Database Patch Files

A database patch file is a data interpretation method that was conceived during MOMA project development to address the need to correctly handle differences in telemetry data structure and/or interpretation. The telemetry data differences may be produced by either inherent differences in the various models or updates to the hardware/software that break backwards compatibility.

Terminology

What exactly is it?

A patch file is a tab delimited file that is nearly identical to the main database file. A patch file is characterized as follows:

A patch file may do the following:

Why was it conceived?

When changes are made to the instrument that affect either the interpretation of the data or the actual structure of the data, you are left with two general choices:

We have opted for the second choice because we predict there will be a need to analyze old data. In previous missions this was semi-achieved by having multiple main database files. I say semi-achieved because they really only used it to support differences in the various models. Changes to the same model meant the old data was no longer supported unless a completely new main database file was created. Changes to a single housekeeping row would have to be made to all relevant database files. Because this process was cumbersome, error prone, and inefficient, the concept of a patch file was born.

Pros and Cons of patch files

Pros:
Cons:

How patch files should be handled by software

v1.0

In order to provide uniformity and consistency across our different applications, all code should conform to the following specification:


Revision #2
Created 22 March 2023 17:45:40 by Nick Dobson
Updated 22 March 2023 17:53:02 by Nick Dobson