE (COL1 BETWEEN 4 AND 6) AND (COL3 NOT LIKE "A%%")
       ORDER BY COL1, COL3

       SELECT COL4 FROM TAB1
       WHERE COL4 BETWEEN "1995 JAN 1 12:38" AND
       "October 23, 1995"

       SELECT COL1, COL2 FROM TAB1 WHERE
       NOT (    ( ( COL1 <  COL2 ) AND ( COL1 > 5   ) )  OR
                ( ( COL1 >= COL2 ) AND ( COL2 <= 10 ) )      )

       SELECT T1.COL1, T1.COL2, T2.COL2, T2.COL3
       FROM TABLE1 T1, TABLE2 T2
       WHERE T1.COL1 = T2.COL1
       AND T1.COL2 > 5
       ORDER BY T1.COL1, T2.COL2

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### Examples of syntactically invalid queries

       SELECT TIME WHERE TIME
       LT 1991 JAN 1                      {FROM clause is absent}

       select time from table1 where
       time lt 1991 jan 1                 {time string is not
                                           quoted}

       select time from table1
       where time .lt. '1991 jan 1'       {operator should be lt}

       select cmd from table1
       where "cmd,6tmchg" != cmd          {value is on left side
                                           of operator}

       select event_type from table1
       where event_type eq ""             {quoted string is empty
                                           ---use " " to indicate
                                           a blank string}

       select event_type from table1
       where event_type = "COMMENT"
       order TIME                         {ORDER BY phrase is
                                           lacking BY keyword}

       select COL1 from table
       where COL1 eq MOC_EVENT            {literal string on
                                           right-hand-side of
                                           operator is not quoted}

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### Examples of semantically invalid queries

In the following examples, we'll assume that an application program has loaded a sequence EK containing two segments containing columns having the following names and attributes:

       TABLE1:
       ==========

         Column name        Data type         Size       Indexed?
         -----------        ---------         ----       --------
         EVENT_TYPE         CHARACTER*32      1          YES
         EVENT_PARAMETERS   CHARACTER*(*)     1          NO
         COMMENT            CHARACTER*80      VARIABLE   NO

       TABLE2:
       ==========

         Column name        Data type         Size       Indexed?
         -----------        ---------         ----       --------
         EVENT_TYPE         CHARACTER*32      1          YES
         EVENT_PARAMETERS   CHARACTER*80      1          NO
         COMMENT            CHARACTER*80      VARIABLE   NO
         COMMAND            CHARACTER*80      1          YES

Then the following queries are semantically invalid:

       SELECT EVENT_PARAMETERS
       FROM TABLE1
       WHERE EVENT_DURATION = 7.0         {No column called
                                           EVENT_DURATION
                                           is present in a loaded
                                           EK}

       SELECT COMMENT FROM TABLE2
       WHERE COMMENT EQ "N/A"             {The COMMENT column does
                                           not have size 1 and
                                           therefore cannot be
                                           referenced in a query}

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## Sequence EK Files

Sequence EKs are binary files conforming to the SPICE DAS architecture, which is described in the DAS Required Reading document, das.req. The SPICE file identification word occupying the first eight bytes of a properly created binary sequence EK file is ``DAS/EK ''. For more information on SPICE identification words refer to the Kernel Required Reading document, kernel.req. Most users will not need to understand the details of the structure of these files.

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### Segments

Sequence EK files contain data organized in a series of logical tables called ``segments.'' This organization is logical, not physical---the physical layout of the data in the file is transparent to applications that access sequence EKs using the EK API.

Each segment contains data belonging to one EK table. A sequence EK file may contain multiple segments for one or more distinct tables. Segments for a table may be distributed across multiple EK files.

Spreading data for a table across multiple segments has no affect on query interpretation. However, performance degradation may result if a sequence EK file contains a very large number of segments.

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### The comment area

Because sequence EK files are based on the DAS architecture, they inherit the DAS ``comment area'' feature; this allows sequence EKs to store free-form text comments. Comments may be labels or other descriptive text that fully identifies the file and indicates its intended purpose.

The contents of the comment area must be printable text. The comment area is line-oriented; text inserted into the comment area can be retrieved with the original line breaks preserved. It is recommended that text to be inserted into the comment area have no lines exceeding 80 characters in length.

See the section ``Sequence EK tools'' for information on the SPICE Toolkit utilities that access the comment area.

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## Sequence EK tools

The SPICE Toolkit includes programs that may be used to create, summarize, or browse EK files. These are summarized below.

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### INSPEKT

INSPEKT is an interactive program for browsing binary sequence EK files. INSPEKT presents a user interface similar to that of an interactive database program: a user can ``inspect'' one or more binary EK files by issuing queries in a SQL-like language; in response to each query, INSPEKT displays event data that satisfy the query. INSPEKT provides users with many options for formatting the output produced in response to queries.

INSPEKT has an extensive, hyper-text style on-line help facility, and also has a detailed user's guide available as a paper document [284].

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### COMMNT

COMMNT is an interactive, menu-driven program that allows users to manipulate the comment area of binary EK, SPK, CK, and PCK files. The supported operations are:

`--` Add or append comments to the comment area.

`--` Delete comments from the comment area.

`--` Extract comments from the comment area to a text file.

`--` Read the comment area.

COMMNT's user's guide, commnt.ug, is NAIF Document [278].

