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#Introduction(helpfilerevised22January2007)

ThisistheOPeNDAPDataConnector(ODC).UsingtheODCyoucansearchforandretrievedatasetspublishedbyOPeNDAPdataservers.OPeNDAPservers(alsoknownasDODSservers)locatedatmajorinstitutionsaroundtheworldserveawidevarietyofdataincluding:climaticdata,satelliteimagery,andoceansensorresults.TheODCallowsyoutofindthesedatasets,downloadthemtoyourmachine,savethem,andimportthemintoclientapplicationslikeIDL,Matlab,SPSS,Excel,orintodatabasessuchasAccessandOracle.TheODCisyourgatewaytoterabytesofscientificdataandimagery.

http://www.opendap.org/ODC/

Toreportbugsormakecommentsusethefeedbacktab.

Youmayalsodirectlycontacteither:

DanHollowayJohnChamberlain

ThedevelopmentofthissoftwarewasfundedbytheNationalOceanographicPartnershipProgram(http://www.nopp.org/).

#StartupandShutdown

StarttheODCbyrunningtheexecutable("odc.exe"onWindows,"odc"onUNIX).Configurationparametersforstartupareinthefile"startup.ini"whichmustbeinthebasedirectory(unlessyouaredoingamanualstartup(seeinstallationinstructionsforyoursystem).Notethata1.4orbetterJREmustbeavailable.TheWindowspackageincludesthisJREandonMacOSXJaguarorbetteritisbuilt-in.

ToshutdowntheODCclickthe"x"intheupperrighthandcorneroftheapplicationwindow'stitlebar.

TheODChasvariousconfigurationsettings.Thesearestoredinafilecalled"c

onfig.txt".YoucanviewthesesettingsbyusingtheIPScommand"showconfig"(seetopicThird-PartyandCommandLineSupportforinformationonusingtheconsole).

***BaseDirectory***

Yourbasedirectoryonstartupwillalwaysbethefirststatuslogentry(seeStatusandErrorstopicbelowforhowtodisplay).Youcanchangethebasedirectorybysupplyingthedesireddirectorypathasanargumenttoyourstartupcommand.Inaunixinstallthisstartupcommandisusuallyascript.InaWindowsinstallationtheapplicationargumentcanbespecifiedinthestartup.inifileasthe"ApplicationParameter"value.

#Quickstart

TheODCusesatab-basedinterface.Thisisthehelptab.Thetabsarepersistent:youcanleaveatabandcomebacktoitanditwillbeunchanged.Asyoudothequickstartyoucancomebackandforthtothehelptabwithoutaffectingyourwork.

OperatingtheODCinvolvesthreesteps:

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(1)identifythedatasetyouwanttouse(Search)(2)retrieveitsstructureandmakeasub-selectionofthedataifdesir

ed(Retrieve)(3)outputorviewthedata(View)

Thecontrolsforthesethreestepsaregroupedontothreetabsaccessibleatthetopofthescreen.

Followalongtolearnhowtodothesesteps:

1-gotoSearch/DatasetListtab2-gointothe"UniversityofRhodeIsland..."folder3-gointothe"1.1kmNorthwestAtlanticAVHRR"folder4-singleclick(DONOTDOUBLECLICK)on"PathfinderSST";yourchoice

willhighlight5-singleclickthered"ToRetrieve"buttonatthetopofthescreen

[youshouldnowmoveautomaticallytotheretrievepanel][PathfinderSSTwillbelistedasoneofyourselecteddatasets][noticethatitishighlighted;thismeansitistheactivedata

set]6-navigatethedirectorytreebydouble-clickingthefolderstoamont

hofyourchoice[alistofdatafilesforthemonthwillappearontheright]

7-doubleclickoneofthefiles;thiswillloaditsstructure

[thestructureofthefilewillappearinthepanebelow]8-clickthecheckboxnexttothe"dsp_band_1"variable9-modifythearrayrangessotheyread"0:10:6143"(enterkey"saves"

thechange)[thisspecifiesyouonlywantevery10thvalueinthearray][wesubsetthedatalikethisbecausea6143x6143matrixwouldtakealotlongertoprocesswithoutaddingmuchmoretos

ee][shortcut:usethe"step"drop-downboxbelowtosetthestepto

10]10-select"Plotter"inthedrop-downlistnexttothe"Outputto"butt

on11-clickthe"Outputto"button

[youwillautomaticallymovetotheView/Plotpane][thedatawillautomaticallybeloadedtotheplotpane]12-singleclickplottype"Pseudocolor"ifitisnotalreadyselected

[thexandyvalueswillautomaticallybepickedforyou]13-singleclicktheblue"Plot"button

[aplotofthedatawillappearinaseparatewindow]

Congratulationsyouhavedoneaplot!

Eachofthescreensabovehasmuchmorefunctionalityandoptionsthanwehaveexploredhere.Readtherestofthehelpwhenyouwanttolearnmore.Visitthewebsite'splotgallery(http://opendap.org/ODC/gallery)togetdetailedwalkthroughsforhow

doplotsofalltypes.

#AboutNetworkResources,FirewallsandProxies

ItisimportanttorealizethattheODCdoesitsworkbyaccessingserverslocatedallovertheinternet.Theseconnectionsmaynotalwaysbeactiveorserversmaybedownormalfunctioning.Insomecasesaserverwillnotberesponsiveandyouwillseetheprogressmeterinthelowerright-handcornerofthedisplaystrobepersistently.Youcanstopsuchactionsbydouble-clickingtheprogressmeter.

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Duringnetworkaccesses(bydefault)thereisayellowboxthatappearsinthecenterofthescreen.Youcandisablethisboxbychangingaconfigurationsetting.

---FirewallsandProxies---

Youmayworkbehinda"firewall"whichpreventsnormalaccesstotheinternet.TheODCcanstilloperateaslongasthereisanHTTPproxyserveravailabletoyourmachine.Ifyourbrowserworks,butyouarebehindafirewallitisprobablybecausethebrowserisusingaproxyserverwhichtheODCcanuseaswell.TosetuptheODCtouseyourproxyyouneedtosetconfigurationsettings(seeConfigurationtopicinthishelpforhowtodothat)called"proxy.Use","proxy.Host"andproxy.Port".proxy.Useshouldbesetto"Yes".Thehostsettingshouldeitherbeamachinenamelike"sodastraw.mycompany.com"oranumericIPaddresslike"123.456.789".Theportsettingwillbeanintegerlike"8080".Thisintegermustbebetween0and65535.

