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The APT FAQ & Bug List
E-mail us at help@stsci.edu if you do not understand the explanations on this page or you find a bug which is not listed. Note that there are documentation and instructional videos available.
General:
Why do I get a Security Alert when I try to download the APT?
APT uses the InstallAnywhere installer from Zero-G Software. This installer can perform installations over the network. If you wish to perform a network installation then grant the requested access. Alternatively, you may download the installation file and perform the installation locally.
Why do I get the message, "Unable to locate the application's 'main' class."?
Under unix if you attempt to run APT remotely and do not have your DISPLAY variable set correctly, you will get this message:
Unable to locate the application' 'edu.stsci.hst.apt.controller.HstAptController' must be public and have a 'public static void main(String[])' method. (LAX)
Do I have to be connected to the Internet while using APT?
For the most part, you can use APT without any Internet connection. You will only need a connection during submission, for Phase I address lookup, for a few of the help web pages, and for certain tool functions such as catalog overlays in Aladin. When you first start APT, it will check and display a message if there is a newer version of APT available. If you are not connected at the time, this check is not done.
Why doesn't anything come up when I go to PDF Preview?
You need to have Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher installed on your machine. Try bringing up Acrobat Reader outside of APT and check the version (select "About Acrobat Reader" from the Help menu). You can get the latest version from: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. If this is not the problem it is possible that there is a problem with your PDF attachment. Try viewing your PDF attachment directly in Acrobat Reader. (49320)
Why is my proposal saved in a subdirectory?
APT will save proposal information in a sub-directory if the user preference is set to do so. You can set the preference by going to Edit>Preferences. Note that in Phase II mode, there are many support files that will be created and stored in the same directory with the proposal so we generally recommend a separate directory.
Why does it take so long to open my proposal?
Proposal information is validated when it is read in from the proposal file.In cases where there are a large number of observations defined this validation can take several minutes, especially on slower machines. During the proposal open and validation, an activity bar will display to show the progress.
Why won't my proposal open in APT?
If you cut and pasted from an e-mail message you may have a blank line at the top of the file. Please ensure the first line starts with "<?xml". If this was not the problem, please do not start from scratch. We quite likely will be able to fix the problem. Send e-mail to help@stsci.edu.
Why can't I export the target list template (the File>Export menu is empty)?
Open a proposal or create a new proposal. Now the File>Export menu shows the option "Export Target list template". (50215)
Where did the file go when I chose to print to file from the Visit Planner or Help print option?
If you print to file while in the Help or the Visit Planner, the file is written by default to a directory where the code was installed. Instead of merely giving a file name, fully specify the path where you want the file to be saved.
If APT cannot find
a browser it fails to show documentation with no explanation. (Only seen on Linux.)
Workaround: If you find that clicking on the Roadmap, What's New and other APT documentation does not work, it could be that APT is looking for a browser that doesn't exist on your machine. Please view the documentation directly from the web by going to apt.stsci.edu. (56341)
Editing:
How do I delete, cut/copy&paste and rearrange things in APT?
In the Hierarchical Editor (the tree like view on the left hand side) you can highlight an entry and then delete it using Edit>Delete from the menu above.If you would like to move an entry within the list, you can use the Cut and Paste options from the menu or you can drag and drop.
You can select multiple entries by control clicking on several, or shift clicking at the top and bottom of a range of entries to be selected.Then you can use the cut and paste (or copy and paste) options under the Edit menu to move or copy the entries. (Drag and drop will not work for multiple entries.)
For more information please see the video called Editing with the Tree Editor.
Why is APT beeping at me instead of responding to what I click on?
The most likely reason is that a pop up box has been lost behind another window. Minimize all your windows and you will probably find it.
How do I save changes I make in a pop-up dialog?
Some pop-up dialogs that are displayed for the purpose of editing proposal fields (e.g. POS TARGS from the mini-spreadsheet) do not have a labeled button to close the dialog and save changes. To close the dialog and save changes simply close the window.
Why is APT suddenly taking a very long time to respond to simple changes?
You are probably having memory problems. Click on Help>Show Memory Monitor>GC (garbage collect) and then save your proposal and exit APT. Please see the APT Memory Issues page for more details.
Why doesn't cntl-click work as described in the documenation on my Mac?
On a Mac you should use apple-click in place of cntl-click for multiselecting individual items. (There are two other functional differences on the Mac. The Preferences and the Quit options are under a menu called "runAPT".)
Why can't I edit my proposal when I first open it?
