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Roy, > The new features of netcdf-4, such as user-defined types, compound > types and variable length arrays, open up a lot of possibilities for > storing data, such as profile data that is taken at a variable number > of depths. But as is often the case, when there are a lot of > possibilities, usually some uses of these features make for better or > more efficient design then others. We are looking for example files > and/or code that use some of these new features in netcdf-4 to see > different approaches that people have taken. > > Any help greatly appreciated. I was away from my email when you posted this question, but I have a few suggestions. First, I have a draft of a document on "Developing Conventions for NetCDF-4" that has some examples and discusses some issues in use of new netCDF-4 features: http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/netcdf/docs/nc4-conventions.html Second, I'm trying to construct some more realistic examples for testing with the netCDF-4 version of ncdump, including these: tst_comp.c tst_vlen_data.c tst_string_data.c tst_opaque_data.c tst_enum_data.c tst_group_data.c each of which creates a netCDF file that ncdump is tested against with output expected as ref_tst_comp.cdl ref_tst_vlen_data.cdl ref_tst_string_data.cdl ref_tst_opaque_data.cdl ref_tst_enum_data.cdl ref_tst_group_data.cdl These should all be available in the ncdump directory of recent releases. Third, a talk I gave in June on "Best Practices" contained some suggestions for netCDF-4: http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/presentations/Rew/bp-seminar.pdf I hope these are of some help. In any case, I'd appreciate feedback. I realize I still need some more realistic examples, e.g. for the Dapper conventions for soundings or for some of John Caron's observational data conventions for netCDF-3. We need real users trying out some of these features and reporting back on what's actually useful. --Russ