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[IDV #GUG-824046]: IDV - geopoliticla maps under MSG umbrella

Hi HansPeter-

> The procedure works as described and I thank your for the hints, the one
> about importing McIDAS maps in particular. I have discovered a few
> kinks, however.
> 
> 1. Having described in the former email maps as "crude", meant that I
> got only few dashes here and there that lacking continuity altogether. I
> have know discovered the unexpected result when ticking "fast rendering"
> box in Default Background Maps widget - it renders the outlines as you
> would expect. This is happening on both my implementations, XP and Linux.

Fast rendering renders the maps (and other displays) without accounting
for projection seams.  So you gain speed at the expense of accuracy.
With fast rendering turned off, you are more likely to get a complete
display.  This is particularly true when mapping over a satellite projection.

> 2. When saving a display configuration as the default bundle including a
> tick of the "fast rendering" box (see 1) again renders the crude map
> outline only. When inspecting the widget the said box it IS ticked (and
> toggling the tick restores the full outline).

If you are displaying over the satellite projection, you'll probably
not want to use fast rendering.  The speed difference will depend on
the number of lines in the map.  We particularly notice a difference
when plotting the US County outlines, but for most other maps, it
doesn't make too much of a difference.

> 3. There is a a minor inconsistency in my Linux implementation in the
> Default Background Maps widget. The pull-down list of the line types
> show from top to bottom:
> densely-dashed (wrong: is rendered as full line)
> dashed
> dotted
> dotted-dashed
> On XP is correct!

We are using ASCII text to distinguish the various line styles and
on Linux, it doesn't show up as well using the default fonts on Linux.
I'll see if I can play around with the font for the widget to make
it more consistent.

> 4. As you correctly say the maps.xml list gets merged with the system
> defaults at start-up. So, deleting unwanted maps is undone and I just
> have a longer list (with US clutter ;-). Can system defaults be
> influenced by the user?

This is a bug.  If your preferred maps are not showing up at the
top of the list, one solution would be to use the Edit->Maps and Backgrounds->
Add Your Own Map... menu to create a new display control, add in just
the maps you want and save  that as your default maps.  Then, the next
time you start the IDV, at least your maps will be at the top of the
list.  We'll get this fixed for the 2.0 release.  Thanks for pointing
this out.

Don Murray

> Unidata IDV Support wrote:
> > Hi HansPeter-
> >
> >> Institution: EUMETSAT
> >> Package Version: any
> >> Operating System: any
> >> Hardware Information: any
> >> Inquiry: Maps avaible for the areas under the MSG umbrella are relatively 
> >> crude (in particular when comparing to the US related one). While this 
> >> focus is understandable, better maps would certainly foster the use of IDV 
> >> with MSG. I have found no reference on how to handle this task. Would you 
> >> be so kind and give me some information in order to see how this could be 
> >> handled.
> >
> > You can easily add your own maps (although it's not in the User's Guide).
> >>From the Default Background Maps control, select the Edit->Add Your Own 
> >>Map..
> > menu.  This will bring up a dialog window.  You can add in a McIDAS OUTL
> > map or a shapefile as a map.  Use the Browse button to find the map
> > you want on your system.  Alternatively, you can type in a URL to
> > a map on the web.  You can set the other parameters in the dialog for
> > the color, the line width, and the line style.  You can add in several
> > maps by repeating these steps.  You can use the control window to
> > delete maps you don't want (e.g. US related maps) by clicking on the
> > trash can icon next to the maps name.
> >
> > When you are done configuring your list, then you can use the
> > control's Edit->Save as Default Map Preference menu to set this
> > as your default.  This will write out a file named maps.xml to
> > your .metapps/DefaultIdv directory.
> >
> > Alternatively, you could use the Displays->Maps and Backgrounds
> > menu and select the "Add Your Own Map..." menu.  This will pop up
> > the same dialog as in the previous steps.  From that control,
> > you can add in other maps as needed.  If you chose the Edit->Save as
> > Default Map Preference, it will write out the maps just from this control
> > to the maps.xml file.  The next time you start the IDV, it will merge
> > that list in with the system defaults.
> >
> > In the next release, you can bundle this up as a plug-in that you can
> > share with others.
> >
> > Don Murray
> >
> >
> > Ticket Details
> > ===================
> > Ticket ID: GUG-824046
> > Department: Support IDV
> > Priority: Normal
> > Status: Open
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 


Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: GUG-824046
Department: Support IDV
Priority: Normal
Status: Open