CDL for Variable Length (vlen) Types

15.3 CDL for Variable Length (vlen) Types

Variable-length types may be created for any netCDF-4 base type, including compound types or other variable-length types.

Example CDL for variable-length types: vlens Show popup

The above defines 42 tracks, each of which is of compound type containing an id, a description, and a variable number of profiles. Each profile comprises a location, time, and a variable number of observations. Each observation is a compound structure of pressure, temperature, and salinity.

Potential uses for vlen types include:

"ragged" arrays
in situ observational data typical of soundings, profiles, and time series

2012 Unidata NetCDF Workshop > Utilities for NetCDF-4