Command-line option to write filetype netcdf4 (not netcdf4classic) files

[heikoklein]

If a NetCDF4 file which is not a NETCDF4_CLASSIC file needs to be converted with fimex, the output filetype on the command-line can only be set to nc (=netcdf3) or nc4 (=netcdf4classic). Setting it to netcdf4 will silently convert to nc3 and then fail on the new features (most often new filetypes like ubyte or int64).

Currently one has to write a cdmWriterConfig.xml for setting the output to netcdf4 -nonclassic files.

It would be great if the output-types from the cdmWriterConfig/netcdf-plugin:

fimex/src/io/netcdf/NetCDF_CDMWriter.cc

Line 80 in a805039

else if (filetype == "netcdf4") {

could be used on the command-line, i.e. netcdf4 netcdf4classic and for completeness: netcdf3_64bit

[alexander-buerger-met-no]

Have you tried putting the xml config inline, something like --output.config='<?xml ...>'?

[heikoklein]

I haven't tried putting the output.config on the command-line. My standard solution for this problem is a file in my home with and setting that:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE cdm_ncwriter_config SYSTEM "cdmWriterConfig.dtd">
<cdm_ncwriter_config>

<!-- filetype are netcdf3 netcdf3_64bit netcdf4 netcdf4classic -->
<!-- compression levels are 0 (no compression) to 9 -->
<!-- compression levels from 10 to 19 will enable shuffling -->
<default filetype="netcdf4" compressionLevel="1" />
<!-- <default filetype="netcdf3" compressionLevel="0" autoRemoveUnusedDimension="false" /> -->

</cdm_ncwriter_config>

I don't intend to put that on the command-line. This issue is about making the command-line simpler by just adding the output-type by name.

(A related question would be to make netcdf4 the default output type for .nc files. The default of nc3 is from 2008 when netcdf4 wasn't that widely accepted.)

[alexander-buerger-met-no]

I agree that this is a bit long, but without comments and DOCTYPE it would probably be usable from a script.

I agree that netcdf4 should be the default.