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Contents
Contents
df: A Proposed Data Format Standard
.75em
Leslie R. Lait - Eric R. Nash - Paul A. Newman
September 25, 2003
Contents
Introduction
Issues to be Addressed
Towards a Standard Format
Portability
Understandability
Reusability
Away from a Standard Format
Inflexibility
High Overhead
Complexity
Limited Languages/Systems
How Do We Know it is Standard?
Reconciliation
The ``df'' format
Specification of the Format
Definitions and Concepts
Overview of the Dataset Structure
Dataset Structure
Record Type Descriptions
Elucidation
How dimensions are specified
Indices
Record indices
Dimension Indices
START and END Fields
Auxiliary information array indices
Auxiliary Information
Audit Trail
Processing Codes
Record Type Format Specifications
TEST
OBJDESC
AUDIT
INFOSPEC
COMMENT
DIMSPEC0
DIMSPEC1
DIMSPEC2
DIMSPEC3
DESCRIP0
DESCRIP1
DESCRIP2
DESCRIP3
DESCRIP
DESCVAL
DESCSUP
BADVAL
PROCSPEC
PROCFORM
PROCVAL
PROCDUP
AUXSPEC
AUXRANGE
AUXVAL
AUXSUP
PAKSPEC
PAKFORM
PAKVAL
COMPSPEC
COMPLEN
COMPFORM
COMPVAL
REGDAT
PAKDAT
COMPDAT
Discussion and Examples of the Format
TEST records
Silicon Graphics Iris workstation, using C
VAX running VMS using Fortran
Dimensional Levels
Example 1. Scalar (Temperature)
Example 2. Vector (Wind)
Example 3. Tensor (Wind Stress)
Example 4. Unusual Data Object (Ozonesondes)
Example 5. Nonauthoritative Dimension Descriptors (Ozonesondes)
START and END Fields
DESCRIP1 Case
BADVAL Case
DESCRIP3, PROCSPEC, PROCDUP, AUXSPEC, and PAKSPEC Cases
Audit Trail
Auxiliary Information
Example 1. Referring to a Single Dimension, Applied to a Single Dimension
Example 2. Referring to a Single Dimension, Applied to Multiple Dimensions
Example 3. Referring to a Single Dimension, Applied to Multiple Dimensions and Subsections of the Data
Example 4. Referring to Multiple Dimensions, Applied to Multiple Dimensions and Subsections of the Data
Pros and Cons
How Well Did We Meet Our Design Goals?
Questions and Answers
Numeric Codes
Centrally Defined Codes
Data Format Codes
Site Identifier Codes
Quantity Codes
Unit Codes
Packing Codes
Supplemental Codes
Compression Codes
Locally Defined Codes
Task Codes
Data Source Codes
Processing Codes
Local Quantity Codes
Local Unit Codes
INFOSPEC Record Bytes
Implementation Notes
Standard library routines
Numeric Codes
File Naming Conventions
Fields
Delimiters
Backus-Naur Form
Future Enhancements
Miscellaneous Items
Trademarks
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
About this document ...
Eric Nash 2003-09-25
