Step-by-step guide
When defining your text, you can use a special tag grib_info, Magics will then get the information from the grib header and replace the tag by the value read. You can use all the ecCodes keys, and Magics have a special one called valid-date that will compute the valid date for the data, taking into account the base date and the step.
Python Example : configure the title
from Magics.macro import *
#Setting output
output = output(
output_formats = ['ps'],
output_name = 'precip',
output_name_first_page_number = 'off')
#Setting the coastlines
background = mcoast(
map_coastline_land_shade = 'on',
map_coastline_land_shade_colour = 'cream')
#Setting data
grib = mgrib(grib_input_file_name = "path/data.grib")
#Defining the contour
contour = mcont(
)
#Picking the grib metadata
title = mtext(
text_lines = ["Parameter : <grib_info key='name'/> valid for <grib_info key='valid-date'/>"],
)
#Plotting
plot(output, background, grib, data, title)
To get an idea of the available keys on your grib files, you can use the tool grib_dump of the ecCodes package.
Here is a short list of keys that we find useful, and are used in the generation of the automatic Magics title
| ecCodes key | definition |
|---|---|
| centre | originating centre |
| name | long name of the parameter |
| shortName | short name of the parameter |
| valid-date | valid date ( computed by Magics) |
| units | units |
| level | level |