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NetCDF C Interface Guide
NetCDF Version 3.6.0
December 2004

Russ Rew, Glenn Davis, Steve Emmerson, and Harvey Davies

Unidata Program Center
Copyright
c 2004 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided that
the copyright notice and these paragraphs are preserved on all copies. The software and any
accompanying written materials are provided “as is” without warranty of any kind. UCAR
expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not
limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
The Unidata Program Center is managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric
Research and sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, con-
clusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and
do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Mention of any commercial company or product in this document does not constitute an
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information from this publication for advertising or publicity purposes.
 i

Table of Contents

1 Use of the NetCDF Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.1 Creating a NetCDF Dataset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Reading a NetCDF Dataset with Known Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Reading a netCDF Dataset with Unknown Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Adding New Dimensions, Variables, Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.5 Error Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.6 Compiling and Linking with the NetCDF Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2 Datasets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1 NetCDF Library Interface Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2 Get error message corresponding to error status: nc strerror . . . 10
2.3 Get netCDF library version: nc inq libvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.4 Create a NetCDF Dataset: nc create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.5 Create a NetCDF Dataset With Performance Options: nc create
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.6 Open a NetCDF Dataset for Access: nc open. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.7 Open a NetCDF Dataset for Access with Performance Tuning:
nc open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.8 Put Open NetCDF Dataset into Define Mode: nc redef . . . . . . . 18
2.9 Leave Define Mode: nc enddef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.10 Leave Define Mode with Performance Tuning: nc enddef . . . . 20
2.11 Close an Open NetCDF Dataset: nc close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.12 Inquire about an Open NetCDF Dataset: nc inq Family. . . . . . 22
2.13 Synchronize an Open NetCDF Dataset to Disk: nc sync . . . . . 23
2.14 Back Out of Recent Definitions: nc abort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.15 Set Fill Mode for Writes: nc set fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.16 Set Default Creation Format: nc set default format . . . . . . . . . 27

3 Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.1 Dimensions Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.2 Create a Dimension: nc def dim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.3 Get a Dimension ID from Its Name: nc inq dimid . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.4 Inquire about a Dimension: nc inq dim Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.5 Rename a Dimension: nc rename dim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

4 Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.2 Language Types Corresponding to netCDF external data types
........................................................... 37
4.3 Create a Variable: nc_def_var . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.4 Get a Variable ID from Its Name: nc inq varid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.5 Get Information about a Variable from Its ID: nc inq var . . . . . 40
ii NetCDF C Interface Guide

4.6 Write a Single Data Value: nc put var1 type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

4.7 Write an Entire Variable: nc put var type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.8 Write an Array of Values: nc put vara type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.9 Write a Subsampled Array of Values: nc put vars type . . . . . . . 48
4.10 Write a Mapped Array of Values: nc put varm type . . . . . . . . 50
4.11 Read a Single Data Value: nc get var1 type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.12 Read an Entire Variable nc get var type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.13 Read an Array of Values: nc get vara type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.14 Read a Subsampled Array of Values: nc get vars type . . . . . . 59
4.15 Read a Mapped Array of Values: nc get varm type . . . . . . . . . 61
4.16 Reading and Writing Character String Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
4.17 Fill Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
4.18 Rename a Variable: nc rename var . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

5 Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.2 Create an Attribute: nc put att type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.3 Get Information about an Attribute: nc inq att Family . . . . . . . 71
5.4 Get Attribute’s Values:nc get att type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.5 Copy Attribute from One NetCDF to Another: nc copy att . . . 75
5.6 Rename an Attribute: nc rename att . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.7 Delete an Attribute: nc del att . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Appendix A Summary of C Interface . . . . . . . . 79

Appendix B NetCDF 2 C Transition Guide . . 85

B.1 Overview of C interface changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
B.2 The New C Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
B.3 Function Naming Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
B.4 Type Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
B.5 Error handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
B.6 NC LONG and NC INT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
B.7 What’s Missing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
B.8 Other Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Appendix C Error Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
 1

This document describes the C interface to the netCDF library. This document applies
to netCDF version 3.6.0. This document was last updated in December 2004.
For a complete description of the netCDF format and utilities see section “Top” in The
NetCDF Users’ Guide.
2 NetCDF C Interface Guide
Chapter 1: Use of the NetCDF Library 3

1 Use of the NetCDF Library

You can use the netCDF library without knowing about all of the netCDF interface. If you
are creating a netCDF dataset, only a handful of routines are required to define the necessary
dimensions, variables, and attributes, and to write the data to the netCDF dataset. (Even
less are needed if you use the ncgen utility to create the dataset before running a program
using netCDF library calls to write data.) Similarly, if you are writing software to access
data stored in a particular netCDF object, only a small subset of the netCDF library is
required to open the netCDF dataset and access the data. Authors of generic applications
that access arbitrary netCDF datasets need to be familiar with more of the netCDF library.
In this chapter we provide templates of common sequences of netCDF calls needed for
common uses. For clarity we present only the names of routines; omit declarations and error
checking; omit the type-specific suffixes of routine names for variables and attributes; indent
statements that are typically invoked multiple times; and use ... to represent arbitrary
sequences of other statements. Full parameter lists are described in later chapters.

1.1 Creating a NetCDF Dataset

Here is a typical sequence of netCDF calls used to create a new netCDF dataset:
nc_create /* create netCDF dataset: enter define mode */
...
nc_def_dim /* define dimensions: from name and length */
...
nc_def_var /* define variables: from name, type, ... */
...
nc_put_att /* put attribute: assign attribute values */
...
nc_enddef /* end definitions: leave define mode */
...
nc_put_var /* provide values for variables */
...
nc_close /* close: save new netCDF dataset */
Only one call is needed to create a netCDF dataset, at which point you will be in
the first of two netCDF modes. When accessing an open netCDF dataset, it is either
in define mode or data mode. In define mode, you can create dimensions, variables, and
new attributes, but you cannot read or write variable data. In data mode, you can access
data and change existing attributes, but you are not permitted to create new dimensions,
variables, or attributes.
One call to nc def dim is needed for each dimension created. Similarly, one call to
nc def var is needed for each variable creation, and one call to a member of the nc put att
family is needed for each attribute defined and assigned a value. To leave define mode and
enter data mode, call nc enddef.
Once in data mode, you can add new data to variables, change old values, and change
values of existing attributes (so long as the attribute changes do not require more storage
space). Single values may be written to a netCDF variable with one of the members of the
nc put var1 family, depending on what type of data you have to write. All the values of a
4 NetCDF C Interface Guide

variable may be written at once with one of the members of the nc put var family. Arrays
or array cross-sections of a variable may be written using members of the nc put vara fam-
ily. Subsampled array sections may be written using members of the nc put vars family.
Mapped array sections may be written using members of the nc put varm family. (Sub-
sampled and mapped access are general forms of data access that are explained later.)
Finally, you should explicitly close all netCDF datasets that have been opened for writing
by calling nc close. By default, access to the file system is buffered by the netCDF library.
If a program terminates abnormally with netCDF datasets open for writing, your most
recent modifications may be lost. This default buffering of data is disabled by setting the
NC SHARE flag when opening the dataset. But even if this flag is set, changes to attribute
values or changes made in define mode are not written out until nc sync or nc close is
called.