Ifyoudonothaveaproxyserverordonotneedtouseonethenproxy.Useshouldbesetto"No"(thedefault).

TheODChaslimitedsupportforauthenticatedproxies.Authenticatedproxiesareproxyserversthatrequireausernameandpassword.TheODCsupports"Basic"authenticationonly.IfyourwebproxyusesDigest,NTLM,Kerberosorotherauthen

ticationschemeitwillnotwork.Checkwithyournetworkadministrator.IfyouwanttouseBasicauthenticationsetthefollowingproperties:

proxy.UseBasicAuthentication(setto"yes"or"true")proxy.Usernameproxy.Password

Todeterminethehostandportofyourproxyeitheraskyouradministratororlookinyourbrowsersettings.ForexampleinNetscape4.72theproxysettingscanbefoundunderthemenuPreferences/Advanced/Proxies.

#AboutMemory

TheODCisamemory-intensiveapplicationespeciallyifyouuseitforplotting.Youcanincreaseitsresponsivenessbysettingtheminimumheapmemory(thestartingmemoryfortheapplication).Youshouldincreasethemaximumamountofmemoryavailabletotheprogramtomatchthetotalamountofmemoryinyourcomputerunlessyouhavesomespecialreasonforrestrictingit.Ifyousetthemaximummemoryhigherthanthetotalamountofrealmemoryinyoursystemtheprogramwilluse"virtualmemory",iediskspace,toserveasthememory.Thisismuchslowerthanrealmemory,RAM,andwearsthedisk.ForthesereasonsitisrecommendedthatyoutrytomatchthemaximummemorysettingtoactualamountofRAMavailabletotheapplication.

Thesesettingsareaccomplishedbyaddingswitcheslikethistothestartupcommand:

-Xms40mstartingmemoryof40megabytes(ifnoswitchispresentdefaultsto2m)-Xmx300mmaximummemoryof300megabytes(ifnoswitchispresentdefaultsto64m)

IfyouareoperatingunderWindowsyoucanfindthesesettingsinthestartup.inifile.Inthisfiletheformatoftheentryislike"Option=-Xms40m".OntheMacintoshthesesettingsthesesettingsareintheappbuilderpropertiesfile.InaUnixenvironmenttheyarethefirstparameterstothejavastartupcommand

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(e.g."java-Xms40m-Xmx300m...etc").

Itisrecommendedthatusersincreaseboththestartingandmaximummemorytoatleastthelevelsshownabove(40starting,300maximum)togetastandardlevelofperformance.

FailingtochangemaximummemorysettingcanbeparticularlydebilitatingbecauseitpreventstheODCfromusingthefullresourcesofyoursystem.

Notethattheamountofmemoryusedwilloftenbemuchlargerthantherawamountofmemoryadatasetconsumes.Forexample,adatasetthatconsumes20megabytesasarawstreammighteasilyuse80megabyteswhenitisbeingmanipulatedinmemory.Thereasonforthisisthatforsomeoperations,notablyplotting,thedatamustbeheldinmultiplebufferssimultaneously.

#StatusandErrors

TheODCkeepstrackofmostmajorapplicationactionsinitsstatuslog.Italsorecordsallerrorsandwarnings.ToviewstatusorerrorinformationgototheView/Texttab.Atthebottomofthescreenarebuttonsthatwilloutputthestatusanderrorinformationtothetextwindows.Ifyouencounteraproblemandwanttoreportittothedeveloperspleasecopyandpasteyourstatuslogintothemessagetous.Errorsalwaysprintoutattheendofastatuslogdump.Youcanalsodumpjusttheerrorsandwarningsbyclickingthe"ShowErrors"button.

#Configuration

Thedefaultsettingsforthisprogramwillworkformostpeoplehoweveryoumayneed(orwant)totweakitsconfiguration.Forexample,ifyouarebehindafirewallyouwillneedtosettheconfigurationtouseaproxyserver.

Therearetwowaystoreadandmodifyyourconfigurationsettings:(1)edittheconfigurationfiledirectly(2)usetheconsole

TheconfigurationsettingsfortheODCareinafilecalled"config.txt"locatedinyourODCbasedirectory.Thisfileiscreatedautomaticallythefirsttimey

ouruntheODC.Yourbasedirectoryislistedasthefirstentryinthestatuslog(seetopiconstatusanderrors).

YoucanusetheconsoleavailableontheView/Texttabtodisplayormodifyconfigurationsettings.Toshowallsettingsenter"showconfig"inthetextboxatthebottomofthescreenandpresstheEnterkey.Likewiseyoucanusethe"set"commandtochangeasetting.Todisplayallthecommandsenterthecommand"help"or"?".

#SearchingandRetrieving

Thetoprowoftabsintheinterfacegivesyoursearchoptions.Favoritesareyourfavoritedatasets.Initiallythislistwillbeempty.Recentisthe20(byd

efault)mostrecentdatasetsselected.GCMDistheGlobalChangeMasterDirectorysponsoredbyNASA.ThedatasetlistisageneralcatalogofknownOPeNDAPserversandtheirdata.Notethatthefavoritesandrecentwillnotbevisibleifyouareinread-onlymode(egrunningtheprogramdirectlyfromaCD-ROM).

TheGCMDinterfaceisnotimmediatelyaccessiblewhenyoustarttheODC.Thisisbecauseittakesseveralnetworkaccessestoloadit.IfyouwishtoloadtheGCMDsearchinterfacegototheSelect/GCMDtabandclickthe"AccessGCMD"buttoninthecenterofthescreen.

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Afteryouhavelocatedoneormoredatasetsofinterestyoumustmovethemtotheretrievepanelbyclickingthe"ToRetrieve"button.Youcanmovemultiplefilesbymulti-selectingholdingdowntheCtrlkey.

