Index

OPeNDAP Server Installation Guide
2006-08-31

Tom Sgouros
James Gallagher
Nathan Potter

Revision: 14459

The OPeNDAP software provides a way to access data over the Internet, from programs that weren't originally designed for that purpose, as well as some that were. The OPeNDAP software implements the Data Access Protocol¹ (DAP), version 2. A DAP server is a program that sends data in a standard transmission format to a client that has requested it. A DAP client is a program, running on a networked computer somewhere in the world, that requests and receives data. A client can be a specialized DAP client, or a standard web browser.

Though originally developed to deal with oceanographic data, the OPeNDAP software has found wide use outside that community, and is now used for several different kinds of science data.

Nothing limits the use of the DAP to science data; its framework will support many different data types. But the DAP has facilities for accommodating large arrays, relational tables, irregular grids, and many other otherwise anomalous data types. DAP servers can be adapted to serve data from any kind of storage format, and versions that support several popular data storage formats are readily available.

• 1 The OPeNDAP Server
• 1.1 Server Architecture
• 1.2 More Explanation of How It Works
• 1.3 Service Programs
• 1.4 Choosing a Data Handler
• 2 Installing the OPeNDAP Server
• 2.1 Step by Step
• 2.2 Configure the Server
• 2.3 Compression
• 2.3.1 Storing Your Data In Compressed Form
• 2.3.2 Enabling Transmission of Compressed Data
• 2.4 Security
• 2.4.1 About serving both limited- and open-access data from the same server
• 2.4.2 Using a secure opendap server
• 2.4.3 Configuring a server
• Create a directory for the server
• Establish access limitations for that directory
• Copy the server into the new directory
• 2.4.4 Tips
• 3 Installing Your Data
• 3.1 Special Instructions for the NetCDF, HDF, and DSP handlers
• 3.2 Special Instructions for the OPeNDAP/JGOFS Server
• 3.2.1 About JGOFS Servers
• 3.2.2 Attribute Data for OPeNDAP/JGOFS
• 3.2.3 Data Types for OPeNDAP/JGOFS Data
• 3.2.4 Limiting Access to a OPeNDAP/JGOFS Server
• 3.3 Special Instructions for the FreeForm Server
• 4 Installing the OPeNDAP Relational Database Server
• 4.1 General Servlet Configuration
• 4.1.1 <init-param> Elements
• 4.2 DODS Test Server (DTS)
• 4.2.1 DTS Configuration
• 4.3 DODS Relational Database Server (DRDS)
• 4.3.1 DRDS Datatype Translation
• 4.3.2 DRDS Configuration
• 4.3.3 Configure the Table Data Types
• Make a DDS
• Make a DAS
• Make an Info File
• Done
• 5 Constructing the URL
• 5.1 Constructing a OPeNDAP/JGOFS URL
• 6 Testing the Installation
• 6.1 Testing the Web Server
• 6.2 Testing the OPeNDAP Server
• 6.3 Error Logs
• 6.4 User Support
• 7 Documenting Your Data
• 7.1 Special Instructions for the OPeNDAP/JGOFS Handler
• 8 The Catalog Server
• 8.1 Step One: Install the FreeForm Data Handler
• 8.2 Step Two: Make Your Catalog and Format File
• 9 Building OPeNDAP Data Handler
• A Getting the OPeNDAP Software
• B GNU Free Documentation License
• Index
• Footnotes