1.2 Reading a NetCDF Dataset with Known Names

Here we consider the case where you know the names of not only the netCDF datasets, but
also the names of their dimensions, variables, and attributes. (Otherwise you would have
to do "inquire" calls.) The order of typical C calls to read data from those variables in a
netCDF dataset is:
nc_open /* open existing netCDF dataset */
...
nc_inq_dimid /* get dimension IDs */
...
nc_inq_varid /* get variable IDs */
...
nc_get_att /* get attribute values */
...
nc_get_var /* get values of variables */
...
nc_close /* close netCDF dataset */
First, a single call opens the netCDF dataset, given the dataset name, and returns a
netCDF ID that is used to refer to the open netCDF dataset in all subsequent calls.
Next, a call to nc inq dimid for each dimension of interest gets the dimension ID from
the dimension name. Similarly, each required variable ID is determined from its name by a
call to nc inq varid Once variable IDs are known, variable attribute values can be retrieved
using the netCDF ID, the variable ID, and the desired attribute name as input to a member
of the nc get att family (typically nc get att text or nc get att double) for each desired
attribute. Variable data values can be directly accessed from the netCDF dataset with
calls to members of the nc get var1 family for single values, the nc get var family for entire
variables, or various other members of the nc get vara, nc get vars, or nc get varm families
for array, subsampled or mapped access.
Finally, the netCDF dataset is closed with nc close. There is no need to close a dataset
open only for reading.
Chapter 1: Use of the NetCDF Library 5

1.3 Reading a netCDF Dataset with Unknown Names

It is possible to write programs (e.g., generic software) which do such things as processing
every variable, without needing to know in advance the names of these variables. Similarly,
the names of dimensions and attributes may be unknown.
Names and other information about netCDF objects may be obtained from netCDF
datasets by calling inquire functions. These return information about a whole netCDF
dataset, a dimension, a variable, or an attribute. The following template illustrates how
they are used:
nc_open /* open existing netCDF dataset */
...
nc_inq /* find out what is in it */
...
nc_inq_dim /* get dimension names, lengths */
...
nc_inq_var /* get variable names, types, shapes */
...
nc_inq_attname /* get attribute names */
...
nc_inq_att /* get attribute types and lengths */
...
nc_get_att /* get attribute values */
...
nc_get_var /* get values of variables */
...
nc_close /* close netCDF dataset */
As in the previous example, a single call opens the existing netCDF dataset, returning
a netCDF ID. This netCDF ID is given to the nc inq routine, which returns the number
of dimensions, the number of variables, the number of global attributes, and the ID of the
unlimited dimension, if there is one.
All the inquire functions are inexpensive to use and require no I/O, since the information
they provide is stored in memory when a netCDF dataset is first opened.
Dimension IDs use consecutive integers, beginning at 0. Also dimensions, once created,
cannot be deleted. Therefore, knowing the number of dimension IDs in a netCDF dataset
means knowing all the dimension IDs: they are the integers 0, 1, 2, ...up to the number of
dimensions. For each dimension ID, a call to the inquire function nc inq dim returns the
dimension name and length.
Variable IDs are also assigned from consecutive integers 0, 1, 2, ... up to the number of
variables. These can be used in nc inq var calls to find out the names, types, shapes, and
the number of attributes assigned to each variable.
Once the number of attributes for a variable is known, successive calls to nc inq attname
return the name for each attribute given the netCDF ID, variable ID, and attribute number.
Armed with the attribute name, a call to nc inq att returns its type and length. Given the
type and length, you can allocate enough space to hold the attribute values. Then a call to
a member of the nc get att family returns the attribute values.
6 NetCDF C Interface Guide

Once the IDs and shapes of netCDF variables are known, data values can be accessed by
calling a member of the nc get var1 family for single values, or members of the nc get var,
nc get vara, nc get vars, or nc get varm for various kinds of array access.

1.4 Adding New Dimensions, Variables, Attributes

An existing netCDF dataset can be extensively altered. New dimensions, variables, and
attributes can be added or existing ones renamed, and existing attributes can be deleted.
Existing dimensions, variables, and attributes can be renamed. The following code template
lists a typical sequence of calls to add new netCDF components to an existing dataset:
nc_open /* open existing netCDF dataset */
...
nc_redef /* put it into define mode */
...
nc_def_dim /* define additional dimensions (if any) */
...
nc_def_var /* define additional variables (if any) */
...
nc_put_att /* define additional attributes (if any) */
...
nc_enddef /* check definitions, leave define mode */
...
nc_put_var /* provide values for new variables */
...
nc_close /* close netCDF dataset */
A netCDF dataset is first opened by the nc open call. This call puts the open dataset
in data mode, which means existing data values can be accessed and changed, existing
attributes can be changed (so long as they do not grow), but nothing can be added. To add
new netCDF dimensions, variables, or attributes you must enter define mode, by calling
nc redef. In define mode, call nc def dim to define new dimensions, nc def var to define
new variables, and a member of the nc put attfamily to assign new attributes to variables
or enlarge old attributes.
You can leave define mode and reenter data mode, checking all the new definitions for
consistency and committing the changes to disk, by calling nc enddef. If you do not wish
to reenter data mode, just call nc close, which will have the effect of first calling nc enddef.
Until the nc enddef call, you may back out of all the redefinitions made in define mode
and restore the previous state of the netCDF dataset by calling nc abort. You may also use
the nc abort call to restore the netCDF dataset to a consistent state if the call to nc enddef
fails. If you have called nc close from definition mode and the implied call to nc enddef
fails, nc abort will automatically be called to close the netCDF dataset and leave it in its
previous consistent state (before you entered define mode).
At most one process should have a netCDF dataset open for writing at one time. The
library is designed to provide limited support for multiple concurrent readers with one
writer, via disciplined use of the nc sync function and the NC SHARE flag. If a writer makes
changes in define mode, such as the addition of new variables, dimensions, or attributes,
Chapter 1: Use of the NetCDF Library 7

some means external to the library is necessary to prevent readers from making concurrent
accesses and to inform readers to call nc sync before the next access.

