RadxDiffVol

RadxDiffVol compares two Radx-supported files for differences.

Overview

RadxDiffVol compares two Radx-supported files for differences. Reports are printed to standard output and 0 indicates success and 1 indicates failure.

Prerequesites

The following items are required:

• Radar data (any Radx supported format, e.g., cfradial)

Parameter file

RadxDiffVol uses one parameter file that includes the basic parameters related to data location and field names, which is similar to the parameter files for the other Radx applications.

Ensure file is up to date

To obtain the default parameter file, use the following command:

/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxDiffVol -print_params > param_file_name

If you already have a parameter file and simply want to check for (and add) updated parameters while retaining current parameters, use the following command:

/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxDiffVol -params orig_param_file_name -print_params > new_param_file_name

Important parameters

Reading the data

• search_mode: mode for finding files (SEARCH_BY_PATH or SEARCH_BY_TIME)

Search by path

• file1_path: path to file #1
• file2_path: path to file #2

Search by time

• file1_dir: directory for file #1
• file2_dir: directory for file #2
• time_mode: determine how RadxDiffVol searches for files (READ_LATEST, READ_CLOSEST, READ_FIRST_BEFORE, READ_FIRST_AFTER)
• read_search_time: time to search for files (YYYY MM DD HH MM SS; not necessary is time_mode = READ_LATEST)
• read_search_margin: margin around search time (secs)

Fields to compare

• specify_field_names: if TRUE, only fields in field_names are compared, if FALSE, each field in file #1 is compared with file #2
• field_names: list of fields for comparison

What to report

• There is a long list of variables to check, including volume number, number of fields, field names, etc. Please refer to the parameter file.

Writing the output

• output_file_path: output is reported to either stdout or stderr

Running RadxDiffVol

To check all command line options for RadxDiffVol, including debugging options and file paths, type the following command into a terminal.

/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxDiffVol -h

Once your parameter file is complete, use a command similar to the following to run the application:

/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxDiffVol -params param_file_name

The user can also specify the location of cfradial files in the following manner:

/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxDiffVol -f /path/to/cfradial/files/ -params param_file_name