20050118:IDV - Local files (ldm generated) compatability with IDV

> Inquiry: We are just getting started with IDV here and are trying to determine 
> what local data we have that works and what data we need to start acruing here 
> to run IDV.  We\'ve come across a couple of issues when trying to display some 
> of our local files that we thought would be compatible with IDV, but as of yet 
> are not.
>
> 1) When trying to display surface station data from local netCDF files (i.e. 
> 2005011817_syn.nc, 2004011817_sao.nc) the following error message is displayed, 
> \"creating obs don\'t know how to convert input to a point ob.\"  Is this a 
> problem with our local data or is this a problem with the interpreter?
>  
I'm not sure. Unfortunately that error message is used in 2 different 
places in the code. If the file is not too big why don't you email
me it at: address@hidden and I'll take a look at it.

> 2) When trying to display McIDAS-Area files that work on our gempak and mcidas programs 
> after selecting the .are file under the data selection menu, when you try to select the data 
> under the data menu, the only option is ((image element, image line)-> band 1...which if 
> selected yields a \"select display\" menu which has no time step options.  Again, 
> is this a problem with our local data or is this a problem with IDV\'s interpreter.
We figure out what internal data source handles a file based in file 
patterns. The file patterns that we use for recognizing area
files are files that end in ".area" or ".AREA". It looks like your files 
end in ".are"? If  so you can specifically define the data source
in the file choose with the  "Data Source Type:" pull down menu at the 
top of the window. Choose  "MciDAS AREA files"



-Jeff