Mini Guide for Basic Commands in the XXX Program

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Mini Guide for Basic Commands in the XXX Program SébastienMassonSebastien.Masson_at_locean-ipsl.upmc.fr AlbertFisher FrançoisePinsardFrancoise.Pinsard_at_locean-ipsl.upmc.fr SteveNavarro idl SAXO xxx 0.0 May 29, 2000 French release by Sébastien Masson 0.1 July, 2002 Translation by Albert Fisher 0.2 July 20, 2006 HTML to XML/Docbook migration by Françoise Pinsard $Id$ XXX widget functions Launching XXX The first command to type is &promptidl; @init Afterwards, to work directly with XXX, type: &promptidl; xxx A window will open with 2 lines to complete.

Window xxx 1 Data file Init method Init program File name the name of the data file. The name can be typed directly in the window provided, or selected with the help of the browse button. Grid initalization method +++ Grid initalization parameters

Window xxx 1 the second the name of the initgrid.pro script which will permit the reading and processing of the grid associated with the data file. Once these two lines have been completed, click on let's go. Description of XXX window Now the XXX window will open.

Window xxx 2 Plot type Menu OK Page layout Variables list Files list Command text Calendar Domdef Spefications It's configuration will change depending on whether you are in portrait or in landscape, but here are the different parts available for your use. Plot type list allows specification of the type of plot desired.

If the type plt is selected, the selection of plot type is made by mouse. Cf The menu bar made up of 3 submenus <guisubmenu>File</guisubmenu> submenu

Open: to open a second file. Same procedure as during the launching of XXX. The new file can be on a different grid, with different variables, with a different time base. New XXX: to open a second XXX window identical to the first. Close: to close the XXX window. <guisubmenu>Save As</guisubmenu> submenu

Postscript: to save in Postscript format Animations: to create an animation from the XXX window. Careful, the creation of an animation is only possible if none of the plots have a time axis, and if the plots are all on the same time base (calendar). On the other hand, animations of horizontal and vertical plots, with different color palettes (for those not on an X-terminal), are possible. Image: to save a gif of the XXX graphics window. Script: to save the command history that has created the plot. For example if I save the commands in xxx_figure.pro, I can then launch a new IDL session and type: &promptidl; @init &promptidl; xxx_figure and I'll obtain the saved figure. &promptidl; xxx_figure,/post or &promptidl; @ps will then create a Postscript file of the figure. Prompt: lists in the IDL window the command history that created the last plot. Useful primarily for debugging... <guisubmenu>Flag options</guisubmenu> submenu

Portrait/Landscape: changes the configuration of the plot. Overlay: to plot contours of a different field on top the one represented as color-filled contours. It is necessary to relaunch the entire plot to make this work! Vecteur: to plot a vector field on top of contours. Only works on horizontal plots (plt.pro). As for Overlay, a relaunch of the entire plot is necessary. Longitude / x index: switches longitude labelling of the plot subdomain from degrees to indices following i. Latitude / y index: switches latitude labelling of the plot subdomain from degrees to indices following j. OK button click on this OK button is required to make a new plot appear Page Layout specify the number of columns and rows for plots on the sheet of paper.

<guimenuitem>List of variables</guimenuitem> you can choose the variable to work on.

<guimenuitem>List of open files</guimenuitem> you can choose the file to work on.

<guimenuitem>Command text</guimenuitem> To specify the computation you want to do +++ donner plus d'infos et des examples In the default case, the name given to a field is of no importance. Calendar The calendar is made up of two droplists, which allow specification of two dates, the beginning and end of a time series, or the period over which to average before plotting. Define the domain A series of widgets that allow specification of the min/max limits of the domain in longitude/x-index, latitude/y-index, and depth in levels or meters. For depth, one can specify in levels for a horizontal plot, and in meters for a vertical plot. specify your plot You can specify the min, max, and contour interval by filling out the provided boxes! For the color palette, you can either specify the name or go search for one among the palettes available. The "keywords" window allows specification of all desired keywords. These keywords can be those of plt.pro, pltt.pro, pltz.pro, plt1d.pro, or those of contour, plot, or all other programs that are used. Cf Concrete examples of XXX in practice First plots One single file, one single plot per page Click on OK. Test the various basic functions: change the dates, the zoom, the field... Specify the min, max, and contour interval in the provided boxes. Add some keywords in the "keywords:" box, for example:

/nocontour, /carte

or the keywords for a northern hortographic polar projection:

/nocontour, map=[90,0,0], /horto

Test the various possibilities in the Save As menu. the creation of animations has a tendency to saturate the video memory of X-terminals, crashing the entire program... Test the various possibilities in the Flag options menu. Careful, a selected option remains selected until it is reclicked. Work with more than one file Open some other files and go between them by selecting them from the file list... Note that the different widgets (calendar, domain, ...) follow the different file characteristics. Mouse actions in the graphics window on a horizontal plot Select a domain and select the horizontal plot (plt), vertical plot (pltz), or the hovmoeller plot (pltt): The domain we'd like to select for the plot is determined by one of its diagonals, defined therefore by two points. The first point is defined when the mouse button is pushed, then the mouse is moved, and the second point is defined as the mouse button is released (click-drag). The domains are thus defined by a long click (LC). To determine which type of plot should be made of selection, use: If the plot selector is on plt the left mouse button to create horizontal plots (plt) the middle mouse button to create vertical plots (pltz) the right mouse button to create common hovmoellers for xt and yt cuts (pltt) In summary:

<abbrev>LCL</abbrev>---><constant>plt</constant>

<abbrev>LCM</abbrev>---><constant>pltz</constant>

<abbrev>LCR</abbrev>---><constant>pltt</constant> If the plot selector is on something other than plt the indicated plot type is made. Create multiple plots on the same sheet and make them interact Select the number of columns and rows for the page. Create a first plot. It will appear in the first frame. To create a plot in another frame double-click in the frame with the middle button (DCM). A black dotted frame will surround the designated frame, the target frame. A black frame will surround the first plot. This is the reference frame, in other words the one that all the XXX widgets refer to. Change for example the date and create a new plot. With a left button double-click in the first frame, all the widgets change and refer again to the first plot. A double-click with the right button in the second frame will erase the plot. In summary:

<abbrev>DCL</abbrev>---><quote>reference</quote> frame

<abbrev>DCM</abbrev>---><quote>target</quote> frame

<abbrev>DCR</abbrev>--->erase the frame Here's a series of commands to show how this works. Select a 3-D field and create 6 frames for the sheet of paper. Create a horizontal plot in Frame 1 DCM in frame 2, LCL on the plot in frame 1, to create a horizontal zoom in frame 2. DCM in frame 3, LCM on the plot in frame 1, to create a vertical cut in frame 3. DCM in frame 4, LCR on the plot in frame 1, to create a hovmoeller in frame 4. To redo the hovmoeller with the keyword /nocontour DCL in frame 4 which now becomes the reference and target frame. Add the keyword /nocontour click OK, and the plot is redone. in frame 5, let's create the same plot as in frame 2 except with different dates DCL on frame 2 DCM on frame 5 change the date click on OK , and voilà, the new plot. How to quit when it crashes in the IDL window, type &promptidl; retall DCR to erase the problem frame press the clear button change the orientation of the plot quit XXX cleanly using quit from the File menu Always avoid if at all possible closing and killing the XXX window, but rather select quit from the File menu. XXX uses a large number of pointers, and wantonly killing the window will leave a large number of unused variables in memory, which could in the end overflow. To clean up this memory: &promptidl; ptr_free, ptr_valid()