The ncgen utility can do the following with CDL input:

• Reverse what ncdump does, converting CDL to binary netCDF, for example:

      ncgen -o mslp.nc mslp.cdl
    

   

  

   

• Generate a C or Fortran program that, when compiled and run, will create a netCDF file corresponding to the CDL:

      ncgen -c mslp.cdl > mslp.c
    

   

  

   

  or

      ncgen -f mslp.cdl > mslp.f
    

   

  

   

NetCDF-4 note:  The current snapshot release of netCDF-4 includes an ncgen4 tool that handles features of the netCDF-4 data model in CDL. It can generate binary netCDF files, C, or NcML, but not Fortran yet. To build it requires a non-default configure option, --enable-ncgen4.

2009 Unidata NetCDF Workshop for Developers and Data Providers > NetCDF Utilities: ncdump and ncgen