1.5 Error Handling

The netCDF library provides the facilities needed to handle errors in a flexible way. Each
netCDF function returns an integer status value. If the returned status value indicates an
error, you may handle it in any way desired, from printing an associated error message and
exiting to ignoring the error indication and proceeding (not recommended!). For simplicity,
the examples in this guide check the error status and call a separate function to handle any
errors.
The nc strerror function is available to convert a returned integer error status into an
error message string.
Occasionally, low-level I/O errors may occur in a layer below the netCDF library. For
example, if a write operation causes you to exceed disk quotas or to attempt to write to
a device that is no longer available, you may get an error from a layer below the netCDF
library, but the resulting write error will still be reflected in the returned status value.

1.6 Compiling and Linking with the NetCDF Library

Details of how to compile and link a program that uses the netCDF C or FORTRAN
interfaces differ, depending on the operating system, the available compilers, and where the
netCDF library and include files are installed. Nevertheless, we provide here examples of
how to compile and link a program that uses the netCDF library on a Unix platform, so
that you can adjust these examples to fit your installation.
Every C file that references netCDF functions or constants must contain an appropriate
#include statement before the first such reference:
#include <netcdf.h>
Unless the netcdf.h file is installed in a standard directory where the C compiler always
looks, you must use the -I option when invoking the compiler, to specify a directory where
netcdf.h is installed, for example:
cc -c -I/usr/local/netcdf/include myprogram.c
Alternatively, you could specify an absolute path name in the #include statement, but
then your program would not compile on another platform where netCDF is installed in a
different location.
Unless the netCDF library is installed in a standard directory where the linker always
looks, you must use the -L and -l options to link an object file that uses the netCDF library.
For example:
cc -o myprogram myprogram.o -L/usr/local/netcdf/lib -lnetcdf
Alternatively, you could specify an absolute path name for the library:
cc -o myprogram myprogram.o -l/usr/local/netcdf/lib/libnetcdf.a
8 NetCDF C Interface Guide
Chapter 2: Datasets 9

2 Datasets
This chapter presents the interfaces of the netCDF functions that deal with a netCDF
dataset or the whole netCDF library.
A netCDF dataset that has not yet been opened can only be referred to by its dataset
name. Once a netCDF dataset is opened, it is referred to by a netCDF ID, which is a small
nonnegative integer returned when you create or open the dataset. A netCDF ID is much
like a file descriptor in C or a logical unit number in FORTRAN. In any single program,
the netCDF IDs of distinct open netCDF datasets are distinct. A single netCDF dataset
may be opened multiple times and will then have multiple distinct netCDF IDs; however
at most one of the open instances of a single netCDF dataset should permit writing. When
an open netCDF dataset is closed, the ID is no longer associated with a netCDF dataset.
Functions that deal with the netCDF library include:
• Get version of library.
• Get error message corresponding to a returned error code.
The operations supported on a netCDF dataset as a single object are:
• Create, given dataset name and whether to overwrite or not.
• Open for access, given dataset name and read or write intent.
• Put into define mode, to add dimensions, variables, or attributes.
• Take out of define mode, checking consistency of additions.
• Close, writing to disk if required.
• Inquire about the number of dimensions, number of variables, number of global at-
tributes, and ID of the unlimited dimension, if any.
• Synchronize to disk to make sure it is current.
• Set and unset nofill mode for optimized sequential writes.
• After a summary of conventions used in describing the netCDF interfaces, the rest of
this chapter presents a detailed description of the interfaces for these operations.

2.1 NetCDF Library Interface Descriptions

Each interface description for a particular netCDF function in this and later chapters con-
tains:
• a description of the purpose of the function;
• a C function prototype that presents the type and order of the formal parameters to
the function;
• a description of each formal parameter in the C interface;
• a list of possible error conditions; and
• an example of a C program fragment calling the netCDF function (and perhaps other
netCDF functions).
The examples follow a simple convention for error handling, always checking the error
status returned from each netCDF function call and calling a handle error function in case
an error was detected. For an example of such a function, Section 2.2 [nc strerror], page 10.
10 NetCDF C Interface Guide

2.2 Get error message corresponding to error status:

nc strerror
The function nc strerror returns a static reference to an error message string corresponding
to an integer netCDF error status or to a system error number, presumably returned by
a previous call to some other netCDF function. The list of netCDF error status codes is
available in the appropriate include file for each language binding.

Usage
const char * nc_strerror(int ncerr);
ncerr An error status that might have been returned from a previous call to some
netCDF function.

Errors
If you provide an invalid integer error status that does not correspond to any netCDF error
message or or to any system error message (as understood by the system strerror function),
nc strerror returns a string indicating that there is no such error status.

Example
Here is an example of a simple error handling function that uses nc strerror to print the
error message corresponding to the netCDF error status returned from any netCDF function
call and then exit:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
void handle_error(int status) {
if (status != NC_NOERR) {
fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", nc_strerror(status));
exit(-1);
}
}

2.3 Get netCDF library version: nc inq libvers

The function nc inq libvers returns a string identifying the version of the netCDF library,
and when it was built.

Usage
const char * nc_inq_libvers(void);

Errors
This function takes no arguments, and thus no errors are possible in its invocation.

Example
Here is an example using nc inq libvers to print the version of the netCDF library with
which the program is linked:
Chapter 2: Datasets 11

#include <netcdf.h>
...
printf("%s\n", nc_inq_libvers());

2.4 Create a NetCDF Dataset: nc create

This function creates a new netCDF dataset, returning a netCDF ID that can subsequently
be used to refer to the netCDF dataset in other netCDF function calls. The new netCDF
dataset opened for write access and placed in define mode, ready for you to add dimensions,
variables, and attributes.
A creation mode flag specifies:
• whether to overwrite any existing dataset with the same name,
• whether access to the dataset is shared,
• whether this file should be in netCDF classic format (the default), or the new 64-bit
offset format.

Usage
int nc_create (const char* path, int cmode, int *ncidp);
path The file name of the new netCDF dataset.
cmode The creation mode flag. The following flags are available: NC NOCLOBBER,
NC SHARE, and NC 64BIT OFFSET.
Setting NC NOCLOBBER means you do not want to clobber (overwrite) an
existing dataset; an error (NC EEXIST) is returned if the specified dataset
already exists.
The NC SHARE flag is appropriate when one process may be writing the
dataset and one or more other processes reading the dataset concurrently; it
means that dataset accesses are not buffered and caching is limited. Since the
buffering scheme is optimized for sequential access, programs that do not ac-
cess data sequentially may see some performance improvement by setting the
NC SHARE flag.
Setting NC 64BIT OFFSET causes netCDF to create a 64-bit offset format file,
instead of a netCDF classic format file. The 64-bit offset format imposes far
fewer restrictions on very large (i.e. over 2 GB) data files. See section “Large
File Support” in The NetCDF Users’ Guide.
A zero value (defined for convenience as NC CLOBBER) specifies the default
behavior: overwrite any existing dataset with the same file name and buffer and
cache accesses for efficiency. The dataset will be in netCDF classic format. See
section “NetCDF Classic Format Limitations” in The NetCDF Users’ Guide.
ncidp Pointer to location where returned netCDF ID is to be stored.