Open Windows is not being maintained so it doesn't handle Java well. Most of the problems we have seen are cosmetic, but if you find you cannot work around a problem, try CDE instead. The most confusing one is that when you first open a proposal you cannot edit any field until you touch a scroll bar.
The
tree outline of the proposal on the left hand side of APT GUI becomes
filled with empty lines.
Workaround: This problem appears sporatically, but is more common when you are running APT remotely. It is benign and usually fixed by opening and closing folders in the tree. (54274)
Addresses for PIs and Co_Is:
How do I give STScI my new address information?
Type your correct address information into the form. In order to update your address information in our database, e-mail the changes to: addr-chgs@stsci.edu. Note that it is not necessary for the database update to happen before submission of the proposal.
What if I am not in the STScI database yet?
If you get the pop up that says "No record found in database for XXX", click on "OK" and then type your name and address information into the form. If you get a list of people with your last name, but you are not there, click on "New Entry" in the lower right corner and then type your name and address information into the form. New entries will be added to our database after submission.
Why isn't my institution listed?
This list only includes institutions that STScI has previously worked with. It is possible that your institution is not listed. Simply type in your full institution name and then check the "Institution Not In List" box below to remove the warning.
The Grants Administration Branch has a single "legal" name for a given institution, but common synonyms are included in the pick list. So if you choose "JHU" it will switch automatically to "The Johns Hopkins University" without you having to remember to look it up under "The".
Why does APT tell me some addresses "may need updating"?
APT can now compare the addresses in a proposal from a previous cycle with the ones in the STScI database. APT will let you know via this message if anything needs updating or double checking. Once the checks are completed they do not have to be done again for this cycle. You will also get this message if the proposal you started with was from Cycle 12 or 13, or if some of the investigators were not in the STScI database last year. From the address form you will have the option of updating one at a time or all marked addresses in the proposal. Please finish updating the marked addresses before typing in new changes (or your changes could be overwritten).
Why do I get "Unable to contact STScI database"?
Depending on your institution's computer security measures (firewalls, blocked ports, etc.), you may initially have trouble retrieving investigator addresses from our database. Since it would be best to discover and fix any communication problems well before the Phase I deadline, please see the steps to diagnose and fix communication problems .
How can I search again for the same name?
If you searched for "smith" but then chose the wrong "smith" simply shorten the name to "smit" and hit return for a new search.
Phase I:
Why can't I look up investigator addresses or submit?
Depending on your institution's computer security measures (firewalls, blocked ports, etc.), you may initially have trouble while using APT. This could include:
- Not seeing some of the documentation which is hosted here.
- Not being able to retrieve investigator addresses from our database.
- Not being able to submit the proposal.
Since it would be best to discover any communication problems well before the Phase I deadline, here are the steps to diagnose and fix communication problems.
How do I share Phase I proposal information with my colleagues?
There are several ways to share your Phase I proposal with your colleagues depending on whether you want them to simply provide comments or actually edit the proposal. For instance, you can:
- Send them the .apt proposal file with the coverpage information, Co-Is and Observation Summary.They can bring up the file in APT, edit information and send it back.
- Send them the source document (like a Word or Framemaker document), which contains your scientific justification etc. Then they can edit the document and send it back.
- Generate and send them the PDF file, which combines the data you input with APT and your attachment (Use the APT option File>Export.). They can make comments and you can make the changes in your original files.
How can I create a second similar proposal from a submitted proposal?
When you open a previously submitted proposal you see the proposal number it was assigned when it was submitted. If you would like to start a new proposal starting with the old one as a template, go to the Submit Tool and click on "Clear ID#".
Why doesn't my APT proposal print
correctly (e.g. math symbols missing)?
Symptom: You start with the LaTeX template for your scientific justification. Then you convert it to PDF. This looks and prints fine. But after you combine the scientific justification with the coverpage information you typed into APT, the resulting PDF file doesn't print properly.It looks fine on the screen, but when printed, some or all of the text is missing (some people lose all the text, some just lose the math symbols). Not everyone has this problem, it depends on exactly how you converted to PDF.
Explanation 1: When APT merges the scientific justification with the rest of the proposal information, the result is a single PDF Version 1.4 file (regardless of whether your PDF file was 1.4 or 1.3). The resulting PDF 1.4 file is only fully compatible for printing with Acrobat 5.0 or higher (APT uses your local copy of Acrobat for display and printing). Note that some people have been able to work around the problem by embedding fonts or using ps2pdf13, but this has not worked for everyone.
