NCEP Home > NCO Home > Systems Integration Branch > Decoders > Decoder Overview
NCEP Decoder Overview
The NCEP decoders are a suite of programs whose function is to parse reports of
various types and formats into a single, common
interface format from which the data can then be
easily re-encoded into whatever specific format is required for local end-user
applications. This flexible approach, combined with the portability of the
decoder software over a number of supported UNIX operating systems (as
described below),
allows the decoders to be easily configured and run by many different
organizations in order to fulfill many different data format requirements.
Although each decoder parses its own unique report format(s), they all share a
common coding style (including the use of the aforementioned
interface format for output of data values),
and they all use many of the same low-level utility routines to
accomplish various basic tasks. Furthermore, the decoders are all written
using a combination of the C and FORTRAN programming languages,
and all are
specially-tailored to be portable across a wide variety of UNIX operating
systems. Those that we have specifically tested on include:
- AIX 4.x, 5.x
- HP-UX 10.x, 11.x
- IRIX 6.x
- RedHat Linux 5.2
- SunOS 5.x
but the software should port with minimal difficulty to any UNIX or Linux
system. Alternatively, for end-users may wish to try porting
the software to some other environment (e.g. MVS, MS Windows, etc.),
we are available (as time permits!) to work with you directly in order to
try to accomodate your needs, but please be aware that such a migration will
likely require a much greater overall effort, and success obviously cannot
be guaranteed.
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