This archive contains answers to questions sent to Unidata support through mid-2025. Note that the archive is no longer being updated. We provide the archive for reference; many of the answers presented here remain technically correct, even if somewhat outdated. For the most up-to-date information on the use of NSF Unidata software and data services, please consult the Software Documentation first.
David, You might look back in the logs and see if there are indications that more than one instance of dcmetr is running at a time (eg overlapping process IDs in the log messages). Pqact could have problems with a pipe and end up starting up a new stream if the PIPE had trouble.
I'm not sure if this is the case, but it sounds plausible. Here's the log from dcmetr as recorded with the -d option:
[6298] 020421/0503 [FL -4] Cannot read file .... [6298] 020421/0504 [FL -4] Cannot read file ....[6298] 020421/0504 [FL -4] Cannot read file .[6298] 020421/0611 [FL -4] Cannot
read file ....[6298] 020421/0720 [SF -2] File /home/cirrus/a/gemdata/surface/020420_sao.gem c
ould not be opened. [6298] 020421/1055 [FL -4] Cannot read file .... [6298] 020421/1056 [FL -4] Cannot read file ....[6298] 020421/1056 [FL -4] Cannot read file .[6298] 020421/1211 [FL -4] Cannot
read file .... [6298] 020421/2346 [FL -4] Cannot read file .... [6298] 020421/2347 [FL -4] Cannot read file .... [6298] 020421/2348 [FL -4] Cannot read file .... [6298] 020421/2350 [FL -4] Cannot read file .... [6298] 020421/2352 [FL -4] Cannot read file .... [6298] 020421/2353 [FL -4] Cannot read file .... [6298] 020421/2354 [FL -4] Cannot read file .... [6298] 020421/2355 [FL -4] Cannot read file .... [6298] 020421/2356 [FL -4] Cannot read file ....[6298] 020421/2356 [FL -4] Cannot read file .[6298] 020422/0011 [FL -4] Cannot
read file .... [6298] 020422/1133 [FL -4] Cannot read file .... [6298] 020422/1134 [FL -4] Cannot read file .... [6298] 020422/1135 [FL -4] Cannot read file .... [6298] 020422/1136 [FL -4] Cannot read file ....[6298] 020422/1136 [FL -4] Cannot read file .[6298] 020422/1812 [DC 2] Termina
te Signal [6298] 020422/1812 [DC 5] Normal termination. [6298] 020422/1812 [DC 2] Number of bulletins read and processed: 104264 [6298] 020422/1812 [DC 6] Shutting down. [5884] 020422/1815 [DC 3] [5884] 020425/2120 [DC -6] [5884] 020425/2120 [DC 5] [5884] 020425/2120 [DC 2] Number of bulletins read and processed: 125886 [5884] 020425/2120 [DC 6] [28963] 020425/2121 [DC 3] [28963] 020425/2306 [FL -4] [28963] 020425/2308 [FL -4] [28963] 020425/2309 [FL -4] [28963] 020425/2[28963] 020426/1537 [DC 2] Terminate Signal [28963] 020426/1537 [DC 5] [28963] 020426/1537 [DC 2] Number of bulletins read and processed: 31308 [28963] 020426/1537 [DC 6] [11470] 020426/1541 [DC 3] Starting up. [11470] 020426/1605 [DC -6] A time out has occurred. [11470] 020426/1605 [DC 5] Normal termination. [11470] 020426/1605 [DC 2] Number of bulletins read and processed: 428 [11470] 020426/1605 [DC 6] Shutting down. [22235] 020426/1606 [DC 3] Starting up. [22235] 020426/1734 [DC 2] Terminate Signal [22235] 020426/1734 [DC 5] Normal termination. [22235] 020426/1734 [DC 2] Number of bulletins read and processed: 3309 [22235] 020426/1734 [DC 6] Shutting down. [25792] 020426/1735 [DC 3] I find it odd that sometimes there is two lines of output mixed together.
>My pqact entry looks like this: DDS|DDPLUS|IDS ^S[AP].* .... ([0-3][0-9])PIPE /home/cirrus/a/gempak/NAWIPS-5.6E/bin/linux/dcmetr -v 1 -b 9 -m 24-d /home/cirrus/a/gemdata/logs/dcmetr.log -p /home/cirrus/a/gempak/NAWIPS-5.6E/gempak/tables/pack/metar.pack-s /home/cirrus/a/gempak/NAWIPS-5.6E/gempak/tables/stns/sfmetar_sa.tbl> /home/cirrus/a/gemdata/surface/YYMMDD_sao.gem
-- | David Wojtowicz, Sr. Research Programmer | Department of Atmospheric Sciences Computer Services | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | email: address@hidden phone: (217)333-8390