I know I should be commenting in TRAC, but I don't think I have a login...
First -- if this is already well established, and simply being
codified here, then "never mind" but if there is still room for
discussion:
> CFSS strings are structured as follows:
>
> {{{
> <standard name of data 1>, <standard name of data 2>, ... ,<standard name
> of data n>
> <standard name of coordinate or cell method 1>: <value 1> [<unit 1>]
> <standard name of coordinate or cell method 2>: <value 2> [<unit 2>] ...
> <standard name of coordinate or cell method m>: <value m> [<unit m>]
> }}}
> Examples of compliant strings using CFSS are:
>
> x_wind
>
> x_wind height: 10 m
>
> x_wind height: 10 m time: mean region: atlantic_ocean
>
> x_wind, y_wind height: 10 m time: mean region: atlantic_ocean
>
> height: 10 m time: mean region: atlantic_ocean
These strick me as being a pain to parse. For example:
"x_wind, y_wind height: 10 m time: mean region: atlantic_ocean"
there are three delimiters there, commas, colons and whitespace. But
whitespace can also be used to separate the units from the value.
Also, can there be white space in any of the values (probably not
names). To parse this, I guess I would:
look for colons
look for whitespace before the colon, what's between is the cell name?
look at what's at the beginning, before the whitespace, before the cell name.
split that on commas, giving me the variable names.
look for the next colon, then look before that for whitespace.
between the whitespace and the colon is the next cell name.
between the previous colon and the cell name is the value and units.
...
I'm sure there is a smarter way to write that code, but I even find it
hard to parse with my eyes.
So I suggest another delimiter -- does netcdf allow line feeds?
{{{
x_wind, y_wind
height: 10 m
time: mean
region: atlantic_ocean
}}}
or maybe semi-colons?
{{{
"x_wind, y_wind; height: 10 m; time: mean; region: atlantic_ocean"
}}}
If I've split that example up wrong, then it really proves my point!
Just my $0.2
-Chris
--
Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
Oceanographer
Emergency Response Division
NOAA/NOS/OR&R (206) 526-6959 voice
7600 Sand Point Way NE (206) 526-6329 fax
Seattle, WA 98115 (206) 526-6317 main reception
Chris.Barker at noaa.gov
Received on Fri Nov 02 2012 - 10:08:46 GMT
