Release of tcl-nap array processor

• To: netcdfgroup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, hdfnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
• Subject: Release of tcl-nap array processor
• From: Harvey.Davies@xxxxxxxx
• Date: Wed, 4 Sep 2002 18:30:32 +1000

I have released version 3.0.4 of the Tcl extension "nap"
(n-dimensional array processor). This is the first
version released from sourceForge (and the first public
release of source code). The package is released under
a BSD Licence.

NAP is a loadable extension of Tcl which provides a
powerful and efficient facility for processing data
in the form of n-dimensional arrays. It has been designed
to provide an array-processing facility with much of the
functionality of languages such as
APL http://www.acm.org/sigapl/,
Fortran-90 http://www.fortran.com/fortran/,
IDL http://www.rsinc.com/idl/index.asp,
J http://www.jsoftware.com/,
matlab http://www.mathworks.com/
and octave http://www.octave.org/.

Support is provided for data based on n-dimensional grids,
where the dimensions correspond to continuous spatial
coordinates. There are interfaces to the
HDF http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu
and netCDF
http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/packages/netcdf/index.html
file formats commonly used for such data, especially in
Earth sciences such as Oceanography and Meteorology.

The internal data structure is called a NAO (n-dimensional
array object) and contains similar information to that of
HDF SDSs and netCDF variables.  

NAP was developed as part of the CSIRO CAPS 
http://www.dar.csiro.au/rs/avhrr_processing_software.htm
project, but can be loaded and used without the
(satellite oriented) CAPS extension.
 
The tcl-nap home page is at URL
http://tcl-nap.sourceforge.net
 
The main documentation is accessed from there by choosing
"NAP" under "Further Documentation".
 
Source code is available using either CVS or in a single
tar file.
 
There are binary installation files for
*       Irix 64 on SGI MIPS
*       Linux on 386
*       SunOs on sparc
*       Windows on 386

I will be giving a talks on nap at:
- Unidata, Boulder on Sept 16
- the Tcl/Tk conference in Vancouver on Sept 18 

I would appreciate feedback on all aspects of nap.
 
Harvey Davies, CSIRO Atmospheric Research,
Private Bag No. 1, Aspendale 3195
E-mail: harvey.davies@xxxxxxxx
Phone: +61 3 9239 4556
Fax: +61 3 9239 4444