>From: Patrick Dills <address@hidden>
>Organization: UCAR/COMET
>Keywords: 200007250005.e6P05ET01330 McIDAS-X ADDE GINI GINI.CFG
Patrick,
>I have just updated our MCIDAS-X 7.6 release to include the GINI
>configuration but am not sure how to display GINI files I've saved locally
>from a NOAAPORT feed and copied to my local /mcidas/data directory.
>
>Any and all help would be much appreciated.
The process of being able to display local GINI images in Unidata McIDAS
is composed of:
1) creation of an ADDE dataset for the imagery
2) setting the names of the different types of imagery in the dataset
3) describing the dataset to McIDAS
4) specifying the location of the dataset to your McIDAS-X session(s)
1) Creation of an ADDE dataset for the imagery
- decide on the name you want to call your dataset
If your GINI imagery is "realtime" (i.e., current), then I suggest
you adopt the same name that I use for the Unidata configuration,
RTGINI (Real Time GINI). If your imagery is not realtime (e.g., it
is historic data), I would recommend that you name the dataset
something else. For instance, if the set of images represents
images taken during a particular weather event, you should name
the dataset after the event so that its name will mean something
to users.
You can call your dataset anything you want subject to the limitation
that the dataset name must be less than or equal to 12 characters in
length.
For purposes of illustration, let's assume that your images are realtime,
so we will call the dataset RTGINI.
2) Setting the names of the different types of images in the dataset
- It will be best for the users of the dataset if the different types
of "things" (images in this case) in the dataset have names that will
inform the user what they contain. The GINI imagery in NOAAPORT
are fixed sectors that lend themselves to particular naming. Here is
what I chose for the NOAAPORT images:
GAN8KIR - GINI 8 km 10.7 um Alaska National
GAN8KVIS - GINI 8 km VIS Alaska National
GAN8KWV - GINI 8 km WV Alaska National
GAR16KWV - GINI 16 km WV Alaska Regional
GAR2KVIS - GINI 2 km VIS Alaska Regional
GAR8K12 - GINI 8 km 12.0 um Alaska Regional
GAR8K39 - GINI 8 km 3.9 um Alaska Regional
GAR8KIR - GINI 8 km 10.7 um Alaska Regional
GE1KVIS - GINI 1 km VIS East CONUS
GE4K12 - GINI 4 km 12.0 um East CONUS
GE4K39 - GINI 4 km 3.9 um East CONUS
GE4KIR - GINI 4 km 10.7 um East CONUS
GE8KWV - GINI 8 km WV East CONUS
GHN14KIR - GINI 14 km IR Hawaii National
GHN14KVIS - GINI 14 km VIS Hawaii National
GHN14KWV - GINI 14 km WV Hawaii National
GHR1KVIS - GINI 1 km VIS Hawaii Regional
GHR4K12 - GINI 4 km 12.0 Hawaii Regional
GHR4K39 - GINI 4 km 3.9 um Hawaii Regional
GHR4KIR - GINI 4 km 10.7 um Hawaii Regional
GHR8KWV - GINI 8 km WV Hawaii Regional
GMC24KIR - GINI 24 km 10.7 um Mult-Composite
GMC24KVIS - GINI 24 km VIS Mult-Composite
GMC24KWV - GINI 24 km WV Mult-Composite
GNC24K12 - GINI 24 km 12.0 um Nhem-Composite
GNC24K39 - GINI 24 km 3.9 um Nhem-Composite
GNC24KIR - GINI 24 km 10.7 um Nhem-Composite
GNC24KVIS - GINI 24 km VIS Nhem-Composite
GNC24KWV - GINI 24 km WV Nhem-Composite
GPN8KIR - GINI 8 km 10.7 um Puerto Rico National
GPN8KVIS - GINI 8 km VIS Puerto Rico National
GPN8KWV - GINI 8 km WV Puerto Rico National
GPR1KVIS - GINI 1 km VIS Puerto Rico Regional
GPR4K12 - GINI 4 km 12.0 um Puerto Rico Regional
GPR4K39 - GINI 4 km 3.9 um Puerto Rico Regional
GPR4KIR - GINI 4 km 10.7 um Puerto Rico Regional
GPR8KWV - GINI 8 km WV Puerto Rico Regional
