The formatted, machine-readable tables are distinguished by a meta-data header that includes the format, units, and a short description for each data column. Examples can be found in the following papers:
ApJ:
AJ:
In order to create standardized machine-readable ASCII tables, certain guidelines should be followed. Ideally, each data column should be formatted with left justified character columns and right justified numerical columns that are decimal aligned. However, tables delimited by a special character will also be accepted. Examples of delimited tables are LaTeX tables (`&'s) and the ASCII output from most word processors (Tabs). In order to produce the meta-data header for the final posted tables, additional information is required. This information can be extracted from the manuscript while the machine-readable table is being created. Unfortunately, some tables are poorly described in the text and many do not include units for all values. Errors may occur in the final machine-readable tables under these circumstances. To prevent problems, authors are urged to include the units and a short description for each column. If possible, authors should use the standard units abbreviations and rules. Nonstandard units should be converted into SI units when possible (i.e. 0.1nm for Angstroms and mW/m2 for ergs/cm2/s) or else enclosed by ""s. If the data is already formatted, the format codes and starting character positions for each column should also be included. This information may be placed at the beginning of the table. As an example, a properly formatted and documented table submission of a classical nova lightcurve is given below.
------tab1.online.txt------------------------------------------------------- 1 F11.3 day Observation date 13 F4.2 mag V band magnitude 18 A1 none Footnote on the V magnitude. Indicates a non-standard V filter was used. F4.2 mag One sigma error in the V magnitude 25 F5.2 mag The (B-V) color 31 F4.2 mag One sigma error in (B-V) 37 A4 none Observer code (see text) ------tab1.online.txt------------------------------------------------------- 2444963.767 6.32 d 0.05 0.31 0.01 JPA 2444964.787 6.43 0.02 0.22 0.02 GJS 2444965.682 6.66 0.07 0.18 0.03 KVan 2444969.590 7.00 0.10 0.05 0.01 GJS 2444978.490 8.30 0.08 -0.11 0.02 KVan ------tab1.online.txt-------------------------------------------------------
Note that any column footnotes or special characters flags (e.g. column 3 in the example) require their own column for a table to be machine readable.
The AAS journal tables follow the format, documentation conventions and standards similar to (but not as extensive as) those developed at the CDS (Vizier) and the ADC. For further information on these standards, visit http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/doc/catstd.htx or http://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/adc/data_submission.html.
Authors who opt for on-line only tables will be charged one extra page charge per table instead of the standard page charge per printed table page. If the author wants to print a short ~15 line version of an on-line only table they are responsible for creating the printed version. When submitting, the author should clearly note in the ReadMe file which tables are on-line only, if the tables have corresponding printed versions, and the names of these ~15 line tables.