FEP - Format Use by a Researcher - Mihail Codrescu - CDF

1. Format (Format System) Identification

CDF v2.3 to v2.6

2. Original Motivation

Desire to use Object Oriented techniques.

3. Data Types

All processing levels.
Time series of multidimensional (one, two and three dimensions) variables

4. Support

NSSDC

5. Software

Fortran, C++, and IDL are used to create, analyze, and dysplay CDF files.

6. Environment

UNIX and MacOS

7. Usage

I use the CDF format. This is my first choice.

8. Experience

Ability to carry and manage research-needed metadata - very good
User support infrastructure - good
Overall functionalities of the whole package - very good

9. Desired Functionality

A better error handling capability might help.

10. Selection Criteria

Object Oriented data formats because they allow the development of generalized software packages for data analysis and display.

11. Impact on Research

I create CDF files for most of the data that I need to analyze. Easy, fast, random access of the data compensates the initial effort of creating the CDFs. I have spent (wasted) lots of time trying to understand data in various formats.

12. Other Comments

I think it is important to recognize that it is time for a common, object oriented, data format, be it CDF, NetCDF, or something else.

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