6.2.1 Conversion Examples

The examples show how the OPeNDAP FreeForm ND Data Handler treats data received from the FreeForm ND engine. Please see the OPeNDAP FreeForm ND Data Handler distribution for more test data and format definition files, and the Chapter  for more information on writing format definitions.

Arrays

If you define a variable as an array in the FreeForm ND format definition file, the OPeNDAP FreeForm ND Data Handler produces an array of variables with matching types.

For exmple, this entry in the format definition file:

binary_input_data "array"
fvar1 1 4 ARRAY["records" 1 to 101] of int32 0

in converted by the OPeNDAP FreeForm ND Data Handler to:

Int32 fvar1[records = 101]

Collections of Variables

If you define several variables in the format definition file, the OPeNDAP FreeForm ND Data Handler produces a Sequence of variables with matching types.

For example, this entry in the format definition file:

ASCII_input_data "ASCII_data"
fvar1   1 10  int32 2
svar1  13 18  int16 0
usvar1 21 26 uint16 1
lvar1  29 39  int32 0
ulvar1 42 52 uint32 4

is converted by the OPeNDAP FreeForm ND Data Handler to:

Sequence {
  Int32 fvar1;
  Int32 svar1;
  ...
} ASCII_data;

Multiple Arrays

If you define a collection of arrays in the format definition file, as you would expect, the OPeNDAP FreeForm ND Data Handler produces a dataset containing multiple arrays.

For example, this entry in the format definition file:

binary_input_data "arrays"
fvar1 1 4 ARRAY["records" 1 to 101] of int32 0
fvar2 1 4 ARRAY["records" 1 to 101] of int32 0

is converted by the OPeNDAP FreeForm ND Data Handler to:

Dataset {
  Int32 fvar1[records=101]
  Int32 fvar2[records=101]
};