McIDAS-XCD Version 2008
Upgrade Procedure
June 2008

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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 2008.
• Section II. Installing McIDAS-XCD describes the installation procedure for McIDAS-XCD 2008.
• Section III. Configuring McIDAS-XCD describes the actions to be performed immediately after upgrading to McIDAS-XCD 2008 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 2008 must be installed on the workstation prior to the installation of McIDAS-XCD 2008.

The McIDAS-XCD 2008 software package was tested and is supported on Enterprise Linux 4.0. As with McIDAS-X 2008, we recommend that you run your Enterprise Linux workstation in 32 bit mode.

See the McIDAS-XCD Administrator's Guide (revised 6/08) 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 2008 Upgrade Procedure document for items that may impact your decision on when to upgrade to McIDAS-XCD 2008.

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 available in -X 2008 and -XCD 2008 with the use of a MySQL database (which requires the -mysql flag during both the -X and -XCD builds). GRIB1 and GRIB2 files from the NOAAPORT data stream have been tested and are fully supported. SSEC no longer tests real-time McIDAS GRID files created by -XCD. See Chapters 2, 4 and 5 in the McIDAS-XCD Administrator's Guide.

Required Actions:

1. Obtain and install McIDAS-X 2008 using the instructions found on the McIDAS-X Version 2008 download page.

   If you are planning on using the GRIB server with -XCD, you must install MySQL on the -XCD machine, and then build and install McIDAS-X version 2008 with the -mysql flag.

2. Obtain and install McIDAS-XCD 2008 using the instructions in Chapter 2 of the McIDAS-XCD Administrator's Guide (revised 6/08).

New GRIB2 Configuration File

The GRIB filer has been modified to allow the -XCD Administrator to specify which GRIB2 messages should be discarded and not decoded by -XCD. GRBFILER.CFG was modified to read the configuration file (NOGRIB2.CFG) that specifies which GRIB2 messages should be discarded. The functionality of NOGRIB2.CFG is similar to NOGRIB.CFG, which specifies which GRIB1 messages to discard.

Required Actions:

1. As user oper, create a backup copy of your current GRBFILER.CFG file, and copy the new version of the file into ~oper/mcidas/data.

   Type: cp ~oper/mcidas/data/GRBFILER.CFG ~oper/mcidas/data/GRBFILER.CFG.BAK
   Type: cp ~oper/mcidas/xcd2008/data/GRBFILER.CFG ~oper/mcidas/data

2. Edit GRBFILER.CFG and make any appropriate changes to reflect your McIDAS-XCD configuration.
3. Stop and restart -XCD for the changes to take effect.

Changes to the Synoptic and METAR Decoders

The synoptic and METAR decoders were updated for NIL= data lines coming across the NOAAPORT data stream that were filling up rapid access files and overwriting real observations in MD files. The NIL= data lines are now ignored when creating the synoptic and METAR MD files.

In order to make the rapid access files larger to accommodate the NIL= data lines in the synoptic and METAR data, you must create new SAO METAR and synoptic rapid access files.

Required Actions:

1. Shut down -XCD and wait for all associated processes to exit.
2. Start a McIDAS-X session under the oper account.
3. Run the following BILDTEXT commands to delete the SAOMETAR.RAP, SAOMETAR.RAT, SYNOPTIC.RAP, and SYNOPTIC.RAT files and create new SAOMETAR.RAP and SYNOPTIC.RAP files. The new SAOMETAR.RAT and SYNOPTIC.RAT files will be created as soon as the next associated SAO/METAR or SYNOPTIC message is received.
   
   (Note: Running the BILDTEXT command deletes the rapid access files, making the previous text data unavailable with the OBSRPT, SFCRPT, and SYNRPT commands. Current MD files are unaffected by the BILDTEXT command.)

   Type: BILDTEXT INIT SAOMETAR.RAP SAOMETAR.RAT 7000 6 C4 36 1 80 SAOMETAR X 48
   Type: BILDTEXT INIT SYNOPTIC.RAP SYNOPTIC.RAT 6500 2 IDN 16 3 80 SYNOPTIC X 48

4. Restart -XCD for the changes to take effect.

Changes to the NGM MOS Decoder

The NGM MOS decoder and configuration file were updated to include the FOAK WMO header for Alaskan NGM MOS stations. These stations were also added to the STNDB.CORE file released in McIDAS-X Version 2008. The addition of these Alaskan stations put the total number of stations over the existing limit of 600 stations allowed in the NGM MOS rapid access text file and MD files.

