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Using Ferret at PMEL
Contents:
Setting up your account to run Ferret
Setting up access to the gridded data base maintained by TMAP
Accessing the climatological database with Ferret
Setting up your account to run Ferret
From a MAC or PC:
You must have an X-server application running before Ferret graphics can
be displayed. A program such as eXodus (on MACs) or eXceed (on PCs) provides
this capability. Please contact a CNSD consultant to learn how to install
and start up these programs.
Run the telnet application to log into a Unix workstation on which you have
an account. Minimal cost Unix accounts are available to all users on node
corona. Please contact CNSD for an account on corona.
Once logged in, set your DISPLAY environment variable to your desk top computer.
For example if your MAC is called "NodeName" and your screen id is "0":
Set up the paths to run Ferret as described below for Unix workstations.
On your own Unix workstation or X-terminal:
Before using Ferret, you must define its environment variables and execution paths. To do that execute the following command from the Unix shell prompt, or place the command in your .cshrc or .login file:
On Sun solaris computers:
% source /opt/local/ferret/ferret_pathsOn DEC OSF and Sun sunos computers:
% source /usr/local/ferret/ferret_pathsPlease NOTE: The source command should be placed before any conditional exit you may have in your .cshrc or .login file. This will prevent problems with the Ferret SPAWN command. Many initialization files around PMEL contain conditional exit lines similar to these:
# skip remaining setup if not an interactive shellif ($?USER == 0 || $?prompt == 0) exit
# settings for interactive shells
Setting up access to the gridded data sets
The gridded climatological and topographic data sets supported by TMAP are located on five publicly accessible disks. To access the data, the disks must be mounted on the Unix computer from which you run Ferret. These disks are permanently mounted on corona, zippy, and mambo.
If you are using a different computer, please ask a CNSD consultant to mount the disks on your system (the disks are /home/shiva, /home/shiva2, /home/shiva3, /home/shiva4, /home/shiva5). The data sets are located in the /data directories of these disks.
To inform Ferret of the data sets' location on these disks, execute the following command from the Unix shell prompt, or place the command in your .login file:
On Sun solaris computers:
%source /opt/local/ferret/ferret_shiva_paths
On DEC OSF and Sun sunos computers:
%source /usr/local/ferret/ferret_shiva_paths
Accessing the climatological database with Ferret
Using the point-and-click interface start up Ferret with the command:
% ferret -guiThe beginners guided tour
will get you started using the interface quickly.
The basic steps are:
The graphical interface comes up. Choose a data set by using your mouse to select File from the menu bar, then and clicking on the Open Data Set... option.
The interface shows list of data sets available. Double click on one to open it.
To dismiss the Open Data Set menu, click on Dismiss. For information about the available data sets, see the documentation on the data collection.
Using the command line interface:
Start up Ferret with the command:
% ferretTMAP's online documentation lists the available data sets; each is identified in a table under the heading 'Filename'. Open a data with the Ferret 'SET DATA' command. For example:
yes? SET DATA coads_since_1946Ferret Users Guide
The online Ferret Users Guide provides detailed help on using Ferret. Release notes on recent updates, demos, and further documentation for Ferret are also available.
For further documentation and support see the other Ferret web pages.
US Department of Commerce NOAA OAR PMEL Contacts Privacy Policy Disclaimer Web Usage Statistics
NOAA/OAR/PMEL
Pacific Marine EnvironmentalLaboratory
7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115
Phone: (206) 526-6239 ~ Fax: (206) 526-6815
Email: oar.pmel.contact_ferret@noaa.gov