Updating Procedures

International exchange of "ADDITIONAL" DATA AND PRODUCTS

Definition of "Additional data and products"= data and products additional to those with no conditions on their use

UPDATING PROCEDURES

SEMI-ANNUAL FILES (RECORD FORMAT)

Consists of a list of all additional bulletins under your Centre's responsibility. The file must have the following fields: Region","RTH","Country","Centre","Date","Category","TTAAii","CCCC","CodeForm","TimeGroup","Content","Remarks"

Each record consists of 12 fields. The first record in the file shows the field names.
Each field is inserted between double quotation marks (" ") and delimited by a comma ( , ). (i.e. "a field" , "a field" , "a field" , . . .).

Although the record length is variable, each record is in one line. The end of each record must be marked by a set of carriage return (CR) and line feed (LF).

Fields such as "RTH","Country", "Centre" and "Remarks" are described only in English.

Both the Observational and Products files use the same fields.

No	Field Name	Type	Width	Description
1	Sequence No.	Numeric	4	Incremental sequence number (0001 to 9999) for “Observational” and “ Products” records. Both to be initialised at the beginning of the year.
2	ChangeType	Character	2	Type of change to the record whose contents are shown in the last twelve fields (field No.4 to 15). DD = deleting a record (ie deleting a bulletin) AA = adding a record (ie adding a new bulletin) DM = deletion of the record for modification AM = addition of the record for modification Explanation: When modifying an entry use “DM” for deletion of an existing record to be modified and “AM” for addition of the modified record. The placement order of the records in the file is important. The record to be modified with the type of “DM” should be followed by the modified one with the type of “AM”. It shows that the “DM” record is replaced by the “AM” one.
3	ChangeDate	Character	10	Date from which this change becomes effective, in the form of day/month/year (e.g. 01/01/2008 for 1st January 2008).
4	Region	Numeric	1	WMO Region number in which the centre is located: 1=Region I; 2=Region II; 3=Region III; 4=Region IV; 5=Region V; 6=Region VI
5	RTH	Character	Variable	Name of RTH whose zone of responsibility corresponds to the bulletin.
6	Country	Character	Variable	Name of the country where the centre is located.
7	Centre	Character	Variable	Name of the centre (usually the NMC) which originates the bulletin or controls the originator of the bulletin.
8	Date	Character	10	Date when record becomes effective. day/month/year (e.g. 05/12/2008 for 5th December 2008).
9	Category	Character	1	A= Additional data/products E= Essential data/products O= Other data/products
10	TTAAii	Character	6	Abbreviated heading of the bulletin (a): TT = standard data designators (b) AA = Geographical designator (b) (a) See WMO Publication 386: Manual on the GTS, Att. II-5, Vol I, Pt II, para 2.3.2 for full details of abbreviated headings. (b) See Attachment II-5 of the above-mentioned publication WMO No. 386 for WMO standard data designators ("TT....") and geographical designators ("..AA..").
11	CCCC	Character	4	International four-letter location indicator, used in the abbreviated heading (see Annex I)
12	CodeForm	Character	Variable	FM code form – see WMO No 306 – Manual on Codes eg: FM 51 – XII; PLAIN LANGUAGE; Blank
13	TimeGroup	Character	Variable	Time(s) in UTC (= "GG"): For bulletins containing meteorological reports: The standard time of observation, in UTC; For aerodrome, route and area (aeronautical) forecasts: The hour (in UTC) during which the transmission is made (eg 15 is shown if the transmission time is 15:30) For other forecasts and analyses: The standard time, in UTC, of the observation on which the forecast or analysis is based. For other messages: The time of issuing, in UTC as GG in YYGGgg group of the abbreviated heading. Day of month for the bulletin issued on a fixed day every month. Other comment on issuance of a bulletin could be inserted in "Remarks" field.
14	Content	Character	Variable	Contents of the bulletin: the international station index number or the international four-letter indicator (ICAO location indicators) of stations whose reports are included in the bulletin. For GRID and GRIB bulletins, area of coverage and grid spacing.
15	Remarks	Character	Variable	Memo field used for any information not described in the preceding fields. In case that contents of a GRID/GRIB bulletin differ from those derived from the abbreviated heading, such information as parameters on actual contents should be inserted in this field.