ncl_conran_family - Man Page

Name

Conran_family — is a set of two dimensional contour mapping routines for irregularly distributed data.

There are three Conran_family entries, CONRAN, CONRAQ, and CONRAS. CONRAN can be invoked in two ways.  One generates smoothed contours, the other does not.  CONRAQ is a quick version of the package which has a more limited set of options than the other entries.  CONRAS is the super version of the package.

Status

The Conran_family is approaching obsolescence.  If you have available an interpolation package which can do a random to gridded interpolation equal to that built into the Conran_family, then we recommend that you grid your dataset and use the Conpack utility instead. Refer to the conpack and conpack_params man pages as well as the NCAR Graphics Contouring and Mapping Tutorial.

Synopsis

CONRAN - Provides the standard and smooth versions for contouring of irregularly gridded data.

CONRAQ - Provides the quick form of the package.  It does not have as many available options as the other entries.

CONRAS - This is the super version of the package.  Not only does it smooth and label contour lines, it can also reduce line crowding.

CONOP1 - Sets values of internal parameters of type logical. Specifically, CONOP1 is used to turn options "OFF", or "ON".

CONOP2 - Sets values of internal parameters of type integer.

CONOP3 - Sets values of internal parameters of type real.

CONOP4 - Sets values of internal parameters of type character.

Access

There are three entries in the Conran_family which create contour plots: CONRAQ (quick), CONRAS (super), and CONRAN (standard and smooth.)

To use standard CONRAN, load the NCAR Graphics libraries ncarg, ncarg_gks, and ncarg_c, preferably in that order.  To run any of the other three options (quick, super, or smooth), one or more additional libraries is needed as follows:

quick -- additionally load the conraq library.

smooth -- additionally load the dashsmth library.

super -- additionally load the conras and dashsupr libraries.

These libraries can also be implicitly loaded by using the -quick, -smooth, or -super option of the ncargf77 command. For example, to run a code called mycode.f which has one or more calls to a Conran_family entry, issue one of the commands:

QUICK

Command: "ncargf77 -quick mycode.f"

mycode.f has one or more calls to entry CONRAQ.

NORMAL

Command: "ncargf77 mycode.f"

mycode.f has one or more calls to entry CONRAN.

SMOOTH

Command: "ncargf77 -smooth mycode.f"

mycode.f has one or more calls to entry CONRAN.

SUPER

Command: "ncargf77 -super mycode.f"

mycode.f has one or more calls to entry CONRAS.

Warning:  mycode.f can only call one of the three entries, CONRAQ, CONRAN, or CONRAS.

Messages

Error messages generated by CONRAN routines include:

CONCLS

CONSTANT INPUT FIELD
The input data all has a constant value.  This may indicate that the data has not been input correctly in the user program.

CONDRW

CONTOUR STORAGE EXHAUSTED
This error is trapped and nullified by CONRAN.  It serves to signal the user that a contour level may not be complete.

CONOP

UNDEFINED OPTION
The parameter name has either been misspelled in a CONOP call, or an out of range parameter value has been specified.  This message can be generated by CONOP1, CONOP2, CONOP3, or CONOP4.

CONOP3

ILLEGAL USE OF CON OPTION WITH CIL OR CHL OPTIONS
Review the definitions of these three parameters using man page conran_family_params.

CONOP3

NUMBER OF CONTOUR LEVELS EXCEEDS 30
Reduce the requested number of contour levels specified by parameter CON to 30 or less.

CONRAN

INPUT PARAMETER NDP LT NCP
NDP is the total number of input values for contouring.  NCP is the number of points used for partial derivative estimation.  NCP cannot exceed NDP.  This error message also occurs in CONRAS and CONRAQ.

CONRAN

NCP LT 2 OR GT NCPSZ
The legal value of NCP must be between NCPSZ (dimension size allowed) and 2. This error message also occurs in CONRAS and CONRAQ.

CONSTP

ASPECT RATIO OF X AND Y GREATER THAN 5 TO 1.
(This error may cause a poor quality plot.  Usually this can be fixed by multiplying X or Y by a constant factor. If this solution is unacceptable then increasing internal parameter SSZ to a very large value may help.  Note:  This can be expensive.)

CONTNG

ALL COLINEAR DATA POINTS
Indicates that the input data set to be contoured all lies along a straight line.  Thus, triangulation cannot occur.

CONTNG

IDENTICAL INPUT DATA POINTS FOUND

The errors listed above are defined as recoverable errors should the user wish to use them in that fashion.  The documentation on the ERPRT77 package explains how to recover from an error.

See Also

Online: conran, conraq, conras, conran_family_params, conop1, conop2, conop3, conop4, conpack, conpack_params, cpcnrc, bivar, dashline_family, ncargf77

Hardcopy:   NCAR Graphics Contouring and Mapping Tutorial; NCAR Graphics Fundamentals, UNIX Version; User's Guide for NCAR GKS-0A Graphics

Info

March 1993 UNIX NCAR GRAPHICS