TheinformationusedtopopulatethedatasetlistcomesfromafileincludedwiththeODCdistributioncalled"datasets.xml".Youcanretrievethelatestversionofthisfilefromunidata.ucarbyclickingthe"RefreshDatasetList"buttonontheDatasetlisttab.ThiswilloverwriteyourlocalfilecachewiththeremotelymaintainedcopyatUCAR.

*AnyGCMDspatialconstraintyouspecifywillbeappliedtoallGCMDqueries.Seethesectionbelowonthespatialconstraintpanelformoreinformationonusingit.

*DoubleclickingonanitemintheFavoritesorRecenttabswillcauseitsinformationtobedisplayedintheareabelow

*DatasetListSearch:tousethissearchentersearchtermsintheboxandclickthe"Search"button;thesearchisbydefaultan"OR"searchthatincludesanyofyourterms;ifyouwanttoguaranteeatermisthere("AND")puta"+"infrontofthatsearchterm;whenthesearchcompletesthetreewillbeupdatedtoonlyincludematchingnodes;torestorethetreetoshowallnodesmakethesearchboxemptyandclickthe"Search"buttonagain

#SubsetandSelect

WhenyousendoneormoredatasetlocationstotheRetrievepanel,thepanelwillbeactivatedandthedatasetlocationtitlewillbelistedinthepanelontheupperleft.

Theretrieveddatasetspanelliststhedatasetlocationswhichyouhaveidentified.Thereisaredbutton"?"totheleftofeachitem.The"?"(Info)buttonwillretrieveinformationaboutthelocationanddisplayitinatextpaneltotheright.Iftheitemisadirectory(indicatedbyafoldericon)adirectorytreewillappeartotherightinthetophalfofthepanelwhenthelocationisselected(clickedonce).

Thebuttonsareredtoindicatethattheydoanetworkaccess.Ifyouhavenetworkproblemsorthesiteholdingthedatasetisunavailableforsomereasontheremaybealongdelaybeforearesponseoccurs.

Thedirectorytreeforagivendirectorydatasetitemisnotfullydisplayedwhenitisfirstshown.Onlythefirstlevelofthedirectoryisshown.Toseesubdirectoriesyoumustdouble-clickonthedesiredsub-directory.Eachtimethisisdoneanetworkaccessismadetofurtherdiscoverthesubdirectory.Ifadirectoryhasbeennotbeendiscoveredanellipsis("...")appearsafteritsname.ThismeansthattheODCdoesnotknowwhatisinthedirectoryanditwillrequireanetworkaccesstofindout.Ifthereisnoellipsisthenyoucanexpandthedirectorytoseewhatisinitwithoutmakinganetworkaccess.

Whenyouselectadirectoryanyfilesinthedirectorywillbeshowninthelistboxtotherightofthedirectorytree.

Youmaysubsetoneormoredirectoryfilesbydouble-clickingthefilename.ThecriteriaforthatfilewillappearinthelowerpaneoftheAdditionalCriteriaarea.Anycriteriaspecifiedherewillbeappliedtoalltheselectedfilesinthedirectorytree.

*DisplaytheDDS(structureinformation)foradatasetbyholdingdownthecontrolkeyanddouble-clickingthedataset.DisplaytheDAS(ancillary/descriptive

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information)foradatasetbyholdingdowntheshiftandcontrolkeyswhiledouble-clicking.

*Youmustselectadatasetforadownloadtooccur.Inthecaseofadirectoryyoumustselectoneormorefileswithinthedirectory,justselectingthedirectoryitselfwilldonothing.Thefilesyouhaveselectedwillbelistedinthe"SelectedDatasets"listboxinthelowerleftoftheretrievalpanel.

*YoumayselectmorethanoneiteminalistortreebyholddowntheCtrlorShiftkeys.CtrlwilladdtoyourselectionandShiftwillcauseyourselectiontobeextendedtotheplaceofthemouseclick

*Youcanenter(orpaste)anURLmanuallyintothelocationboxatthetopofscreenandpressingthe"Add"button.TheURLwillbeaddedasanewdatasetlocationintheselecteddatasetslists.

*ThelocationbaratthetopoftheretrievepanelshowstheURLforthecurrentsubset.NotethatinthecaseofdirectoryURLstherewillbenofilenameintheURLinthelocationbar.YoucanusethelocationbartoenteranURLmanuallybyclickingthe"Add"button.

---Constraints---

Toconstraintheresultsfromdatasetusethelowerpaneofthe"AdditionalCrit

eria"panel.Iftheselecteddatasethasfieldsthatcanbeconstrainedtheywillappearhere.Inthecaseofanarrayyoucanspecifythestartingindex,endingindexandstride(iestep).Forexample,ifyouspecify"4:2:12"youwillgetdataforarrayindices4,6,8,10,and12.Inthecaseofsequencesyoucanusethedropdownboxtospecifyarelationandthengiveaquantityinthetextboxnexttoit.FormoreinformationonconstrainingadatasetseetheOPeNDAPwebsite.

#Outputting

Therearevariousoutputoptionsindicatedbythebuttonsinthelowerleftquadrantoftheretrievepanel.Whenyouselectoneoftheseoptionstheywillbeappliedtoalloftheselecteddatasetsasindicatedinthe"SelectedDatasets"li

stboxaslongastheoperationisvalid.(Forexample,youcannotsendagiftotheplotter;youcanonlysendOPeNDAPdatasetstotheplotter.)

Theselecteddatasetslistshowstheestimatedsizeofthedatasetifpossible.Thismeasurementisshowninunitsofbytes(B),kilobytes(K),megabytes(M)orgigabytes(G).Theestimatedoesnotincludeanysequencesorstringdata.

Ifyououtputtoafilespecifyafilenameordirectoryintheboxprovided.Theelipsisbutton(...)willgiveyouafiledialogboxyoucanusetonavigateyourmachine'sdirectorytree.

Ifyouspecifyadirectory(thepathendinginaslash)thenwhenthefileissavedtheexistingfilename(ornames)oftheselectedURL(s)willbeused.

