netCDF

• To: tj@xxxxx
• Subject: netCDF
• From: Russ Rew <russ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
• Date: Tue, 16 Jun 1992 09:07:05 -0600

Tomas,

> 1) I see that a network server for netCDF is planned (section 1.6 on p. 11
>    in the netcDF User's Guide). Has the date of the release of such a server
>    been fixed? Has a design draft been distributed? Will it support TCP/IP?

The development of a netCDF server has dropped in priority, mostly because
the benefits of a server didn't seem to justify the work required.  The
initial ideas behind a netCDF server were to make reads from scattered parts
of a netCDF file more efficient across a network, to support memory-resident
netCDF data, and to put a netCDF interface on non-netCDF data.  These three
uses don't seem to fit together very well.  If we do implement any servers
(or if someone else contributes one), they would probably use remote
procedure calls, which will work over TCP/IP but can also be made
transport-independent.

> 2) I tested the _FillValue attribute and did not see any effect
>    (the value of unwritten variables was unchanged).
>    Has the _FillValue feature, as the documented in the User's Guide,
>    not yet been implemented in version 2.02 of netCDF?

The feature is implemented as documented in the User's Guide, as far as we
know.  If it doesn't work, please send a small example demonstrating the bug
to support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.  Also note the following property of this
attribute:

   Note that if you change the value of this attribute, the changed value
   only applies to subsequent writes; previously written data are not
   changed.

And thanks for your notes about porting netCDF to HP!  We will incorporate
your changes into the next release.  We now have access to an HP platform
on which to test the software.

--Russ

• References:
  • netCDF
    • From: Tomas Johannesson