Errors
nc create returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Possible causes of errors
include:
12 NetCDF C Interface Guide

• Passing a dataset name that includes a directory that does not exist.
• Specifying a dataset name of a file that exists and also specifying NC NOCLOBBER.
• Specifying a meaningless value for the creation mode.
• Attempting to create a netCDF dataset in a directory where you don’t have permission
to create files.

Examples
In this example we create a netCDF dataset named foo.nc; we want the dataset to be
created in the current directory only if a dataset with that name does not already exist:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status;
int ncid;
...
status = nc_create("foo.nc", NC_NOCLOBBER, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
In this example we create a netCDF dataset named foo large.nc. It will be in the 64-bit
offset format.
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status;
int ncid;
...
status = nc_create("foo.nc", NC_NOCLOBBER, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
A variant of nc create, nc create (note the double underscore) allows users to specify
two tuning parameters for the file that it is creating. These tuning parameters are not
written to the data file, they are only used for so long as the file remains open after an
nc create.

Usage
int nc__create(const char *path, int cmode, size_t initialsz,
size_t *chunksizehintp, int *ncidp);
path The file name of the new netCDF dataset.
cmode The creation mode flag. The following flags are available: NC NOCLOBBER,
NC SHARE, and NC 64BIT OFFSET.
Setting NC NOCLOBBER means you do not want to clobber (overwrite) an
existing dataset; an error (NC EEXIST) is returned if the specified dataset
already exists.
The NC SHARE flag is appropriate when one process may be writing the
dataset and one or more other processes reading the dataset concurrently; it
means that dataset accesses are not buffered and caching is limited. Since the
Chapter 2: Datasets 13

buffering scheme is optimized for sequential access, programs that do not ac-
cess data sequentially may see some performance improvement by setting the
NC SHARE flag.
Setting NC 64BIT OFFSET causes netCDF to create a 64-bit offset format file,
instead of a netCDF classic format file. The 64-bit offset format imposes far
fewer restrictions on very large (i.e. over 2 GB) data files. See section “Large
File Support” in The NetCDF Users’ Guide.
A zero value (defined for convenience as NC CLOBBER) specifies the default
behavior: overwrite any existing dataset with the same file name and buffer and
cache accesses for efficiency. The dataset will be in netCDF classic format. See
section “NetCDF Classic Format Limitations” in The NetCDF Users’ Guide.
initialsz
On some systems, and with custom I/O layers, it may be advantageous to set
the size of the output file at creation time. This parameter sets the initial size
of the file at creation time.
chunksizehintp
The argument referenced by chunksizehintp controls a space versus time trade-
off, memory allocated in the netcdf library versus number of system calls.
Because of internal requirements, the value may not be set to exactly the value
requested. The actual value chosen is returned by reference.
Using the value NC SIZEHINT DEFAULT causes the library to choose a de-
fault. How the system chooses the default depends on the system. On many
systems, the "preferred I/O block size" is available from the stat() system call,
struct stat member st blksize. If this is available it is used. Lacking that, twice
the system pagesize is used.
Lacking a call to discover the system pagesize, we just set default chunksize to
8192.
The chunksize is a property of a given open netcdf descriptor ncid, it is not a
persistent property of the netcdf dataset.
ncidp Pointer to location where returned netCDF ID is to be stored.

Errors
nc create returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Possible causes of errors
include:
• Passing a dataset name that includes a directory that does not exist.
• Specifying a dataset name of a file that exists and also specifying NC NOCLOBBER.
• Specifying a meaningless value for the creation mode.
• Attempting to create a netCDF dataset in a directory where you don’t have permission
to create files.

Examples
In this example we create a netCDF dataset named foo.nc; we want the dataset to be
created in the current directory only if a dataset with that name does not already exist:
14 NetCDF C Interface Guide

#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status;
int ncid;
...
status = nc_create("foo.nc", NC_NOCLOBBER, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
In this example we create a netCDF dataset named foo large.nc. It will be in the 64-bit
offset format.
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status;
int ncid;
...
status = nc_create("foo.nc", NC_NOCLOBBER, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

2.5 Create a NetCDF Dataset With Performance Options:

nc create
This function is a variant of nc create, nc create (note the double underscore) allows users
to specify two tuning parameters for the file that it is creating. These tuning parameters
are not written to the data file, they are only used for so long as the file remains open after
an nc create.
This function creates a new netCDF dataset, returning a netCDF ID that can subse-
quently be used to refer to the netCDF dataset in other netCDF function calls. The new
netCDF dataset opened for write access and placed in define mode, ready for you to add
dimensions, variables, and attributes.
A creation mode flag specifies whether to overwrite any existing dataset with the same
name and whether access to the dataset is shared, and whether this file should be in netCDF
classic format (the default), or the new 64-bit offset format.

Usage
int nc__create(const char *path, int cmode, size_t initialsz,
size_t *chunksizehintp, int *ncidp);
path The file name of the new netCDF dataset.
cmode The creation mode flag. The following flags are available: NC NOCLOBBER,
NC SHARE, and NC 64BIT OFFSET.
Setting NC NOCLOBBER means you do not want to clobber (overwrite) an
existing dataset; an error (NC EEXIST) is returned if the specified dataset
already exists.
The NC SHARE flag is appropriate when one process may be writing the
dataset and one or more other processes reading the dataset concurrently; it
means that dataset accesses are not buffered and caching is limited. Since the
Chapter 2: Datasets 15

buffering scheme is optimized for sequential access, programs that do not ac-
cess data sequentially may see some performance improvement by setting the
NC SHARE flag.
Setting NC 64BIT OFFSET causes netCDF to create a 64-bit offset format file,
instead of a netCDF classic format file. The 64-bit offset format imposes far
fewer restrictions on very large (i.e. over 2 GB) data files. See section “Large
File Support” in The NetCDF Users’ Guide.
A zero value (defined for convenience as NC CLOBBER) specifies the default
behavior: overwrite any existing dataset with the same file name and buffer and
cache accesses for efficiency. The dataset will be in netCDF classic format. See
section “NetCDF Classic Format Limitations” in The NetCDF Users’ Guide.
initialsz
This parameter sets the initial size of the file at creation time.
chunksizehintp
The argument referenced by chunksizehintp controls a space versus time trade-
off, memory allocated in the netcdf library versus number of system calls.
Because of internal requirements, the value may not be set to exactly the value
requested. The actual value chosen is returned by reference.
Using the value NC SIZEHINT DEFAULT causes the library to choose a de-
fault. How the system chooses the default depends on the system. On many
systems, the "preferred I/O block size" is available from the stat() system call,
struct stat member st blksize. If this is available it is used. Lacking that, twice
the system pagesize is used.
Lacking a call to discover the system pagesize, we just set default chunksize to
8192.
The chunksize is a property of a given open netcdf descriptor ncid, it is not a
persistent property of the netcdf dataset.
ncidp Pointer to location where returned netCDF ID is to be stored.

