Frequently Asked Questions

• What is MDSplus?
• How do I obtain the MDSplus software?
• How do I retrieve the MDSplus Disruption Data?

• What is SQL?
• How do I query the SQL Disruption Data?

• What is MDSplus?

MDSplus is a set of software tools for data acquisition and storage and a methodology for management of complex scientific data. MDSplus is widely used in the fusion community. The MDSplus software can be downloaded from www.mdsplus.org.

• How do I obtain the MDSplus software?

MDSplus is available from www.mdsplus.org.

• How do I retrieve the MDSplus Disruption Data?

The disruption data in the MDSPlus database is stored on star24.gat.com. Information on the disruption database MDSPlus tree and tag names can be found here : MDSplus Variables.

A list of available shot numbers can be found here : DDB Shot Table

• What is SQL?

The Structured Query Language (SQL) is a language used to interact with a relational database management system. A relational database stores highlights of a data set, and is useful for performing complex queries on multiple datasets, including shot and data surveys.

• How do I query the SQL Disruption Data?

The disruption data in the SQL relational database is stored on d3drdb.gat.com (use port 8001). The database and table name is DDB, and a list of column names available in the relational database can be found here : SQL Variables.