Re: NcML

In a note to the ncml@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailing list about the
announcement of a new version of NcML
 
 http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/packages/netcdf/ncml/

Roy Mendelssohn wrote:

> A lot of these features look very interesting, particularly the
> Datasets part that would allow aggregation across files.  What is
> disappointing is that it only appears to be available in the Java
> API.  What percent of NetCDF files right now are set up or accessed
> by people using the Java API?  What are the plans for such features
> from other languages?  
> Overall, very intriguing.

Although I don't know how to quantify it, the Java netCDF
implementation is getting increasing use, partly because of tools that
use it to access data in new ways.  Some of these tools include

 - Unidata's IDV (Integrated Data Viewer), an application and
   framework for visualizing and analyzing geoscience data
    http://my.unidata.ucar.edu/content/software/IDV/index.html

 - PMEL's ncBrowse, a graphical netCDF data browser
    http://www.epic.noaa.gov/java/ncBrowse

 - NASA Goddard's Panoply for plotting globally gridded data
    http://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/panoply/

Tools written using Java netCDF get the benefits of access to virtual
netCDF datasets, access to datasets on OPeNDAP servers, standard
handling of packed and missing values, and an extended netCDF data
model that includes general coordinate systems.

We regard the netCDF Java implementation as a way to quickly prototype
and refine advanced features and ideas for accessing scientific data.
Once a feature is proved useful in the Java interface, we intend to
try to move it into the C interface and thus also make it available to
users of other language interfaces based on the C interface (Fortran,
C++, Perl, Python, Ruby, ... ).  

The NcML additions to Java netCDF are primary candidates for
enhancements to the C interface.  We're currently in the process of
planning this work, along with the development of netCDF-4.  But if
you need these enhancements soon, the Java interface can provide them
now, and the Java interface is likely to stay ahead of the other
interfaces for the foreseeable future.

--Russ

        "One interface to bind them"
        http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/packages/netcdf/ring2.jpg

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