Errors
nc create returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Possible causes of errors
include:
• Passing a dataset name that includes a directory that does not exist.
• Specifying a dataset name of a file that exists and also specifying NC NOCLOBBER.
• Specifying a meaningless value for the creation mode.
• Attempting to create a netCDF dataset in a directory where you don’t have permission
to create files.

Examples
In this example we create a netCDF dataset named foo.nc; we want the dataset to be
created in the current directory only if a dataset with that name does not already exist.
We also specify that chunksize and initial size for the file.
16 NetCDF C Interface Guide

#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status;
int ncid;
int intialsz = 2048;
int *chunksize;
...
*chunksize = 1024;
status = nc__create("foo.nc", NC_NOCLOBBER, initialsz, chunksize, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

2.6 Open a NetCDF Dataset for Access: nc open

The function nc open opens an existing netCDF dataset for access.

Usage
int nc_open (const char *path, int omode, int *ncidp);
path File name for netCDF dataset to be opened.
omode A zero value (or NC NOWRITE) specifies the default behavior: open the
dataset with read-only access, buffering and caching accesses for efficiency
Otherwise, the creation mode is NC WRITE, NC SHARE, or
NC WRITE|NC SHARE. Setting the NC WRITE flag opens the dataset
with read-write access. ("Writing" means any kind of change to the dataset,
including appending or changing data, adding or renaming dimensions,
variables, and attributes, or deleting attributes.) The NC SHARE flag is
appropriate when one process may be writing the dataset and one or more
other processes reading the dataset concurrently; it means that dataset
accesses are not buffered and caching is limited. Since the buffering scheme is
optimized for sequential access, programs that do not access data sequentially
may see some performance improvement by setting the NC SHARE flag.
ncidp Pointer to location where returned netCDF ID is to be stored.

Errors
nc open returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned status
indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The specified netCDF dataset does not exist.
• A meaningless mode was specified.

Example
Here is an example using nc open to open an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc for
read-only, non-shared access:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
Chapter 2: Datasets 17

int status;
int ncid;
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", 0, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

2.7 Open a NetCDF Dataset for Access with Performance

Tuning: nc open
A function opens a netCDF dataset for access with an additional performance tuning pa-
rameter.

Usage
int nc__open(const char *path, int mode, size_t *chunksizehintp, int *ncidp);

path File name for netCDF dataset to be opened.

omode A zero value (or NC NOWRITE) specifies the default behavior: open the
dataset with read-only access, buffering and caching accesses for efficiency
Otherwise, the creation mode is NC WRITE, NC SHARE, or
NC WRITE|NC SHARE. Setting the NC WRITE flag opens the dataset
with read-write access. ("Writing" means any kind of change to the dataset,
including appending or changing data, adding or renaming dimensions,
variables, and attributes, or deleting attributes.) The NC SHARE flag is
appropriate when one process may be writing the dataset and one or more
other processes reading the dataset concurrently; it means that dataset
accesses are not buffered and caching is limited. Since the buffering scheme is
optimized for sequential access, programs that do not access data sequentially
may see some performance improvement by setting the NC SHARE flag.
chunksizehintp
The argument referenced by chunksizehintp controls a space versus time trade-
off, memory allocated in the netcdf library versus number of system calls.
Because of internal requirements, the value may not be set to exactly the value
requested. The actual value chosen is returned by reference.
Using the value NC SIZEHINT DEFAULT causes the library to choose a de-
fault. How the system chooses the default depends on the system. On many
systems, the "preferred I/O block size" is available from the stat() system call,
struct stat member st blksize. If this is available it is used. Lacking that, twice
the system pagesize is used.
Lacking a call to discover the system pagesize, we just set default chunksize to
8192.
The chunksize is a property of a given open netcdf descriptor ncid, it is not a
persistent property of the netcdf dataset.
ncidp Pointer to location where returned netCDF ID is to be stored.
18 NetCDF C Interface Guide

Errors
nc open returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned
status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The specified netCDF dataset does not exist.
• A meaningless mode was specified.

Example
Here is an example using nc open to open an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc for
read-only, non-shared access:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status;
int ncid;
int *chunksize;
...
*chunksize = 1024;
status = nc_open("foo.nc", 0, chunksize, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

2.8 Put Open NetCDF Dataset into Define Mode: nc redef

The function nc redef puts an open netCDF dataset into define mode, so dimensions, vari-
ables, and attributes can be added or renamed and attributes can be deleted.

Usage
int nc_redef(int ncid);
ncid netCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.

Errors
nc redef returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned status
indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The specified netCDF dataset is already in define mode.
• The specified netCDF dataset was opened for read-only.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc redef to open an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc and
put it into define mode:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status;
int ncid;
...
Chapter 2: Datasets 19

status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid); /* open dataset */

if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_redef(ncid); /* put in define mode */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

2.9 Leave Define Mode: nc enddef

The function nc enddef takes an open netCDF dataset out of define mode. The changes
made to the netCDF dataset while it was in define mode are checked and committed to disk
if no problems occurred. Non-record variables may be initialized to a "fill value" as well.
See Section 2.15 [nc set fill], page 26. The netCDF dataset is then placed in data mode, so
variable data can be read or written.
This call may involve copying data under some circumstances. For a more extensive
discussion section “File Structure and Performance” in The NetCDF Users’ Guide.

Usage
int nc_enddef(int ncid);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.

Errors
nc enddef returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned
status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The specified netCDF dataset is not in define mode.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.
• The size of one or more variables exceed the size constraints for whichever variant of
the file format is in use). See section “Large File Support” in The NetCDF Users’
Guide.

Example
Here is an example using nc enddef to finish the definitions of a new netCDF dataset named
foo.nc and put it into data mode:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status;
int ncid;
...
status = nc_create("foo.nc", NC_NOCLOBBER, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

... /* create dimensions, variables, attributes */

status = nc_enddef(ncid); /*leave define mode*/

if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
20 NetCDF C Interface Guide

