McIDAS-XCD
Version 2006
Upgrade Procedure
June 2006
Please take the time to read this entire document; it's important
to understand the whole procedure before you begin.
This upgrade procedure is divided into four sections.
- Section I. Before Installing
McIDAS-XCD describes the actions to be performed
before installing McIDAS-XCD 2006.
- Section II. Installing McIDAS-XCD describes
the installation procedure for McIDAS-XCD 2006.
- Section III. Configuring McIDAS-XCD describes
the actions to be performed immediately after upgrading to McIDAS-XCD
2006 from a previous version.
- Section IV. McIDAS-X and XCD
Changes lists the McIDAS-X and -XCD software changes
that have been made since the last upgrade.
Section I. Before Installing McIDAS-XCD
Complete all Required Actions below.
Compatibility with McIDAS-X
The McIDAS-XCD software is dependent on the McIDAS-X library and data
files. McIDAS-X 2006A must be installed on the workstation
prior to the installation of McIDAS-XCD 2006. You should be sure to
install version 2006A (not version 2006), because 2006A is the 2006
Upgrade with additional modifications for the installation of McIDAS
with the MySQL database.
This is especially important with the 2006 upgrade because of the
implementation of the GRIB server in -X 2006A and -XCD 2006, along
with the new MySQL database in -XCD 2006.
See the McIDAS-XCD Administrator's
Guide (revised 6/06) for more information.
Required Action:
Coordinate upgrading your site's McIDAS-X and McIDAS-XCD
systems according to your needs. In particular, see Compatibility
with McIDAS-X Remote Servers and McIDAS-XCD in Section II of the McIDAS-X
Version 2006 Upgrade Procedure document for items that may
impact your decision on when to upgrade to McIDAS-XCD 2006.
Section II. Installing McIDAS-XCD
If you need assistance with the installation or you want to know if
any problems that might affect your site were noted since this upgrade
was released, call the McIDAS Help Desk at (608) 262-2455 or send
email.
The GRIB Server is now available in -X 2006 and -XCD 2006 with the
use of a MySQL database (which requires the -mysql flag
during -X and -XCD builds). As mentioned in the DSSERVE command
documentation, only GRIB files from the NOAAPORT data stream have been
tested and are fully supported. See Chapters 2, 4 and 5 in the McIDAS-XCD
Administrator's Guide.
Required Actions:
- Obtain and install McIDAS-X 2006A using the instructions found
on the McIDAS-X
version 2006A download page.
You should be sure to
install version 2006A (not version 2006), because 2006A is the 2006
Upgrade with additional modifications for the installation of McIDAS
with the MySQL database.
If you are planning on using the new GRIB server with
-XCD, you must install MySQL on the -XCD machine, and then build
and install McIDAS-X version 2006A with the -mysql flag.
- Obtain and install McIDAS-XCD 2006 using the instructions in Chapter
2 of the McIDAS-XCD Administrator's
Guide (revised 6/06).
Section III. Configuring McIDAS-XCD
This section lists the actions to be performed immediately after
upgrading to McIDAS-XCD 2006 from a previous version. If you are
installing McIDAS-XCD for the first time on a workstation, then everything
in this section will have been done during the installation procedure.
Grid Parameter Definition Changes
Changes were made to the GRID parameter definitions and scaling factors
between McIDAS-X versions 2005 and 2006. In version 2005, there were
many parameters that had identical parameter abbreviations, even though
the actual parameters had very different meanings. For example in version
2005, PAR=Z could mean ICAO Standard Atmosphere Ref Height (GRIB parameter
ID number 5), Geopotential height (par 7), Geometrical height (par
8), Geopotential height anomaly (par 27), or 5-wave geopotential height
(par 222). One model (e.g. GFS) could contain more than one of these "Z" parameters,
and when that occurred, it was difficult to differentiate between Z=geopotential
height and the other "Z" grids within the same model. In version 2006,
we reduced the number of these parameter abbreviations with multiple
definitions. In most cases, NCEP's
Office Note 388 was used to redefine the parameter abbreviations.
