Contents

• Introduction
  • Issues to be Addressed
    • Towards a Standard Format
    • Away from a Standard Format
    • 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
    • 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 ...