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### TOXFR and TOBIN

Since sequence EKs are instances of DAS files, the DAS file transfer mechanisms apply. The CSPICE utilities TOXFR and TOBIN may be used to convert binary sequence EKs to ASCII transfer format and back to binary format. See the CONVERT user's guide, convert.ug, [333] for details.

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### SPACIT

The CSPICE utility SPACIT may also be used for converting sequence EKs between binary and transfer formats. SPACIT provides a rudimentary EK segment summary capability; however, INSPEKT is typically required to interactively extract useful information from a sequence EK.

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# Reading sequence EKs

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## Loading and unloading sequence EKs

In order for a program to query one or more sequence EK files, the files must first be made available to the EK subsystem. This process is called ``loading'' the files. Loading EK files is normally accomplished by calling the generic CSPICE kernel loader furnsh_c:

       furnsh_c ( <fname> );                 {Load SPICE kernel}

A limited number of EK files may be loaded at any one time. The current maximum limit is 20 files.

The inverse routine corresponding to furnsh_c is unload_c. unload_c removes a loaded kernel from the CSPICE system: the file is closed, and data structures referring to the file are updated to reflect the absence of the file.

See [218] for further information on furnsh_c and unload_c.

Before queries may be processed, any supplementary kernels required for time conversion should be loaded. To enable use of UTC times in queries, a leapseconds kernel is required. To enable use of SCLK values in queries, an SCLK kernel for the appropriate spacecraft clock must be loaded.

All of the EK files loaded at any one time must have consistent table attributes: any two tables having the same name must have the same attributes, even if the tables belong to different files.

Unlike the SPK subsystem, the EK subsystem supports no prioritization scheme for loaded kernels: no kernel supersedes another. Rather, all rows of all loaded EKs are considered during query processing.

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## Query-and-fetch interface

The sequence EK subsystem's ``query and fetch'' capability is the principal high-level access mechanism for reading EK data. There are two steps to retrieving data using this mechanism:

`1.` Specify the data of interest by issuing a query.

`2.` Fetch the data that satisfy the query.

Data comprising the query results may be fetched in random order.

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### Issuing queries

To issue a query to the sequence EK subsystem, use ekfind_c:

       ekfind_c ( <query>, <lenout>, &nmrows, &error, errmsg );
                                                               {Find rows
                                                                that
                                                                satisfy
                                                                query}

With the arguments:

`query'
  is a string containing an EK query. See the section ``The EK query language'' above for a complete description of the language.

`nmrows'
  is the number of ``matching rows'': rows satisfying the query constraints, if any. `nmrows' has a valid value only if the query successfully executed.

`error'
  is a logical flag indicating whether the query executed successfully. If the input query is incorrect, `error' will return true.

`errmsg'
  is a string containing an error diagnosis. `errmsg' has a valid value only if when `error' is true.

Query errors fall into a few categories:

`--` Scanning errors---these result from badly formed query in which ekfind_c could not identify all of the tokens. When these errors occur, EKFIND may be too confused to give a helpful diagnostic message.

`--` Parsing errors---these result from a badly formed query that ekfind_c was able to separate into tokens but that ekfind_c determined to be syntactically invalid.

`--` Name resolution errors---these result from referencing invalid or ambiguous column or table names in a query.

`--` Time resolution errors---these result when a failure occurs during the parse of a time string.

`--` Miscellaneous semantic errors---these result from a syntactically valid query that violates a limit or a restriction on values used in a query.

Some problems that may be encountered by ekfind_c are not due to invalid queries, but are genuine error conditions:

`--` No E-kernels are loaded at the time ekfind_c is called.

`--` A time value is used in a query before a leapseconds kernel is loaded.

`--` A SCLK value is used in a query before an SCLK kernel for the appropriate spacecraft clock has been loaded.

These problems cause a SPICE error to signal. The outputs of ekfind_c are undefined in this case.

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### Fetching data from matching rows

The EK fetch functions ekgc_c, ekgd_c, and ekgi_c return data of the indicated data type from rows satisfying an EK query.

The EK fetch functions return one column entry element at a time, so it is not necessary to know in advance the size of the column entry.

To fetch data from a character column, use

       ekgc_c ( <selidx>, <row>, <elment>, <lenout>,        {Get character
                 cdata, &null, &found );                     data}

With the arguments:

`selidx'
  is the index of the column of interest in the SELECT clause of the query. Column indices range from 0 : ncols-1 where `ncols' is the number of columns referenced in the SELECT clause of the query.

`row'
  is the index of the row from which to fetch. Row indices range from 0 : nmrows-1 where `nmrows' is the number of matching rows returned by ekfind_c.

`elment'
  is the index of the column entry element to fetch. Element indices range from 0 : nelts-1 where `nelts' is the number of elements in the column entry. It is not an error to specify an out-of-range value of `elment': this will simply cause `found' to indicate no element was found.

`lenout'
  is the string length of the column name array `cnames'.

`cdata'
  is a string containing the specified column entry element.

`null'
  is a flag indicating whether the entry is null.

`found'
  is a flag indicating whether the specified column entry element was found.

To fetch double precision or TIME column entry elements, use ekgd_c:

       ekgd_c ( <selidx>, <row>, <elment>,
                &ddata,   &null, &found   );               {Get d.p. data}

The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of ekgc_c, except that `ddata' represents a double precision number.

To fetch integer column entry elements, use ekgi_c:

       ekgi_c ( <selidx>, <row>, <elment>,
                &idata,   &null, &found   );           {Get integer data}

The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of ekgc_c, except that `idata' represents an integer.

