A netCDF file has a path name and possibly some dimensions, variables, global (file-level) attributes, and data values associated with the variables. Sometimes we refer to netCDF files more abstractly as datasets.

Operations supported on netCDF files include:

• Create a new file, given its path name and whether to overwrite or not.
• Open an existing file for access, given dataset name and read or write intent.
• Put into define mode to add dimensions, variables, or attributes.
• Take out of define mode, checking consistency of additions.
• Close, writing to disk if required.
• Get the number of dimensions.
• Get the number of variables.
• Get the number of global attributes.
• Get the unlimited dimension, if any.
• Synchronize to disk to make sure file matches memory.
• Set and unset no fill mode for optimized sequential writes.

2009 Unidata NetCDF Workshop for Developers and Data Providers > The "Classic" NetCDF Data Model