Is it correct to say that, although they don't explicitly state it, the CF 
conventions (1.6 and the draft 1.7) restrict compliant netCDF products to be 
either netCDF-3 or netCDF-4 in classic format? There are no conventions for the 
enhanced features such as groups and user-defined types like enumerated 
variables, and Section 2.2, as an example, bars the use of unsigned integer 
variables or string variables (which are even stated not to exist, again 
implying classic-model only).

There are some features of the enhanced model we want to use for our future 
datasets (such as groups) and some features which would make life easier but 
could be worked around if it led to CF compliance (enumerated types, unsigned 
integers, string types, etc.). Are there any plans to introduce conventions for 
the use of these enhanced features at some point in the future or would 
non-classic model datasets always be seen as non-compliant?

Thanks for your insights on this issue!

Regards,

Tim Patterson



---------------------

Dr. Timothy Patterson
Instrument Data Simulation
Product Format Specification

EUMETSAT, Eumetsatallee 1, D-64295 Darmstadt, Germany
_______________________________________________
CF-metadata mailing list
CF-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu
http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/cf-metadata

Reply via email to