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### Query support utilities

While an application can fetch array-valued column entries by calling the fetch routine of the appropriate data type in a loop, continuing until `found' is false, it is more elegant to find the size of the entry in advance. The function eknelt_c provides this service:

       nelts = eknelt_c ( <selidx>, <row> );      {Get number of elements}

With the arguments:

`selidx'
  is the index of the column of interest in the SELECT clause of the query. Column indices range from 0 : ncols-1 where `ncols' is the number of columns referenced in the SELECT clause of the query.

`row'
  is the index of the row from which to fetch. Row indices range from 0 : nmrows-1 where `nmrows' is the number of matching rows returned by ekfind_c.

`nelts'
  is the number of elements in the column entry.

The EK fetch functions ekgc_c, ekgd_c, ekgi_c, together with the utility eknelt_c, suffice for applications in which the SELECT clause of the query is known in advance. For such applications, the data types of the SELECT columns are known in advance, so it is clear which fetch function to call to retrieve any column entry.

Some more complex EK applications may require the ability to fetch results from an arbitrary query. In order to do this, an application must be able to determine at run time the names and data types of the SELECT columns. If an application needs to unambiguously identify the columns, the names of the tables to which the columns belong are needed as well.

Applications need not analyze a query to determine the fully qualified names and attributes of the SELECT columns---the EK subsystem provides the function ekpsel_c to do this job.

Note: in the discussion below, there are references to substrings in the SELECT clause as ``expressions.'' Currently, the only supported expressions in the SELECT clause are column names. However, ekpsel_c has been designed to support possible query language enhancements, such as specification of general expressions in the SELECT clause.

Calls to ekpsel_c are made as shown:

       ekpsel_c  ( <query>, <msglen>, <tablen>, <collen>,
                   n,       xbegs,   xends,   xtypes,
                   xclass,  tabs,    cols,    error,  errmsg ); { Parse
                                                                  SELECT
                                                                  clause }

With the arguments:

`query'
  is the query to be analyzed.

`msglen'
  is the length of the output error message.

`tablen'
  is the length of the strings in the output table name array.

`collen'
  is the length of the strings in the output column name array.

`n'
  is the number of expressions (columns) in the SELECT clause of the query.

`xbegs'
  is an array of starting indices of expressions in the SELECT clause.

`xends'
  is an array of ending indices of expressions in the SELECT clause. The ith expression occupies query elements `query'[ `xbegs'[i] ] through `query'[ `xends' [i] ].

`xtypes'
  is an array of data types of the expressions in the SELECT clause of the query.

`xclass'
  is an array of classes of the expressions in the SELECT clause of the query. The ith element of `xclass' indicates whether the ith SELECT expression is a column name, a function, or a more general expression. The elements of `xclass' have data type SpiceEKExprClass. See the header SpiceEK.h for details.

`tabs'
  is an array containing table names corresponding to the SELECT columns. Actual table names are returned, even if the column names are qualified by aliases in the query. Elements of `tabs' corresponding to SELECT expressions that are not column names are undefined.

`cols'
  is an array containing unqualified versions of the column names appearing in the SELECT clause. The ith element of `cols' is defined only if the ith expression in the SELECT clause is a column name.

`error'
  is a flag indicating whether a parsing error occurred while analyzing the query. If an error occurred, the other outputs, with the exception of the error message, are undefined.

`errmsg'
  is a string containing an error diagnosis, if a parsing error occurred. Otherwise, ERRMSG is returned empty.

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## Record-oriented reader interface

The EK record-oriented reader functions provide applications with a low-level interface for examining EK data. Using these functions, an application has direct access to specified EK column entries.

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### Opening files for record-oriented reading

The record-oriented readers may be used to read EKs open for either read or write access. If the EK is to be opened for read access, the function ekopr_c is convenient:

       ekopr_c ( <fname>, &handle );            {EK, open for read}

If the EK to be read is to be queried, then the EK should be loaded using furnsh_c.

       furnsh_c ( <fname> );                 {Load SPICE kernel}

The file's handle may be obtained using a call to the CSPICE function kinfo_c.

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### Column entry readers

The record-oriented readers return a specified column entry from a specified EK. To read a character column entry, call ekrcec_c:

       ekrcec_c  ( <handle>, <segno>, <recno>, <column>,   {read character
                   <lenout>  &nvals,  cvals,   isnull   );  column entry}

With the arguments:

`handle'
  is the file handle of the sequence EK to be read.

`segno'
  is the ordinal position in the EK of the segment containing the desired column entry.

`segno'
  is the ordinal position in the segment of the record containing the desired column entry.

`column'
  is the name of the column containing the desired entry.

`lenout'
  is the string length of the elements of the array `cvals'.

`nvals'
  is the number of array elements in the column entry.

`cvals'
  is the column entry itself. Note that CVALS must have sufficient size to accommodate the entire column entry. CVALS is defined only if the column entry is non-null.

`isnull'
  is a flag indicating whether the column entry is null.

To read a double precision or TIME column entry, call ekrced_c:

       ekrced_c  ( <handle>, <segno>,  <recno>, <column>,    {read d.p.
                   &nvals,   dvals,    isnull            );   column entry}

The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of ekrced_c, except that `dvals' represents a double precision array.

To read an integer column entry, call ekrcei_c:

       ekrcei_c  ( <handle>, <segno>,  <recno>, <column>,     {read integer
                   &nvals,   ivals,    isnull            );    column entry}

The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of ekrcec_c, except that `ivals' represents an integer array.

