Re: 20050922:DODS/THREDDS confusion

Hi David:

The problem is that the opendap server ("DAP++ 3.5.2") uses this form for 
Strings:

forecasttime:   Array of Strings [record = 0..4][time_len = 0..20]
   * long_name: "forecast date and time"

using the "translate a char into a String" method.

However, the THREDDS server uses variable length Strings:

forecasttime:   Array of Strings [record = 0..4]
   * long_name: "forecast date and time"
   * DODS:
         o strlen: 21
         o dimName: time_len

using the "strlen Convention" to tell the client what the String lengths are.


Does anyone on dods-tech know if the opendap-netcdf client library will support 
the latter?
He has version "netCDF Client Library 3.5.2" 


Unidata Support wrote:
> ------- Forwarded Message
>
>
> > To: address@hidden
> > From: David Wojtowicz <address@hidden>
> > Subject: DODS/THREDDS confusion
> > Organization: UCAR/Unidata
> > Keywords: 200509221824.j8MIOEYJ003573
>
>
> Hi,
>
>
> I'm primarily using the Dataset Viewer to browse the catalog and  
> locate DODS URL's that I access in my own applications via the latest  
> OpenDAP libraries.
> 2) If I locate an entry inside "Previous version OPeNDAP NetCDF  
> Server" I can get a DODS URL like this:
>     http://motherlode.ucar.edu/cgi-bin/dods/DODS-3.4.3/nph-dods/dods/ 
> model/2005092215_ruc_211.nc
> I can do a  "dncdump -h" on that URL and get the expected header  
> info.... and also use this URL within my own programs to access the  
> dataset.
> However, I'm reluctant to continue using that as the name "Previous  
> version" implies that it's being replaced by something newer and is  
> going to go away.
> The "new" entries such as under "NCEP Model Data (netCDF) "  I get  
> different OpeNDAP URLs that look like:
>    http://motherlode.ucar.edu:8080/thredds/dodsC/model_nc/ 
> ruc_211/2005092213_ruc_211.nc
> If I pass this URL  to "dncdump -h"  I get output that is both  
> incomplete and contains invalid data.   Tried this with a number of  
> other data files in the same area.
> The "NCDUMP" function in the Dataset Viewer program however, seems to  
> work fine.
> Is this a different format/protocol?    I'm using the latest  
> available SDKs...  "DAP++ 3.5.2" and "netCDF Client Library 3.5.2"   
> that I downloaded from opendap.org and compiled myself under linux.
> I'm further frustrated by the fact that most of the documentation/ 
> status pages that I find on www.unidata.ucar.edu haven't been updated  
> in a while and don't reflect recent changes.
>
> David Wojtowicz, Sr. Research Programmer
> Dept of Atmospheric Sciences / Computer Services
> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
> address@hidden  (217) 333-8390
>
>
>
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