Instructions for generating the New Abstracts of Interest page.


I've written a small script to produce a HTML page of physics abstracts from the preprint server. The only input required is a list of the numbers of the papers to be included. It's all very simple - instructions below. There is also a script to produce an offline presentation version.

Generating the HTML page

NB:This currently only works under Linux.
1. Make a file with a list of the paper numbers, including the section name
   ( astro-ph/ or since 2007 arXiv:)

   e.g.
   --file listing---------------------not part of file
   arXiv:0711.2171
   astro-ph/0302187
   astro-ph/0302207
   hep-ph/0011048
   --end file listing-----------------not part of file

   See the current file  /remote/hermes/httpd/html/astrophysics/Abstracts/refs.new 
   for an example.

2. Copy your file to (and overwrite) 
         /remote/hermes/httpd/html/astrophysics/Abstracts/refs.new

3. cd /remote/hermes/httpd/html/astrophysics/Abstracts

4. run the program gen_abs_html. ie ./gen_abs_html

5. All done

The script gen_abs_html is very simple (OK, crude) and will probably die or produce garbage on unexpected input, or in other unanticipated circumstances. Let me know ASAP if this occurs.

Offline presentation version

The offline script is intended to provide a minimal set of files that can be used to present the "New abstracts of interest" in the absence of an internet connection. The script saves the file to the local directory. Running it from a directory on a USB stick provides maximal insurance against network or laptop problems. So, e.g.
After generating the new_abs.html file, as above:
cd /media/usbdisk/abstracts
/remote/hermes/httpd/html/astrophysics/Abstracts/offline

This should copy the PDF files to the current directory and also produce a version of new_abs.html with the PDF link pointing locally.