0.3 Organization of this Document

This book contains both introductory and reference material. There is also a description of the installation procedure.

Chapter 1

contains an overview of the OPeNDAP FreeForm ND Data Handler software, including how to get it and install it.

Chapter 2

provides a brief introduction to writing format descriptions and using the OPeNDAP FreeForm ND Data Handler.

Chapter 3

provides detailed information about writing format descriptions to facilitate access to data in tabular formats.

Chapter 4

provides detailed information about writing format descriptions to facilitate access to data in non-tabular (array) formats.

Chapter 5

tells you how to work with header formats.

Chapter 6

describes the operation of the OPeNDAP FreeForm ND Data Handler, with tips for writing format files.

Chapter 8

presents FreeForm ND file name conventions, the search rules for locating format files, and standard command line arguments for FreeForm ND programs.

Chapter 9

shows you how to use the FreeForm ND program newform to convert data from one format to another and also how to read the data in a binary file.

Chapter 10

discusses the FreeForm ND program checkvar, which you can use to check data distribution and quality.

Appendix A

provides explanations for a small selection of tools that will be useful for programmers working with the HDF file format.

Appendix B

presents a list of common FreeForm ND error messages. These are the error messages that may be issued by the FreeForm ND utilities, such as newform, not the OPeNDAP FreeForm ND Data Handler.