Plotting and animating - enhanced plotting and animations with ncBrowse

Set Up the Plot

1. In main ncBrowse window, click "New Map..." button (located under the list of variables)
2. This opens the Variable Map Window
   1. Set up the plot (x- and y-axis and variable(s) by dragging the items from the left side (source) to the right side (target).
   2. For vectors, drag and drop u and v components
   3. For stick plots, assign the velocity components to the U & V cmponents. The default is for "arrows", but you can edit the Vector Properties to produce "sticks".
   4. For contours, drag and drop the parameter to be contoured
   5. Enter your name for the variable map you've created into the text box at the top of the window and click Done.

Screen snapshot of Variable Map Window: Drag items from left column to right

Setup is complete, now make the plot and/or animate:

1. Your variable will appear at the end of the list in the main ncBrowse window. Scroll down to find it, and double click it the variable name to plot and also open the Parameter Editor Window. You can interact with the plot using the Parameter Editor Window.
   1. Edit plot parameters in the Parameter Editor Window. Click on the "..." to the right of an axis to bring up a slider for adjusting the axis range, or simply type the range values into the "Start" and "End" text boxes. Click "Apply" to implement your changes in the plot.
   2. Make the plot
   3. Animate the plot by clicking on the "movie strip" icon to the left of the axis range in the Parameter Editor Window. This opens the Animation Controller. Set the animation speed and use the buttons to play, start, stop, single step and rewind. Animations will be fast if the data file is local, and slow if the data file is remote.

Screen snapshot of Parameter Editor Window

Tips on the Variable Map Window

1. Red text indicates that the axis is still unspecified or a dimension that's not matched to a variable.
2. Green text means that the dimension is matched and all's well
3. Clicking the "Show all dimension" text box will display the number of points for each index in the file. The text type (italic, bold, plain) tells you about the entity:
   1. italic text - this is a netCDF dimension with no variable associated with it
   2. bold text - this is a "dimension variable", and should have units, etc.
   3. plain text- this is a variable

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