A Standard elements of a Starlink document

 A.1 Code, date, filename
 A.2 Standard headers, type size, page size, layout
 A.3 Title

A.1 Code, date, filename

Every Starlink document has an identifier and a date of issue. Identifiers have a format like SGP/28.7 where SGP is the class code, 28 is the number within that class, and 7 is the version number starting at 1. Identifiers are allocated by the Document Librarian (mdl@star.rl.ac.uk). When a note is revised, its version number should be incremented and the date of issue updated.

Files which store Starlink documents should have a name like sgp28.tex, where sgp shows the document class, 28 tells you the number, and tex tells you it is a TEX or LATEX source file. Files containing Starlink classified documents are stored in /star/docs.

A.2 Standard headers, type size, page size, layout

Use the LATEX template files like sun.tex which are stored in /star/docs. These have properly formatted headers and correct type size, page size, and layout. They also have the definitions required for you to produce hypertext, as described in SUN/199. Avoid using a type size smaller than 11 point.

A.3 Title

A user looking for information usually selects a note on the basis of its title, and this should, therefore, be concise and informative. It should contain the acronym used to refer to the software, and indicate its function. Remember, your note may have a long life, so phrases such as “A New…", which will quickly become either obsolete or positively misleading, should be avoided. An example title is:

ASPIC – A set of image processing programs

Don’t assume a reader already knows what your software does. For example, don’t have a title like:

MYPROG – An introduction

Say what MYPROG does:

MYPROG – An HTML editor: Introduction