All,
Yes, that statement seems quite definitive and unambiguous, and for the
reasons stated in other emails, I support retaining it.
regards,
Karl
On 1/15/14 9:37 AM, Steve Hankin wrote:
>
> On 1/15/2014 9:24 AM, Jim Biard wrote:
>> Chris,
>>
>> The point is, the Conventions themselves state that there is *no
>> standard*. People are all the time trying to add meaning to variable
>> names, but the standard actually states that the meaning is to reside
>> in the attributes. The variable names are just keys for
>> differentiating the variables. (I could name all my variables
>> "vNNNNNNNNNN", where N is a digit, and I would be completely valid
>> according to the standard.) The long_name and standard_name
>> attributes are the places where descriptors of the variable content
>> are to be found.
>>
>> So I'm raising a question. _ Is there actually anything other than
>> sentiment (i.e., an actual rule) that anyone can point to that
>> prevents someone from using "new" characters in their variable names?_
>
> How about the lines from the CF document that you cut-pasted (thank you):
>
> /Variable, dimension and attribute names should begin with a
> letter and be composed of letters, digits, and underscores. Note
> that this is in conformance with the COARDS conventions, but is
> more restrictive than the netCDF interface which allows use of the
> hyphen character. The netCDF interface also allows leading
> underscores in names, but the NUG states that this is reserved for
> system use./
>
> - Steve
>>
>> Grace and peace,
>>
>> Jim
>>
>> CICS-NC <http://www.cicsnc.org/>Visit us on
>> Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/cicsnc> *Jim Biard*
>> *Research Scholar*
>> Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites NC <http://cicsnc.org/>
>> North Carolina State University <http://ncsu.edu/>
>> NOAA's National Climatic Data Center <http://ncdc.noaa.gov/>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Jan 15, 2014, at 12:00 PM, Chris Barker <chris.barker at noaa.gov
>> <mailto:chris.barker at noaa.gov>> wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, Jan 15, 2014 at 7:39 AM, jbiard <jbiard at mail.cicsnc.org
>>> <mailto:jbiard at mail.cicsnc.org>> wrote:
>>>
>>> I don't think we should use ease of mapping variable names to a
>>> programming language as a reason for allowing (or not allowing)
>>> any particular character in variable names.
>>>
>>> Why not? maybe not a compelling reason, but I can't imagine a
>>> compelling reason to have more flexible naming conventions, either.
>>>
>>> CF has, as I understood it, considered variable names as
>>> completely up to the producer, relying on attributes to provide
>>> meaning. So, I can name a temperature variable "fluffy_bunny"
>>> if I want to, and it is completely valid.
>>>
>>> valid yes, a good idea? probably not.
>>>
>>> Section 1.3 of the Conventions states, "No variable or dimension
>>> names are standardized by this convention."
>>>
>>> so there are no standard variable names -- that's not the same as
>>> standards for variable names....
>>>
>>> Personally, I wish there were standards for variable names, it would
>>> make it easier to code against -- but that cat's out of the bag. But
>>> this cat isn't: the restiricitons have been there for a long time,
>>> so the question now is:
>>>
>>> what are the reasons for easing those restrictions?
>>>
>>> and
>>>
>>> what are the reasons for keeping those restrictions?
>>>
>>> we've given a few reasons for keeping them (maybe not all that
>>> compeling toyou, but reasons none the less) -- what are the reasons
>>> for relaxing them, other than "I like this naming convention that is
>>> currently not allowed" ?
>>>
>>> I'm not convinced that "fluffy-bunny" is any more readable or
>>> anything else than "fluffy_bunny"
>>>
>>> -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 <mailto:Chris.Barker at noaa.gov>
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>>
>>
>>
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