Frequently asked questions

Questions about installation

Do I need root (admin) permissions to install obsmon?

A: In general yes (but not at ECMWF). In most cases, you should at least be able to run your system's package installer using sudo (e.g., sudo yum or sudo apt-get), so you can install the system dependencies.
Installation is taking too long. Is there any way to speed it up?

A: Generally not, unfortunately. Many of the required R libraries need to be compiled and they, in turn, generally require extra system packages to be installed. If you plan to install obsmon multiple times, however, please read 3.5.2. Note also that if installation is restarted after failure or interruption it will resume from where it stopped, not start from scratch.
I want to install a different version of R-lib X instead of the one that the install script is using. How do I do this?

A: See 3.5.
My installation fails and I cannot see why. What do I do?

A: Please run "./install –live". This will print all installation messages in real time.

The popup info in the some UI menus says that cache is ongoing. What does that mean and what should I do?

A: That just means that obsmon has not yet cached all information it needs about the selected experiment/database/DTG(s) in order to accurately populate the menus' choices. The presented values may change in such cases. Whenever applicable, you will be offered choices that combine some defaults and whatever has already been cached. You normally do not need to do anything: the message will disappear as soon as caching is finished. You can continue to use obsmon even if this message is shown.

My plot says "Query returned no data\". What does that mean?

A: That means that your experiment does not contain the data needed for the plot according to the parameters you chose. This should be a rare occurrence when cache finishes normally, but can happen more often when caching is not available or incomplete.
My plot says "Could not produce plot: The required data file(s) might be inaccessible.\". What does that mean?

A: That may indicate that the required experiment data files are not available. Please double-check that they exist. Contact us if they do.
My plot is empty. What happened?

A: The most probably cause is that data associated with your plot request could indeed be found, but the number of observations is zero. Please take a look at the data under the "Query and Data\" tab.
How do I save my plot as a figure?

A: If the plot is interactive (e.g., if you can zoom in), then you will find such an option in the menu that appears on the top right of the figure when you place the mouse over it. If the plot is not interactive, you can just right-click with your mouse and choose to save it.
How can I save the data used to produce my plot?

A: Go to the "Query and Data\" tab and click in the appropriate button to export the data as txt or csv.

I do not see a multiPlots tab in the GUI, even though I have configured a multiPlot. What happened?

A: This indicates that there may be an error in the configuration of your multiPlots. Obsmon will only feature a multiPlots tab if at least one valid multiPlot configuration is found.
I do not see one (or more) of my multiPlots in the list. What happened?

A: This most likely means that there is an error in the configuration of the missing multiPlots. Obsmon will only show the multiPlots for which the configuration passed without errors.
My multiPlot is taking too long to finish. What is going on?

A: How long it takes for a multiPlot to be completed depends on factors such as how much you have chosen to include or exclude from the plots (see 5.4), as well as where the required data files are located (faster if stored locally, slower if stored remotely). If you specify a date range, then longer time spans will naturally imply longer processing times for the multiPlots, as each new DTG corresponds to a new file to query data from. Additionally, some plots, such as "Station Diagnostics\", require some statistics to be performed on the data before it can be plotted. This can also increase processing times.
My multiPlots are not interactive. What happened?

A: Interactivity is switched off by default in the case of multiPlots. It can be switched on using the multiPlotsEnableInteractivity config file option. See 4.1