XMM-Newton Data Files Handbook

3.4 HTML

HTML is the standard format for files which provides overview or summary-type text information for PPS products. Important PPS results are not only presented in HTML files, and thus some information may be found in more than one type of file.

HTML files offer the possibility to provide structure to the collected PPS products of an observation through the use of hyperlinks. Web browsers can then provide a useful interface to the products. Links within the PPS products point to both external and internal services (or uniform resource locators, i.e., URLs)

• External URLs: URLs to external sites are limited to links to the SIMBAD family of servers only [for which the Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS) ensures support throughout the life of the SSC]. These links provide reference data only, they do not provide access to bulk data.
• Internal URLs: internal links are those pointing to pipeline products within the pps directory. Its use provides a quick and user-friendly mechanism for navigating around a product set (i.e., those belonging to a single ODF or SDF).

Within a PPS product set HTML internal links are self-contained, i.e., apart from the external URLs described, there are no link destinations outside of the product set.