Subject: netCDF operators

From: [email-masked] (Phil Austin)
Date: 26 Oct 1993 20:07:32 GMT

We are beginning to use netCDF, and are constantly encountering
situations where the operators described in
unidata.ucar.edu:/pub/sdm/ncprogs.txt (nccut, ncrdim, ncthin, etc.)
would be extremely useful.  Before we begin trying to implement these
ourselves, I'd like to know:

1)  Is there an ordered priority list that the netCDF authors
are using to decide which of these operators to develop?  We 
would like to implement those operators that are least likely
to appear in the next sixth months.

2) Have other groups working on related tools (HDF, Envision, Ferret,
Sieve, etc.) written in-house versions of the operators
which they would be willing to share?

3) Would a Gnu-style effort be appropriate, where someone coordinates
a half-dozen or so groups, each coding one operator to the standards
outlined in ncprogs.txt?

As someone trying to sell netCDF to other scientists as a data
exchange mechanism, I can testify that the existence of these
operators would do a great deal to hasten its adoption as
a defacto standard in the earth sciences.

Phil Austin
Atmospheric Sciences Programme
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, CANADA