Thesupportedoutputfileformatsare:Binary-theexactfileasitexistsontheserver(onlyvalidfornon-O

PeNDAPsourcescurrently)ASCII-Areadableprintoutofthedatainbracketedformat(onlyvalid

forOPeNDAPsources)Formatted-Areadableprintoutthathasbeenflattenedintotables(onl

yvalidforOPeNDAPsources)Theformattedoutputisappropriatewhenyouwanttoreadthedatainatwo-dimensionalway.Also,theformattedoutputisspecificallydesignedtobeeasytop

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arse.

Ifyouattempttooutputafileinanon-supportedformatyouwillreceiveanerrormessagetothateffect.

DataBinaryOutputNotSupported:Currently(asofversion2.41)datafileswhichtheservercanreadasOPeNDAPsources,forexample,NetCDF(*.nc)andHDFfiles,CANNOTbereturnedinthebinaryformat.YoucanonlyreturntheASCIIorformattedASCIIformatsfordatafiles.Binaryfileretrievalsareonlypossiblefornon-OPeNDAPsourcessuchasimages(.gif,.jpg,etc),textorothernon-OPeNDAPsources.ThisisalimitationofthecurrentOPeNDAPserverdesign.

#Timeouts

YoumaygetatimeouterrorindicatingthattheODCdidnotwanttowaitanylongerfordata.Someserversmayrequirelongertimeoutsthannormalbecausetheyhavedataarchivedusingcomplexretrievalsystems.ThisistrueofMODISdataforexample.

Toadjusttimeoutschangetheconfigurationsettingstimeout.InternetReadand/ortimeout.InternetConnect.TheconnecttimeoutappliesonlywhentheODCisfirstconnectingtotheserverandthereadtimeoutappliesoncedataretrievalhasbegun.

OnewaytochangethesesettingsistousethecommandinterfacefoundontheView/Textpanel.Forexample,issuingthecommand:

settimeout.InternetRead30

Wouldsetthetimeoutto30seconds.Youcanreadmoreaboutenteringcommandsandusingthecommandinterfaceinthenexttopic(Third-PartyandCommandLineSupport).

Anotherwaytochangethissettingistoedittheconfig.txtfileintheODCbasedirectory.

#Third-PartyandCommandLineSupport(Console)

*TheODChasacommandservercalledthe"interprocessserver"whichlistensbydefaultonport31870.YoucanissuecommandstotheIPSbyenteringtheminthetextboxatthebottomofthetextviewpanelandpressingEnter.

STEP-BY-STEPDummiesGuidetoexecutingacommand-findthe"View"tabatthetopofthescreen,clickonitonce-findthe"Text"tabatthetopofthescreen,clickonitonceNearthebottomoftheviewtextscreendirectlyabovethebuttonsyoushouldseearectangularboxwithawhitebackground.Thisisthecommandentryeditbox.-clickonceinsidetheboxtoplacethecursorinsidethebox

youshouldseeablinkingverticallineinsidetheboxthisisthecursor-typethecommanddesired,itshouldappearintheboxyoucanalsocopyandpasteintothebox-presstheenterkeytoexecutethecommandtheresultswillappearinthetextareaabove

*Youcanissuethesamecommandsbyconnectingfromathirdpartyapplicationsuchasatelnetclient.

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*Enter"?"or"help"inthecommandlineatthebottomofthetextviewscreentoseesupportedcommandsfortheinterprocessserver.Step-by-step:

*Youcanchangeconfigurationsettingsfromconsolebyusingthecommand"set".

#ProgramDirectoriesandFiles

*TheODCusesvariousfilesanddirectoriesinstalledbelowitsrootdirectoryrelativetothe"basedirectory".Thebasedirectoryisnormallywheretheapplicationhasbeeninstalled.Therelativepathsare:

config.txtdatasets.xmlECHO_static_valids.xml/preferences/ImageCache

*BydefaultthePClauncherautomaticallysetsthebasedirectorytowhereverthelauncherexecutableislocated.Youcanspecifyadifferentdirectoryaddingthefollowinglinetoyourstartup.inifile:

ApplicationParameter=[desireddirectory](forexample,"c:/usr/JohnSmith/odc")

*Ifyoudonotusealauncheryoushouldsupplythenameofthebasedirectory

asastartupargument.Ifyousupplynobasedirectorytheworkingdirectory(user.dir)willbeused.

#Spatial-TemporalConstraint

Thespatial-temporalconstraintpanelcanbeusedtocreateaspatialortemporalconstraintonyoursearch.

Tocreateaspatialconstraintsurroundthedesiredareaonthemapwiththewhiteselectionrectangle.Youcanmodifythelocationandshapeoftherectangleeitherbymanipulatingitwiththemouse,editingthecoordinatetextboxesorselectinganitemfromthegazetteer.Afteryouhaveselectedanareayoumustmak

esurethe"Apply"checkboxischecked.Ifthischeckboxisoffnospatialconstraintwillbeapplied.

TocreateatemporalconstraintentertheFromandTodatesintheboxesprovided.Thetemporalconstraintwillbeappliedautomaticallyifthereisanytextinanyofthesixtemporalentryboxes.Ifyouonlymakeanentryin"From"thentherewillbeno"To"constraintandviceversa.Ifyouleavetheyearblank,butenteramonthoradaythentheFromyearwilldefaultto"0001"andtheToyeartothecurrentyear.TheFrommonthdefaultsto"01"andtheTomonthdefaultsto"12".TheFromdaydefaultsto"01"andtheTodaydefaultsto"31".

Thegazetteerhaspresetcoordinatesforwell-knownregions.Thefirstlistboxcontainsregiontypes.Thesecondlistboxhastheentriesfortheselectedtype

.Itupdatesautomaticallywhenyouselectaregiontype.Thethirdlistboxhascustomregions.ByclickingtheAddbuttonyoucandefineyourownregions.Thesewillbeaddedtothegazetteerfile.Thegazetteerfileisatextfilethelocationofwhichisspecifiedinyourconfiguration.Ithasaself-evidentformatsoyoucanmodifyitorprovideyourowngazetteer.