In addition to the parameter abbreviation changes, the scaling factor
for some parameters also changed. The reason for this is that in version
2005, the scaling factor of pressure defaulted to 2. Version 2006 now
uses the scaling factor in gbtbpds001.2v2 when creating McIDAS Grid
files and when populating the real-time GRIB database. Because the
scaling factor is now set in this data file to the same value as the
previous default value, users should see no changes in the resulting
Grid files or display output.
See the Grid Parameter Definition
Changes page for the complete set of parameter definition
and scaling factor changes.
Required Actions:
- Notify users of parameter name changes
- Update scripts and commands where the affected parameters are used
Local Copies of GRIB Table Files
In version 2005, the gbtbpds001.* GRIB table files
were moved from McIDAS-XCD to McIDAS-X for use with the GRIB decoder.
These files now reside in ~mcidas/data and several
files have extensive updates in 2006.
If your -XCD workstations have any local copies in ~oper/mcidas/data,
they should be removed so that the updated files in McIDAS-X 2006 (located
in ~mcidas/data) are used.
Required Actions:
- Search for local copies of the gbtbpds001.* files
and remove them
- If any files were removed, you will need to stop and restart -XCD
for the changes to take effect.
Additional Grid Datasets
New datasets coming across the NOAAPORT data stream were identified
over the past year. These are the Eastern North Pacific Wave
Model (ENPW) and the North Pacific Hurricane Wave Model (NPHW). If
you are serving McIDAS Grid files, complete the following steps to
add the ENP and NPH datasets to the RTGRIDS ADDE group to accommodate
these data. If you choose not to complete this procedure, then these
grids will continue to be filed into the RTGRIDS/OVERFLOW dataset.
If you are switching to the new GRIB server, these datasets will be
added with the new XCDGRIB.BAT script.
Optional Actions:
- Log on to the McIDAS-XCD workstation as user oper
- Open the file ~mcidas/data/RTMODELS.CFG for editing
- Add the following lines to the file
#ENPW-ALL
ENPW= 2 73001
# NPH-ALL
NPHW= 2 72001
- From a McIDAS-X session running under the mcadde account
on your -XCD workstation, add the RTGRIDS/ENP-ALL and RTGRIDS/NPH-ALL datasets
to your machine.
Type: DSSERVE
ADD RTGRIDS/ENP-ALL GRID 73001 74000 RT=Y "ENP - All Eastern
North Pacific Regional Wave Model grids
Type: DSSERVE
ADD RTGRIDS/NPH-ALL GRID 72001 73000 RT=Y "NPH - All North
Pacific Hurricane Wave Model grids
- In order for the RTMODELS.CFG changes to take
effect, you must stop and restart -XCD.
Datasets removed from McIDAS-XCD
Four datasets were removed from the XCDGRID.BAT file: LFM-ALL, NAM-AKPSAWI4, NAM-USLCAWIP, NDF-ALL,
and GFS-NWMESSIF. These datasets do not receive any
data in the NOAAPORT data stream and are empty.
Optional Action:
On -XCD machines that had a previous version installed, delete the LFM-ALL, NAM-AKPSAWI4,
NAM-USLCAWIP, NDF-ALL, and GFS-NWMESSIF datasets
with the McIDAS-X DSSERVE DEL command.
McIDAS-XCD Administration Script
Several sites, including the SSEC Data Center, have written their
own scripts to allow McIDAS-XCD to be run in the background, without
requiring a McIDAS-X session running in the foreground. We included
a generalized script, xcdadmin, in
the -XCD 2005 upgrade. The use of the xcdadmin script
is purely optional, but has several advantages.
- Being able to have McIDAS-XCD running without having to be logged
on to the workstation
- Being able to run McIDAS-XCD without having a McIDAS-X session
running in the foreground
- Easy logging of McIDAS-XCD text output
- Easier control of McIDAS-XCD when logged in remotely
- The ability to have McIDAS-XCD restart automatically on reboot
You can use xcdadmin to perform McIDAS-XCD
administrative tasks, including starting and stopping -XCD, creating
and rotating log files, and checking the status of -XCD. Simply type
xcdadmin for
usage information. It is recommended that you add an entry to cron
that calls xcdadmin log -t hourly. This inserts
a time stamp and disk/processor load information into the McIDAS-XCD
log file. It is also recommended that you add an entry to cron that
calls xcdadmin log -r daily to rotate the McIDAS-XCD
log file in order to prevent the log file from filling the disk.
