[Edserplo_users] Major update: database connections and other items

[Steve Loch]

There is important information about database connections which affects Edteva functions.  Read below. People who want to use these functions need to make adjustments. E-mail me or phone me (54866) if it you cannot set up the connections.

Implicit aliasing
-----------------------  This has been one of those little jobs which has finally be done. Implicit aliasing is important where a particular parameter is referenced by the software. E.g. frequency, depth bins, latitude and longitude. See attachment for further explanation.

 
Enhanced Driver File
-------------------------------- This has importance in relation CTDSCREW output. The program generates a .serplo file which can (now) be used to drive Edserplo. Formerly the output didn't use the logic of serloc and came up with names which were inappropriate or out of date (B#1325).

Series Location Page
--------------------------------- 
This is allied to to the enhanced driver file. It plots positions on a map of the world (Series Location Map) zoomed to an appropriate scale. Use 'i' and 'o' to gain zoom mode and then click with mouse. Use Esc key to get out of zoom. 

The important thing about the page is it tells you which series are colocated. They can be selected on the map and the selections are mirrored on the Series page (this functionality, although in Serplo, was lacking).

Screen Appearance and Feedback. 
-------------------------------------------------------
Edteva icons no longer show with Serplo functions and vice versa. There is an icon that appears at the RHS which signifies a database connection (or if crossed out the lack of one). Also the sidebar has been removed. In due course I plan to put information relating to flagging in that position. Jonathan has also added a message bar at the bottom. When keys are pressed but no action results, a message will be displayed to indicate why nothing has happened. This is a major task but Jonathon has made a good start on it.  

Mailing system
-----------------------
We have swapped to a Sun-supplied mailing API which comes as standard in 1.6 (we're still at 1.5 because of Malab complications). This was in a bid to understand what was happening to some of the messages generated by the QXF logging system. It didn't solve the problem of messages being presented as having void bodies. This may be an artefact of the e-mail filtering software because as Jonathan subsequently discovered the information is there and can be seen by swapping to HTML!  

Correction of criteria
--------------------------------
Some work has been done on improving the acceptance criteria for given pages (i.e. preventing series from being displayed on inappropriate pages). 

Logging - capture of discrepancies
-------------------------------------------------------
I have set up a mail filter on my Groupwise mailbox to direct discrepancies to a specific folder. There are currently 169 entries, some as recent as 05/29. Although we know there are discrepancies we haven't actually been able to see the nature of the corruption. We should now be able to do so by capturing the file images as BLOBs in Oracle. This uses RMI technology to pose questions and get answers from workstations or servers, other than the one one is working on. The advent of this capability has been delayed by the new arrangements for database connections - see below. The design and aim has been to keep the impact on users to a minimum - by reducing IO. 

Also, may I point out as a reminder, that this this a generic problem affecting IO of random access files over NFS and not something specific to Edserplo. The logging applies both to Matlab and Java software.

ConnectionPool and Tooltips
----------------------------------------------
The bodcConnectionPool.jar is no longer used. It was used to provide parameter hover text. Jonathan has written replacement code pending a web service.   

Database  Connections <====================== Important for Edteva functions - please read if you use them!!
-------------------------------------
Unlike Fortran where you could have only one open database connection at a time, Java and Matlab allow an arbitrary number of such connections. We have connections for tooltips, Edserplo usage logging and NFS monitoring - so-called collectivec connections - as well as connections made available through the .edteva.oracle files to allow individuals to store their analyses and statistics in their own Oracle user space.

As part of the customisation process this has been radically restructured and made much more secure. Thus passwords are now held in encrypted form and Edserplo will also support, in addition to Oracle, connections to PostgreSQL which is a freely available database system . The collective passwords are passed around within the JAR file and there are special procedures related to their update. However the method for setting up and editing one's own connections uses the same utility. See the related attachment below. The utility has also been tested on an ID divorced from BODC (closer inspection indicates it's not quite as divorced as I'd hope so the utility may not work everywhere in POL). 

If the database connection is lacking - don't despair - it will attach if and when the faults are corrected (i.e. check out the connection with the utility for example). 

Analysis page  - 'r' command
---------------------------------------------
There's been a slight change from Edteva. You have to use # to identify analyses in the user's database. You can use purely numeric versions
of GLOSS, P, WOCE and SIMORC schemas. 

Computation of tide and residuals
----------------------------------------------------
The intention is that it will use the user's tables if it cannot find one in the POL database. In Edteva it is possible to proceed in the absence of any analysis. The analysis can then be made and - voila - the tide and residuals computed. There's a small bug, which should be corrected shortly, that prevents this happening with Edserplo.   

Other items 
------------------
ASCII general  -The  port and  month update (1 month out!) problem has been  corrected.

CTD clear start  following 'B' added (B#1252)

The failure to plot aliased channels on CMD scatter plot has been corrected (B#1349).


Remaining items to meet customisation target
------------------------------------------------------
Interpolated output failing - actually needed in house
Acclaim format - deficiencies on output
More work on feedback
Web service for tooltips - we've done Geoff's training and Jon has started on this.
User-defined port numbering systems may be required.

Disablement of code via subnet sensing  - for licensing.

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