netCDF file on GDS

[Jennifer Adams]

On Jan 14, 2005, at 6:22 AM, benb wrote:

> Hello All,
>
> I just put some NetCDF files on my GDS and had a problem with one file.
>
> A variable called:
> 2m_temperature
> was flagged.  I assume this is because it starts with a number.  Are
> variabl
> es that start with numbers forbidden by GDS?
Forbidden by GrADS. GDS allows data sets (but not data variables) that
begin with numbers.

>  Are numbers inside of the vari
> able name, and underbar "_" characters allowed?
Numbers yes, non alphanumeric characters, no.

>  Is there a list of what is
> forbidden in variable names?
Yes, it's in the documenation under descriptorfile.html:
"it must be less than 16 characters, start with an alphabetic
character, and cannot contain any upper case letters or
non-alpha-numeric characters."


> Also, some of the variables names in the netCDF file were long, such
> as temp
> erature_tendancy.  The GDS appeared to truncate variable names at 15
> charact
> ers, so in the .info display of the characters I saw:
> temperature_ten
> Am I right that variable names are truncated at 15 characters.  Also,
> is the
>  truncated name used for accessing the variable, or the full name
> (i.e. temp
> erature_ten or temperature_tendancy)?
Write a descriptor file and use aliasing to get the variable name you
want:
   temperature_tendency=>tmptend
You can use this syntax with xdfopen or dtype netcdf.

> Finally, this variable is listed in the netCDF file as:
> temperature_tendancy     tendancy of temperature
> Does the GDS limit the length of the text (e.g. tendancy of
> temperature) tha
> t it will handle?
If I'm not mistaken, the limit for the variable long name is 128
characters...

Also, for accuracy's sake,  tendancy is spelled "tendency".

Jennifer

--
Jennifer M. Adams
IGES/COLA
4041 Powder Mill Rd., Suite 302
Calverton, MD 20705
jma at cola.iges.org

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