In order to decode MOS forecasts from these Alaskan stations and you must update the NGM MOS configuration file. To account for the larger number of NGM MOS stations, you must create a new NGM MOS rapid access text file.

Required Actions:

1. As user oper, create a backup copy of your current NGMMOS.CFG file and copy the new version of the file into ~oper/mcidas/data.

   Type: cp ~oper/mcidas/data/NGMMOS.CFG ~oper/mcidas/data/NGMMOS.CFG.BAK
   Type: cp ~oper/mcidas/xcd2008/data/NGMMOS.CFG ~oper/mcidas/data

2. Shut down -XCD and wait for all associated processes to exit.
3. Start a McIDAS-X session under the oper account.
4. Run the following BILDTEXT command to delete the NGMMOS.RAP and NGMMOS.RAT files and create a new NGMMOS.RAP file. The new NGMMOS.RAT file will be created as soon as the next NGM MOS message is received. New NGM MOS MD files will be generated with 2000 columns the next time a new NGM MOS MD file is created, usually the next day after 0 UTC.
   
   (Note: Running the BILDTEXT command deletes the rapid access files, making the previous text data unavailable with the OBSRPT and MOSRPT commands. Current MD files are unaffected by the BILDTEXT command.)

   Type: BILDTEXT INIT NGMMOS.RAP NGMMOS.RAT 2000 4 C4 4 12 80 NGMMOS X 48

5. Restart -XCD for the changes to take effect.

Changes to the Surface Observation Schema

The filing of METAR cloud coverage value FEW as a separate value (rather than combined with SCT) in ISFC-schema MD files was added for this upgrade, and changes to the surface decoder and schema have been made. No changes were made to the surface configuration file (ISFCDEC.CFG). See METAR Cloud Coverage Values in Section IV of the McIDAS-X Version 2008 Upgrade Procedure for more information.

Required Actions:

1. From a McIDAS-X window in the oper account, register the new ISFC schema.

Type: SCHE DCISFC

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 been updated in 2008.

If your -XCD workstations have any local copies in ~oper/mcidas/data or in ~mcadde/mcidas/data, they should be removed so that the updated files in McIDAS-X 2008 (located in ~mcidas/data) are used.

Required Actions:

1. Search for local copies of the gbtbpds001.* files and remove them.
2. If any files were removed, stop and restart -XCD for the changes to take effect.

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 2007).

Source Modules Changes in -XCD

The table below lists changes to McIDAS-XCD source modules since the previous upgrade (version 2007). The same information is present in the xcd_README_2008 file available on the McIDAS-XCD Software page on the McIDAS Website (https://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas) and on the upgrade CD for sites that receive their software that way.

File	Description of Modifications
bufr.h	Added and updated the prototypes for BUFR filing and decoding.
dmbin.pgm Mcgrb2dec.c	Updated with changes related to the new NOGRIB2.CFG data file.
m0dcdsfc.for	If observations indicate a NIL= reading, then do not file into the MD file, but do file into the rapid text file. Implemented FEW=5 for cloud coverage in the ISFC schema.
m0ngmmos.for	Updated to allow for up to 2000 NGM MOS stations.
m0saodec.for m0syndec.for	If observations indicate a NIL= reading, then do not file into the MD file, but do file into the rapid text file.
m0shpdec.for	Updated to put the actual (not nominal) time into the HMS key for SHIP/BUOY readings.
Mcbufrdecoder.c	Moved all BUFR decoding functions into this module. Added a branch to account for differences between BUFR Edition 4 and previous editions. The filer now names BUFR files according to edition number (*.bufr2, *.bufr3, and *.bufr4) and according to http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/data_processing/data_dumping.doc/table_1.htm
Mcgrbbfrdec.c	Put in a hard-coded value of Center 7, Subcenter 14 to properly identify MOS GRIB1 files, because XCD GRIB tables are currently not designed to handle subcenters. Moved BUFR decoding functions to Mcbufrdecoder.c. Adjusted call to Mcbufrtofilename to include edition number of the BUFR file.
obtgserv.cp wtxgserv.cp	Changed the type of time_t variables to int as needed for 64-bit machines.

 

Source Module Changes in -X

The table below lists changes to McIDAS-X source modules since the previous upgrade (version 2007) that are used by -XCD. The same information is present in the xcd_README_2008 file available on the McIDAS-XCD Software page on the McIDAS Website (https://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas) and on the upgrade CD for sites that receive their software that way.