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## Informational functions

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### Summarizing EK files

To summarize an EK file, the file must be open for read or write access, and the file handle must be available. If the file is open for write access, the file must be structurally valid: for example, a fast write operation on the file must not be partially executed.

The number of segments in an EK is found by calling eknseg_c:

       n = eknseg_c ( <handle> );              {Return number of segments}

The summary of the segment at ordinal position `segno' is returned by ekssum_c:

       ekssum_c ( <handle>, <segno>, &segsum );       {Summarize
                                                       segment}

With the arguments:

`handle'
  is the file handle of the sequence EK containing the segment of interest.

`segno'
  is the ordinal position in the EK of the segment to be summarized.

`segsum'
  is an structure of type SpiceEKSegSum which describes the schema of the segment. See the header SpiceEK.h for details.

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### Summarizing loaded tables

A ``loaded EK table'' is a virtual table consisting of the union of all rows of data from segments having a given table name and schema, where the segments belong to loaded EKs. These tables exist in the EK query subsystem when EKs are loaded using furnsh_c.

The number of loaded tables may be found by calling ekntab_c:

       ekntab_c ( &n );              {Return number of loaded tables}

The name of the nth loaded table may be found by calling ektnam_c:

       ektnam_c ( <n>, <lenout>, table );         {Return table name}

The number of columns in a specified, loaded table may be found by calling ekccnt_c:

       ekccnt_c ( <table>, &ccount );             {Return column count}

The name and attributes of the column having a specified ordinal position within a specified, loaded table may be found by calling ekcii_c:

       ekcii_c ( <table>, <cindex>, <lenout>,
                 column,  &attdsc            );     {Return attributes
                                                     of column specified
                                                     by index}

With the arguments:

`table'
  is the name of the table containing the column of interest.

`cindex'
  is the ordinal position of the column of interest within its table.

`column'
  is the returned column name.

`attdsc'
  is the returned column attribute descriptor. See the header file SpiceEK.h for details.

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# Writing sequence EKs

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## Introduction

This chapter describes how to create new sequence EKs and update existing ones.

The basic sequence of operations by which a new sequence EK is created is:

`1.` Open a new sequence EK. This step prepares the sequence EK for the addition of data.

`2.` Add one or more segments to the sequence EK. A segment may be created using the record-oriented writers or the fast writers.

`3.` Close the sequence EK. This step writes bookkeeping information to the file, flushes to the file any remaining buffered data that have not been physically written out, and closes the file.

Existing segments in a sequence EK may be updated: new records may be added, records may be deleted, and individual column entries in existing segments may be updated.

An existing, closed sequence EK may be opened for write access, at which point all operations valid for a new sequence EK may be performed on the file.

The comment area of a sequence EK may be written to when the file is open for write access.

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## Opening a sequence EK for writing

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### Beginning a new sequence EK

A new sequence EK is opened and prepared for writing using a call to ekopn_c:

       ekopn_c (  <fname>, <ifname>, <ncomch>, &handle );  {Open new EK}

With the arguments:

`fname'
  is the name of the new sequence EK.

`ifname'
  is the internal file name of the new sequence EK. This name may be up to 60 characters in length; it must contain only printing characters and blanks. `ifname' may be left blank.

`ncomch'
  is the number of comment characters to reserve in the comment area. Zero is an acceptable value for `ncomch'. However, reserving sufficient space for comments speeds up addition of comments after the file is written, since data records will not need to be shifted to make room. See the COMMNT User's Guide, commnt.ug, for further information.

`handle'
  is the returned file handle. `handle' will be used to identify the file to other sequence EK functions.

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### Opening an existing sequence EK for writing

Use ekopw_c to open an existing sequence EK for writing:

       ekopw_c ( <fname>, &handle );            {Open EK for writing}

The arguments of ekopw_c have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of ekopn_c.

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## Choosing a writing method

Before a new segment is started, the writing method must be selected: the choices are ``record-oriented'' or ``fast.''

Record-oriented writing allows records to be added to a segment one at a time; this approach simplifies creating records from a streaming data source. Records may be added to a segment in arbitrary order. Also, it is possible to build multiple segments simultaneously using the record-oriented writers.

The significant limitation of the record-oriented approach is that it is slow, particularly if the segment being written contains indexed columns. When execution speed is critical, it may be advisable to use the ``fast writers.'' These routines can create a segment as much as 100 times faster than their record-oriented counterparts. However, the fast writers require all of the segment's data to be staged before the segment is written.

Below, we discuss aspects of segment creation common to both writing approaches. See the sections ``Using the record-oriented sequence EK writers'' and ``Using the fast writers'' below for specifics on how to implement either approach.

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### Specifying segment attributes

When starting a new segment using either the record-oriented or fast writers, it is necessary to specify the name of the table the segment belongs to and the names and attributes of the columns in the table. When using the fast writers, it is also necessary to specify the number of rows in the segment.

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### Table and column names

Table and column names must start with a letter and contain only characters from the set

       {A-Z, a-z, 0-9, $,  _}

Case is not significant.

Table names must not exceed SPICE_EK_TNAMSZ (see header file SpiceEK.h) characters in length. Column names must not exceed SPICE_EK_CNAMSZ (see header file SpiceEK.h) characters in length.

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### Column declarations

Column attributes are specified in arrays of strings called ``column declarations.'' There is one declaration per column. The syntax for column declarations is independent of the writing method.

