Re: Max length on attributes in cdl files?

• To: netcdfgroup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
• Subject: Re: Max length on attributes in cdl files?
• From: David Osburn <osburn@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
• Date: Tue, 13 Aug 1996 21:55:51 GMT

Bill,

> In an effort to maximize the readability of my cdl files, I entered
> extensive multi-line comments in the :units attribute.  This worked fine on
> a sun running SunOS, but not on HP-UX or SGI, which bumped up against a 200
> character limit.
> 
> So my question is, what is the best way to include documention like the
> following in a cdl file?
> 
> THIS FAILS ON SOME MACHINES:
> byte correctedFlag(recNum);
>  correctedFlag:long_name ="Corrected data indicator";
>  correctedFlag:units = "
>   r = raw data,
>   l = data that has  undergone lat/lon correction
>      (other than interpolation),
>   T = data that has undergone temperature correction, 
>   f = longitude and wind direction flipped, 
>   t = obs time has been set to the report receipt time
> ";

  While there are a large number of valid ways to solve this problem, I'd 
propose the following:

  Several point data CDLs used in FSL for NIMBUS (Networked Information 
Management client-Based User Service) do not regard the possible values of a
given variable as units, but instead use something like:

byte correctedFlag(recNum);
     correctedFlag:long_name ="Corrected data indicator";
     correctedFlag:valuer = "raw data";
     correctedFlag:valuel = "data that has undergone lat/lon correction (other 
than interpolation)";
     correctedFlag:valueT = "data that has undergone temperature correction";
     correctedFlag:valuef = "longitude and wind direction flipped";
     correctedFlag:valuet = "obs time has been set to the report receipt time";

Dave Osburn
Forecast Systems Laboratory
Boulder, CO
497-3133