Optional Action:
GRIB Server Set-up
The GRIB server is now available in McIDAS-X 2006A and -XCD 2006.
You may continue to serve McIDAS GRID files as you always have, but
may want to switch to the new GRIB server for faster data transfers
and less disk space usage. The real-time GRIB server utilizes a MySQL
database. Only GRIB files from the NOAAPORT data stream have been tested
and are fully supported. See the McIDAS-XCD
Administrator's Guide for all of the information about configuring
-XCD for the new GRIB server.
Optional Actions:
- Install McIDAS-X version 2006A and -XCD version 2006 using the
-mysql flag.
- See Configuring
the GRIB Decoders for information on creating the MySQL mcrtgrib database
with the gribadmin command, and activating the
DMBIN GRIB Decoder.
- See Configuring
Data Removal for information on using the Unix cron command
to schedule the removal of grib and bufr files, the cleaning of
the database, and the creation of the -XCD log files.
- See Configuring
the Default ADDE Datasets for information on creating the new
GRIB datasets.
- See Starting
and Stopping McIDAS-XCD for information on using xcdadmin to
start and stop -XCD in the background, without a McIDAS-X session
running in the foreground.
- See Checking
the Filing Status of McIDAS-XCD Data for information on using
statdisp and gribadmin to
check the filing status of all of the data on your -XCD machine.
Section IV. McIDAS-X and -XCD Changes
This section lists the changes made to McIDAS-X and -XCD source, data,
script, and batch files since the last upgrade (version 2005).
Source Modules Changes
The table below lists changes to McIDAS-XCD source modules since the
previous upgrade (version 2005). The same information is present in
the xcd_README_2006 file available on the
McIDAS-XCD Software page on the McIDAS Web Site (http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas)
and on the upgrade CD for sites that receive their software that way.
| File |
Description of Modifications |
bufr.h
Mcbufrdecoder.c |
Modifications for future bufr decoder. |
dmbin.pgm
dmgrid.pgm
Mcgrbbfrdec.c
mccmpgrd.for
|
GRIB decoder updates and changes for filing GRIB and/or Grid
files. |
dmgrid.pgm
mcloadgh.for |
Increased the maximum number of grids per grid file to 20,000. |
dmraob.pgm
dmsyn.pgm
M0pt_utils.h
Mcrtgdfile.c
Mcrtmodels.c
m0dcdsfc.for
m0grabyt.for
m0parobs.for
m0rabdec.for
m0wmodec.for
mcmatgrd.for |
Updated comments and/or debug in the code - no functional changes. |
| ingetext.pgm |
Updated to check text products for both line feeds and carriage
returns, since some new products only have line feeds. |
| m0syndec.for |
Fixed bug where uninitialized fields caused ceiling and visibility
to be incorrectly reported for Antarctic stations. |
| Mcgrbbfrdec.c |
Added perturbation field for certain GFS forecasts. |
| nmcamt.pgm |
Added entry for listing 14912 ECMWF grids. |
| qrtmdg.pgm |
Updated to always remove data for tomorrow's date, which
will improve performance at the end of the year |
Source Module Changes in -X
The table below lists changes to McIDAS-X source modules since the
previous upgrade (version 2005) that are used by -XCD. The same information
is present in the xcd_README_2006 file available
on the McIDAS-XCD Software page on the McIDAS Web Site (http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas)
and on the upgrade CD for sites that receive their software that way.
