[McIDAS #JML-445187]: Need help with McIDAS dataset

Hi Gilbert,

re:
> A friend of mine has a dataset in a directory called
> /home/httpd/html/falout/mace_case/mcidasd . I want to display the AREA and
> MD files data from this case study. Basically, it contains data from 1997,
> with the familiar AREA files of AREA0120, AREA0130, etc etc, and the
> standard MD files MDXX0001, etc. How can I create a dataset name and then
> run in McIDAS command line to display single images, surface maps, etc?
> It's been so long, I forgot how to run command line stuff!
> 
> Any help, as always, would be greatly appreciated.

I believe that I understand your objective.  I took the liberty of
logging onto your systems and think I have found the data you are
referring to on weather3.

Questions:

- which account do you want to use to look at this case study data?
- do you envision that you will want to be able to access the
  case study data remotely?

Reasons for the questions:

1) which account to you want to use to look at this case study data

If you want to use the 'mcidas' account on weather3, you have a bit
of a challange since the names of the data files in the case study
are the same as those used for the real time data.  The 'mcidas'
account is setup with McIDAS REDIRECTions that "point" (say where
to find) data files with "standard" names.  Here is a part of the
REDIRECT listing as 'mcidas' on weather3:

<as 'mcidas' on weather3>

weather3-niu Mci-87$ cd $MCDATA
weather3-niu Mci-88$ redirect.k LIST
Number of active redirection entries=100
AREA006* /home/data/mcidas
AREA007* /home/data/mcidas
AREA008* /home/data/mcidas
AREA009* /home/data/mcidas
AREA010* /home/data/mcidas
AREA011* /home/data/mcidas
AREA012* /home/data/mcidas
AREA013* /home/data/mcidas
AREA014* /home/data/mcidas
AREA015* /home/data/mcidas
AREA016* /home/data/mcidas
AREA017* /home/data/mcidas
AREA018* /home/data/mcidas
AREA019* /home/data/mcidas
AREA020* /home/data/mcidas
AREA021* /home/data/mcidas
AREA022* /home/data/mcidas
AREA023* /home/data/mcidas
AREA024* /home/data/mcidas
AREA025* /home/data/mcidas
AREA026* /home/data/mcidas
AREA027* /home/data/mcidas
AREA028* /home/data/mcidas
AREA029* /home/data/mcidas
AREA03* /home/data/mcidas
AREA04* /home/data/mcidas
AREA05* /home/data/mcidas
AREA06* /home/data/mcidas
AREA07* /home/data/mcidas
AREA08* /home/data/mcidas
AREA09* /home/data/mcidas
AREA10* /home/data/mcidas
AREA11* /home/data/mcidas
AREA12* /home/data/mcidas
AREA8* /home/mcidas/data/tutorial
AREA900* /home/mcidas/data
 ...
MDXX000* /home/data/mcidas
MDXX001* /home/data/mcidas
MDXX002* /home/data/mcidas
MDXX003* /home/data/mcidas
MDXX004* /home/data/mcidas
MDXX005* /home/data/mcidas
MDXX006* /home/data/mcidas
MDXX007* /home/data/mcidas
MDXX0080 /home/data/mcidas
MDXX008* /home/data/mcidas
MDXX009* /home/data/mcidas
MDXX0100 /home/data/mcidas
MDXX010* /home/data/mcidas
MDXX011* /home/data/mcidas
MDXX012* /home/data/mcidas
MDXX0130 /home/data/mcidas
 ...

As you can see, the REDIRECT patterns will match files in your
case study dataset.  Because of this, you will likely run into
things that don't seem to make sense (because you don't use
McIDAS enough to be comfortable with some fundamental concepts).

To get around the sticky bits, I suggest that you access the
case study data from an account other than 'mcidas'.  What about
using your own login account (sebenste)?

If you are game, then do the following:

1) login as yourself (sebenste)

2) edit your .cshrc file and add the following defines needed
   for McIDAS access:

setenv MCHOME /home/mcidas
if ( -e $MCHOME/admin/user_env.csh ) then
  source $MCHOME/admin/user_env.csh
endif

3) logoff and then log back on as 'sebenste'

4) make the directories needed for McIDAS:

mkdir -p ~sebenste/mcidas/data

At this point, you should be able to run McIDAS as yourself.  The
next steps will be the setting up of McIDAS ADDE datasets for
your case study data:

<still as 'sebenste'>
cd $MCDATA

- first, setup McIDAS ADDE REDIRECTions to be able to find the
  data in the case study:

redirect.k ADD AREA0\* \"/home/httpd/html/falout/mace_case/mcidasd
redirect.k ADD MDXX0\* \"/home/httpd/html/falout/mace_case/mcidasd