#Plotting

IfyouwouldliketographyourdatatheODChastheabilitytocreateplotsofvariouskindssuchasline,scatter,histograms,pseudocolor,contourandvector

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plots.AgoodwaytogetstartedplottingistogototheOPeNDAPonlinegalleryofexampleplotsandseehowthoseplotsweredone.Thiswillgiveyouanideaoftherangeofplottingcapabilitiesandserveasaguidetosettinguptheplotsofthevarioustypes.Eachexampleinthegalleryhasadetailedsetofdirectionsforduplicatingtheplot.

SelectingandLoadingtheData

FirstaddtheURLforthedatayouwishtoplottotheretrievepanelandconstrainit,ifdesired.Inmostcasesyouwillneedtoconstrainarraystotwodimensionsorless.Usethe"ToPlotter"buttonintheretrievalpaneltodownloadthedataandmakeitaccesibletotheplotter.Thiswillloadthedataoffthenetworkintomemory.Notethatdoingthisinvolvesanetworkaccessasindicatedbytheredcolorofthe"ToPlotter"button.Iftheloadissuccessfulthedatasetwillbelistedinplotterpanel.Selecttheloadeditemfromthelist.Thedatasetstructurewillappearinthepanebelow.Youarenowreadytodefineyourplot.

Ifyouselectmulti-dimensionalarraysyoumustrestrictthemtooneortwodimensions.Theplotterwillnotprocessarrayswithmorethantwodimensions.Torestrictadimensionconstrainittoasinglevalue.Forexample,theconstraintX[1:100],Y[1:250],Z[17:17]restrictstheZ-dimensiontoasinglevalue.Thisturnsthearrayintoatwo-dimensionalarray.

DefiningthePlot

Todefineyourplotfirstpickoneoftheplottypes,suchas"Line",fromthecombobox.Theplotdefinitionpanemaychangetosupporttheplottypechosen.Thedefinitionareawillthenallowyoutospecifywhichvalue(s)youwanttoplot.Chooseavariabletoplotfromthe"values"combobox.ThecontentsoftheX-andY-Axiscombosmaychangedependingonwhichvaluesyouareplotting.Ifyouareplottingamappedgrid,theaxeschoicesaredeterminedautomatically.Theinterfacewillshowthedimensionsforthatvalueandallowyoutospecifywhichdimensionsshouldbethexandy.Inthecaseofalineplotyoucanonlyselectonexory.Allotherdimensionsmustbeconstrained.

Dimensionsthatarenotassignedtoanaxismustbyconstrainedandatextboxw

illappearallowingyoutoenteraconstraint.Theconstraintisacomma-separatedlistofvaluesorranges,forexample,"1,2,4-6,9,13-17".Thesenumbersaretheindexnumbersofthedatanotthedatavaluesthemselves.Iftherearemorethanonedimensionstoconstrainonlyoneofthedimensionsmayhavemorethanoneindexspecifiedbytheconstraint.Ifyouspecifymorethanonevalueinaconstraintmultipleplotswillbegenerated--oneforeachindexintheconstraint.

OutputOptions

Onceyouhavedefinedaplotyoucanoutputtheplotbyclickingthe"Plot"button.Therearevariousoutputdestinationsavailableviathedrop-downlistnexttotheplotbutton.Youcanalsochangethescaleoftheplotwiththezoomfactorcontrolstotherightoftheplotbuttonarea.Formoreinformationonzoomf

actorseethetopicScaling.FormoreinformationontheoutputdestinationsseethetopicOutput.

UsingtheTableView

Youcanalsoplotfromdatacontainedinthetableview.Ifyouclickthe"TableView"radiobuttonintheupperleftthedefinitionpanewillchangetoallowyoutoenteroneormorerangestogetthedatafrom.Entertherangesinspreadsheetfashion,forexample"A3:B15".Youcanaddrangestogetherbyseparatingthemwithacomma,forexample"A3:A15,D5:D23,M6:M400".Ifyouaddrangestheymus

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thaveatleastoneidenticaldimension.Forexample,youcouldaggregatea3x20matrixanda3x60matrixbutyoucouldnotaggregatea4x5matrixanda3x15matrix.

PlottingDatainaFile

Ifyouwouldliketoplotdatafromafile,storeitinCSV(comma-separatedvalues)formatandthenloaditintothetableview.Onceitisinthetableviewitcanbeplottedasdescribedintheparagraphabove.InaCSVfilefieldsareseparatedbycommasandrecordsareseparatedbynewlines.Iftherearestringsinthedatatheycanbedelimitedbyquotationmarks.Toescapeaquotationmark,doubleit.Forexample,"SatelliteAR4078(""AEGIS"")Data"willevaluateto[SatelliteAR4078("AEGIS")Data].

MissingValues

The"Missing"textboxallowsyoutoenteroneormore"missingvalues"forthedataset.Amissingvalueisadatavaluethatistobetreatedasnull.Thesevaluesshowintheplotasaparticularcolorindicatedbythecolorspecification.Ifthereismorethanonemissingvalueseparatethemwithspacesinthebox.Youcansometimesdeterminethemissingvalue(s)byexamingtheglobalattributesofthedataset(use'showdescriptions'intheconstraintpanel).Themissingvaluesassigmentsarepartofthecolorspecification.

Ifthedataset'sattributeinformationcontainsanattributefortheselectedvariablethatstartswiththeword"missing"thosevalueswillautomaticallybeparsedandusedasmissingvalues.YoucanhavetheODCattempttocalculatethemissingvaluesforyouwhichitdoesbydefaultifnomissingvaluesattributewasfound.Thiscalculationwilldoubleyourdatamemoryrequirementstemporarilyandtaketimeproportionalton*log(n)wherenisthenumberofdataelements.Youcanturnitoffviaanoptionsetting.

#PlottingLines

Whenplottinglinesdirectlyfromdata(notusingatableview)therearefollowingwaysofdefiningthedatavariables:

IndependentDependentnone1x/ylinesonly(scatterplotsmusthave2variables)nonesliceslinesonly(scatterplotsmusthave2variables)1x/y/slice1y/x/slice1x/y/slicenslicesnslicesnslices(numberofslicesmustmatchforbothvariables)

Inallcasesonlyvectors(one-dimensionalvariables)maybeusedasline/scatterplotvariables.

