LDM-McIDAS:
Building and Installing
Building and Installing the LDM-McIDAS decoders
If there is no binary distribution that will work on your machine, you
will need to build the LDM-McIDAS decoders from source.
After you download the source distribution of the LDM-McIDAS
package, you need to move it to a suitable location, compile,
test, and install the software.
Table of Contents
Where to Install the Software
Like all Unidata packages, LDM-McIDAS is distributed as a separate package,
and you can build and install it any place
you like on the machine that is running the
LDM so long as the
user running the
LDM has access to and execute privilege for its
decoders.
Here are some guidelines for LDM-McIDAS:
- we recommend that you build/install in the same account that you use
for the LDM package (e.g., ldm).
- if you decide to not build/install LDM-McIDAS in the ldm
account, we recommend that you install it at the same level as the LDM
(e.g., /usr/local/ldm-mcidas if the LDM is installed in
/usr/local/ldm).
If you follow these guidelines, your directory structure would look
something like:
LDM-McIDAS built/installed in ldm account:
|-bin
|-data-------
|-doc
|-etc--------
|-include
|-decoders
| |-util
| |
| | |-bin-----
| | |-doc-----
| |-ldm-5.2.x--|-include-
| | |-lib-----
| | |-man-----|-man1-
| | | |-man3-
|-ldm--------| |-src-----
| |
| |-lib
| |-logs
| |-man
| |-runtime
| |-src
| |
| |
| | |-bin-----
| | | |-lib-----
/usr/local-| |-ldm-mcidas-|-ldm-mcidas-...-|
| | | | |-decode--
| | |-src-----|-ingest--
| | | |-libpng-
| | | |-port----
| | | |-tingest-
| | | |-zlib----
| | |
| | |-include-
| | |-man-----|-man1
| |
| |
|-bin
LDM-McIDAS built/installed at the same level as the ldm account:
|-bin
|-data-------
|-doc
|-etc--------
|-include
|-decoders
|-util
|
| |-bin-----
| |-doc-----
|-ldm-5.2.x--|-include-
| |-lib-----
| |-man-----|-man1-
| | |-man3-
|-ldm--------| |-src-----
| |
| |-lib
| |-logs
| |-man
| |-runtime
| |-src
|
|
| |-bin-----
| |-lib-----
/usr/local-| | |
|-ldm-mcidas-|-ldm-mcidas-...-|
| | | |-decode--
| |-src-----|-ingest--
| | |-libpng-
| | |-port----
| | |-tingest-
| | |-zlib----
| |
| |-include-
| |-man-----|-man1
|
|
|-bin
To build the source distribution or unpack the binary distribution in the
ldm account, you would move the compressed tar
file to the /usr/local/ldm/ldm-mcidas directory and uncompress and
untar the file:
<login as the user ldm>
Type: mkdir ldm-mcidas
Type: cd ldm-mcidas
Type: mv <ldm-mcidas_download_directory>/ldm-mcidas-2004.tar.Z .
Type: zcat ldm-mcidas-2004.tar.Z | tar xvf -
If you are working with a binary distribution, you can proceed to the
Installing the Software section.
What to do Before Compiling
Defining Environment Variables
LDM-McIDAS uses the configure utility to create C
header and compilation Makefile files. The packages that LDM-McIDAS
decoders depend on are:
- Unidata LDM
- Unidata McIDAS-X
- Unidata netCDF (bundled wth McIDAS-X)
- zlib (bundled with LDM-McIDAS)
- libpng (bundled with LDM-McIDAS)
If both the LDM or McIDAS-X are installed in
"standard" directories,
configure will correctly guess values for
needed, system-dependent environment variables. If those packages are not
installed in "standard" directories, you will need to define
environment variables that will tell configure where to
find the packages.
The easiest way to insure that configure will find all
of the packages it needs is to define needed environment variables
yourself. The full set of environment variables you may need to define
to build LDM-MCIDAS are:
| Environment variable |
Use |
| CC |
C compiler to use |
| CFLAGS |
C compiler flags to use |
| CPPFLAGS |
C preprocessor flags to use |
| FC |
Fortran compiler to use |
| FFLAGS |
Fortran compiler flags to use |
| CPP_LDM |
Compile-time reference for LDM header files |
| LD_LDM |
Link-time reference for LDM library |
| CPP_MCIDAS |
Compile-time reference for McIDAS header files |
| LD_MCIDAS |
Link-time reference for McIDAS library |
| CPP_NETCDF |
Compile-time reference for netCDF header files |
| LD_NETCDF |
Link-time reference for netCDF library |
| LD_X11 |
Link-time reference for X11 library |
| LD_MATH |
Link-time reference for math library |
Example environment variable settings for a Linux system:
CC=gcc
CFLAGS=-O
CPPFLAGS='-DNDEBUG -Df2cFortran'
FC=g77
FFLAGS='-O -Wuninitialized -fno-automatic -ff90-intrinsics-hide'
CPP_LDM=-I/home/ldm/include
LD_LDM='-L/home/ldm/lib -lldm'
CPP_MCIDAS=-I/home/mcidas/inc
LD_MCIDAS='-L/home/mcidas/lib -lmcidas'
CPP_NETCDF=-I/home/mcidas/include
LD_NETCDF='-L/home/mcidas/lib -lnetcdf'
LD_X11=-L/usr/X11R6/lib -lX11
LD_MATH=-lm
After defining the environment variables, you should go into the src
directory of the LDM-McIDAS version you just unpacked:
Type: cd ~ldm/ldm-mcidas/ldm-mcidas-200x/src
and read the README and INSTALL files before proceeding.