Column declarations are strings that contain ``keyword=value'' assignments that define the attributes of the columns to which they apply. The column attributes defined by a column declaration are:

       DATATYPE
       SIZE
       <is the column indexed?>
       <does the column allow null values?>

When a segment is started using ekbseg_c or ekifld_c, an array of column declarations must be supplied as an input. The form of a column declaration string is a list of ``keyword=value'' assignments, delimited by commas, as shown:

       "DATATYPE  = <type>, "
       "SIZE      = <size>, "
       "INDEXED   = <boolean>, "
       "NULLS_OK  = <boolean>"

For example, an indexed, scalar, integer column that does not allow null values would have the declaration

       "DATATYPE  = INTEGER, "
       "SIZE      = 1, "
       "INDEXED   = TRUE, "
       "NULLS_OK  = FALSE"

Commas are required to separate the assignments within declarations; white space is optional; case is not significant.

The order in which the attribute keywords are listed in the declaration is not significant.

Data type specifications are required for each column.

Each column entry is effectively an array, each element of which has the declared data type. The SIZE keyword indicates how many elements are in each entry of the column. Note that only scalar-valued columns (those for which SIZE = 1) may be referenced in query constraints. A size assignment has the syntax

       SIZE = <integer>

or

       SIZE = VARIABLE

The size value defaults to 1 if omitted.

The DATATYPE keyword defines the data type of column entries. The DATATYPE assignment syntax has any of the forms

       DATATYPE = CHARACTER*(<length>)
       DATATYPE = CHARACTER*(*)
       DATATYPE = DOUBLE PRECISION
       DATATYPE = INTEGER
       DATATYPE = TIME

As the datatype declaration syntax suggests, character strings may have fixed or variable length. For example, a fixed-length string of 80 characters is indicated by the declaration

       DATATYPE = CHARACTER*(80)

while a variable-length string is indicated by an asterisk:

       DATATYPE = CHARACTER*(*)

Variable-length strings have a practical length limit of 1024 characters: the sequence EK writers allow one to write a scalar string of any length, but the sequence EK query functions will truncate a string whose length exceeds this limit.

Variable-length strings are allowed only in scalar character columns.

Optionally, scalar-valued columns may be indexed. Indexing can greatly speed up the processing of some queries, because indexing allows data to be found by a binary, rather than linear, search.

Each index increases the size of the sequence EK file by an amount greater than or equal to the space occupied by two integers times the number of rows in the affected table, so for potentially large sequence EK files, the issue of whether or not to index a column deserves some consideration.

To create an index for a column, use the assignment

       INDEXED = TRUE

By default, columns are not indexed.

Optionally, any column can allow null values; this is indicated by the assignment

       NULLS_OK = TRUE

in the column declaration. By default, null values are not allowed in column entries.

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### Consistency of schemas

All segments belonging to a given table, that is having the same table name, must have identical schemas: the same set of column names, with each pair of identically-named columns having identical declarations.

The sequence EK writer functions don't diagnose segment schema inconsistencies (to do so would be cumbersome at best, since inconsistencies could occur in separate files). However, loading into the sequence EK query system segments with identical table names but inconsistent column declarations will result in an error diagnosis.

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## Using the record-oriented sequence EK writers

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### Beginning a segment

The first step in beginning a new segment using the record-oriented writers is to define the new segment's schema. This is done by calling ekbseg_c:

       ekbseg_c ( <handle>, <tabnam>, <ncols>, <cnmlen>,    {Begin
                  <cnames>, <declen>, <decls>, &segno   );   segment}

The inputs to ekbseg_c are described below:

`handle'
  is the file handle returned by the function used to open the sequence EK.

`tabnam'
  is the name of the table to which the new segment belongs.

`ncols'
  is the number of columns in the table.

`cnmlen'
  is the string length of the column name array `cnames'.

`cnames'
  is an array containing the names of the columns in the table.

`declen'
  is the string length of the column declaration array `decls'.

`decls'
  is an array containing the declarations for each column. See the section ``Column declarations'' above for details.

The sole output from ekbseg_c is:

`segno'
  This is the number of the new segment: the ordinal position of the segment in the file. Segment numbers start at 0 in CSPICE.

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### Adding records to a segment

The record-oriented sequence EK write functions support building sequence EK segments one record at a time.

A new segment is prepared for record-oriented writing using a call to ekbseg_c (see ``Starting a new segment'' above). Next, records are added to the segment. Records may be appended or may be inserted into the segment.

To append a new, empty record to a segment, use ekappr_c:

       ekappr_c ( <handle>, <segno>, &recno );         {Append record}

With the arguments:

`handle'
  is the EK's file handle.

`segno'
  is the number of the segment to write to. `segno' must be a segment number obtained from ekbseg_c.

`recno'
  is the number of the new record; RECNO is an output argument.

To insert a new, empty record into a segment, use ekinsr_c:

       ekinsr_c ( <handle>, <segno>, <recno> );         {Insert record}

The arguments are the same as those of ekappr_c, except that here `recno' is an input. `recno' is the desired ordinal position of the new record: `recno' must be in the range

       0 : nrec

where `nrec' is the number of records already in the segment.

Each new record starts out empty. The column entries in the record are filled in one-by-one using calls to the ``add column entry'' functions ekacec_c, ekaced_c, and ekacei_c. The column entries of a record may be written in any order.

Character column entries are written by ekacec_c:

       ekacec_c ( <handle>, <segno>,  <recno>, <column>,      {Add character
                  <nvals>,  <vallen>, <cvals>, <isnull>  );    column entry}

With the arguments:

`handle'
  is the DAS file handle obtained from ekopn_c.

