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#74: Allow sharing of ancillary variables among multiple data variables
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  Reporter:  [email protected]  |       Owner:  
[email protected]             
      Type:  enhancement               |      Status:  new                      
                 
  Priority:  medium                    |   Milestone:                           
                 
 Component:  cf-conventions            |     Version:                           
                 
Resolution:                            |    Keywords:  "ancillary data" 
"standard name modifiers"
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Comment (by ngalbraith):

 Replying to [comment:24 [email protected]]:


 > "In the case where more than one data variable, each with a standard
 name, references an ancillary data variable (see Section 3.4, “Ancillary
 Data”) for the same reason (e.g. status_flag), the standard_name attribute
 for the ancillary data variable is composed of a blank-separated list of
 each unique standard name followed by one or more blanks and a standard
 name modifier."


 I really seem to be out of step, but honestly I still don't see what we're
 gaining here. More important, I think we're making assumptions about the
 role of a standard name in an ancillary variable that may lead to problems
 sharing data.

 IMHO, in a file with multiple variables that share one or more ancillary
 variables, there is no need - and no really reliable method - for the
 ancillary variables to list '''all''' their parents. This is a one-way
 connection; a primary variable points to its ancillary variables, using
 short names.

 Is there a use case for ancillary variables to identify their primary
 variables?  If we actually need a 2-way system, is there a sense that this
 method - listing all the primaries' standard names - will work?

 What happens when there are multiple 'primary' variables with the same
 standard name in a file?

 What's wrong with this:


 {{{
  float swt(time,depth,lat,lon);
     swt:standard_name="sea_water_temperature";
     swt:ancillary_variables="swt_nobs";
  float swpt(time,depth,lat,lon);
     swpt:standard_name="sea_water_potential_temperature";
     swpt:ancillary_variables="swt_nobs";
  int swt_nobs(time,depth);
     swt_nobs:standard_name="sea_water_temperature number_of_observations";
 }}}

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://cf-pcmdi.llnl.gov/trac/ticket/74#comment:25>
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