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 Note that the archive is no longer being updated. We provide the archive for reference; many of the answers presented here remain technically correct, even if somewhat outdated.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.
> I think I'm a few steps into getting a working prototype now. I grabbed the > IDV source code and I'm working my way through the standard startup process > for IDV to see how ISL file arguments are processed. I think with a little > more work I'll at least be able to recommend to the rest of the team whether > IDV is a real option for us. > > Right now we're not planning on generating any 3D imagery, but it is > something that we may be looking at doing in the future. Our data sources > for now are just going to be grib file data, but again, adding new things in > the future is something we are planning for. > > Thanks for the help again. If I have any more questions, I'll let you know. > > Mark > Well, I am glad to hear that . The DefaultIdv is probably the class you can do some research on. Yuan > -----Original Message----- > From: Unidata IDV Support [mailto:address@hidden] > Sent: Friday, January 25, 2013 11:19 AM > To: Staroska, Mark A CTR USAF AFWA 2 SYOS/SEMS RM 3250 > Cc: address@hidden; Baardson, Kyle L CTR USAF AFWA AFWA/WDA > Subject: [IDV #KVK-267436]: Using IDV as an image generator > > > Sorry, maybe using "headless" was not a great description. > > > > I've been doing lots of digging through your ISL documentation and workshop > > docs. Things look very promising for what we're trying to do. However, > > we'd like to use the IDV within our own java application, without having to > > make command line arguments and create a new jvm for the IDV program. > > > > Do you have any documentation or examples that describe how to use IDV and > > ISL as a referenced java library from within another java application? > > > > Thanks again for any help you can provide. I really appreciate it. > > > > Mark > > > > Mark, > I get a better understanding of what you are trying to do now. In your Java > application, you want to generate certain images and hope to include the IDV > as a library inside your application. I would say it is certainly possible > and it sounds like an interesting project. We don't have any example, but > technically it is not difficult. Is your application going to support 3D > display or integrating different data sources? > > Yuan > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Unidata IDV Support [mailto:address@hidden] > > Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 5:30 PM > > To: Staroska, Mark A CTR USAF AFWA 2 SYOS/SEMS RM 3250 > > Cc: address@hidden; Baardson, Kyle L CTR USAF AFWA AFWA/WDA > > Subject: [IDV #KVK-267436]: Using IDV as an image generator > > > > > IDV Support Team, > > > > > > My name is Mark Staroska, I'm a software engineer working at the Air > > > Force Weather Agency (AFWA). I work on a team that develops Java plugin > > > software to FalconView (http://www.falconview.org/trac/FalconView) that > > > retrieves and displays weather data from many sources, including > > > acquiring gridded binary data from Weather Data Analysis (WDA). We use > > > either 1.0 degree or 0.5 degree GFS or various resolution WRF models > > > depending on what operational theater we are near. > > > > > > We are surveying tools to visualize GRIB files within FalconView, so that > > > flight mission planners may quickly see what (for example) winds, or > > > icing, or turbulence are going to be like over the route they are > > > planning. We are also interested in visualizing winds to allow planners > > > to plan routes that reduce fuel consumption and to allow more precise air > > > drops. Along with IDV, we are also looking at McIDAS-V, VisAD, NASA's > > > WorldWind application, or perhaps a home-grown solution using netCDF > > > ourselves directly. > > > > > > Now obviously we don't want to reinvent the wheel. One of the first > > > tenets of writing software is that there's always someone smarter out > > > there that's already done it. The IDV UI seems to have all the tools we > > > need, the ability to process grib data, already supports derived > > > conditions, and has very impressive in-UI rendering. We'd like to do all > > > of that, but without the UI. > > > > > > Is there a way to directly use the IDV jar to headlessly generate and > > > write imagery to disk from within another application? I see in the > > > documentation ways to use ISL scripts while IDV runs in an offscreen > > > mode, but we'd like to just use the java library. Is this possible, and > > > have you ever heard of anyone trying this before? Is there documentation > > > or examples anywhere that explain how we could do this? > > > > > > > Hi Mark, > > It is not clear to me when you mentioned headlessly. In the real headless > > environment, you can use the Xvfb or xvnc to run the IDV jar file, but this > > is not the most efficient way. > > In a normal desktop environment (with good video card), a few powful users > > have been running the IDV to generate images for operation usage. The > > benchmark we have from our user is that IDV can generate over 1000 images > > in less than 6 minutes. This is under IDV scripting language (ISL). The > > detail information of ISL is available in our training document: > > > > http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/idv/docs/workshop/toc.html#index.html > > > > > > > > Let us know if you need more help. > > > > Yuan > > > > > Thanks so much for your time and any help you can provide. > > > > > > For your info, CC'd is Kyle Baardson, the project lead for the software > > > project plugin in question (FalconView Weather). > > > > > > V/R, > > > Mark Staroska > > > HQ AFWA/SEMS > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ticket Details > > =================== > > Ticket ID: KVK-267436 > > Department: Support IDV > > Priority: Normal > > Status: Closed > > > > > > > Ticket Details > =================== > Ticket ID: KVK-267436 > Department: Support IDV > Priority: Normal > Status: Open > > Ticket Details =================== Ticket ID: KVK-267436 Department: Support IDV Priority: Normal Status: Open