Common Data Format (CDF) Update

• Version 2.5 of the Common Data Format (CDF) software was ported to the most recent version of the Silicon Graphics operating system (IRIX 6.x). This port of the software will enable CDF to support both the 32- and 64-bit data types. The Macintosh toolkit programs were also modified to recognize CDFs with upper case extensions on the CD-ROMs.

• The SkeletonCDF was modified to allow mixed-case data type tokens. In addition, the "compute Epoch" routines have been modified to provide more flexibility in how the time components are used.

• A presentation on CDF was given as part of the Special Interest Group for Visualization (SIGVIS) seminar series at GSFC on February 2. The topic for this part of the series was data formats that support scientific visualization applications.

• The WWW CDF home page is accessible from both the NSSDC and the GSFC home pages. The CDF home page provides information services such as a CDF Tech Brief, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list, and the status of the most recent operational version of the software. The home page also provides access to the CDF User Support office via an automated mailing system and to the anonymous ftp accounts from which the software and documentation can be copied. The CDF home page is available from http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cdf/cdf_home.html.

• Howard Leckner of Hughes STX, a dedicated member of the CDF development team for more then 6 years and an NSSDC staffer for about 15 years overall, has recently left to pursue new career opportunities. Howard is a very productive and hard working individual who will be greatly missed.

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