EBZ?CED July 1999
				  INSTANCES
				  ---------


				EXPLANATION


- Instances are a set of instructions for the humans that command MDI.
They are called "instances" because they were conceived as specific
instances of more abstract entities called "activities".  But, as with
so many things, only enough of the system was implemented to make
things work.  Instances represent both (in advance of the activities they
describe) a planning tool and (afterward) a semi-chronological log of
what we've done.  

  Before any commanding of the MDI instrument takes place, write up 
an instance describing what is to be done.  Encourage the other 
operators and MDI people to examine the instance and comment on it.
When commanding MDI, keep your instances up to date so that there is 
a record of the currently active projects.

  For a very complete description of how instances work, and how to use them,
check "http://mdiwww.nascom.nasa.gov/planning-docs/instances.html".



			     GENERATING INSTANCES

- Instance Generation Forms are on the Hydra Planning Page
	http://mdiwww.nascom.nasa.gov/private/hydra
  which is linked from the home-away-from-home page. Also on the planning
  page is a link to current instances and the Hydra design documents.
  On the current Hydra instances list there are links to recent, last
  months, and all instances to date.

- To generate a new instance, click on the Instance Generation Form. Fill
  out the form and submit it, and it will be given a number and placed on
  the current instances list.


			    MANIPULATING INSTANCES

- Once an instance has been generated, to edit it go to the instance
  in its display form and click on raw. When executing an instance, edit
  it using operations mode and fill out the section in the bottom with log 
  entries.



  			   HOW THE INED STUFF WORKS

in /mdisw/plan are the instance data:

	.inlastno will give you the last instance number
	active-instances lists the active instances
	/as-run is a list of all instances run on a given day
	/contacts has all DSN contact times from Mon's program
	/ecs has all DSN contact times from Craig's program
	/iap isn't used anymore
	instance-template isn't used anymore thanks to ined
	misc-instances isn't useful
	open-instances is a list of open instances
	/projects has other stuff on it
	proposed-instances has nonactivated instances
	reg2 is a backup of registry
	registry lists all istances and info about them
	/weekly has all weekly plans for IAP's on it


the programs that are used for ined stuff are on /mdisw/bin:

	inls - lists current or recent instances
	inci - checks in an instance (used by ined but can be done by hand)
	irgin - regenerates instance registry if it gets corrupted (make
		sure to copy the bad one before regenerating it)
	innewno - returns a unique instance number

there are perl documents on /mdisw/perl:

	inr.pl
	adb.pl

the web page stuff (ined) is on /md86/public_html/private/hydra/ined:

	ined.cgi - instance editor