SKA Unique Identifier Format Documentation

This section describes the SKA Unique Identifier (SKA UID) format. The format of the scan ID differs from that of other types of entities like Scheduling Block Definition, Data Product, etc.

Scan IDs

String of format localSeq where

  • localSeq - locally generated sequence: 15 digit string representation of a natural number (48 bits), with leading zeros.

An example of a scan ID: 000000000001234

IDs of other entity types

String of format type-generatorID-datetime-localSeq where

  • type - type of entity (object) the ID is for (SBD, SBI, etc.). Refer to class EntityTypes.

  • generatorID - uniquely identifies the particular SKA ID generator service instance that issued the SKA UID. This can also be used to separate IDs that are generated for different purposes such as normal operations, testing, engineering, AIV.

  • datetime : ISO8601 format date (in UT time zone), in the standard, basic, format plus some precision of time - this can help with localising a debugging window if required. Note we are assuming a 1 day precision for the moment;

  • localSeq - locally generated sequence: 5 digit string representation of a natural number, with leading zeros.

A possible example SKA UID for a Scheduling Block Instance generated at the Mid telescope could be: sbi-M001-20191031-01234

This example assumes a 1 day date precision and 5 digits for the sequence