GSN8K12 - GINI 8 km 12.0 um Super-National
GSN8K39 - GINI 8 km 3.9 um Super-National
GSN8KCTP - GINI 8 km Sounder Cloud Top Pressure
GSN8KIR - GINI 8 km 10.7 um Super-National
GSN8KLI - GINI 8 km Sounder Lifted Index
GSN8KPW - GINI 8 km Sounder Precipitable Water
GSN8KSFCT - GINI 8 km Sounder SFC Skin Temperature
GSN8KVIS - GINI 8 km VIS Super-National
GSN8KWV - GINI 8 km WV Super-National
GW1KVIS - GINI 1 km VIS West CONUS
GW4K12 - GINI 4 km 12.0 um West CONUS
GW4K39 - GINI 4 km 3.9 um West CONUS
GW4KIR - GINI 4 km 10.7 um West CONUS
GW8KWV - GINI 8 km WV West CONUS
The names of the elements of a dataset can be anything you want subject
to the limitation that they are less than or equal to 12 characters AND
the combination of the dataset and dataset element names be less than
or equal to 23 characters.
- Defining the contents and location of the various elements of the dataset
This is done by making a copy of and editing the example GINI configuration
file provided in the Unidata McIDAS-X distribution. This file should
get installed in the ~mcidas/workdata directory and is named GINI.CFG.
You should make a local copy of this file and keep it in the
~mcidas/workdata directory. For sake of argument, let's call this copy
GINICOMET.CFG
Three items are specified in the local copy of GINI.CFG (or its local copy):
DIRMASK - regular expression that describes the directory in which the
dataset elements can be found
FILEMASK - regular expression that describes the name of the image files
in the dataset
IPMASK - regular expression for the set of machines (IP addresses)
that will be allowed to access the elements in the dataset
If all of the images in a dataset are of the same type, these three
flags are sufficient to define access to the files.
An example of this that would match your images could be:
DIRMASK=/mcidas/data
FILEMASK=*
IPMASK=*
Note, however, that a specification of the FILEMASK as '*' would
force the server to open each file in the directory to see if
it was a file of the appropriate type. This is NOT advisable.
What is more likely is that elements of the dataset have an
identifiable name base or suffix, something like:
FILEMASK=*.goesEvis1km
In the case of datasets like the set of all GINI images in NOAAPORT,
these three parameters are not sufficient to specify the images in a
unique manner. In this case, one can override these settings with
ones that are specific to the type of each image. The format for
the override settings is:
<type>_DIR - regular expression for the directory location of
elements of the specified type
<type>_FILE - regular expression for an element of the dataset of
the specified type (TYPE <-> name of dataset element)
<type>_MASK - regular expression for machines allowed to access dataset
elements of the specified type
Only one of these extended forms may be needed to identify the elements
of a particular type in a dataset. In your example, you note that your
images can all be found in the directory '/mcidas/data'. Also, you may
want to allow all machines to access the data, so your IPMASK could stay
at '*' (everything). The names of the different types of elements of
the dataset could be very different. These might look like:
DIRMASK=/mcidas/data
FILE_MASK=*
IPMASK=*
GAN8KVIS_FILE=*_ganvi.sat
GAN8KIR_FILE=*_gani11.sat
GAN8KWV_FILE=*_ganwv.sat
GAR2KVIS_FILE=*_gakvi.sat
GAR8K39_FILE=*_gaki3.sat
GAR8KIR_FILE=*_gaki11.sat
GAR8K12_FILE=*_gaki12.sat
GAR16KWV_FILE=*_gakwv.sat
etc.