INSTALL provides additional information on running the configuration
utility.
Running configure
The next step is to run the configure shell script
located in the src directory of the LDM-McIDAS version tree:
Type: ./confgure
Compiling the Software
Once
configure has run, and assuming it ran with no errors,
you use
make to compile, test and install the LDM-McIDAS package.
There are 3 steps in the make process:
- creation of libraries and executables - where the source code is
compiled and the libraries are created
- installation - where the binaries and libraries are moved to
the directories you specified when you ran configure
- cleaning up - where the object files are deleted
To build, install, and then cleanup, you can type:
For `csh'-compatible shells:
Type: make all install clean >&! ldm-mcidas.log &
Type: tail -f ldm-mcidas.log
For POSIX.2-compatible shells (e.g `sh', `ksh', `bash:
Type: make all install clean >ldm-mcidas.log 2>&1 &
Type: tail -f ldm-mcidas.log
Following these examples, output from the make command will be sent to the file
ldm-mcidas.log. The tail command allows you to view
the output as it is sent to the log file. We recommend that you send
the output to a log file. If there are problems, and you can't figure
out what is wrong, you can mail the log file to
<support-ldm-mcidas AT unidata.ucar.edu>.
Installing the Software
At this point, you could use the LDM-McIDAS decoders from the directory
you just installed them in:
~ldm/ldm-mcidas/ldm-mcidas-200x/bin. We recommend, however, that you copy
them to the either the ~ldm/decoders or ~ldm/util directory and
use them from there. Which directory you copy them to will depend on which
directory you have previously created and included in the PATH for the
user running your LDM.
Since the most commonly used directory for LDM decoders is
~ldm/decoders, we recommend that copy them there:
<while still logged in as 'ldm'>
Type: cd ~ldm/ldm-mcidas/ldm-mcidas-200x/bin
Type: chmod +x *
Type: cp area2png ~ldm/decoders
Type: cp nldn2md ~ldm/decoders
Type: cp pnga2area ~ldm/decoders
Type: cp pngg2gini ~ldm/decoders
Type: cp proftomd ~ldm/decoders
Type: cp zlibg2gini ~ldm/decoders
If this is a first-time installation for the LDM-McIDAS decoders on your
system, also do the following (do not do this if you are upgrading):
Type: cp batch.k ~ldm/decoders
Type: cp uwgrid.sh ~ldm/decoders
Next, if you will be using pnga2area to decode MCIDAS and
FNEXRAD datastream imagery into McIDAS usable formats, you will
need to copy two files in the LDM-McIDAS etc to the
~ldm/etc directory:
<while still logged in as 'ldm'>
Type: cd ~ldm/ldm-mcidas/ldm-mcidas-200x/etc
Type: cp SATANNOT ~ldm/etc
Type: cp SATBAND ~ldm/etc
If you will be decoding FSL2 Wind Profiler and NLDN lightning
data into McIDAS compatible data files, you must copy three files
in the LDM-McIDAS etc to the to the directory where you want
decoders for these data to write their output:
<still logged in as 'ldm'>
Type: cd ~ldm/ldm-mcidas/ldm-mcidas-200x/etc
Type: chmod 664 ROUTE.SYS SYSKEY.TAB
Type: chmod 666 SCHEMA
Type: cp ROUTE.SYS ~ldm/data/mcidas
Type: cp SYSKEY.TAB ~ldm/data/mcidas
Type: cp SCHEMA ~ldm/data/mcidas
Diagnosing problems and other considerations
If an error occurs during the
configure or
make
process, you can try to diagnose the problem by looking at the file
config.status or by looking at the
make log file.
If you are unable to figure out what is wrong, send a message to
<support-ldm-mcidas AT unidata.ucar.edu>.
and include (if possible) the error message (ex: the output from the log
file). A few of the common problems that occur and a brief description are
listed below. A more complete listing of common problems (and solutions) can
be found
by searching the
LDM-McIDAS email archive.
- When doing a make, make bombs when it tries to
compile the decoders- You probably have not installed the McIDAS-X,
LDM, or netCDF libraries or include files or the path to any of them
is incorrect.
- You get the error Cannot load command followed by a
reference to a GEMPAK directory - The AR environment variable
is set as a reference to the location of the GEMPAK AREA files.
Set this variable to nothing (setenv AR) and rerun configure.
REMEMBER: You need to have the
LDM,
netCDF, and McIDAS-X libraries
and include files installed on your system before you can build the
LDM-McIDAS decoders.
Send questions/comments to <support-ldm-mcidas
AT unidata.ucar.edu>.
