GFESuite Documentation - Load/Unload Weather Elements

With over a dozen weather elements per database and many databases, displaying all of the available weather elements in the GFE would overly clutter the display. So, you can choose which weather elements you want to view and edit using the Weather Element Browser Dialog. This section describes how to use it.

Before you can begin editing grids of sensible weather, you need to load forecast weather elements into the GFE. The following set of exercises shows you how to load and unload weather elements to and from the GFE.

From the main menu bar, select WeatherElement->Weather Element Browser. You should see a dialog appear that looks similar to the figure above.
Start from scratch by selecting Edit->Select None located at the top of the Weather Element Browser dialog.
Using the Source menu, select Fcst.
Using the Field menu, select T, Td, Wind, and Wx. Note that all of the combinations of Fcst and the weather elements you selected now appear in the lower portion of the dialog.
Select Load (in the lower left corner.)

Note that the combination of sources (databases) and weather elements listed in the lower portion of the dialog were loaded and are now available for viewing and editing in the GFE. If you are familiar with the AWIPS Volume Browser you may notice some similarities.

Repeat this operation, but this time deselect Wind and Wx in the lower portion of the dialog by clicking with MB1. Note that when parameters are deselected, they are UNLOADED from the GFE. When the Weather Element Browser dialog first appears, the lower portion that lists weather elements reflects the list of weather elements that are currently loaded. Toggling off any weather element will cause that element to unload when you select the Load button.

Continue to load and unload more parameters until you understand how this dialog behaves and how it affects the set of parameters available for viewing and editing in the GFE.

Load/Unload Weather Elements via Weather Element Groups

The Weather Element Browser allows you to load and unload individual weather elements, but generally it is more convenient to load groups of parameters that are related. A Weather Element Group is a named group of weather elements that you can define.

From the main menu bar, press and hold MB1 over the Weather Element menu item.
Slide the mouse cursor over the Weather Element Groups menu item.
Select one of the pre-defined Weather Element groups, such as Public, from the Weather Element Groups cascade menu.

Note that when you selected the Weather Element Group, a new set of weather elements was loaded into the GFE. Also note that the set of weather elements that was loaded is now unloaded.

Any weather elements that were modified will always remain loaded in the Grid Manager. The GFE refuses to unload unsaved weather elements. You must Save or Revert them before they can be unloaded.

Create a new Weather Element Group

Saving a group of weather elements as a Weather Element Group is done via the Weather Element Browser Dialog. To make your own Weather Element Group, follow the steps below.

Purpose: Create a Weather Element Group

From the main menu bar, select WeatherElement->Weather Element Browser.
Select any group of weather elements as you did in the previous exercise.
From the Weather Element Browser dialog menu bar, select File->Save Weather Element Group....
In the dialog that appears, enter a Weather Element Group name of your choice and select Save.

Now your new Weather Element Group has been saved and is ready to be used. Close the weather Element Browser by clicking Cancel in the lower right corner. Move your cursor to the Weather Element menu item and load your newly created Weather Element Group to verify that you correctly created it.