2.10 Leave Define Mode with Performance Tuning:

nc enddef
The function nc enddef takes an open netCDF dataset out of define mode. The changes
made to the netCDF dataset while it was in define mode are checked and committed to disk
if no problems occurred. Non-record variables may be initialized to a "fill value" as well.
See Section 2.15 [nc set fill], page 26. The netCDF dataset is then placed in data mode, so
variable data can be read or written.
This call may involve copying data under some circumstances. For a more extensive
discussion section “File Structure and Performance” in The NetCDF Users’ Guide.
Caution: this function exposes internals of the netcdf version 1 file format. Users should
use nc enddef in most circumstances. This function may not be available on future netcdf
implementations.
The current netcdf file format has three sections, the "header" section, the data section
for fixed size variables, and the data section for variables which have an unlimited dimension
(record variables).
The header begins at the beginning of the file. The index (offset) of the beginning of
the other two sections is contained in the header. Typically, there is no space between
the sections. This causes copying overhead to accrue if one wishes to change the size of
the sections, as may happen when changing names of things, text attribute values, adding
attributes or adding variables. Also, for buffered i/o, there may be advantages to aligning
sections in certain ways.
The minfree parameters allow one to control costs of future calls to nc redef, nc enddef
by requesting that minfree bytes be available at the end of the section.
The align parameters allow one to set the alignment of the beginning of the corresponding
sections. The beginning of the section is rounded up to an index which is a multiple of the
align parameter. The flag value ALIGN CHUNK tells the library to use the chunksize (see
above) as the align parameter.
The file format requires mod 4 alignment, so the align parameters are silently rounded
up to multiples of 4. The usual call,
nc_enddef(ncid);
is equivalent to
nc_enddef(ncid, 0, 4, 0, 4);
The file format does not contain a "record size" value, this is calculated from the sizes
of the record variables. This unfortunate fact prevents us from providing minfree and
alignment control of the "records" in a netcdf file. If you add a variable which has an
unlimited dimension, the third section will always be copied with the new variable added.

Usage
int nc__enddef(int ncid, size_t h_minfree, size_t v_align,
size_t v_minfree, size_t r_align);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
h_minfree
Sets the pad at the end of the "header" section.
Chapter 2: Datasets 21

v_align Controls the alignment of the beginning of the data section for fixed size vari-
ables.
v_minfree
Sets the pad at the end of the data section for fixed size variables.
r_align Controls the alignment of the beginning of the data section for variables which
have an unlimited dimension (record variables).

Errors
nc enddef returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned
status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The specified netCDF dataset is not in define mode.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.
• The size of one or more variables exceed the size constraints for whichever variant of
the file format is in use). See section “Large File Support” in The NetCDF Users’
Guide.

Example
Here is an example using nc enddef to finish the definitions of a new netCDF dataset named
foo.nc and put it into data mode:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status;
int ncid;
...
status = nc_create("foo.nc", NC_NOCLOBBER, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

... /* create dimensions, variables, attributes */

status = nc_enddef(ncid); /*leave define mode*/

if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

2.11 Close an Open NetCDF Dataset: nc close

The function nc close closes an open netCDF dataset. If the dataset is in define mode,
nc enddef will be called before closing. (In this case, if nc enddef returns an error, nc abort
will automatically be called to restore the dataset to the consistent state before define mode
was last entered.) After an open netCDF dataset is closed, its netCDF ID may be reassigned
to the next netCDF dataset that is opened or created.

Usage
int nc_close(int ncid);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
22 NetCDF C Interface Guide

Errors
nc close returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned status
indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• Define mode was entered and the automatic call made to nc enddef failed.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc close to finish the definitions of a new netCDF dataset named
foo.nc and release its netCDF ID:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status;
int ncid;
...
status = nc_create("foo.nc", NC_NOCLOBBER, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

... /* create dimensions, variables, attributes */

status = nc_close(ncid); /* close netCDF dataset */

if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

2.12 Inquire about an Open NetCDF Dataset: nc inq

Family
Members of the nc inq family of functions return information about an open netCDF
dataset, given its netCDF ID. Dataset inquire functions may be called from either define
mode or data mode. The first function, nc inq, returns values for the number of dimen-
sions, the number of variables, the number of global attributes, and the dimension ID of
the dimension defined with unlimited length, if any. The other functions in the family each
return just one of these items of information.
For C, these functions include nc inq, nc inq ndims, nc inq nvars, nc inq natts, and
nc inq unlimdim.
No I/O is performed when these functions are called, since the required information is
available in memory for each open netCDF dataset.

Usage
int nc_inq (int ncid, int *ndimsp, int *nvarsp, int *ngattsp,
int *unlimdimidp);
int nc_inq_ndims (int ncid, int *ndimsp);
int nc_inq_nvars (int ncid, int *nvarsp);
int nc_inq_natts (int ncid, int *ngattsp);
int nc_inq_unlimdim (int ncid, int *unlimdimidp);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
Chapter 2: Datasets 23

ndimsp Pointer to location for returned number of dimensions defined for this netCDF
dataset.
nvarsp Pointer to location for returned number of variables defined for this netCDF
dataset.
ngattsp Pointer to location for returned number of global attributes defined for this
netCDF dataset.
unlimdimidp
Pointer to location for returned ID of the unlimited dimension, if there is one
for this netCDF dataset. If no unlimited length dimension has been defined, -1
is returned.

Errors
All members of the nc inq family return the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Oth-
erwise, the returned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc inq to find out about a netCDF dataset named foo.nc:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status, ncid, ndims, nvars, ngatts, unlimdimid;
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_NOWRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq(ncid, &ndims, &nvars, &ngatts, &unlimdimid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

2.13 Synchronize an Open NetCDF Dataset to Disk:

nc sync
The function nc sync offers a way to synchronize the disk copy of a netCDF dataset with
in-memory buffers. There are two reasons you might want to synchronize after writes:
• To minimize data loss in case of abnormal termination, or
• To make data available to other processes for reading immediately after it is written.
But note that a process that already had the dataset open for reading would not see
the number of records increase when the writing process calls nc sync; to accomplish
this, the reading process must call nc sync.
This function is backward-compatible with previous versions of the netCDF library. The
intent was to allow sharing of a netCDF dataset among multiple readers and one writer, by
having the writer call nc sync after writing and the readers call nc sync before each read.
For a writer, this flushes buffers to disk. For a reader, it makes sure that the next read
will be from disk rather than from previously cached buffers, so that the reader will see
changes made by the writing process (e.g., the number of records written) without having
24 NetCDF C Interface Guide

to close and reopen the dataset. If you are only accessing a small amount of data, it can be
expensive in computer resources to always synchronize to disk after every write, since you
are giving up the benefits of buffering.
An easier way to accomplish sharing (and what is now recommended) is to have the writer
and readers open the dataset with the NC SHARE flag, and then it will not be necessary to
call nc sync at all. However, the nc sync function still provides finer granularity than the
NC SHARE flag, if only a few netCDF accesses need to be synchronized among processes.
It is important to note that changes to the ancillary data, such as attribute values, are
not propagated automatically by use of the NC SHARE flag. Use of the nc sync function
is still required for this purpose.
Sharing datasets when the writer enters define mode to change the data schema requires
extra care. In previous releases, after the writer left define mode, the readers were left
looking at an old copy of the dataset, since the changes were made to a new copy. The
only way readers could see the changes was by closing and reopening the dataset. Now the
changes are made in place, but readers have no knowledge that their internal tables are now
inconsistent with the new dataset schema. If netCDF datasets are shared across redefinition,
some mechanism external to the netCDF library must be provided that prevents access by
readers during redefinition and causes the readers to call nc sync before any subsequent
access.
When calling nc sync, the netCDF dataset must be in data mode. A netCDF dataset
in define mode is synchronized to disk only when nc enddef is called. A process that is
reading a netCDF dataset that another process is writing may call nc sync to get updated
with the changes made to the data by the writing process (e.g., the number of records
written), without having to close and reopen the dataset.
Data is automatically synchronized to disk when a netCDF dataset is closed, or whenever
you leave define mode.

