Loading data into the viewer is generally the same no matter what dataset you want to view. Normally when you start up the toolkit the Data Selector dialog window will be visible. If this did not occur, click on Data in the Left Side Bar or on Data in the menu bar of the viewer then Load Data (CTRL-L also works).

The Data Selector has 6 tabs for different data sources: NCDC, CLASS, Local, Custom, THREDDS and Single File/URL.

• Find Data: This contains a link to an online list of data resources that are supported in the Weather and Climate Toolkit.
• Local Files: Add data from your local hard drive or local system. The Browse Local button brings up a file selection window to aid you in finding your files.
• Remote Files: Connect to a remote HTTP or FTP location to view your data files. (Note: Only a directory is needed)
• Single File/URL: Connect to a single local file, remove file or OPeNDAP URL. Learn more about OPeNDAP .
• THREDDS: Connect to the THREDDS data server to view available datasets from Unidata. Learn more about THREDDS data .
• NCDC HAS Order: Enter your HAS order results from a NEXRAD data order. A typical HAS number looks like this: HAS001473242. Remember that data stored on the NCDC FTP site for HAS requests is only available for 7 days after your order was completed.
• CLASS Order: Enter your CLASS order number from a Satellite data order. A typical CLASS order number looks like this: A1756094. Remember that you only have 120 hours to access the data from CLASS' FTP server once your order was completed.
• Favorites: A collection of favorites created by the user. Favorites are added by right-clicking on a specific file in the list results and selecting 'Add To Favorites'.

With all of the aforementioned data tabs, except for the 'Single File' option, be sure to click List Files, to bring up a list of your data files. You can sort these files by using the Sort By: drop down selection on the far right. The Filter: text box allows filtering of the files based on simple text matching against all of the list results.

Once the files are shown in the list pane, you can either double click on the file you want to view or click on the file you want to view (your selected file should be highlighted) then click Load in the data selection tools button section located below the list of files.

There are three buttons, a 'data type' chooser and one check box in the data selection tools area: 'Reset Zoom', the 'Data Type' chooser and the 'Load', 'Animate', and 'Export' buttons. The 'Load' button is enabled for seletions of only one data file while the 'Animate' and 'Export' buttons are enabled for single or multiple selections. To select multple files, hold the 'shift' or 'control' key and click on the desired list results.

The data selection tools control these functions:

• Reset Zoom: Resets to the default zoom level for the file type each time you load/reload a file
• Data Type: Allows manual selection of file type (Grid, Radial, etc...). Generally, the file type is automatically detected from the file naming convention. However, if non-standard file names are used, the manual selection of file type is needed. By default, all '.nc' (NetCDF files with the .nc extension) are considered Gridded data. If a file type cannot be determined from the file name or extension, the Gridded file type will be assigned.
• Animate: Launches the Animation Generator. More information on animations.
• Export Data: Launches the Data Export Wizard. More information about the Data Export Wizard.

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