Re: 20050111: Netcdf fortran 90 documentation bugs

>To: Unidata Support <address@hidden>
>From: Mark Hadfield <address@hidden>
>Subject: Netcdf fortran 90 documentation bugs
>Organization: NIWA
>Keywords: 200501110102.j0B12rv2011813 netCDF Fortran document

Hi Mark,

> I have a couple of concerns about the current docs for the Fortran 90 
> interface:
> 
> First, the documentation for NF90_DEF_VAR at
> 
>     
> http://my.unidata.ucar.edu/content/software/netcdf/docs/netcdf-f90/NF90_005fDEF_005fVAR.html#NF90_005fDEF_005fVAR
> 
> gives the correct arguments (ncid, name, xtype, dimids, varid) in the 
> function declaration section , but in the text following, "dimids" is 
> absent and "nvdims" and vdims" are substituted. (IIRC these are from the 
> Fortran 77 interface.) Also the function declaration section fails to 
> note that dimids is optional.

Thanks for pointing out the problem.  This will be fixed in the next
version and the on-line versions will also be fixed soon.

> Second (not an error as such) I note that the NF90_INQUIRE* functions 
> are consistently written in mixed case while the other functions are 
> consistently upper case. This is poor practice IMHO as it implies that 
> the distinction is significant in some way, whereas Fortran is 
> case-insensitive. One might argue that the NF90_INQUIRE* function names 
> are so long that they are hard to read in upper case. There is some 
> truth to this, but it leads to the obvious question: why were they made 
> so long in the first place? Why "NF90_INQUIRE_VARIABLE" when 
> "NF90_INQ_VAR" is easier to read and more consistent with the rest of 
> the interface? But I guess that's just flogging a dead horse.

Well, we like to flog dead horses to see if they bear fruit, and other
mixed metaphors :-).  But you're right, the case variations are
distracting and annoying.  I've also fixed those in the next version,
soon to be fixed in the on-line documents.

--Russ

_____________________________________________________________________

Russ Rew                                         UCAR Unidata Program
address@hidden          http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/staff/russ