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The "standard set" of documents contains: contains the following:

ESO-MIDAS User's Guide (Release 95NOV or Release 94NOV) :
Three volumes describing the MIDAS core system, the applications, and the help files:

• Volume A (Release 95NOV or Release 94NOV):
  Describes the basic MIDAS system with all general purpose facilities such as MIDAS Control Language, all available commands, data input/output (including plotting and image display), table system (MIDAS Data Base). Site specific features are given in an appendix.
• Volume B (Release 95NOV or Release 94NOV):
  Describes how to use the MIDAS system for astronomical data reduction. Application packages for special types of data or reductions (e.g. long slit and echelle spectra, object search, or crowded field photometry) are discussed assuming intensity calibrated data. A set of appendices gives a detailed description of the reduction of raw data from ESO instruments.
• Volume C:
  Gives the on-line detailed description for all commands available. This volume is not available via hypertext to remote users as it can be accessed via the Midas GUI XHelp (from the shell with helpmidas or from Midas with create/gui help).

The MIDAS Environment:
A document describing the guideline for the development of MIDAS application code eithe rin FORTRAN or in C. It contains a description if the MIDAS environment wit it various data structure and the subroutine/fucntion calls in FORTRAN or C to access these structures.

The AGL Reference Manual:
The MIDAS graphic applications are based lowel level graphic routines provided by the Astronet Graphic Library (AGL) and writtenby the ASTRONET Group. Although the MIDAS Environment included a set of standard graphic interfaces, there can be cases where the basic functionalities provided by AGL is required. AGL routines are available in FORTRAN and C. The implementation of AGL in MIDAS is a stripped version of the complete AGL library. The complete distribution can be obtained from the anonymous ftp account of the Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri in Florence .

The IDI Reference Manual:
Similar to the AGL graphics library, the IDI library contains a set of display routines. However, they are provided only in FORTRAN.

Apart for this "standard" set of documentation, the MIDAS Users community is provided with two other sources of information:

ESO-MIDAS Courier: The ESO-MIDAS newsletter informs the user about recent devopments concerning MIDAS, in particular about new releases, new applications, and availability of patch levels. Contributions as well as suggestions and comments are welcome!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): A regurlarly updated listing of questions and answers divided according to subject.

The MIDAS system has been described in various papers. General overviews can be found in Banse et al. (1983) and in Grosbol and Ponz (1990). MIDAS as a development environment is discussed in the document ``MIDAS Environment'' (ESO-IPG, 1993) and by Banse et al. (1991). The performance of MIDAS on different platform is described by Grosbol et al., 1988. The implementation of the table file system is described by Grosbol and Ponz, 1985. For a more complete reference list, see References .