= Scantable Redesign Proposal =

== Summary ==

The current Scantable schema is biased towards rpfits style data (or the structure of {{{atnf/PKSIO/PKSrecord.h}}}). Using the PKSreader and the current Scantable format a lot of metadata from the !MeasurementSets get lost. This proposal tries to rectify this without as major impact on the current use of the Scantable.

The proposal in summary:

 * Keep Scantable as the asap internal format
 * extend the schema to include all relevant (meta)data in the !MeasurementSet (MS)
 * implement a direct MS->Scantable Filler avoiding (meta)data loss by going through the PKSreader
 * use MS as the persistent asap storage container
  * implement a direct Scantable->MS Writer avoiding (meta)data loss by going through the PKSwriter

optional performance/usability changes:

 * implement a direct ASDM->Scantable Filler (performance)
 * implement an upgrade task for the old Scantable to the new Scantable schema ( not required for standard as Scantable is not assumed to be persistent)

 
= Relevant Documentation =

 * ''attach spreadsheet for impact on all asap functions/methods/tasks''
 * ''attach image of Scantable schema''