XyGrib for Mac now truly “Apple like”

XyGrib, the GRIB weather file viewer developed under Linux and well known in the PC world, is the subject of a port on Mac which, since version 5.0, is real progress compared to the first versions. Since the beginning 2011 it is distributed as an executable version for Mac (Intel) Ready to use, as a package in a disk image (.DMG).

We must welcome the community of this development that makes a great work for the greater benefit of boaters. Open source software opensource, zyGrib is distributed under the GNU GPL v3. zyGrib allows the display of a large number of GRIB files, from many weather Forecasting Models weather. It also allows automated requests generated by the application.

Installation

nothing special : We open the disc image, you double-click the package and follow the procedure, like most Mac OS X app..

Usage

We find the Cocoa user interface, With its standardized menu bar, a toolbar to organize map and data.

Left, a pannel that can be moved out with digital data available at the cursor location. On the right a color scale legend for the data representation on the map, dependent on the type of data displayed. Below a time scrolling cursor of the current file forecasts. That's simple, ergonomic and effective. The menu « Data > Options " has numerous display options for easy reading.

In every way the card, an right click opens a window called "Météotable" showing the forecasts at the place in digital form :

Requests and data server

The menu « File > Download Grib »Allows you to select the file type and the different options depending on the models :

Finally at any time " File > GRIB server status »Allows you to know the status of the different files available on the server :

Conclusion

This application is far superior to the viewer GribView, Another still free alternative on Mac. I only noted some working details to improve, i.e. zooming with the scroll wheel which is not linear. A small display bug also which requires unchecking and recovering in the menu " Data " some data, like pressure, So that the isobares appear on the card. But it remains relatively minor with regard to the richness of this application.

A big congratulations !

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See on the website : Météo Grib
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