Usage
int nc_sync(int ncid);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.

Errors
nc sync returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned status
indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The netCDF dataset is in define mode.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc sync to synchronize the disk writes of a netCDF dataset named
foo.nc:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status;
Chapter 2: Datasets 25

int ncid;
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid); /* open for writing */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

... /* write data or change attributes */

status = nc_sync(ncid); /* synchronize to disk */

if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

2.14 Back Out of Recent Definitions: nc abort

You no longer need to call this function, since it is called automatically by nc close in case
the dataset is in define mode and something goes wrong with committing the changes. The
function nc abort just closes the netCDF dataset, if not in define mode. If the dataset is
being created and is still in define mode, the dataset is deleted. If define mode was entered
by a call to nc redef, the netCDF dataset is restored to its state before definition mode was
entered and the dataset is closed.

Usage
int nc_abort(int ncid);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.

Errors
nc abort returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned
status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• When called from define mode while creating a netCDF dataset, deletion of the dataset
failed.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc abort to back out of redefinitions of a dataset named foo.nc:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int ncid, status, latid;
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid);/* open for writing */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_redef(ncid); /* enter define mode */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_def_dim(ncid, "lat", 18L, &latid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) {
26 NetCDF C Interface Guide

handle_error(status);
status = nc_abort(ncid); /* define failed, abort */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
}

2.15 Set Fill Mode for Writes: nc set fill

This function is intended for advanced usage, to optimize writes under some circumstances
described below. The function nc set fill sets the fill mode for a netCDF dataset open
for writing and returns the current fill mode in a return parameter. The fill mode can
be specified as either NC FILL or NC NOFILL. The default behavior corresponding to
NC FILL is that data is pre-filled with fill values, that is fill values are written when you
create non-record variables or when you write a value beyond data that has not yet been
written. This makes it possible to detect attempts to read data before it was written. For
more information on the use of fill values Section 4.17 [Fill Values], page 66. For information
about how to define your own fill values section “Attribute Conventions” in NetCDF Users’
Guide.
The behavior corresponding to NC NOFILL overrides the default behavior of prefilling
data with fill values. This can be used to enhance performance, because it avoids the dupli-
cate writes that occur when the netCDF library writes fill values that are later overwritten
with data.
A value indicating which mode the netCDF dataset was already in is returned. You can
use this value to temporarily change the fill mode of an open netCDF dataset and then
restore it to the previous mode.
After you turn on NC NOFILL mode for an open netCDF dataset, you must be certain
to write valid data in all the positions that will later be read. Note that nofill mode is only
a transient property of a netCDF dataset open for writing: if you close and reopen the
dataset, it will revert to the default behavior. You can also revert to the default behavior
by calling nc set fill again to explicitly set the fill mode to NC FILL.
There are three situations where it is advantageous to set nofill mode:
1. Creating and initializing a netCDF dataset. In this case, you should set nofill mode
before calling nc enddef and then write completely all non-record variables and the
initial records of all the record variables you want to initialize.
2. Extending an existing record-oriented netCDF dataset. Set nofill mode after opening
the dataset for writing, then append the additional records to the dataset completely,
leaving no intervening unwritten records.
3. Adding new variables that you are going to initialize to an existing netCDF dataset.
Set nofill mode before calling nc enddef then write all the new variables completely.

If the netCDF dataset has an unlimited dimension and the last record was written while
in nofill mode, then the dataset may be shorter than if nofill mode was not set, but this
will be completely transparent if you access the data only through the netCDF interfaces.
The use of this feature may not be available (or even needed) in future releases. Pro-
grammers are cautioned against heavy reliance upon this feature.
Chapter 2: Datasets 27

Usage
int nc_set_fill (int ncid, int fillmode, int *old_modep);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
fillmode Desired fill mode for the dataset, either NC NOFILL or NC FILL.
old_modep
Pointer to location for returned current fill mode of the dataset before this call,
either NC NOFILL or NC FILL.

Errors
nc set fill returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned
status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.
• The specified netCDF ID refers to a dataset open for read-only access.
• The fill mode argument is neither NC NOFILL nor NC FILL..

Example
Here is an example using nc set fill to set nofill mode for subsequent writes of a netCDF
dataset named foo.nc:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int ncid, status, old_fill_mode;
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid); /* open for writing */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

... /* write data with default prefilling behavior */

status = nc_set_fill(ncid, NC_NOFILL, &old_fill_mode); /* set nofill */

if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

... /* write data with no prefilling */

2.16 Set Default Creation Format: nc set default format

This function is intended for advanced users.
Starting in version 3.6, netCDF introduced a new data format, the first change in the
underlying binary data format since the netCDF interface was released. The new format,
64-bit offset format, was introduced to greatly relax the limitations on creating very large
files.
Users are warned that creating files in the 64-bit offset format makes them unreadable
by the netCDF library prior to version 3.6.0. For reasons of compatibility, users should
continue to create files in netCDF classic format.
28 NetCDF C Interface Guide

Users who do what to use 64-bit offset format files can create them directory from
nc create, using the proper cmode flag. (see Section 2.4 [nc create], page 11).
The function nc set default format allows the user to change the format of the netCDF
file to be created by future calls to nc create (or nc create) without changing the cmode
flag.
This allows the user to convert a program to use 64-bit offset formation without changing
all calls the nc create. See section “Large File Support” in The NetCDF Users’ Guide.
Once the default format is set, all future created files will be in the desired format.
Two constants are provided in the netcdf.h file to be used with this function,
NC FORMAT 64BIT and NC FORMAT CLASSIC.
If a non-NULL pointer is provided, it is assumed to point to an int, where the existing
default format will be written.
Using nc create with a cmode including NC 64BIT OFFSET overrides the default for-
mat, and creates a 64-bit offset file.

Usage
int nc_set_default_format(int format, int *old_formatp);
format Either NC FORMAT CLASSIC (the default setting) or NC FORMAT 64BIT.
old_formatp
Either NULL (in which case it will be ignored), or a pointer to an int where
the existing default format (i.e. before being changed to the new format) will
be written. This allows you to get the existing default format while setting a
new default format.

