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Until semester S18A the OBs needed to be prepared using a Microsoft Excel3.1 .xls/.xlsx spreadsheet, and a basic knowledge of this program was required. Starting from semester S18B, the OBs should be prepared using a Google spreadsheet3.2. The structure of the Google spreadsheet follows that of the previous Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. An example and an empty template can be found on the QM website:
A Google spreadsheet template specified for a given proposal, containing the proposal ID and information from Phase 1, will be sent to each PI no later than 2 days after the AL. This template can be edited in a web browser. Observers who have restricted access to Google may contact us and request a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet which can be read and edited in Apache OpenOffice3.3, LibreOffice3.4 or similar programs, but should be saved in the .xlsx or .xls format.
The spreadsheet consists of six tabs: targets, envcfg, inscfg, telcfg, ob, and proposal. These include, respectively: definitions of targets, observing constraints, instrument and telescope configuration, the OB itself, and the constrains given during Phase 1. The names of tabs and columns must not be changed. Comments and additional calculations can be done aside outside of the named columns. Note that Comment columns should not be used to describe additional requests and constraints, but can be used for notes for clarity.