19990826: /data/mcidas/data?

>From: Jim Heimbach <address@hidden>
>Organization: UNCA
>Keywords: 199908251454.IAA21892 McIDAS PATH

Jim,

>     Many thanks for the quick and thorough return on my queries.
>Give me some time to digest this and check in with the local
>systems guru.  He is out of town at the moment.

OK.

>The one question
>that I should settle now is the /data/mcidas/data versus
>/home/mcidas/data issue.  Since vortex is the server for all
>user accounts as well as the data box, we added a hard drive
>which is dedicated solely to McIDAS, and LDM storage.  This has worked in
>the past, but I detect some alarm on your part over this setup. 
>Am I opening myself up to some hassle by doing this?

I think that I understand what you are trying to do, but I would do
it a little differently so that upgrades in the future will be much easier.
Your setup is fine in terms of putting data files in a separate
directory, and is, in fact, my recommendation.

I recommend that the actual data (i.e. imagery, point source files,
grid files, and text files) be put into a separate directory.  This data
is "loseable" (sp?).  We run like this here at Unidata: all of the
data created by ingestion/decoding processes gets put into a directory
which is not backed up on tape.  The McIDAS, LDM, GEMPAK, etc. software
packages are loaded on different file systems and they ARE backed up
on tape.  This setup will work for you in exactly the way you want,
but your current environment settings for your 'mcidas' account
is not what you want.

If I understand your intentions, then you should set your 'mcidas'
environment variables in the following manner:

in .cshrc:

setenv McINST_ROOT /home/mcidas

if (! ${?MCPATH}) then
setenv MCDATA /home/mcidas/workdata
setenv MCPATH ${MCDATA}:/home/mcidas/data:/home/mcidas/help
setenv MCGUI  /home/mcidas/bin
setenv MCTABLE_READ "$(MCDATA)/MCTABLE.TXT;/home/mcidas/data/ADDESITE.TXT"
setenv MCTABLE_WRITE "/home/mcidas/data/ADDESITE.TXT"
setenv XCD_disp_file $MCDATA/DECOSTAT.DAT
endif

setenv PATH ${MCGUI}:$PATH

The idea here is to keep the ancillary data files (e.g. map database
files, image enhancements, graphic pallettes, etc) in the installation
"data" directory.  With a McINST_ROOT of /home/mcidas (the recommendation)
this would be the /home/mcidas/data directory.  The online help files
will go into the help directory under the installation point,
/home/mcidas/help.  Leaving the ancillary data files in the installation
"data" directory is what makes doing upgrades easier.

Data files (i.e. ingested/decoded imagery, MD files, GRID files, and
XCD text files) will go into your /data/mcidas/data directory (you
could shorten this to /data/mcidas).  

In my recommended setup, you would not copy the ancillary data
files from /home/mcidas/data to /data/mcidas/data.  You would, however,
have to allow each user that runs McIDAS access to the /home/mcidas/data
and /home/mcidas/help directories (through their MCPATH setting).

I have to run right now.  Please let me know if the above is not clear
or if you have circumstances that do not allow my recommended setup.

Tom