Ferret properties for customizing datasets and variables

Ferret properties in the dataset XML configuration are sent to the Ferret backend and used by the scripts there to set some details about datsets or the visualization style to use. AddXML inserts some properties automatically. They can be further customized by the installer.

For instance one could add this to use contour lines by default when drawing for 2-D plots of the Salinity variable in the Levitus Climatology dataset.

 ...
<variables>
 <salt name="SALINITY" units="PPT">
 <link match="/lasdata/grids/levitus_climatology_cdf_grid"/>
 <properties>
 <ferret>
 <fill_type>contour</fill_type>
 </ferret>
 </properties>
 </salt>
...

There are a few properties that are not related to graphics:
 

For example, to add a note to the annotations box saying These data are updated daily, add a property to the dataset XML file:

 <properties>
 <ferret>
 <add_a_note>These data are updated daily</add_a_note>
 </ferret>
 </properties>

Or, to put in a link to a document related to the data, the url_for_note tag is added. It might contain a full url, or if the document data_2014.html has been added to the WebContent/docs/ directory, it is a relative url to the docs/ directory for this LAS installation. The following would add a note with the text in parentheses as the link to the document:

Please see (these additional notes)

 <properties>
 <ferret>
 <add_a_note>Please see url these additional notes</add_a_note>
 <url_for_note>docs/data_2014.html</url_for_note>
 </ferret>
 </properties>

From the User Interface the Plot Options dialog allows the user to send Ferret properties to Ferret. Most of these can also be set in the configuration for a dataset or variable.

These properties apply to graphics in general:

Here are some properties particular to 2Dcolor plots:

Here are the properties that addXML inserts when it detects a variable that is best viewed on a centered color palette, and with centered levels, such as wind components:

 <palette>light_centered</palette>
 <fill_levels>20c</fill_levels>

These properties apply to line plots:

At this time Ferret line/color properties cannot be applied to Vector plots.

These are the settings that addXML makes when it detects variables on a curvilinear grid. The names of the curvilinear coordinate variables are specific to the grid, and the lon_min and lon_max values are computed from the grid.

 <properties>
 <ferret>
 <curv_lon_min>-101.74989476701279</curv_lon_min>
 <curvi_coord_lat>lat_rho</curvi_coord_lat>
 <curvi_coord_lon>lon_rho</curvi_coord_lon>
 <curv_lon_max>-53.25308436246699</curv_lon_max>
 </ferret>
 </properties>

As is described in the section on Configuring Data on Curvilinear Grids, other properties may be added to describe operations to regrid the data, and to specify portions of the grid that are rectilinear to improve performance.

Here is the list of all properties that have to do with curvilinear grids:

More properties: