Java OceanAtlas

Moving Customized Resources to
New Versions of JOA

Introduction

With the exception of color palettes, all JOA resources (colorbars, interpolation surfaces, map settings, decimation settings, and general preferences) are saved in the XML format. XML has the advantage that XML files are readable (and editable) by humans and are extensible while maintaining backwards compatability. Your customized resources will still be useable in future versions of JOA even if new tags are added to the resources. If you choose to resave your resources in a future version of JOA then your resources will "inherit" the new tags. Currently JOA maintains the following types of user-changeable resources:

Preferences: Master preference settings for the JOA application. Stored here are decimation and WOCE import settings as well as other more generalized settings. Preferences are maintained in the file joaprefs.xml. There is only one instance of the JOA preferences file.

Default Map Settings: This file contains the initial settings for any new maps created by JOA. This file contains tags for all the settings manipulated in the Map setup dialog. Map settings are stored in the file JOADefault_map.xml. There is only one instance of this file.

Custom Map Settings: These files contain settings for customized maps that you may wish to recreate without remembering the individual settings. These files are named <settings name>_map.xml, where you provide the portion of the file name between the angle brackets. For example, bering_sea_map.xml. There can be as many of these resources as required.

Decimation Settings: These files contain settings for customized CTD decimation schemes. These files are named <settings name>_deci.xml, where you provide the portion of the file name between the angle brackets. For example, shelf_deci.xml. There can be as many of these resources as required.

Colorbars: Colorbars are at the heart of JOA's use of color. They are mappings between values of a measured (or computed) parameter and a color scheme. They are used to color property plots and determine the placement of contours in contour plots. JOA comes with a default set of colorbars designed to cover the ranges of many parameters in the world's oceans. These files are named <settings name>_cbr.xml, where you provide the portion of the file name between the angle brackets. For example, NUTR-global_cbr.xml. There can be as many of these resources as required.

Interpolation Surfaces: Interpolation surfaces are used to define a regular grid of an index parameter (typically pressure or density) that observed values are interpolated onto in preparation for contouring. JOA comes with a default set of surfaces for a variety of pressure and density ranges. These files are named <settings name>_srf.xml, where you provide the portion of the file name between the angle brackets. For example, THTA-global_srf.xml. There can be as many of these resources as required.

Color Palettes: Color pallets are 16 by 16 grids of colors used primarily in creating color bars. JOA comes with a default set of palletes that store a variety of pre-made color ramps . These files are named <settings name>.pal, where you provide the portion of the file name between the angle brackets. For example, 16-shade blends.pal There can be as many of these resources as required. Note: these are not in XML format so cannot be viewed are edited.

Moving Your Resources

Your custom resources are saved in the JOA_Support folder where JOA is installed. To move your custom resources to a new JOA installation, simple copy or move the files to the JOA_Support folder in your new JOA folder. If you have modified any of the built-in resources, don't forget to move those as well.