Generating Telemetry XML with Python Script

Here is some info on XTCE. This Green Book introduces the main concepts of XML Telemetric and Command Exchange (XTCE), a telemetry and telecommand database format for spacecraft monitoring and control.

General

This document provides steps and information on how to use xtce_generator_template.py script as a base for users to generate telemetry XML files. The script is designed to simplify the process of creating telemetry definitions for various packet types.

The script is located in the tools/xtce_generation directory. The script is called xtce_generator_template.py. The script is a template that can be modified to generate telemetry XML files for different packet types. Your new file should be called xtce_generator_yourinstrument.py. An example of how to use the script is xtce_generator_codice.py which is also located in the tools/xtce_generation directory.

Before you Start

Generating XTCEs is only done whenever packet definitions get updated, and thus it is not a part of the main processing package. To use it there are a few extra dependencies like pandas that you can install with

poetry install --extras tools

How to Use

Define the instrument name in the main() function by setting the instrument_name variable to the name of your instrument.

instrument_name = "your_instrument_name"

In the code, file paths are being configured. Make sure to change the file paths to match your instrument’s file structure.

current_directory = Path(__file__).parent
module_path = f"{current_directory}/../../imap_processing"
# This is the path of the output directory
packet_definition_path = f"{module_path}/{instrument_name}/packet_definitions"
# This is the path to the excel file that contains the telemetry definitions
path_to_excel_file = f"{current_directory}/your_packet.xlsx"

Define packet names and Application Process Identifiers (APIDs). The packet names are case sensitive meaning the the packet names need to be exactly what the tabs of the spreadsheet are. APID’s must match the names and apIds in the packet definition file. You can use as many packet names and apIds as you want. The APID should be an integer (not hexadecimal). Follow the format below.

packets = {
    # Define packet names and associated Application IDs (apId)
    "your_packet_A": ####,
    "your_packet_B": ####,
    # ... (other packet definitions)
}

Generating Telemetry XML Files

Once you have your xtce processing file defined, you can run it with the following command:

python xtce_generator_instrument_name.py