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RAMMB: Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch CIRA: Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere

Instructions for Installing the Lecture D: 'The Development and Evolution of Deep Convection and Heavy Rainfall' VISITview Lesson


In order to run this lesson, you will need to:

    I. Get and install the VISITview session on your system
    II. Review how to join the training session.
    III. Run the lesson locally to test it out.

I. To get and install the VISITview lesson files on a Windows system:

  1. Create a directory on your computer to hold this lesson. For example, open a Command Prompt window and type:

    2.         cd \
            mkdir hpte
            cd hpte
            mkdir lectureD
            cd lectureD
    You can also create this new directory using the Windows Explorer  or My Computer.

  2. Get the self-extracting exe file (it is about 134 MB in size) by aiming your Web browser to

      3. ftp://rammftp.cira.colostate.edu/connell/hpte/english/LectD-v13_update_CIMH.exe
      OR
      Copy it from the CD or DVD that has been mailed to you. For information on how to get a copy on CD or DVD, click HERE

  3. Be sure to put this .exe file into the same directory that you created in step 1.

  4. To extract all the image and program files, just run the LectD-v13_update_CIMH.exe file by either:
    • opening My Computer  or the Windows Explorer and clicking on the filename LectD-v13_update_CIMH.exe
    - or -
    • opening a Command Prompt window, typing cd \hpte\lectureD, and then typing LectD-v13_update_CIMH

II. This completes the installation.  To join the training session:

  1. open the "Display" Control Panel and make sure your Settings for the Desktop Area is 800 by 600 pixels or greater

  2. click on the visit.bat filename from My Computer  or Windows Explorer.
    • Alternatively,you could open a Command Prompt window, and type:
    • cd \hpte\lectureD
    • visit

  3. A ViewClient window should appear, with a large red triangular pointer in the main window and drawing/animation controls below. If a VISITview server is actively hosting the session, then you will also see images in the ViewClient window. The session will last about 1 hour.

  4. During the lesson, if a message "Communications problem - restart" appears at the bottom of the ViewClient window, then you will need to close out that window (double click over the icon in the upper left corner), and then enter the visit command again to restart the ViewClient application.

    In the Command Prompt window where you enter the visit command, you will see various communications message appearing; for the most part, you may ignore these.


  5. LogOn to Yahoo 5-10 minutes before the session.

III. To run this lesson locally:

Open a Command Prompt window and type visitlocal. A ViewClient window will appear which includes additional controls to load Selected lesson pages (or to move to the Next or Previous page). To view notes for each page, press the 'see URL' button.