File	Description of Modifications
mcgrib.h	Added prototypes and structures for NOGRIB2.CFG functionality.
xcdgrib.c	Updated with changes related to the new NOGRIB2.CFG data file. Added case statement for GRIB1 236 that was improperly being assigned as Mercator when it should be Lambert Conformal.

Data File Changes in -XCD

The table below lists changes to McIDAS-XCD data files since the previous upgrade (version 2007). The same information is present in the xcd_README_2008 file available on the McIDAS-XCD Software page on the McIDAS Website (https://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas) and on the upgrade CD for sites that receive their software that way.

File	Description of Modifications
GRBFILER.CFG	Added an entry for the default name of the NOGRIB2.CFG file.
NGMMOS.CFG	Added WMO entries for FOAK (Alaskan NGM MOS messages). Increased the number of columns in the MD file from 600 to 2000 to account for the additional Alaskan entries.
NOGRIB2.CFG	New file - similar to NOGRIB.CFG, this allows for entries of GRIB2 data to be discarded.
XCDDEC.VER	Updated -XCD version number to 2008.

 

Data File Changes in -X

The table below lists changes to McIDAS-X data files since the previous upgrade (version 2007) that are used by -XCD. The same information is present in the xcd_README_2008 file available on the McIDAS-XCD Software page on the McIDAS Website (https://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas) and on the upgrade CD for sites that receive their software that way.

File	Description of Modifications
bufrVersion2TableA.txt	New file - entries for BUFR Edition 2 Table A to allow for better naming of BUFR files by -XCD. Based on http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/data_processing/data_dumping.doc/table_1.htm
bufrVersion3TableA.txt	New file - same as Edition 2, but needed as a placeholder in the code.
bufrVersion4TableA.txt	New file - entries for BUFR Edition 4 Table A. Different from previous editions as standard types are divided into international subtypes as defined by the WMO. Source: BufrCommon-11-2007.pdf from http://www.wmo.ch
DCISFC	Implemented FEW=5 for cloud coverage in the ISFC schema.
gbtbpds001.2v131	New file - needed for North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) GRIB1 files.
gbtbpds001.av1	Added description to index 140 for NARR GRIB1 files.
gbtbpds001.bv1	Added default navigation entries for GRIB1 geographic ID numbers 225, 236, 238, 239, and 24..
grib2NavLookup.txt	Added navigation lines for RUC-USLC13KM, NCE-USLCAWI4, NDF-AKPS, RTM-AKPS, SREF-AKPS45KM, and SREF-USME datasets.
grib2Parameters.txt	Corrected MSLM unit name. Added physical atmospheric property entries and GOES-12 forecast satellite imagery products. Added several heating rate parameters.
STNDB.CORE	Updates to the core station database file.

Script and Batch File Changes in -XCD

The table below lists changes to McIDAS-XCD scripts and batch files since the previous upgrade (version 2007). The same information is present in the xcd_README_2008 file available on the McIDAS-XCD Software page on the McIDAS Website (https://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas) and on the upgrade CD for sites that receive their software that way.

File	Description of Modifications
_mcidasxcd.mk buildrelease	Added entries for NOGRIB2.CFG, REBILDRAP.BAT, REGROUP.BAT, and XCDBUFR.BAT.
REBILDRAP.BAT	New file - rebuild the Rapid Access Pointer files.
REGROUP.BAT	New file - recreates GROUPS.DAT and COUNTRY.DAT files.
RMXCDDEC.BAT	Added entries for removing NAMMOS, NGMMOS, and GFSMOS .RAP and .RAT files. Added entries for removing GRIB and BUFR files. Removed entry for FASTXT.DAT file.
xcd_init	Updated version number.
XCDADDE.BAT	Added entry to run XCDBUFR.BAT file.
XCDBUFR.BAT	New file - creates the new BUFR datasets.
XCDDEC.BAT	Updated BILDTEXT command for NGMMOS to use 2000 stations. Changed the default installation to add all countries by running the SIGCO ADD ALL command. Changed number of reporting entries to 6 for SAOMETAR.RAP and 2 for SYNOPTIC.RAP, so that users can see all of the text data (including NIL=).
XCDGRB2.BAT	Added RTM-AKPS, NDF-AKPS, and MGWM (MultiGrid Wave Model) GRIB2 datasets.
XCDGRIB.BAT	Added new MOS-ALL dataset.
xcdscour	Updated to properly delete newly named files by the BUFR filer.