20050420: could not get the McIDAS shell programs

>From: "Mekonnen Gebremichael" <address@hidden>
>Organization: Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University
>Keywords: 200504201601.j3KG1gv2005753 McIDAS access

Hi Mekonnen,

>I went to this website and tried to download the shell programs and the
>source code:
>
>http://my.unidata.ucar.edu/content/software/mcidas/2004/users_guide/Obtainin
>gMcIDAS-X2004.html
>
>I managed to download mcidasx2004.tar.Z, but I could not download the rest
>programs (i.e. mcinstall, mcinet2004.sh). Everytime I clicked these buttons,
>they take me to a new window which leads to a different place..

I just accessed these files from my home machine with no difficulty
both from the McIDAS 'Obtaining McIDAS-X 2004' page:

http://my.unidata.ucar.edu/content/software/mcidas/2004/users_guide/ObtainingMcIDAS-X2004.html

and from our web site's 'Download' page:

Unidata HomePage
http://my.unidata.ucar.edu/

  Downloads
  http://my.unidata.ucar.edu/modules.php?name=Downloads

    McIDAS
    
http://my.unidata.ucar.edu/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=5

      Source
      
http://my.unidata.ucar.edu/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewsdownload&sid=12

I did find one problem, however, with the WHATSNEW.2004 file.  The web
link is to WHATSNEW.2004, but the file was actually named
WHATSNEW.2004X.  I renamed the file to conform to the web links and am
able to access it now.

Since the files you are having problems with are all ASCII text, it may be
that your browser is just displaying their contents and not downloading them.
Most browsers support either display or transfer of ASCII text files.  Please
check your browser configuration to insure that you download the file instead
of just displaying its contents.

>Questions:
>(1) How can I obtain these programs? Note: I tried to download this by
>opening a web browser. If there is a way to do it via ftp (by writing the
>commands in unix - that would be great)

You can also use FTP to grab the files:

machine:     ftp.unidata.ucar.edu
user:        umcidas
pass:        XXXXXX
directory:   unix/2004

If you decide to FTP files, make sure that you do so in binary mode.

>(2) Has this software been tested to work in SunOS?

Yes, the primary platforms that Unidata McIDAS is developed and tested on are:

Sun Solaris SPARC v5.9
Fedora Core Linux [13]
FreeBSD 4.10
Sun Solaris x86 v5.9

The full set of platforms that this distribution should run on is listed in:

Installing McIDAS-X on Unix or Mac OS X Workstations
http://my.unidata.ucar.edu/content/software/mcidas/2004/users_guide/InstallingMcIDAS-XonUnixorMacOSXWorkstations.html

>Is this the right version of McIDAS I need to install?

Yes.  There is one set of source from which distributions on all supported
platforms are built.  v2004 is the most current release of McIDAS available
today.  v2005 is in the process of being put together.  The Unidata release
of v2005 should be available by mid July.

>My purpose is to work with the Meteosat data.

It should work fine.

>Please keep in mind that that I am new to McIDAS.

I understand.  Please let me know if/when you need help.

>Thanks for your help,

No worries.

Cheers,

Tom Yoksas
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