For instructions on installing the simulations code, go here.

The catalog simulations framework uses three principal structures to store data:

• CatalogDBObjects store database tables containing the actual data that is used to construct the catalog
• ObservationMetaData objects store information about a particular pointing or observation.  This is used to determine what from the CatalogDBObject is actually visible.  Often, the CatalogDBObject will contain objects over the whole sky, but you are only interested in outputting objects that are visible through a specific telescope; the ObservationMetaData contains the information necessary to pare down the DBObject.
• The catalog class combines the CatalogDBObject and the ObservationMetaData into a catalog of objects and the desired quantities (RA, Dec, magnitudes, etc.) associated with them.

For a more detailed overview of how the CatalogDBObject, ObservationMetaData, and catalog class interact, see this page.

For an overview of what source code is stored in which package, see this page.

For a list of tables and columns available in the UW LSST database, see this page.

For an overview of the physical meaning of the contents of the UW LSST database, see this page.

To see a list of the getters (i.e. the quantities that the catalog simulation already knows how to calculate), see this page.

To learn how to write your own getter, see this page.

To learn how to query OpSim using the catalogs framework, see this page.

For discussion of the variability model used in the catalog simulations, see this page.

For an overview of spectral energy density models stored in the catalog simulations, see this page.

For an overview of the system throughput models stored in the catalog simulations, see this page.