20010821: installing McIDAS-X 7.80

>From: "Corcoran, William T" <address@hidden>
>Organization: SMSU
>Keywords: 200108212202.f7LM2R125329 LDM email

Bill,

re: have you grabbed the new Unidata McIDAS-X distribution yet
>OOF.

>I'm running way behind since our semester started Monday.  On the other
>hand, it's an opportunity...sometimes its better to mess things up at the
>beginning of the semester rather than the end.

I agree :-)

>Maybe Friday I can download
>and start the install.  We are still running on an old AIX box (now 4.3),
>but future upgrades are possible (to Intel-powered platforms).

OK.  You should get the distribution by going to the McIDAS 7.80 web page:

http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/packages/mcidas/780

Select 'Download Software' from the main page.  This will throw you
into a page that allows you to select which package(s) you want.

The first time you select the McIDAS 'Download Page', you will have to
register as a Unidata user.  It is a little bit of a pain, but it is
the direction we are moving in for all of our packages.

After registering, you will be thrown back to the same original package
selection page (the page with a list of things you can download).
Reselecting the McIDAS 'Download Page' will then put you at a page that
is the representation of the directory structure of the passworded
McIDAS account here at the UPC.  Simply click down to unix/780 and grab
mcinstall, mcinet7.8.sh, and mcidasx780.tar.Z.  You will probably have
to hold down the shift key while clicking the left mouse button over
'mcinstall' and 'mcinet7.8.sh' files as they are simple text.

I think you may like the new MCGUI interface.  It still has a long way
to go to get to full functionality, but it is a big improvement on use
of the Fkey menu and old MCGUI.

Just for reference, after the new version is installed, start a McIDAS-X
session by running:

mcidas config

This will bring up a GUI interface for starting the package.  From the
startup GUI, select that you want to use MCGUI (a radiobutton near the
bottom of the GUI), and you want to save changes.  I would also
recommend you making your screen size something other than a small
480x640 (if you havn't already done so).

Let me know if I can be of help.

Tom