- next, setup ADDE datasets for the image and POINT data:

dsserve.k ADD MACE/MOLL-IR      AREA  100  109 \"Mace Case study Mollweide 
Composite IR      
dsserve.k ADD MACE/MOLL-WV      AREA  110  119 \"Mace Case study Mollweide 
Composite H2O     
dsserve.k ADD MACE/GW-VIS       AREA  120  129 \"Mace Case study GOES-West 
Western US VIS      
dsserve.k ADD MACE/GW-IR        AREA  130  139 \"Mace Case study GOES-West 
Western US IR       
dsserve.k ADD MACE/GE-VIS       AREA  140  149 \"Mace Case study GOES-East 
North America VIS   
dsserve.k ADD MACE/GE-IR        AREA  150  159 \"Mace Case study GOES-East 
North America IR    
dsserve.k ADD MACE/GW-WV        AREA  170  179 \"Mace Case study GOES-West 
Western US H2O      
dsserve.k ADD MACE/ANTARCTIC    AREA  190  199 \"Mace Case study Antarctic IR 
Composite      
dsserve.k ADD MACE/MDR          AREA  200  209 \"Mace Case study Manually 
Digitized Radar    
dsserve.k ADD MACE/GE-WV        AREA  210  219 \"Mace Case study GOES-East 
North America H2O   

dsserve.k ADD MACE/PTSRCS         MD    1  120 \"All Mace Case study point data 
in MDXX files
dsserve.k ADD MACE/SFCHOURLY      MD    1   10 \"Mace Case study SFC Hourly
dsserve.k ADD MACE/UPPERMAND      MD   11   20 \"Mace Case study Upper Air 
(Mandatory)
dsserve.k ADD MACE/UPPERSIG       MD   21   30 \"Mace Case study Upper Air 
(Significant)
dsserve.k ADD MACE/SHIPBUOY       MD   31   40 \"Mace Case study Ship and Buoy 
data
dsserve.k ADD MACE/NGMMOS         MD   41   50 \"Mace Case study NGM MOS data
dsserve.k ADD MACE/SYNOPTIC       MD   51   60 \"Mace Case study SYNOPTIC data
dsserve.k ADD MACE/AIRCRAFT       MD   61   70 \"Mace Case study Aircraft data
dsserve.k ADD MACE/LIGHTNING      MD   71   80 \"Mace Case study NLDN Lightning 
data
dsserve.k ADD MACE/PROFHOURLY     MD   81   90 \"Mace Case study Hourly 
Profiler data
dsserve.k ADD MACE/PRO6MIN        MD   91  100 \"Mace Case study 6-minute 
Profiler data
dsserve.k ADD MACE/NAMMOS         MD  101  110 \"Mace Case study NAM Model 
Output Statistics
dsserve.k ADD MACE/GFSMOS         MD  111  120 \"Mace Case study GFS Model 
Output Statistics

The set of datasets defined here are overkill for the case study data you
have (because you don't seem to have SHIPBUOY, NGMMOS, SYNOPTIC, etc. POINT
data), but defining all possible datasets can't hurt, plus it is illustrative
of the process.

After defining the ADDE datasets, you should be able to create the
displays you want.  Here are some examples:

First, start a McIDAS session:

mcidas -config

-- set the size of the image window that you will want (lines and elements)
   and any other thing you think will be useful.  Make sure that the
   Save configuration values to defaults file is set to YES before
   clicking on Start.

From the McIDAS Text and Command window, verify that you can access the
datasets you created:

DSSERVE LIST MACE

IMGLIST MACE/GE-IR.ALL

IMGDISP MACE/GE-IR STA=KMIA MAG=1 EU=IMAGE SF=YES REFRESH='EG;MAP VH'

PTLIST MACE/PTSRCS FORM=FILE ALL

ERASE
SFCPLOT T NACONF 12 1997/MM/DD DAT=MACE/SFCHOURLY       <- change MM and DD to 
the appropriate
                                                           month and day of 
your data

ERASE
UAPLOT 72469 12 1997/MM/DD DAT=MACE/UPPERMAND MACE/UPPERSIG  <- ditto comment 
above

So, the bits you have to pay attention to are:

- specifying the date of the data you want to plot (year, month and day)
- explicitly specifying the dataset(s) to use (i.e., SFCPLOT & UAPLOT use of 
DAT= keyword)

Of course, all of the above can be done from the command line or in a script.
I figure you will probably want to play around in a McIDAS session first
so you can decide on the plots you want to generate.  After that, you can
create scripts that will create the plots and then save the displays as
GIFs, etc.

Questions:

- what other types of displays do you want to create?
- what is the ultimate goal?

Cheers,

Tom
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Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: JML-445187
Department: Support McIDAS
Priority: Normal
Status: Closed