`segno'
  is the number of the segment to write to. `segno' must be a segment number obtained from ekbseg_c.

`recno'
  is the number of the new record; `recno' is an output argument.

`column'
  is the name of the column to which data is to be written.

`nvals'
  is the number of elements in the column entry. For scalar entries, `nvals' is 1. For null-valued entries, NVALS is ignored.

`vallen'
  is the string length of the elements of `cvals'.

`cvals'
  is the string or array of strings comprising the column entry. `cvals' is ignored if the entry being added is null.

`isnull'
  is a boolean flag indicating whether the entry being added is null. If the column has fixed-length, variable-size entries, and the entry being added is null, the size of the entry is considered to be 1.

Double precision column entries are written by ekaced_c:

       ekaced_c ( <handle>, <segno>,  <recno>, <column>,      {Add d.p.
                  <nvals>,  <dvals>,  <isnull>          );     column entry}

The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of ekacec_c, except that `dvals' represents a double precision array.

Values of type TIME are also added using ekaced_c. When a column contains TIME values (as indicated by its declared data type), the values are stored as ephemeris seconds past J2000 TDB. When starting with UTC or SCLK time values, the CSPICE conversion routines str2et_c or scs2e_c may be used to obtain equivalent double precision TDB values. See the TIME.REQ or SCLK.REQ Required Reading for details.

Integer column entries are written by ekacei_c:

       ekacei_c ( <handle>, <segno>,  <recno>, <column>,     {Add integer
                  <nvals>,  <ivals>,  <isnull>          );    column entry}

The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of ekacec_c, except that `ivals' represents an integer array.

A record must have all of its column entries written in order to be valid: column entries do not have default values.

No action is required to ``finish`` a segment created by the record-oriented writers, although ekcls_c must be called to close the file when all segments have been written.

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## Using the fast writers

The sequence EK ``fast write'' capability (referred to as ``fast load'' in older documentation) allows construction of a sequence EK segment much more quickly than is possible with the record-oriented writers, at the expense of some flexibility.

The fast write approach involves creating one new segment at a time. Segments are constructed one column at a time: each column is added to a segment in one shot.

In order to add a segment to a sequence EK, the sequence EK must be open for write access. New sequence EK files are opened by calling ekopn_c; existing sequence EKs are opened for writing by calling ekopw_c.

The sequence of operations required to create a segment using the fast write functions is:

`1.` Initiate a fast write operation by calling ekifld_c. This call defines the segment's schema and size. The number of rows in the segment must be known at the time this call is made.

`2.` Add data columns to the segment by calling ekaclc_c, ekacld_c, or ekacli_c.

`` Because each column is created by a single function call, all data constituting the column, along with null flags and entry size information, must be buffered in arrays declared or allocated by the user's application.

`3.` Complete the segment by calling ekffld_c. This call writes out bookkeeping information required to make the segment readable.

When all segments in a sequence EK are complete, the sequence EK must be closed by calling ekcls_c.

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### Initiating a fast write

The first step in creating a new segment using the fast writers is to define the new segment's attributes, specifically its schema and the number of rows in the segment. This is done by calling ekifld_c:

       ekifld_c ( <handle>, <tabnam>, <ncols>,  <nrows>,     {Initiate
                  <cnmlen>, <cnames>, <declen>, <decls>,      fast write }
                  &segno,    rcptrs                     );

The inputs to ekifld_c are described below.

`handle'
  is the file handle returned by the function used to open the sequence EK.

`tabnam'
  is the name of the table to which the new segment belongs.

`ncols'
  is the number of columns in the table.

`nrows'
  is the number of rows in the new segment.

`cnmlen'
  is the string length of the column name array `cnames'.

`cnames'
  is an array containing the names of the columns in the table.

`declen'
  is the string length of the column declaration array `decls'.

`decls'
  is an array containing the declarations for each column. The declaration syntax is identical to that used by the record-oriented function ekbseg_c. See the section ``Column declarations'' above for details.

The outputs from ekifld_c are:

`segno'
  This is the number of the new segment: the ordinal position of the segment in the file. Segment numbers start at 0 in CSPICE.

`rcptrs'
  This is an integer work space array the caller must not modify. `rcptrs' must have dimension at least equal to the number of rows in the segment. `rcptrs' is passed as an input to the other fast writer routines.

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### Adding columns to the segment

There are three fast writer routines used to add columns to a segment; the routine to use depends on the data type of the column.

To add a character column to a segment, call ekaclc_c:

       ekaclc_c ( <handle>, <segno>,  <column>, <vallen>,   {Add
                  <cvals>,  <entszs>, <nlflgs>, <rcptrs>,    character
                  wkindx                                 );  column}

The inputs to ekaclc_c are described below.

`handle'
  is the file handle returned by the function used to open the sequence EK.

`segno'
  is the segment number obtained from ekifld_c.

`column'
  is the name of the column to be added.

`vallen'
  is the string length of the character value array `cvals'.

`cvals'
  is an array containing the entire set of column entries for the specified column. The entries are listed in row-order: the column entry for the first row of the segment is first, followed by the column entry for the second row, and so on. If the column is array-valued, the successive elements of each column entry occupy successive strings in the `cvals' array.

  Regarding null values: for columns having fixed-size entries, a null entry must be allocated the same amount of space occupied by a non-null entry in the array `cvals'. For columns having variable-size entries, null entries do not require any space in the `cvals' array, but in any case must have their allocated space described correctly by the corresponding element of the `entszs' array.

