id	summary	reporter	owner	description	type	status	priority	milestone	component	version	resolution	keywords	cc
176	Update BUFR Master Table Version number	Dave Offiler	Dave Offiler	"The BUFR Master Table Version number is currently (and always has been) hard-coded as 12 - being the first version of the BUFR tables
to include the approved GPSRO template (November 2005).

The value is defined on line 1520 (!VerMasTable parameter) in subroutine EncodeBUFR in file ropp_io/tools/ropp2bufr.f90

Version 13 tables have been in use from November 2007, so this ought to be encoded into the GPSRO BUFR messages. This can be done by (a) changing the value from 12 to 13 explicitly, or (b) change the value from 12 to -99, an letting the BUFR library routine set the current default (v18.x, and updated with each release of the MetDB library). 

As it is planned to port to to using the ECMWF BUFR library for ROPP-4, the implementation of this change should be reviewed with this new interfacing in mind for ROPP-4. Either approach would work for a minor update to ROPP-3 (MetDB BUFR library v18.x).

Since no harm is done by having somewhat older version numbers as long as the template hasn't changed, this is not a priority. Also, as there could be a new set of tables for 2009, it might be wise to wait until after November before any products are disseminated on the GTS (or whenever the MetDB BUFR tables are updated)."	task	closed	minor	4.0	ropp_io	3.0	fixed	BUFR, master tables, version