Hi Jeff,
> In netcdf-4.0, I don't see how to create variables which are arrays of
> strings with length > 1. I see how to create arrays of
> single-characters, and arrays of variable-length strings, but not
> strings of a specified length.
...
> Maybe Russ or Ed can tell me whether this is possible in netcdf-4.0?
> Being limited to single character arrays in netcdf-3 was one of things
> I really wanted netcdf-4 to overcome. Variable length strings are
> nice, but they don't map well to commonly used data structures
> (i.e. arrays) in fortran or python.
The distinction between an N-dimensional array of chars and an
(N-1)-dimensional array of fixed-length strings is pretty subtle, and it
looks like we assumed you could use the former if you needed the latter.
Multidimensional arrays of chars are supported in netCDF-4 just as in
netCDF-3. Maybe a few convenience functions that treat an N-dimensional
array of chars as an (N-1)-dimensional array of strings that happen to
be fixed length are all that's needed. If not, we may need a more
detailed use case that would make clear why that's inadequate.
--Russ
==============================================================================
To unsubscribe netcdfgroup, visit:
http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/mailing-list-delete-form.html
==============================================================================