20000825: McIDAS RTGRIDS MRF/AVN data (cont.)

>From: Bill Fingerhut <address@hidden>
>Organization: Lyndon State
>Keywords: 200007061904.e66J4vT23872 McIDAS-XCD RTGRIDS MRF AVN

Bill,

>It's been awhile, but we have returned to this old problem. In the
>mean time, our server (cirrus) has migrated to solaris and the
>McIDAS addendums have been installed.

OK.  As of today, the story has changed.  Here is what I now see:

>DATALOC ADD RTGRIDS CIRRUS.LSC.VSC.EDU
>
>Group Name                    Server IP Address
>--------------------         ----------------------------------------
>RTGRIDS                      CIRRUS.LSC.VSC.EDU
>
><LOCAL-DATA> indicates that data will be accessed from the local data 
>directory.
>DATALOC -- done

Since this only tests whether or not a name lookup can be done on
currus.lsc.vsc.edu, we can really say anything yet.

>DSINFO G RTGRIDS

This tests whether or not your ADDE remote server is installed and the
dataset description for RTGRIDS exists.  The dataset description is the
mapping between dataset/group and files that should compose the
dataset/group.  It does not say whether or not the files exist, or can
be seen by applications.

>        Dataset Names of Type: GRID  in Group: RTGRIDS
>
>Name         NumPos   Content
>------------ ------   --------------------------------------
>ALL            620    Real-Time Grids
>AVN             80    Real-Time AVN Grids
>ECMWF           10    Real-Time ECMWF Grids
>ETA            120    Real-Time ETA Grids
>MDR             10    Real-Time MDR Grids
>MISC            10    Other Real-Time Grids
>MRF            100    Real-Time MRF Grids
>MRF-UW           2    MRF Grids in UW stream
>NGM             40    Real-Time NGM Grids
>NGM-UW           2    NGM Grids in UW stream
>RUC             80    Real-Time RUC Grids
>
>DSINFO -- done

So, the remote server is responding and the dataset description information
is readable.  For reference, the dataset description is found in the
file RESOLV.SRV which will be located in the PATH of the user running
the remote ADDE server; this should be 'mcadde', and the most typical
(recommended) directory for it to be found in is ~mcidas/workdata.

Now, I try to see if I can list out actual GRID files that are said
to comprise one of the dataset/groups:

GRDLIST RTGRIDS/ALL.ALL FORM=FILE
GRDLIST: No Data Found
GRDLIST - done
GRDLIST failed, RC=2

So, we are at the exact same point as we were in our last exchange on
this matter.

This is telling us that the GRID files that are supposed to comprise any
of the dataset/groups are not found.  This could be due to:

o there are no GRID files to be found at all
o the pointers to the GRID files (e.g., REDIRECTions) to the GRID files
  are incorrect

If the XCD GRID decoding is turned on, then the latter possibility is most
likely.  This can be tested by the 'mcidas' user by:

<login as 'mcidas'>
cd workdata
dmap.k GRID

If this finds the GRID files that are being created by XCD, then we know
that the setup for MCDATA and/or MCPATH in ~mcidas/.mcenv is incorrect.

If this can't find the GRID files, it means that either of the two
possibilities above are true.

To test to see if the GRID file decoding is turned on, one has to check
first in ~ldm/etc/pqact.conf.  You should have an entry in this file
that looks like:

#########################################################################
#
# McIDAS-XCD section
#
DDPLUS|IDS      ^.*     PIPE
        xcd_run DDS
HRS     ^.*     PIPE
        xcd_run HRS

For GRID files, the 'HRS        ^.*     PIPE' entry is the one to pay attention
to.  If this entry is commented out (a '#' character in column 1), it needs
to be uncommented, and a HUP needs to be sent to pqact.

If it is there and uncommented, then one must make sure that the GRID
decoding is actually turned on.  This is done as the user 'mcidas':

<login as 'mcidas'>
cd workdata
decinfo.k LIST

Look for the entry for DMGRID.  It should look like:

Processing Data Monitor: DMGRID       is active
=========================================================================
Decoder       Status      Configuration File
----------------------------------------------------------------------
GRIB          Active      GRIBDEC.CFG

If the indication that it is inactive, it must be activated (i.e., turned
on/enabled):

decinfo.k SET DMGRID ACTIVE

If the GRID decoding is already active, then it means that the GRID files
still can't be found.  This is _usually_ impossible since the location
for decoding the GRID files is controlled by REDIRECTions in the 'mcidas'
account.  If, however, the REDIRECTions point to a non-existent file
system, then the GRID files won't be decoded, and they won't be found
by the 'dmap.k' invocation or by the remote ADDE server inquiries.
At this point, I would start worrying about:

o the REDIRECTions defined for the user 'mcidas'
o the read/write settings on the ~mcidas/workdata directory
o the read/write settings on the ~mcidas/data directory
o the read/write settings on the directory into which the GRID files
  are to be decoded

>Okay, here is what we get.
>
>Group/Descriptor         Type  Format & Range     RT Comment
>------------------------ ----- ------------------ -- --------------------
>RTGRIDS/ALL              GRID  GRID 5001-5620     Y  Real-Time Grids
>RTGRIDS/AVN              GRID  GRID 5401-5480     Y  Real-Time AVN Grids
>RTGRIDS/ECMWF            GRID  GRID 5251-5260     Y  Real-Time ECMWF Grids
>RTGRIDS/ETA              GRID  GRID 5501-5620     Y  Real-Time ETA Grids
>RTGRIDS/MDR              GRID  GRID 5301-5310     Y  Real-Time MDR Grids
>RTGRIDS/MISC             GRID  GRID 5001-5010     Y  Other Real-Time Grids
>RTGRIDS/MRF              GRID  GRID 5101-5200     Y  Real-Time MRF Grids
>RTGRIDS/MRF-UW           GRID  GRID 101-102          MRF Grids in UW stream
>RTGRIDS/NGM              GRID  GRID 5051-5090     Y  Real-Time NGM Grids
>RTGRIDS/NGM-UW           GRID  GRID 1-2              NGM Grids in UW stream
>RTGRIDS/RUC              GRID  GRID 5201-5280     Y  Real-Time RUC Grids
>dsserve.k: done

Right, but this doesn't tell us anything except that the ADDE remote
server is setup and the dataset descriptions are in place.  The files
are still not accessible.

>> When we get the remote ADDE access working to your machine, I can look
>> through the GRID files in the RTGRIDS/MRF dataset to see if they
>> look like what I suspect.
>
>Could you try this again, and suggest changes?

Since I can't see any of the GRID files for the datasets, I can't proceed.

If it would help move things along, I would be happy to login and poke
around.  To do this, I would need logins as 'mcidas' and 'ldm' (so
I could change file/directory permissions if/when needed).

Tom