At the bottom of each observation page two rows of functional buttons can be found. Those in the upper row will be described in the following section. But before doing so, here is a brief description of the functions offered by the keys in the lower row. These are: ``Copy Observation'', ``Add Time Constraints'' and ``Delete Observation''.
In many programmes including more than one observation, the different observations are likely to be similar with respect to the observation details (such as, e.g., the number of exposures per observation, the prime instrument, the choice of filters, etc.). Thus, once all details of one observation (including all exposures, as described below) have been filled in, it can be used as a template for other, similar ones to minimise the manual input and thus the amount of time spent on filling out the proposal formsheets.
Copying an observation will lead to an update of the navigation tree on the left-hand side. When susequently changing entries in a copied observation (in particular the target name) or in an exposure form, no existing page is deleted or new page created. Thus, XRPS is not triggered to automatically update the navigation tree. If the target name should have changed, press ``Reload'' on your browser to update the navigation tree.
In case it should be easier to just type in the details of different observations manually, instead of copying, please first commit all data to memory before clicking on the ``Proposal'' directory in the navigation tree on the left (Fig. 7) to go back up to the top-level ``Proposal Details'' page and use the ``Add Observation'' function key to proceed from there (§§ 5.3 and 5.3.2).
Pressing this button, a whole observation, including all its exposures and associated time details (if any), is deleted. A verification request will appear before performing the deletion.
Time-critical observations need additional entries to specify when they must be conducted. These entries are made in a special time constraints page (§ 5.3.2.2).