Re: [thredds] Update - Changes to thredds.ucar.edu
Hi all:
The rollout on friday hit a few snags, compounded by me being sick so I
couldnt respond quickly. "Bundles broke" because there was a file leak
that brought the whole server down. Also there was a problem with the
way the new GRIB indexer handled GRIB1 timeType=10. Those problems have
been fixed now.
You might think "why dont we just wait?" The problem is that the TDS 4.3
server is not getting updated as the data changes. We made a decision 2
weeks ago that it wasnt worth fixing, since the problem is fixed in 4.5.
So its in all of our interests to get 4.5 onto thredds.ucar.edu, as soon
as possible.
You might think "Why didnt we find these problems before releasing?"
Because we dont have a separate test team, like commercial software
release cycle does. We constantly improve our testing, but plenty gets
past us. We rely on the users to find the last set of bugs. And its all
but impossible to get users to try beta software. Fact of life.
The variable names have not changed. The bundles will still work. We are
fixing the ones that Darryl discovered had changed.
The ncss service changed its service endpoint. Users reading the catalog
or using the html form will pick that up transparently. If you have it
hardcoded in a script, then you need to change it. If its operational,
you have to do it immediately after we switch. Just remove the /grid/
part of your URL. The IDV doesnt use the ncss service. If theres an
actual script user who is using the ncss service, who cant make changes
in a timely manner, let us know and we will work with you. We dont need
to imagine possible scenarios that may not exist.
Right now, we know there's a problem with the radar server, which we
will have fixed by tommorrow. Otherwise, try your bundles against
thredds-test.unidata.ucar.edu. Give it a try, report the problems, we
will get them fixed. When they are fixed, we will make the switch. But
please dont wait a week, do them this week.
Theres typically a long tail of problems that get fixed over time. If
you cant get to it, ok, let us know when you find them and we will fix
the problem then. The IDV could make a contribution here by allowing
users to easily update the URLS in their bundles. The NCEP models are
constantly changing, not to mention the GRIB tables themselves. The idea
that URLS can never change is not a real possibility. Just a fact of life.
We arent releasing 4.5 yet for others to use. We are shaking it out
against the thredds.ucar.edu live server. We dont really have any better
options. We are working really hard to make this work. I would
personally appreciate any help you can give.
Thanks,
John