`entszs'
  is an array of integers, each specifying the number of array elements in the corresponding column entry. The values in the array `entszs' are used only for columns having variable-size entries, but in all cases, `entszs' must have dimension at least equal to the number of rows in the segment. For null entries in variable-dimension columns, the corresponding element of `entszs' should be set to zero.

`nlflgs'
  is an array of boolean flags, each specifying whether the corresponding column entry is null. For columns that don't allow null values, the contents of this array are ignored. In all cases, `nlflgs' must have dimension at least equal to the number of rows in the segment.

`rcptrs'
  This is an integer work space array the caller must not modify. `rcptrs' is an output argument of ekifld_c. `rcptrs' must have dimension at least equal to the number of rows in the segment.

`wkindx'
  is an integer workspace array used to build an index for the column.

To add a double precision column to a segment, call ekacld_c:

       ekacld_c ( <handle>, <segno>,  <column>, <dvals>,   {Add d.p.
                  <entszs>, <nlflgs>, <rcptrs>, wkindx  );  column}

The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of ekaclc_c, except that `dvals' represents a double precision array.

Values of type TIME are also added using ekacld_c. When a column contains TIME values (as indicated by its declared data type), the values are stored as ephemeris seconds past J2000 TDB. When starting with UTC or SCLK time values, the CSPICE conversion routines str2et_c or scs2e_c may be used to obtain equivalent double precision TDB values. See the TIME.REQ or SCLK.REQ Required Reading for details.

To add an integer column to a segment, call ekacli_c:

       ekacli_c ( <handle>, <segno>,  <column>, <ivals>,      {Add integer
                  <entszs>, <nlflgs>, <rcptrs>, wkindx  );     column}

The arguments have the same meanings as the corresponding arguments of ekaclc_c, except that `ivals' represents an integer array.

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### Completing a fast write

Once all columns have been added to the segment, the fast write operation on the segment is completed using a call to ekffld_c:

       ekffld_c ( <handle>, <segno>, <rcptrs> )    {Finish fast write}

The meanings of the arguments of ekffld_c are identical to those of the same names belonging to ekifld_c.

Calling ekffld_c is an essential step; the segment will not be structurally valid until this call has been made.

Once the fast write operation has been completed, the segment may be modified using the record-oriented writers.

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### Restrictions

Creating a segment using the fast writer routines should be regarded as an ``indivisible'' process: other EK operations should not be performed when a fast write is in progress.

Record-oriented append, insert, and delete operations are not supported for a segment in the process of being constructed by the fast writers. Updating or reading column entries in the middle of a fast write is also not supported.

Fast write operations may not be interleaved with query-and-fetch operations: an application may not start a fast write, issue a query, then continue the fast write, or vice versa.

Only one segment can be created at a time using the fast writers.

One cannot extend an existing segment using the fast write functions. However, a segment created using the fast writers, once completed using a call to ekffld_c, may be modified using the record-oriented write, update, or delete functions.

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## Updating an existing sequence EK

Except when a fast write is in progress, any segment of a sequence EK open for write access may be updated. Updates may consist of adding records, deleting records, or updating individual column entries.

Adding records is done using the record-oriented writers, which are described above. Column entries may be updated using the functions ekucec_c, ekuced_c, and ekucei_c, which operate on, respectively, character, double precision (or time), and integer column entries. The argument lists of these functions are identical to the record-oriented column entry addition functions of the corresponding data types.

When updating a variable-size column entry, it is permissible to replace the original entry with one having a different size. Variable-length strings also can be replaced with strings of different lengths.

For columns that allow null values, null entries can be updated with non-null values and vice versa.

Records are deleted using a call to ekdelr_c:

       ekdelr_c ( <handle>, <segno>, <recno> );   {Delete record}

With the arguments:

`handle'
  is the DAS file handle obtained from ekopn_c or ekopw_c.

`segno'
  is the number of the segment containing the record of interest. `segno' must be a segment number obtained from ekbseg_c or ekifld_c.

`recno'
  is the number of the record to delete.

Deleting all records from a segment simply leaves an empty segment in the parent sequence EK; segments cannot be deleted.

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## Closing a sequence EK

When all segments in a sequence EK are complete, the sequence EK must be closed by calling ekcls_c. This step is necessary to create a structurally correct sequence EK, since some written data may be buffered but not yet written to the physical sequence EK after the last segment has been completed. Also, ekcls_c re-organizes (using the DAS subsystem) the physical records in the sequence EK to enhance read performance when the file is reopened.

The record-oriented read routines may be used to read data from a sequence EK before it has been closed. However, a sequence EK open for write access may not by loaded by furnsh_c and hence is not accessible by the sequence EK query and fetch routines.

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# Appendix A --- Summary of E-kernel Functions

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## Summary of mnemonics

CSPICE contains a family of functions that are designed specifically for use with binary EK files. The name of each function begins with the letters ```ek','' followed by a two- or three-character mnemonic. For example, the function that issues a query and finds the matching rows is named ekfind_c, pronounced ``E-K-FIND.''

Many of the lower-level CSPICE functions have SPICELIB counterparts implemented in Fortran as entry points of another function.

The following is a complete list of mnemonics and translations, in alphabetical order.

