ABU

          Astro-graph Building Utility (ABU) is a tool for visualizing the data in VizieR.
It acts on data in VOTable format obtained using VizieR.

VizieR, developed by C.. D.. S.. (CDS, link ) provides access to the most complete library of 
published astronomical catalogues and 
data tables available on line, organized in a
self-documented database. Query tools allow the user to select relevant data 
tables and to extract and format records matching given criteria.
Specific care has been taken for optimizing access to some very large 
catalogues such as Guide Star Catalogs, the USNO-A2, 2MASS.

ABU is a graphics and visualization tool fully integrated with VizieR.  It  allows the user to 
visualize data extracted from any of the catalogues in Vizier.  Presently it
can be used to display the distribution, as a histogram, of any data field,
or to plot two data fields against each other.  Simple transformations can be applied to
the extracted data. The visualized portion can be just a  dynamically selected
subset of extracted data.  Some simple statistical information about the selected data can be
obtained.   

ABU uses Ptplot 5.2, a 2D data plotter and histogram tool implemented in Java. Ptplot has
been developed at Electrical Engineering & Computer Science  department at the 
University of California, Berkeley and is available and is available in the public domain
(http://ptolemy.eecs.berkeley.edu/).  ABU is developed as an applet, and a Java plugin is
required to view it in a browser.  A stand alone version of ABU, with an advanced statistical package
will be developed in the future.

ABU can be invoked by selecting the Plot(VOPlot) option while using VizieR. 

ABU has been developed by Persistent Systems Pvt. Ltd. (link...) in association
with IUCAA, as a part of the Virtual Observatory-India (VOI) initiative. 
Click here for Release Notes and disclaimer information.