Feature 933 cartopy hpc (#964)

* Modification to use NaturalEarth shapefiles that are already downloaded and saved to file in location designated by the CARTOPY_DIR environment. * Github Issue #933 Check for CARTOPY_DIR first, if unset, then proceed as before. * updated documentation for offline systems * Updated docs based on feedback Co-authored-by: Minna Win <[email protected]>
dtcenter · Jun 24, 2021 · 3498c31 · 3498c31
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diff --git a/docs/Users_Guide/installation.rst b/docs/Users_Guide/installation.rst
@@ -121,6 +121,8 @@ to run.
     - cartopy (0.17.0)
     - matplotlib (3.3.4)
 
+Cartopy, one of the dependencies of CyclonePlotter, attempts to download shapefiles from the internet to complete successfully. So if CyclonePlotter is run on a closed system (i.e. no internet), additional steps need to be taken. First, go to the Natural Earth Data webpage and download the small scale (1:110m) cultural and physical files that will have multiple extensions (e.g. .dbf, .shp, .shx). Untar these files in a noted location. Finally, create an environment variable in the user-specific system configuration file for CARTOPY_DIR, setting it to the location where the shapefiles are located. 
+
 .. _getcode:
 
 Getting the METplus Wrappers source code

diff --git a/docs/Users_Guide/wrappers.rst b/docs/Users_Guide/wrappers.rst
@@ -132,7 +132,8 @@ Description
 
 This wrapper does not have a corresponding MET tool but instead wraps
 the logic necessary to create plots of cyclone tracks. Currently only
-the output from the MET tc-pairs tool can be plotted.
+the output from the MET tc-pairs tool can be plotted. If used on an internet-limited system,
+additional dependencies may apply. See :ref:`install` for details.
 
 METplus Configuration
 ---------------------

diff --git a/metplus/wrappers/cyclone_plotter_wrapper.py b/metplus/wrappers/cyclone_plotter_wrapper.py
@@ -19,7 +19,14 @@
     import matplotlib.ticker as mticker
     import cartopy.crs as ccrs
     import cartopy.feature as cfeature
+    import cartopy
     from cartopy.mpl.gridliner import LONGITUDE_FORMATTER, LATITUDE_FORMATTER
+    ##If the script is run on a limited-internet access machine, the CARTOPY_DIR environment setting
+    ##will need to be set in the user-specific system configuration file. Review the Installation section
+    ##of the User's Guide for more details.
+    if os.getenv('CARTOPY_DIR'):
+        cartopy.config['data_dir'] = os.getenv('CARTOPY_DIR', cartopy.config.get('data_dir'))
+
 except Exception as err_msg:
     WRAPPER_CANNOT_RUN = True
     EXCEPTION_ERR = err_msg