Solution 1: Even though you can't print your complete APT proposal using your local Acrobat 3 or 4, we will be able to print it here for the TAC using Acrobat 5. If you want to print the complete proposal as the TAC will see it, download the free Acrobat Reader:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Then use the File>Export option to save the PDF file and print it using the Acrobat Reader.
Alternative Solution 1: Note that on Solaris and Linux APT's PDF Preview tool uses "acroread" to launch the PDF viewer. If "acroread" as defined on your system is earlier than Acrobat 5, you can redefine "acroread" for yourself to point towards a later version installed elsewhere on your system.
Explanation 2: We have had reports from Mac users of attachments that started out as LaTeX files having missing math symbols in the printout as well as on screen even if the viewer is Acrobat Reader 5 or higher. The issue here appears to be the Apple Preview tool. If you use Apple Preview as your default PDF viewer then APT will use it when you press the PDF Preview button in APT. If you then save a PDF file from Apple Preview you will not see the problem in your own copy of the combined PDF, but anyone you give it to who does not have Apple Preview will have problems reading your draft. Please note that the problem here is only with the draft you create with APT's PDF Preview for sending around. Apple Preview is not used in the submission process.
Solution 2: There are two options for creating readable drafts for your Co-Is. You could change your default PDF viewer to Adobe Acrobat, or you could skip using the PDF Preview option in APT and use APT's "File>Export>Export PDF to Proposal Directory". The latter option does not use your default PDF viewer.
Low Sky observations are incorrectly being shown as unschedulable in Phase I.
Workaround: If Low Sky is your only scheduling constraint, do not worry about the fact that the Visit Planner says it is unschedulable. It is schedulable at some point during the year. If you have other constraints to consider and are comfortable with APT Phase II mode, go ahead and use it. Low Sky is correct there. Note that if you do this, you must fill an orbit only to the Low Sky limit in the Orbit Planner. Then the Visit Planner will show you the correct schedulability. (59546)
APT does not allow submission of very large PDF attachments
(larger than about 50 MB).
Workaround: If this happens to you please submit without an attachment and contact help@stsci.edu. We will arrange to get your attachment via e-mail. (52887)
Updating an old Phase I Proposal:
Can I open a previous cycle's HST proposal in APT?
Yes, but only if it was written in APT (Cycle 12 was the first to use APT) . Just use Open from the File menu.
I can't find my APT proposal file from last year. How can I get a copy?
Send an email to help@stsci.edu and provide the PI name and Title and we will verify and forward the XML file to you.
How can I get rid of a previous cycle's proposal number?
When you open a proposal which was submitted in a previous cycle you probably will see the proposal number it was submitted under. To clear the old ID simply update the Cycle number on the Proposal Information form.
Phase II:
For general Phase II information see Resources for Phase II Proposal Development
How do I convert my Phase I proposal to Phase II?
Open your Phase I proposal using APT and then click on the Phase I -> Phase II button on the tool bar.If the button is not active, make sure that you have your proposal selected in the hierarchical editor.
Why can't I specify the order of visits in a SEQ WITHIN?
The order of visits of a SEQ WITHIN visit requirement cannot be specified. Instead, APT orders the visits according to their placement in the proposal.
Orbit Planner:
Why is the Orbit Planner failing with the message: "Orbit Planner server communication failure"?
APT can't communicate with the Orbit Planner server when there is a misconfiguration of a unix machines's network interface (specifically such that its hostname/domain designation does not match its actual IP address). Here are two specific examples that have happened and the fixes. If neither of these examples apply, please generally check your network settings with respect to their hostname and domain.
Case 1: You are traveling with your linux laptop and your machine's full host name (e.g. mymachine.stsci.edu) is hard coded into the file /etc/sysconfig/network, but you are not currently at your home institution. Try editing the host name to be just one word (e.g. mymachine) while you are away.
Case 2: Your linux laptop has an IP address assigned by DHCP, but also has a conflicting IP address defined for its hostname in either /etc/hosts or a Domain Name Server (DNS). So, upon boot-up your laptop is given an IP address from DHCP that differed from the IP address listed in the /etc/hosts or DNS server. To check for this descrepancy do "host mymachine" (which returns mymachines's IP address from DNS) and "/sbin/ifconfig" (which returns the IP address that was assigned to the Ethernet card). Try configuring your laptop to obtain it's IP address from either DHCP or DNS, not both.
Visit Planner:
The
Visit Planner will occasionally continue to display a deleted
visit.
Workaround: The deleted visits will go away the next time you save, close, and reopen the proposal. (48093)
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