Itisnecessarytoselectxandyvectorsofthesamelength.Ifthevectorsareofdifferentlengthsanerrorwilloccur.

#Plotting-Axes

Fortwo-dimensionalplottypes(vectorandpseudocolor)youcanselectwhatkindofaxestheplotdisplays.Ifthedataisgriddeditmaycomewithmapvectorsthatassociatespecificvalueswiththeaxes.Ifthisisthecasetheaxesselectionwillbeautomaticandwillbereflectedinthevariablespane.

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Thereversecheckboxallowsyoutochoosetheorderoftheaxisvalues,ascendingordescending.Sometimesyoumaynoticethatwhenyouselectavariableordatasetthereversedefaultischecked.Thereasonforthisisthatthemapvectorsinthedataforwhateverreasonareindescendingorderandtheplotterhasautomaticallychosentoreversethemforyou.Thiswilloftenbethecaseforolderdatathatwasoriginallydesignedtobeoutputtedtoalineprinterwherethegraphicaloriginwillbethetopleftinsteadofthebottomleft.

Ifyouchoose"indexed"fortheaxesthenthenplotwillshowtheone-basedindexnumbersdatarows/columns.Theusefulnessofthisisthatsometimesyoumaywishtoknowexactlywhatrow/columniscontainingcertaindatavalues.

#Plotting-LineandScatterPlotsfromatable

Ifyouusethetableviewtosetupyourdataouhavethreeoptionsfordefiningyourdata:1oneormorelinearrangeswiththesamelength2oneormoresequential2xNranges3one2-Darraywiththeeachlineinaroworcolumn

Ineachcaseyoucanoptionallyspecifyanx-mapping.Ineachcasethesystemwilldecidewhichoptionyoupickeddependingonyourinput.

Inoption1eachrangewillmakeanewline.Inthisoptionthey-valuesmustbe

sequential.

Youmustuseoption2ifyouhavelinesofdifferentlengths.Inthiscasethefirstrow/columnintherangeisconsideredtobethex-value(orindex)andthesecondrow/columnisthey-value.Ifthex-valuesareintegersyoucanhaveax-mapping(seebelow)fortherealvalues.

Option3ispossibleifyouhavealargenumberoflinesinarectangulararray.Inthiscasearadiobuttonallowsyoutospecifywhetherthelinesareintherowsorthecolumns.Thevaluesinthearrayarey-values.Youcanalsospecifyamappingasintheothertwooptions.

***LineIDs***

IfyouaddeachlineseparatelyyoucanspecifyanIDforthelines.Thisisthestringthatwillappearinthelegend.

#Plotting-Annotations

Theplottercanautomaticallygeneratearangeofannotationsandyoucanaddcustomtextannotations.

***Text***

Textisautomaticallygeneratedbytheplotterthefirsttimeitplotsadataset(inarow).Itwillgeneratetextfortheaxesandthetitleaslongasitcan

determinetheinformation.Youcanseetheseentriesbyvisitingthe"Text"tabintheplottingdefinitionarea.Youcandeletethem,modifythemoraddyourown.

***Legend***

Thelegendshowsthecolorbarforpseudocolorplots.Therotationisrelativetothehorizonandcanonlybeinincrementsof90degrees(valuesotherthan0,90,180and270areignored).Thesizeisthelengthofthebarinscreendots(72dpi).Ifyoudonotenterasizethefollowingdefaultsareused:

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onlyoneplotcanbeactiveatatimeinthepreviewpaneifyouplottothepreviewpaneyouloseanypreviousplotthatwasthere

NewWindow-anewwindowwillbecreatedfortheplot,ifyoumultiplot20plotstonewwindowyouwillcreate20newwindows

ExternalWindow-usetheexternalwindowfortheplot;theexternalwindowisasingleseparatewindow;ifyoumultiplot20plotstotheexternalwindoweachplotwillappearinthewindowinturnseparatedbyadelaycalledthethemultiplotdelaywhichissettableviatheoptionspanel

Printer-adialogwillappearrequestingthatyouselectaprinterandtheplotwillbesenttotheprinter

FullScreen-theentirescreenwillbeusedtodisplaytheplotpresstheescapekeyorthespacebarorclickanywhereinthewindowtocloseit

Thumbnails-theplot(s)willbesenttothethumbnailpane;thethumbnailsareshrunkentoafixedwidth(bydefault100pixels)andlaidoutinamatrixonthethumbnailpane;youcanchangethewidthofthethumbnailswithanoptionssetting;thethumbnailviewisusefulforviewingmanyplotsatonce;useShift-clicktoselectthumbnails;double-clickonathumbnailtoplotitagain

Image-youwillbepromptedforafilenameandlocationandtheplotwillbestoredasaPNGimagefile

#Plotting-Scale

Thescaletabhascontrolsthatallowyoutodefinemarginsandscaleforyourplot.Thescaleistherelationshipbetweendatapointsandscreenpixels.Forexampleina1to1scaletherewouldbeonedatapointforeachpixel.Inotherwordsifyouwereplottinga200x300arrayinapseudocolorplottheplotareawouldbe200x300pixelsinsizeonbothandtheprinter.Youcanchangethescalebysettingthezoomfactorwhichhasthefollowingmeaning:

Max-trytofilloutputarea%-makeproportional,forexample50%means2datapointsperpixelCustom-setthesizetotheexactdimensionsshown

WhenyouareusingMaxor%zoomfactorsthecustomareawillshowcurrentsizeoftheoutput.

Thenominalresolutionofmostcomputerscreensis72pixelsperinch.

Notethatprinteroutputisscaledlikeascreeneventhoughitishigherresolution.

#Plotting-Histograms

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Thehistogramplottercanshowyouthedistributionofvaluesinyourdata.Itcanoperateonanysinglevariableorslicefromyourdataset.TheX-axisshowstheextremevaluesfromlowesttohighestandtheY-axisshowsthenumberofvalues.Histogramsworkbysortingallthevaluesofthedatasetintoclasses.Classesaresometimescasuallyreferredtoas"bins".Forexample,youcoulddivideacountry'spopulationintoagegroups.Thefirstclassmightbechildren(age0-10),thesecondadolescents(age11-14),andsoon.

