Integrating netCDF and OPeNDAP (The DrNO Project) Dr. Dennis Heimbigner Unidata Go-ESSP Workshop Seattle, WA, Sept

Overview Primary goal: Integrate client-side DAP protocol into netCDF C Library  Access any DAP data source (thru DAP server) using the netCDF API  Initially netCDF-3, later netCDF-4 Rationale: Combine two commonly used API’s for access to scientific datasets Issues:  Data model translation  DAP dataset URL support  (Server side: transparent access to netCDF-4 data)

DAP Data Model Primitive types:  byte, (u)int16, (u)int32, float32, float64, string Arrays: FORTRAN style rectangular arrays with bounded dimensions  Limited naming of dimensions Structure: heterogeneous collection of fields  Analog to C/C++ Structs Sequence: variable length array of Structures  Allows relational constraints

DAP Data Model (cont.) Grid: Combination of an n-dimensional array with n 1-dimensional mapping arrays  In effect a structure for an array plus its coordinate variables (in netCDF-speak) Structures, Grids, and Sequences may be arbitrarily nested with each other All types are “singletons”  Type reuse requires repeating the definition

Specifying a DAP Data Source A DAP data source is specified using an extended URL syntax that refers to the DAP server containing that data Format:  ? & Client parameters: [name=value]…  URL extension specific to the DAP/netCDF integration Base URL: e.g.  Points to the DAP server

Specifying a DAP source (cont.) DAP URL also specifies constraints on the data to be returned by the server Projection: variable-name[first:stride:last]  Returns a slice of a rectangular array Selection: boolean expression over variables  E.g. x > 5 or y < 6  Only applies to sequences

netCDF-3 (aka classic) Data Model Primitive types: char, byte, short, int, float, double Named shared dimensions N-dimensional FORTRAN style arrays Single unlimited dimension  May only occur as first (slowest changing) dimension  E.g. int var(unlimited,lat,long)

netCDF-3 Translation Issues Result must conform to legal classic model  E.g. no nested sequences or arrays of sequences Synthesize shared dimensions  Infer from DAP dimension name and value Convert grids to equivalent netCDF-3 coordinate variable convention  Coordinate variable = 1-d variable with same name as a dimension  Contains coordinate values for that dimension Flatten non-dimensioned structures and grids Sequence = unlimited dimension 1-d array

netCDF-4 (aka enhanced) Data Model Derived from the HDF5 data model netCDF-3 model plus: More primitives: ubyte, ushort, uint (u)int64, string, enums, opaque (fixed length byte strings) Named user defined types: Compound (=Structure) Vlen – variable length 1-d array Arbitrary use of unlimited dimensions Groups: similar to file system directory tree  Group can contain types, dimensions, and variables

netCDF-4 Translation Issues netCDF-4 is effectively a superset of the current OPenDAP data model Carryover issues from netCDF-3:  Inference of shared dimensions  Grid translation to coordinate variable convention Translate structures, grids, and sequences to compound types  or maybe groups? Explore DAP data model extensions to include selected netCDF Enhanced concepts  Esp. groups and shared dimensions

Server-side issues Desirable to be able to pass a netCDF-4 file through a DAP server to a DAP client and through the translation and get the same file Information is currently lost in translation Solutions:  add various attribute tags to restore missing information  Extend OPenDAP data model

Status netCDF 4.1-alpha: available now  Libdap+libnc-dap version integrated into current netCDF snapshot build  Supports translation of subset of the DAP protocol to netCDF-3  Requires C++ netCDF 4.1-beta: end of 2008  Utilizes Ocapi + modified netCDF => no C++  Limited translation similar to libnc-dap netCDF 4.1: 2009  Utilizes Ocapi + modified netCDF  Complete support for translating DAP to netCDF-4 Java version also exists now  Uses somewhat different translation rules

Acknowledgement NSF Award # Title: SDCI NMI Improvement: OPeNDAP and NetCDF Integration Principal Investigators: James Gallagher (opendap.org) and Russell Rew (Unidata)