[Kstars-devel] Small change to hipXXX.dat file format

[James Bowlin]

Congrats Jason for getting so much of the 4.x code to compile.

I've implemented the changed hipXXX.dat file format in my copy of the 3.5 
branch.  I've also written a Perl program that can transform the hip files 
between the old and new formats.  The old format can be roughly expressed
as [name[ : gname]].  The new format is [, gname[, name]] where gname is
always 7 chars long and is all spaces if there is a name but no gname.

The C++ code reads in both formats.  I chose to use a character other than
':' to make it easy (for a program) to distinguish between the two formats.
I don't feel strongly about using a comma.  A semi-colon, single-quote, or
almost any non-alphanumeric character would work just as well.  In fact,
I used a semi-colon right up until the end.  If anyone would prefer a 
different character or a different format, PLMK, I will be glad to change
to it.

I've provided examples below of the 3 different cases with the old format 
followed by the new format.  You can't see it in the examples but the new
format does make the hip files look better and makes them easier to read.

case: name and gname:
Mira : omi Cet
, omi Cet, Mira

case: gname only:
: ome UMa
, ome UMa

case: name only:
Pleione
,        , Pleione


-- 
Peace, James