ThemainparameterwhendoingahistogramisthenumberofclasseswhichcanbesetfromtheOptionstab.Ifyouselectasmallnumberofclassestherewillbeonlyafewrectangles.Ifyouselectmany,therewillmanynarrowrectanglesorlinesinthemaximalcase.Asettingof0classeswillresultinmaximizingthenumberofclassesforthecurrentoutput.Forexample,onan800x600monitortheplotareaforafull-screendisplayistypically500pixelswide.Thus,withasettingof0theplotcouldincludeupto500classes.Notethatfewerclassesthanthismayresultbecausethevaluerangeisheldconstant.Forexample,ifyourplotareais500pixelswideandyourdatawasthenumbers1to800thentheplotwouldbe400pixelswidewitheachlinerepresentingarangeof2.

HistogramReports

Togetdetailedinformationonaclasssingle-clicktherectangle.Apopupboxwillappearshowingrangeandcountinformationfortheclass.Clickingonthepl

otareaoutsidetherectangleswillpromptyouforahistogramreport.ThisreportissenttotheView/Texttabandyoumustgotheretoseeit.Ittabulatessummaryinformationabouthistogram.

#Plotting-Colors

IntheODCplotteryoucanspecifycolorsviatheirHSB(hue,saturation,brightness)value.Youcanalsospecifytransparency(called"alpha").Eachofthesevaluesrangesinhexfrom00-FFandcanbeselectedeithernumericallyorusingapicker.

IntheHSBsystemcolorsareformedbystartingwithapurehueandaddingblack(saturation)orwhite(brightness).Ifyouwanttospecifywhite,makebrightne

ssFF.Ifyouwanttospecifyblack,makebrightness00.

Thecolorspecificationappearsasalistofentriesintheboxlabeled"Colors".Theseentriescanbesavedtoafileandusedforanyplot.Eachentryhasthefollowingspace-separatedfields:

DataFromDataToColorFromColorToStepHueSaturationBrightnessAlpha[comments,ignored]

Thecolorstepisthedirectionofthespectrum(ascending:redtoblue,descending:bluetored)andwhetherthehue/sat/bri/alphavaryinsynchronizedway.Thecodes(notcase-sensitive)are:

SA-synchronizedascendingSD-synchronizeddescendingCA-continuousascendingCD-continuousdescending

Formostcasesyoushoulduseasynchronizeddescendingstep.Thiswilltendtomakethelowerdatavaluesblueandthehigheronesred.TheAlphaisthetransparency(0xFFforopaqueand0x00fortransparent).Normallyacontinouscolorstepisonlyusedwhengeneratinggrayscale.

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Thisallowsyoutospecifyarangeofdatatobeplottedusingarangeofcolors.Ifyouwantthecolorstobeopaquebutvarycontinuously,specify-1fortheHSBparametersandFFforalpha(opaque).Ifyouwanttoholdoneormoreparametersconstantgivethemavalue.Forexample,

10.520.5+1-1-180FF-1FF

Thisentrywouldcausethevaluesbetween10.5and20.5tobeplottedasanopaque,saturated,blue(80)whichonlyvariedinbrightness.SettingtheColorFromandColorTocausesthosevaluestobeignored.

10.520.5+1FF50FF77FF80FF77-1-177FF

Inthisexamplethedatarangeplotsbetweengreen(50)andblue(80).Thehue(-1)andthesaturation(-1)areallowedtofloat,butthebrightnessisheldconstantat77andtheopacityisalsoheldconstantat100%(FF).NotethattheColorFrom/TofieldvalueshavetheorderAHSB.

Togetabetterunderstandingofcolorsystemsandcontrollingcoloryoumaywanttoreadthenexttopic,"GeneratingColors".

#Plotting-DataParameters

Whendataisplottedtherearethreekeyadditionalparameterstoplottingit:

-datatype-rangeofvalues-missingvalues

Thisinformationisnecessarytocreatecolorspecificationsanddootherplotprocessing.Itisimportanttoknowthattheplotterusesonlysetofdataparameters--itdoesnotmaintainadifferentsetofparametersforeveryloadedmatrixineveryloadeddataset.Calculatingthisinformationcanberelativelyexpensiveintermsofprocessingtimesoitisonlyrecalculatedunderthreeconditions:

-theuserrequestsarecalculationusingthecalculatorbuttononthevariables

pane-thedatatypedoesnotmatch-thearray/listdimensionsdonotmatch

Inotherwordsifyouplotonedatasetandthenanother,iftheseconddatasethasthesametypeanddimensionsasthefirsttheparameterswillnotberecalculated,butifeitherthedatatypeordimensionsintheseconddatasetdoesnotmatchthoseinthefirst,theparameterswillberecalculated.

Youcanviewthedataparametersinthevaluesareaofthevariablespanel.

Whenanewcolorspecificationiscreatedorcolorsaregeneratedthecurrentdataparametersareused.

#Plotting-UsingtheColorPicker

Thecolorpickeristhedialogboxtitled"ChooseColor"whichcomesupwhenyouchangeacolor.

Todefineacoloryoumodulatefourquantities:itshue,saturation,brightnessandalpha.Clickonsquareintheseareastochangethatquantityforthecurrentlyselectedcolor.

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Thearrowkeysmovethelastselectedband(hue/sat/bri/alp).Rightarrow+1,leftarrow-1,uparrow+16,downarrow-16.

Thecurrentlyselectedcolorisshownatthebottomleftnextthelabel"Color:".Insidethisrectanglearetwocolors:ontheleftistheselectedcolor,ontherightisthe"comparecolor".Youcanswapthesetwocolorsbyclickinganywhereinthecolorrectangle.

Thehexformofthecolorisshownnexttothecolorrectangle.Youwillrecognizethisastheformofthecolorusedinacolorspecificationranges.TheformatofthenumberisAHSBinthatorder.TheARGBnumberisalsoshownforthesakeofcomparison.YoucanenteranRGBnumberinthepickerbyclickingonthe"ARGB"labelandenteringthe6-digithexcodeforthatcolor.Youcanfindcolormappingswiththesecodesmanyplacesontheinternet(forexample:http://home.earthlink.net/~laanderson/colornet.htm).