By the way, lines that begin with a '#' in the configuration file are
treated as comments.
3) Describing the dataset to McIDAS
You tell McIDAS what the contents of a dataset are by use of
the DSSERVE command. You run one of these commands for each dataset
name/element pair that are to be defined for the dataset. In the
DSSERVE command line, you will have to tell McIDAS to read the contents
of the dataset definition file whose elements were presented in the
last step. Here are a set of examples:
DSSERVE ADD RTGINI/GAN8KVIS GINI 1 9999 TYPE=IMAGE INFO=GINICOMET.CFG "GINI 8
km 10.7 um Alaska National
DSSERVE ADD RTGINI/GAN8KVIS GINI 1 9999 TYPE=IMAGE INFO=GINICOMET.CFG "GINI 8
km VIS Alaska National
DSSERVE ADD RTGINI/GAN8KWV GINI 1 9999 TYPE=IMAGE INFO=GINICOMET.CFG "GINI 8
km WV Alaska National
DSSERVE ADD RTGINI/GAR16KWV GINI 1 9999 TYPE=IMAGE INFO=GINICOMET.CFG "GINI
16 km WV Alaska National
DSSERVE ADD RTGINI/GAR2KVIS GINI 1 9999 TYPE=IMAGE INFO=GINICOMET.CFG "GINI 2
km VIS Alaska National
DSSERVE ADD RTGINI/GAR8K12 GINI 1 9999 TYPE=IMAGE INFO=GINICOMET.CFG "GINI 8
km 12.0 um Alaska National
DSSERVE ADD RTGINI/GAR8K39 GINI 1 9999 TYPE=IMAGE INFO=GINICOMET.CFG "GINI 8
km 3.9 um Alaska National
DSSERVE ADD RTGINI/GAR8KIR GINI 1 9999 TYPE=IMAGE INFO=GINICOMET.CFG "GINI 8
km 10.7 um Alaska National
etc.
To simplify the process, I included a McIDAS BATCH file named GINIADDE.BAT
in Unidata McIDAS. You should make a local copy of GINIADDE.BAT, which is
installed in the ~mcidas/data directory, edited the copy to match your
setup. The entries in the copy, let's call it GINICOMET.BAT, would be
used to tell McIDAS about the dataset with:
BATCH GINICOMET.BAT
If the dataset is to be accessed as local data (as opposed to everyone
going to a remote ADDE server), then each user would need to run this
BATCH command AND the local copy of GINI.CFG would need to be located
in a directory in the user's MCPATH.
4) Specifying the location of the dataset to your McIDAS-X session(s)
Each user needs to tell his/her McIDAS session where to go to find
the dataset and its elements. This could be any machine accessible
by TCP/IP ethernet that is running a McIDAS remote ADDE server,
or it could be the local machine if the data file(s) that comprise the
dataset are locally accessible. In your case this would be done by:
BATCH GINICOMET.BAT
DATALOC ADD RTGINI LOCAL-DATA
after each user has verified that s/he has access to the files in
the '/mcidas/data' directory.
If you setup one machine to host a McDAS remote ADDE server, the
datafiles would not have to be accessible locally, and the user's
configuration would be much simplier:
DATALOC ADD RTGINI fully_qualified_name_of_ADDE_server_machine
All of the above might seem complicated until you do it once, then it
becomes pretty simple. Again, to make setup easier, two different files
have been included in the Unidata McIDAS distribution:
GINI.CFG - define dataset elements locations, names, and access privilege
GINIADDE.BAT - define each dataset element to McIDAS
Please let me know if the above is not clear enough and/or if you need
help in setting up your dataset and dataset access.
Tom Yoksas
>From address@hidden Tue Jul 25 22:35:48 2000
>Subject: Re: 20000724: GINI image display in -X 7.612
Success, and we're now displaying and manipulating GINI case
imagery in -X. Many thanks for the tips Tom !
Patrick
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