| File |
Description of Modifications |
gridparm.inc
mcgrib.h
mcidas.h
xcdgrib.c |
GRIB decoder updates and changes for filing GRIB and/or Grid
files. |
gridparm.inc
mcidas.h |
Updated MAXGRIDPT to 2,000,000. |
mcgrib.h
xcdgrib.c
mccomp.sh |
Changes for
-mysql compile flag. |
| mcgrib.h |
Updated GB_MAX_DATA_PTS, GB_MAX_MSG_LEN, GB_MAX_BMS_LEN, and
GB_MAX_BDS_LEN parameters so that larger values of these may be
processed. GB_MAX_BMS_LEN needed to be increased because of AWC
grids. The AWC grids were not being decoded properly because when
they were injected into the queue between grids that needed to
be stitched, it was causing them not to stitch properly due to
its memory being overwritten. |
| xcdgrib.c |
Some ensemble model code changes. |
Data File Changes
The table below lists changes to McIDAS-XCD data files since the previous
upgrade (version 2005). The same information is present in the xcd_README_2006 file
available on the McIDAS-XCD Software page on the McIDAS Web Site (http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas)
and on the upgrade CD for sites that receive their software that way.
| File |
Description of Modifications |
| GRIBDEC.CFG |
Increased the maximum number of grids per grid file to 20,000. |
NBIN.CFG
NTXT.CFG |
Added FILE=STDIN to replace named pipes. |
| NOGRIB.CFG |
ICA grids with geographic IDs of 218 and 242 are no longer decoded,
due to improper file formats. WWF-GLME is also no longer decoded,
due to bad geographic parameters. |
| RTMODELS.CFG |
Added Eastern North Pacific grids, ENP-ALL. Added North Pacific
Hurricane Wave Model grids, NPH-ALL. ICA-NWME changed to ICA-SHPS
to more accurately reflect the dataset. Removed LFM-ALL, NAM-AKPSAWI4,
NAM-USLCAWIP, NDF-ALL, and GFS-NWMESSIF entries. |
Data File Changes in -X
The table below lists changes to McIDAS-X data files since the previous
upgrade (version 2005) that are used by -XCD. The same information
is present in the xcd_README_2006 file available
on the McIDAS-XCD Software page on the McIDAS Web Site (http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas)
and on the upgrade CD for sites that receive their software that way.
| File |
Description of Modifications |
gbtbpds001.2v1
gbtbpds001.2v128
gbtbpds001.2v2
gbtbpds001.2v3
|
Updated the grid parameter definitions to eliminate duplicate
parameter abbreviations and fix some incorrect scaling factors |
| gbtbpds001.av1 |
Added Eastern North Pacific and North Pacific hurricane wave
model identifiers. |
| gbtbpds001.bv1 |
Updated some incorrect navigation parameters. |
| STNDB.CORE |
Updates to the core station database file. |
Script and Batch File Changes
The table below lists changes to McIDAS-XCD scripts and batch files
since the previous upgrade (version 2005). The same information is
present in the xcd_README_2006 file available
on the McIDAS-XCD Software page on the McIDAS Web Site (http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas)
and on the upgrade CD for sites that receive their software that way.
| File |
Description of Modifications |
_mcidasxcd.mk
xcd_install
Makefile |
Installation file changes. Added new files and made changes for
-mysql compile flag. |
| gribadmin |
New file - Unix command for managing the MySQL database used
by the GRIB server. |
| xcd_init |
Updated version number. |
| xcdadmin |
Fixed to properly kill running processes and updated method for
creating log files. |
| xcdscour |
New file - Unix command for deleting real-time GRIB or BUFR files,
and their associated database entries. |
| XCDADDE.BAT |
Changed to act as an umbrella batch file to call
other ADDE batch files (XCDRTPT.BAT, XCDRTWX.BAT, XCDNEXR.BAT,
XCDGRIB.BAT, XCDGRID.BAT) |
| XCDGRIB.BAT |
Batch file to run DSSERVE commands for the new default GRIB datasets. |
| XCDGRID.BAT |
Batch file to run DSSERVE commands for McIDAS GRID datasets. |
| XCDNEXR.BAT |
Batch file to run DSSERVE commands for the default NEXRAD datasets. |
| XCDRTPT.BAT |
Batch file to run DSSERVE commands for the default real-time
MD datasets. |
| XCDRTWX.BAT |
Batch file to run DSSERVE commands for the default text datasets. |
