20020211: MCGUI datasets (cont.)

>From: William C Klein <address@hidden>
>Organization: Valparaiso
>Keywords: 200202111722.g1BHMox08797 McIDAS-X MCGUI datasets

Bill,

re:

>> DATALOC ADD GINICOMP pscwx.plymouth.edu
>> DATALOC ADD GINIEAST atm.geo.nsf.gov
>> DATALOC ADD GINIWEST papagayo.unl.edu
>>
>> Like I said in a previous email, each user can select which server they
>> request data from from the MCGUI:

>These worked!

OK, sounds good.  What account are you working from?  I thought that I
had setup these up in the 'mcidas' account, but I am not positive.

re: RTNOWRAD imagery is only available by subscription to WSI

>I'll mention this to the Meteo Prof if he asks about that dataset.

We have almost have a new dataset up and running that will provide
composited radar data over the continental US in two different
resolutions: 6 km and 1 km.  I will be announcing these when things are
ready to go.  Support in the MCGUI will be provided through an addendum
(upgrade/bugfix) what will also be announced.  Stay tuned...

re: MCGUI problems in displaying surface, etc. data

>What account do you need access to?

The account being used when the problem was seen.  If this is the 'mcidas'
account on aeolus, I already have the access information.  If it is some
other account, I need the logon.

>I thought that we gave you access to
>the accounts on aeolus.  Is there something else beyond that?

You gave me 'mcidas' and 'ldm'.  The question is what account was being
used when the problem was seen?  If 'mcidas', then the problem is in
ingestion/decoding of surface, upper air, etc. data.  You can find out
if this is the problem by pointing your McIDAS session to different
servers for the POINT datasets.  This is done interactively in MCGUI in
the same manner I described in my previous email except that you change
the server for the RTPTSRC (under the POINT tab) and RTWXTEXT (under
the TEXT tab) datasets.  If these work fine, then the ingest/decode
problem has to be troubleshot.

re: Model data not implemented yet

>OK, thanks.  Just getting used to this.

No worries.

re: DATALOCs setup in LSSERVE.BAT

>This file can be edited from within aeolus?  No need to run any scripts or
>anything?

The file to setup ADDE access to datasets is in the ~mcidas/data directory.
After editing LSSERVE.BAT (a copy of DSSERVE.BAT in the same directory)
'mcidas' makes those DATALOCs active by running:

BATCH LSSERVE.BAT

Each user that runs McIDAS will be able to use the settings created
by the BATCH invocation by virtue of them having defined the MCPATH
environment variable in their Unix session.  Here is how this works:

A properly configured MCPATH will include the ~mcidas/data (typically
/home/mcidas/data) directory as its second directory.  (MCPATH is a
colon-separated list of directories that McIDAS searches through when
searching for data and ancillary data files).  The 'mcidas' account
should have the environment variables MCTABLE_READ and MCTABLE_WRITE
defined so that the file ~mcidas/data/ADDESITE.TXT gets created/updated
when DATALOCs are run.  Users other than 'mcidas' will be able to read
ADDESITE.TXT to point at the data server for the various datasets setup
by 'mcidas' by virtue of their MCTABLE_READ setting.  They can also,
however, define a different machine to look at by running their own
DATALOC command.

The idea is that the 'mcidas' account can be used to setup global
values for all users of McIDAS, but each user running McIDAS will
further be able to tailor their environment.  In this way, 'mcidas'
should be thought of as 'root' for the McIDAS package.

re: keep me informed of results as changes are made

>Haven't made the changes yet (obivously), but will let you know once we
>get things rolling.

OK.

Tom