The OPeNDAP FreeForm ND Data Handler is a DAP21-compliant server that uses FreeForm ND software to serve data from files in almost any format. The FreeForm ND Data Access System is a flexible system for specifying data formats to facilitate data access, management, and use. Since DAP2 allows data to be translated over the internet and read by a client regardless of the storage format of the data, the combination allows several format restrictions to be overcome.
The large variety of data formats is a primary obstacle in the way of creating flexible data management and analysis software. FreeForm ND was conceived, developed, and implemented at the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) to alleviate the problems that occur when you need to use data sets with varying native formats or to write format-independent applications.
DAP2 was originally conceived as a way to move large amounts of scientific data over the internet. As a consequence of establishing a flexible data transmission format, DAP2 also allows substantial independence from the storage format of the original data. Up to now, however, DAP2 servers have been limited to data in a few widely used formats. Using the OPeNDAP FreeForm ND Data Handler, many more datasets can be made available through DAP2.