Documentation of the Graphical User Interface for processing data
from McLean Moored Profilers

Introduction:

These pages describe operation of the GUI interface that allows users to process data from McLane Moored Profilers with relative ease. The Matlab scripts on which this system is based were developed by John Toole (WHOI, Nov. 2001) and are documented here. The GUI facilitates converting the three kinds of raw ascii files output by McLean's unpacker program into uniformly binned pressure series of ocean temperature, salinity, and velocity.

Prerequisites:

Overview of Using the GUI :

From Matlab, use addpath('new_path_name') to add the directory in which you've stored the GUI MMP processing software to the search path. Then change to the directory where you wish to work, and enter mmp_main: this command launches the primary chooser window, from which the various processing and plot display steps may be initiated. Usage and functional conventions used in this GUI are described below.

The buttons on the left of the mmp_main window run the conversion and calibration programs, the buttons on the right are run plotting applications. Working from the top down allows the programs to be executed in the expected order. Each window has data entry fields that must be completed in the upper part, with colored buttons associated with actions in the lower part.

All the places where data entry is expected will display default settings when launched. The format of the settings should be followed when they are modified by the user- i.e., if the field contains [5 6], the new entry should have opening and closing braces around two values. Quotes are not required for the path strings. PC users should enter the paths with appropriate syntax.

Below the data entry fields, there will be three colored boxes that have actions when clicked:

The yellow save current settings button will create a file containing the user specified fields in the current working directory. That file will be read the next time the program is run from that directory. The fields may always be modified prior to processing. The files cvt_params.mat, sm_params.mat, and pgrid_params.mat contain the fields saved by each program, and are overwritten each time the save button is clicked. There is no option for using alternate names, so if you want to save param files for several instruments or deployments, process each in a separate directory. Be sure to start MMP_main from where the param files you want to work with are (will be) stored.
The green button starts the processing when clicked- the window disappears when the processing it controls is complete.
The red button causes a window to be closed without any other action.

Attempts have been made to handle error conditions, but the program isn't terribly clever. If no directory is found, a message window will be displayed suggesting the path needs to be changed. It won't say which one, or land in the field that caused the error. The .html documents are the only support provided- there is no context sensitive help in the mmp_main.m.

Some status information will be displayed to the matlab window from time to time- this is normal. However, if you start getting error messages like:
??? Error while evaluating uicontrol Callback.
this suggests that something in the GUI is really broken. Try closing all the windows, exiting Matlab and starting again. By hitting enter in the Matlab window, you can get the error message associated with what caused the application to fail, and the routines involved. It probably won't be much help in deciding what went wrong, but it might provide a clue.

Converting & Computing from the GUI:

There are three main steps in processing Moored Profiler data:

merge three raw ascii files to save one raw .mat file (raw####.mat)
create a summary of the deployment to quantify operational parameters
derive a uniformly binned pressure series, saved to a .mat file (grd####.mat)

Each step must be completed for every profile (up or down trip) made during the deployment. The programs allow the user to select a range of profiles to process, so if no special treatment is required all the profiles from a deployment can be processed together.

Plotting from the GUI:

The buttons on the right side of the mmp_main window allow data to be loaded and plotted. The vertical position of the button corresponds to the process completed by the button on the left. The top two create a static set of plots, the third is more flexible in what may be displayed.

Click the plot raw (top) button to generate five plots of raw data from the profile selected
Click the plot summary (second) button to generate four plots displaying the data in the summary file
Click the plot pressure gridded (third) button to launch a GUI that allows the selection of x and y values from the grd####.mat file to be displayed. Operation of the plot window is described in more detail here.
click the close plot windows (bottom) button to close all the plot windows currently open. It should NOT close the mmp_main window.

Nitty Gritty details:

This section displays which routines are called when buttons on the mmp_main window are clicked.

This documentation was created by Ellyn Montgomery in March 2002. There is no warranty associated either with the GUI tool or the processing programs it runs.