***TIPS***

Copyacolor-tocopyacolornotethatthecomparecolorstaysthesame,soswitchthecolortothecomparecolorbox,movetototheplaceplaceyouwanttocopytoandswitchitback

Fineadjustment-tomakefineadjusmentsusethearrowkeys

Makewhite-white=0%sat,100%bri(tomakegrayreducebrightness)

Makeblack-black=0%brightness(nolight!)

#Plotting-GeneratingColors

IfyoudonotmakeacolorspecificationthentheplotsthatrequirecolorwillmaketheirownusingtheODC'scolorgeneratingability.

Youcanusethecolorgeneratoraswell.Usingthecolorgeneratorisgoodwaytogetstartedcreatingacolorspecification.Thecolorgeneratoriscontrolledfromtheboxlabeled"GenerateColors"onthecolorspecificationtab.

Therearetwobasictypesofcolorsystems:continuousandbanded.Inacontinuoussystemthecolorvariescontinuouslywiththedata.Inabandedsystem,allthedatawithinagivenfixedrangeismappedtothesamecolor.InanODCcolorspecificationifthe"ColorFrom"and"ColorTo"forarangearethesamethentherangeisbanded.Iftheyaredifferentthentherangeiscontinous.Acolorspecificationcanincludebothtypesofrangesiftheuserdesires.

Whenyougeneratecolorstherangeisdeterminedbythetotalofrangesalreadyinthespecification(iftherearenorangesthen0to1isused).

Togenerateabandedcolorsystem,enterthenumberofbands(N)andotherparametersasshown.ThecolorgeneratorwillcreateNnewrangesthatareeachmappedtoasinglecolor.

Togenerateacontinuouscolorsystem,pickthebasictype(grayscale,multi-hue,fullspectrum,littlerainbow,weightedrainbow),thenfillintheparametersappropriately.Descriptionofthecontinouscolorsystems:

grayscalesaturationissetto0andbrightnessisvariedacrossthedatarangeforacontinuousgrayscale;

bwprinter

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thefullrangeofvaluesisusedcontinuouslyfrom00000000toFFFFFFFF;onscreenthiswilllookstrangebutwhenprintedwillgivethebestpossiblegrayscale

multi-hueinamulti-huesystemoneormorehuesareselectedandthenareshaded,tintedortonedforvariance

fullspectrumthedatarangesacrossthefullrangeofpossiblehues;theusercanfixsaturationandbrightnesstoparticularlevels(100%100%isthedefault);theusercanalsorotatethespectrum(bydefaultitbegins/endsinthemiddleofred,hue00)

littlerainbowthedatarangesacrossalimitedpartofthespectrumthattheuserselects;inalittlerainbowoneofthethreeprimarycolorswillreceiveemphasis

weightedrainbowinthestandardspectrum,theboundarycolors(yellow,cyanandmagenta)arelessprominentthantheprimary

colors;thestretchedrainbowexpandstheserangessothatallsixcolors(red,green,blue,yellow,cyan,magenta)areofequalsize;hasthebestspectrumdistribution#Plotting-HSB

TheplottingcolorsystemusestheHSB(Hue-Saturation-Brightness)system.Tomakecolorsinthissystemyoustartwithahueandaddblack(saturation)orwhite(brightness).Thistableshowssomeoftheconventionaltermsusedunderthissystem:

ColourtypeSB

BlackAny0%White0%100%Gray0%1-99%Hue100%100%Shade100%1-99%Tint1-99%100%Tone1-99%1-99%

Forexample,tomakeabrownshadeyoustartwithayellow-redhueandshadeitdowntothebrown.

#Plotting-LineStyles

Somesettingsallowyoutosetalinestyle.Inthelinestyletherewillbeathickness,coloranddashpattern.

Thedashpatternisastring.Ifyouleavetheboxblankthelinewillbecontinuous.Toindicateadashpatternenterthenumberofpixelsseparatedbyspacesintheorderline-gap-line-gap-...etc.Youcanspecifyascomplexapatternasyouwant.Youcanalsospecifyaphase(wherethepatternstartsforeveryrepetition)byappendinganumberseparatedfromtherestofthestringbyacolon.

Example:

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Thedashpattern4231wouldlooklikethis(x'sarepixels,~'saregaps),

XXXX~~XXX~XXXX~~XXX~XXXX~~XXX~XXXX~~XXX~XXXX~~XXX~

Byspecifyingaphaseyoucanchangewherethepatternstarts.Forexample4231:2lookslikethis,

XX~~XXX~XXXX~~XXX~XXXX~~XXX~XXXX~~XXX~XXXX~~XXX~

Thephasemustbegreaterthanorequaltozeroandcannotbegreaterthanthetotalpatternlength.Forexample,inthepatternabovethetotallengthis4+2+3+1=10.

#Plotting-MultiplePlots

Youcangeneratemultipleplotsallatonceinseveralways.

Ifyouhavedatasetwithmorethan2dimensionsyoucanspecifyoneoftheconstraintstoberangeofvalues.Forexample,ifyouhadadatasetthatwastime,latitudeandlongitude,youcouldmakelatitude'Y'andlongitude'X'andconstrainttimetobe'1,2,5-8,11'.Thiswouldgeneratesevenplots,oneforeachtimevalue.

Youcanalsomulti-plotbycreatingthumbnails,selectingthethumbnailsyouwanttoplotbyholdingdowntheshiftkeyandthenpressingtheplotbutton.Alltheselectedthumbnailswillbeplotted.

#Plotting-Coastline

YoucandisplayacoastlinebyturningontheShowCoastlineoptionintheOptionstab.

Ifyouhavecoastlinedataavailableitwillbeappliedaccordingtothefollowingresolutioncutoffs:

FileDescriptionResolutionFileSizeCutoff

------------------------------------------------------------gshhs_f.cFull0.04km87M

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uery*SomeserversespeciallyNOAA/NASAserversmayrequirelongertimeouts

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