McIDAS-XCD Administrator's Guide
Version 2023.1

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BILDTEXT

Builds the rapid access pointer and text files for observational data.


Formats

BILDTEXT ADD id pfile
BILDTEXT DEL id pfile
BILDTEXT INIT pfile tfile maxsta maxreps idtype maxobs minhrs nbytes decnam idfile maxtxt [keyword]
BILDTEXT LIST pfile


Parameters

ADD

adds a station to an existing pointer file

DEL

deletes a station from an existing pointer file

INIT

initializes the pfile and deletes the existing pfile and tfile

LIST

lists the configuration of a pointer file

id

station ID to add or delete

pfile

pointer file name (no default)

tfile

text file name (no default)

maxsta

maximum number of stations to store

maxreps

maximum number of reports to store per observation time per station (default=1)

idtype

C4

4-character station ID

 

C8

8-character station ID

 

IDN

station block number

maxobs

maximum number of observation periods per station to store online (default=2)

minhrs

minimum number of hours between observation blocks (default=1)

nbytes

number of bytes necessary to store each line of an observation (default=80)

decnam

decoder name for building the initial station ID list (no default)

idfile

station ID file to use to build the initial station pointer list (default=STNDB.CORE)

maxtxt

maximum number of megabytes to store in a text file (default=32)


Keyword

CIR=

list of defined circuits in idfile to build the initial station pointer list (default=all)


Remarks

BILDTEXT creates a pointer file and text file for observational data used by rapid access routines.

The INIT option is typically run only once per observation type to initialize the file structure. Running INIT deletes the existing versions of pfile and tfile. This command is run automatically for SAO, RAOB, SYN, and terminal forecasts when the McIDAS-XCD server software package is installed.

To list the valid circuit and decoder names from which to build your ID tables, type:

CIRCUIT LIST

DECINFO LIST

When a station is added or deleted from a pointer file, the change does not take effect until the data monitor is restarted.


Examples

BILDTEXT INIT RAOB.RAP RAOB.RAT 1500 5 IDN 4 3 80 RAOB

This entry builds the pointer file RAOB.RAP which stores five reports for every 3-hourly observation for up to 1500 stations. Four observation periods are stored online for use with rapid access text applications. The raw text is stored in the file RAOB.RAT. The IDs are stored as station block numbers. The ID list built for the RAOB.RAP file is generated from the same ID list used by the RAOB decoder.

BILDTEXT ADD UES SAOMETAR.RAP

This entry adds the station UES to the pointer file SAOMETAR.RAP.

BILDTEXT INIT TERMFCST.RAP TERMFCST.RAT 2500 4 C4 6 1 80 TERMFCST X 8

This entry builds the pointer file TERMFCST.RAP which stores up to four reports per observation time and keeps up to six observation times available. The TERMFCST decoder builds the station list; the maximum size of the text file generated is eight megabytes. The raw text is stored in the file TERMFCST.RAT. The IDs are stored as character IDs.


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