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> Institution: NCAR/CISL > Package Version: netcdf 4 > Operating System: All > Hardware Information: none > Inquiry: Hi, > > We are getting ready to release a new version of PyNIO, which is a Python > interface to the netCDF 3 library. We also have an interface to the netCDF 4 > classic routines, but we haven't advertised this or made it available yet. > > Do you think your current netcdf-4.0-beta1 release is ready for release to > the public, or should we stick with building our software against netCDF > 3.6.2 and wait for the official release of 4.0? > > Thanks, > > --Mary Howdy Mary! NetCDF-4 is certainly ready for release, in beta. Users need to understand that netCDF-4 is in beta, and depends on HDF5 1.8.0, also in beta. NetCDF-3 classic and 64-bit offset files produced with netCDF-4 are indistinguishable from those produced with netCDF-3.6.2 (because the netCDF-3 core C library is part of netCDF-4). However, netCDF-4 requires more installation work from the user, and since it is in beta, should not be used for operational data. What some other tool users are doing is supporting netCDF-4 if the user tells it to, and netCDF-3 otherwise. This leaves the decision in the users' hands and supports the eventual switch to netCDF-4 without breaking any existing netCDF-3 operational code. As a tool developer, I would switch to netCDF-4 beta. (In fact, I have, for my other tool development). NetCDF-3 code is 100% compatible with netCDF-4. Thanks, Ed Ticket Details =================== Ticket ID: PAJ-722670 Department: Support netCDF Priority: Normal Status: Closed