[McIDAS #KNL-950064]: McIDAS on OS X... which gcc compiler?

Hi Tom,

re: McIDAS testing on Intel MacOS-X machine

> I ran the tests as you asked on the console. Everything worked
> fine. When I ran "mcidas", I got the GUI. When I ran "mcidas -config",
> I got the selection display and started McIDAS without a GUI.
> I then ran through the post-install tests in the installation guide.
> Everything ran as advertised.

Excellent!  I was concerned that there might be some issues with the
X Windows displays since I had read comments by others on problems
seen, and this was one aspect of the installation that I could not
test.

> We won't be installing this in the lab until Fall, and I suspect that
> you may have a new version (2007?) available by then. I'm also guessing
> you will include what you have learned into the installation process for
> the next version.

Yes on both accounts: the v2007 distribution should be available sometime
this summer (hopefully before the July/August training workshop series),
and it will have any/all modifications needed to build/run on Intel-based
Mac machines.  In fact, I spent a bit of time yesterday using buran as
a testbed to get the shell configuration setup (both Bourne/Korn/Bash
and C like shells) working.  I have already rolled the modifications
into the beginnings of a new McIDAS addendum, v2006i.  Please note, however,
that this addendum has not yet been made available, so any download made
now would not contain the changes needed for Intel Macs (this comment
is mainly for "the files" :-).  Also, just so that there would be no possibility
of overwriting the modifications made on buran, I deleted the v2006h
compressed tar file, mcidasx2006.tar.gz, from the HOME directory of 'mcidas'.

> You're certainly welcome to try out a new version on this system
> when you are ready.

I really appreciate this offer since we do not (yet at least) have an
Intel Mac to use as a test platform.

> The system you have logged into (buran)
> will get a new name ("buran" is an address borrowed from my Sun
> system that I use for research).

I assume you know that 'Buran' was the name of the Soviet Union's clone of
the space shuttle!

> This Mac will be attached to a
> display in my lab and will be running as sort of a kiosk, possibly
> including some McIDAS graphics, although I've never scripted
> McIDAS to automatically generate graphics before.

McIDAS is pretty easy to script as long as one follows some simple rules.
I include two example scripts in the Unidata distribution to show
users how to script McIDAS programs:

~mcidas/data/mcbatch.sh
~mcidas/data/mcrun.sh

Each script is designed to be:

- copied to a file of a different name
- edited to make changes
- run from the command line or cron

> As it appears we (you!) were able to successfully build McIDAS,
> we will probably buy 16 systems similar to this one for use in our
> instructional lab.

Wow!  I didn't know that I had that kind of power ;-)

> Let me know if you need me to do anything else.

A couple of the things I ran into while building McIDAS on buran
_should_ get fixed (by others) sometime in the future:

- the HDF4.2r1 distribution does not build out of the box on Intel MacOS-X

- the last problem I ran into, a name clash between m0wmodec.for and M0wmodec.c,
  seems to be an issue with the version of 'make' (actually a link to gnumake)
  being used.  The strange thing is that a 'make --version' shows the same
  version number on your system and on our PPC-based Mac, and we do not
  have the name clash problem while buran does.  Strange, but likely an
  indication of a small bug in 'make' that should get fixed as users run
  into it

Other than these two things, the McIDAS build worked without a hitch.

> Thanks for jumping
> on and getting this to build. It sounds like this was a useful exercise
> both for you and for us.

It was a _very_ useful exercise for me since I do not have an Intel Mac to
test on.  Given the success that you are seeing, I will reopen discussions
about purchasing an Intel-based Mac for testing in Unidata.

> Thanks again...

Thanks for giving me access to the machine!

Cheers,

Tom
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Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: KNL-950064
Department: Support McIDAS
Priority: Normal
Status: Closed