20010912: FRNTDISP

>From: Owen Cooper <address@hidden>
>Organization: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory
>Keywords: 200109130012.f8D0Cd119764 McIDAS-X FRNTDISP ADDE REDIRECT ASUS1

Owen,

>I'm trying to use the new FRNTDISP command (always used FRONT in the
>past).

I noticed that you were looking through the FRNTDISP McIDAS web pages
yesterday.  I was curious to know what was going on, and now I know.

>If I use the DEFUALT .NAM file (ie real time data) I can get fronts to
>plot on a GOES image with no problem using a simple command like
>FRNTDISP OLAY LATEST

FRNTDISP typically does not use the ASUS1* or FSUS2* files.  It goes
through ADDE to the machine for which you have a RTWXTEXT DATALOC.
The reason I say typically is FRNTDISP can be run off of a text file
by using the FILE= keyword.

>But I want to make my own ASUS files for historical events and overlay
>those fronts onto sat. images from the same time period.

OK, this should be no problem.

>So I set my redirection like this:
>
>ASUS1* /home/ocooper/MAY99_STE/Mcidas
>
>And I copied the ASUS file that worked with the real time data to this
>directory.

OK again.

>Then when I issue the command
>FRNTDISP OLAY LATEST
>i get the following message:
>FRNTDISP: Front not available for

Try the following invocation:

FRNTDISP OLAY LATEST FILE=file_name

Here, 'file_name' is the name of the file in your
/home/ocoopr/MAY99_STE/Mcidas directory (it is NOT the fully qualified
pathname).  For this to work,  you _do_ have to have a valid
REDIRECTion for the file(s).

>Why does changing the redirection cause the FRNTDISP command to fail?

It should have nothing to do with FRNTDISP unless you are using the
FILE= option.  If it actually is having something to do with the
operation of FRNTDISP, then there is a bug in the code.  I have to tell
you that I was working on FRNTDISP at the end of last week (mod for an
upcoming format change to the ASUS1 and FSUS2 bulletins).  I had
occasion to run the routine numerous times in the standard, ADDE mode
and from data in text files using the FILE= option.  I did not see
that changing the REDIRECT for ASUS1* files changed the operation of
the routine when going to an ADDE server.

A couple of things to check on:

o what is your DATALOC for RTWXTEXT:

  DATALOC LIST RTWXTEXT

o was the time of the image you were trying to overlay on around 0Z

Tom