       Header files:

          SpiceEK.h

       CSPICE wrappers:

          ekacec_c   ( EK, add character data to column           )
          ekaced_c   ( EK, add d.p. data to column                )
          ekacei_c   ( EK, add integer data to column             )
          ekaclc_c   ( EK, add character column to segment        )
          ekacld_c   ( EK, add double precision column to segment )
          ekacli_c   ( EK, add integer column to segment          )
          ekappr_c   ( EK, append record onto segment             )
          ekbseg_c   ( EK, start new segment                      )
          ekccnt_c   ( EK, column count                           )
          ekcii_c    ( EK, column info by index                   )
          ekcls_c    ( EK, close file                             )
          ekdelr_c   ( EK, delete record from segment             )
          ekffld_c   ( EK, finish fast write                      )
          ekfind_c   ( EK, find data                              )
          ekgc_c     ( EK, get event data, character              )
          ekgd_c     ( EK, get event data, double precision       )
          ekgi_c     ( EK, get event data, integer                )
          ekifld_c   ( EK, initialize segment for fast write      )
          ekinsr_c   ( EK, insert record into segment             )
          eklef_c    ( EK, load event file                        )
          eknelt_c   ( EK, get number of elements in column entry )
          eknseg_c   ( EK, number of segments in file             )
          ekntab_c   ( EK, return number of loaded tables         )
          ekopn_c    ( EK, open new file                          )
          ekopr_c    ( EK, open file for reading                  )
          ekops_c    ( EK, open scratch file                      )
          ekopw_c    ( EK, open file for writing                  )
          ekpsel_c   ( EK, parse SELECT clause                    )
          ekrcec_c   ( EK, read column entry element, character   )
          ekrced_c   ( EK, read column entry element, d.p.        )
          ekrcei_c   ( EK, read column entry element, integer     )
          ekssum_c   ( EK, return segment summary                 )
          ektnam_c   ( EK, return name of loaded table            )
          ekucec_c   ( EK, update character column entry          )
          ekuced_c   ( EK, update d.p column entry                )
          ekucei_c   ( EK, update integer column entry            )
          ekuef_c    ( EK, unload event file                      )

       Low-level routines converted by f2c:

          eksrch_    ( EK, search for events                      )

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## Summary of Calling Sequences

The calling sequences for the EK functions are summarized below. The functions are grouped by purpose.

Load files for query access, unload files:

       furnsh_c ( fname )
       unload_c ( fname )

Open files for record-oriented reading or writing, close files:

       dafllc_  ( &handle )
       ekcls_c  ( handle )
       ekopn_c  ( fname, ifname, ncomch, &handle )
       ekopr_c  ( fname, &handle )
       ekops_c  ( &handle )
       ekopw_c  ( fname, &handle )

Obtain summaries of sequence EK segments:

       eknseg_c ( handle )
       ekssum_c ( handle, segno, &segsum )

Obtain summaries of loaded tables:

       ekccnt_c ( table, &ccount )
       ekcii_c  ( table, cindex, lenout, column, &attdsc )
       ekntab_c ( &n )
       ektnam_c ( n, lenout, table )

Query and fetch:

       ekfind_c ( query,  lenout, &nmrows, &error, errmsg )
       ekgc_c   ( selidx, row,    elment,  lenout, cdata, &null,
                  &found                                         )
       ekgd_c   ( selidx, row,    elment,  ddata, &null,  &found )
       ekgi_c   ( selidx, row,    elment,  idata, &null,  &found )
       eknelt_c ( selidx, row )
       ekpsel_c ( query,  msglen, tablen, collen, &n,
                  xbegs,  xends,  xtypes, xclass, tabs,
                  cols,   &error, errmsg                )

Record-oriented read:

       ekrcec_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, lenout, &nvals,
                  cvals   &isnull                               )
       ekrced_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, &nvals, dvals,
                  &isnull                                       )
       ekrcei_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, &nvals, ivals,
                  &isnull                                       )

Fast write:

       ekifld_c ( handle, tabnam, ncols,  nrows,  cnmlen, cnames,
                  declen, decls,  &segno, rcptrs                 )
       ekaclc_c ( handle, segno,  column, vallen, cvals,  entszs,
                  nlflgs, rcptrs, wkindx                         )
       ekacld_c ( handle, segno,  column, dvals,  entszs,
                  nlflgs, rcptrs, wkindx                  )
       ekacli_c ( handle, segno,  column, ivals,  entszs,
                  nlflgs, rcptrs, wkindx                  )
       ekffld_c ( handle, segno,  rcptrs )

Begin segment for record-oriented write:

       ekbseg_c ( handle, tabnam, ncols, cnmlen, cnames, declen,
                  decls,  &segno                                )

Insert, append, or delete records:

       ekappr_c ( handle, segno,  &recno )
       ekdelr_c ( handle, segno,  recno  )
       ekinsr_c ( handle, segno,  &recno )

Record-oriented write and update:

       ekacec_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, nvals, vallen,
                  cvals,  isnull                               )
       ekaced_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, nvals,
                  dvals,  isnull                       )
       ekacei_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, nvals,
                  ivals,  isnull                       )
       ekucec_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, nvals, vallen,
                  cvals,  isnull                               )
       ekuced_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, nvals,
                  dvals,  isnull                       )
       ekucei_c ( handle, segno,  recno, column, nvals,
                  ivals,  isnull                       )

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## Revisions

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### March 23, 2016 NJB (JPL)

Corrected documentation of some calling sequences.

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### February 24, 2010 EDW (JPL)

Documentation expanded to include descriptions of Icy functions.

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### April 1, 2009

Added a note about the SPICE file identification word for EK files.

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### Feb. 06, 2002

Several typos were corrected.

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### Jan. 15, 2002

Initial release.