McIDAS-X for XP Fastrack Version 2012.1
Software and Instructions

This page contains the software and instructions for installing McIDAS-X version 2012.1 on a Windows XP workstation. If you are installing it on a Windows 7 workstation, go to the Windows 7 instructions. If you are installing it on an HP-UX, Linux, Mac OS X or Solaris workstation, go to the Unix instructions.

McIDAS-X for XP version 2012.1 is a fully supported Fastrack release. Significant modifications made since the previous release (version 2011.1) are listed in the bullets below. The instructions for obtaining and installing McIDAS-X for XP 2012.1 appear after the bullet list.

• No longer support McIDAS-X on IBM AIX. Support for this platform ended 30 April 2012, as originally announced in the 2012 Operating System Support Plans.
• Added new command keyword TRACKING= and client environment variable MCTRACK to allow the client to request whether to track image data. If tracking is on, ADDE IMG* commands that are issued when an image is being ingested will receive the data as it comes in. If tracking is off, the commands will receive only the data that was available when the command was issued. Tracking is available only on some servers, and can be disabled by the server administrator. See the McIDAS User's Guide's Setting the Image Tracking Mode section for more information.
• Updated the USCOUNTY.MAP, USSTATE.MAP and USZONE.MAP files to match the current National Weather Service AWIPS Map Database. These are the files that are used by the MAP command's STATE=, MARINE=, COUNTY= and ZONE= keywords.
• Added support for the 31 new National Weather Service WSR-88D Dual Polarization radar imagery products available on NOAAPORT. The updates include server modifications, new image enhancements and new user-friendly IMGDISP.CORE entries that use the default dataset names in McIDAS-XCD 2012.1.
• Added COMS HRIT servers and calibration module to allow creation of datasets of COMS data in HRIT format on local and remote servers, and display or manipulation of the data using the IMG* commands. See the DSSERVE command documentation in the McIDAS User's Guide or its online help for information about creating the datasets.
• Updated the AVHRR Level 1b servers to use the file's line-by-line lat/lon navigation if the NAVTYPE=LALO keyword is specified in the IMGCOPY, IMGDISP or IMGREMAP command. Also updated the servers to work with pre-KLM series NOAA POES satellites.
• Updated the MODIS servers to fix string initialization problems when the MRTSWath package is used to correct the "bowtie distortion". Also updated the instructions in the McIDAS User's Guide's Appendix I section titled Configuring MODIS Servers to use MRTSwath for Bowtie Correction to include MODIS file requirements and additional MRTSWath installation information.

Before installing Fastrack version 2012.1, make sure you view the complete list of Fastrack 2012.1 Software Changes, and, if you do any programming or local code development/modification also view and complete the appropriate actions described in the Fastrack 2012.1 Programmer Notes (pdf). You might want to print or download these two documents for future reference.

McIDAS-X 2012.1 is a fully supported Fastrack release. This means that the software is fully supported by SSEC, and that each change to the software has been tested on all of the supported workstation configurations. Full system testing will occur at least once on each platform during each calendar year. If you elect to install 2012.1, we ask that you notify the McIDAS Help Desk if you encounter any bugs. Please be sure to mention that you are running version 2012.1.

Also note that if you plan to upgrade to 2012.1 from a version earlier than 2011.1, you must first read and perform any required actions in the release documents for each of the versions you skipped so you know about their major changes and any required actions in the interim. For example, if you are upgrading from version 2009.2 to 2012.1, you must first read and perform any required actions in the release documents for versions 2010.1, 2010.2 and 2011.1. See the past versions page for links to those and other materials from past versions.

 

To obtain and install McIDAS-X and/or McIDAS-XRD 2012.1, complete the following steps.

1. Download (e.g., right-click and select Save option) the following files to the ~mcidas directory on your McIDAS-X for XP workstation.
   Note: The installation will fail if the names of the downloaded files do not exactly match those listed below. If your web browser changes the names of the files during download (e.g., mcidas2012.1_xp.tar.gz becomes mcidas2012.1_xp_tar.gz), you must rename the files to those below before installing.

   File name	Size	Description
   mcidas2012.1_xp.sh	20 KB	install/uninstall script
   mcidas2012.1_xp.tar.gz	161 MB	compressed tar file containing binaries, source and data files; compiledversion of -X & -XRD is about 610 MB
   mcidas.mcenv	8 KB	environment variables used by McIDAS-X
   mcidas.profile	4 KB	template for creating a .profile file in user accounts that don't have a pre-existing .profile

2. To install McIDAS-X and/or -XRD 2012.1 on your workstation, complete the instructions in the section titled "Installing and Configuring McIDAS-X" in Chapter 1 of the McIDAS User's Guide.