Errors
nc set default format returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the
returned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• Invalid format. The only valid formats are NC FORMAT CLASSIC and
NC FORMAT 64BIT. Trying to set the default format to something else will result
in an invalid argument error. (NC EINVAL)

Example
Here is an example using nc set default format to create the same file in both formats with
the same nc create call:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int ncid, status, old_fill_mode;
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid); /* open for writing */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

... /* write data with default prefilling behavior */

Chapter 2: Datasets 29

status = nc_set_fill(ncid, NC_NOFILL, &old_fill_mode); /* set nofill */

if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

... /* write data with no prefilling */

30 NetCDF C Interface Guide
Chapter 3: Dimensions 31

3 Dimensions

3.1 Dimensions Introduction

Dimensions for a netCDF dataset are defined when it is created, while the netCDF dataset
is in define mode. Additional dimensions may be added later by reentering define mode. A
netCDF dimension has a name and a length. At most one dimension in a netCDF dataset
can have the unlimited length, which means variables using this dimension can grow along
this dimension.
There is a suggested limit (100) to the number of dimensions that can be defined in a
single netCDF dataset. The limit is the value of the predefined macro NC MAX DIMS. The
purpose of the limit is to make writing generic applications simpler. They need only provide
an array of NC MAX DIMS dimensions to handle any netCDF dataset. The implementa-
tion of the netCDF library does not enforce this advisory maximum, so it is possible to use
more dimensions, if necessary, but netCDF utilities that assume the advisory maximums
may not be able to handle the resulting netCDF datasets.
Ordinarily, the name and length of a dimension are fixed when the dimension is first
defined. The name may be changed later, but the length of a dimension (other than the
unlimited dimension) cannot be changed without copying all the data to a new netCDF
dataset with a redefined dimension length.
Dimension lengths in the C interface are type size t rather than type int to make it
possible to access all the data in a netCDF dataset on a platform that only supports a
16-bit int data type, for example MSDOS. If dimension lengths were type int instead, it
would not be possible to access data from variables with a dimension length greater than a
16-bit int can accommodate.
A netCDF dimension in an open netCDF dataset is referred to by a small integer called
a dimension ID. In the C interface, dimension IDs are 0, 1, 2, ..., in the order in which the
dimensions were defined.
Operations supported on dimensions are:
• Create a dimension, given its name and length.
• Get a dimension ID from its name.
• Get a dimension’s name and length from its ID.
• Rename a dimension.

3.2 Create a Dimension: nc def dim

The function nc def dim adds a new dimension to an open netCDF dataset in define mode.
It returns (as an argument) a dimension ID, given the netCDF ID, the dimension name, and
the dimension length. At most one unlimited length dimension, called the record dimension,
may be defined for each netCDF dataset.

Usage
int nc_def_dim (int ncid, const char *name, size_t len, int *dimidp);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
32 NetCDF C Interface Guide

name Dimension name. Must begin with an alphabetic character, followed by zero or
more alphanumeric characters including the underscore (’ ’). Case is significant.
len Length of dimension; that is, number of values for this dimension as an index
to variables that use it. This should be either a positive integer (of type size t)
or the predefined constant NC UNLIMITED.
dimidp Pointer to location for returned dimension ID.

Errors
nc def dim returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned
status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The netCDF dataset is not in definition mode.
• The specified dimension name is the name of another existing dimension.
• The specified length is not greater than zero.
• The specified length is unlimited, but there is already an unlimited length dimension
defined for this netCDF dataset.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc def dim to create a dimension named lat of length 18 and a
unlimited dimension named rec in a new netCDF dataset named foo.nc:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status, ncid, latid, recid;
...
status = nc_create("foo.nc", NC_NOCLOBBER, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_def_dim(ncid, "lat", 18L, &latid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_def_dim(ncid, "rec", NC_UNLIMITED, &recid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

3.3 Get a Dimension ID from Its Name: nc inq dimid

The function nc inq dimid returns (as an argument) the ID of a netCDF dimension, given
the name of the dimension. If ndims is the number of dimensions defined for a netCDF
dataset, each dimension has an ID between 0 and ndims-1.

Usage
int nc inq dimid (int ncid, const char *name, int *dimidp);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
name Dimension name, a character string beginning with a letter and followed by any
sequence of letters, digits, or underscore (’ ’) characters. Case is significant in
dimension names.
Chapter 3: Dimensions 33

dimidp Pointer to location for the returned dimension ID.

Errors
nc inq dimid returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned
status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
The name that was specified is not the name of a dimension in the netCDF dataset. The
specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc inq dimid to determine the dimension ID of a dimension named
lat, assumed to have been defined previously in an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status, ncid, latid;
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_NOWRITE, &ncid); /* open for reading */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_dimid(ncid, "lat", &latid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

3.4 Inquire about a Dimension: nc inq dim Family

This family of functions returns information about a netCDF dimension. Information about
a dimension includes its name and its length. The length for the unlimited dimension, if
any, is the number of records written so far.
The functions in this family include nc inq dim, nc inq dimname, and nc inq dimlen.
The function nc inq dim returns all the information about a dimension; the other functions
each return just one item of information.

Usage
int nc_inq_dim (int ncid, int dimid, char* name, size_t* lengthp);
int nc_inq_dimname (int ncid, int dimid, char *name);
int nc_inq_dimlen (int ncid, int dimid, size_t *lengthp);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
dimid Dimension ID, from a previous call to nc inq dimid or nc def dim.
name Returned dimension name. The caller must allocate space for the returned
name. The maximum possible length, in characters, of a dimension name is
given by the predefined constant NC MAX NAME. (This doesn’t include the
null terminator, so declare your array to be size NC MAX NAME+1). The
returned character array will be null-terminated.
lengthp Pointer to location for returned length of dimension. For the unlimited dimen-
sion, this is the number of records written so far.
34 NetCDF C Interface Guide

Errors
These functions return the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned
status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The dimension ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc inq dim to determine the length of a dimension named lat, and
the name and current maximum length of the unlimited dimension for an existing netCDF
dataset named foo.nc:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status, ncid, latid, recid;
size_t latlength, recs;
char recname[NC_MAX_NAME+1];
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_NOWRITE, &ncid); /* open for reading */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_inq_unlimdim(ncid, &recid); /* get ID of unlimited dimension */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_dimid(ncid, "lat", &latid); /* get ID for lat dimension */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_inq_dimlen(ncid, latid, &latlength); /* get lat length */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
/* get unlimited dimension name and current length */
status = nc_inq_dim(ncid, recid, recname, &recs);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

3.5 Rename a Dimension: nc rename dim

The function nc rename dim renames an existing dimension in a netCDF dataset open for
writing. If the new name is longer than the old name, the netCDF dataset must be in define
mode. You cannot rename a dimension to have the same name as another dimension.

Usage
int nc rename dim(int ncid, int dimid, const char* name);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
dimid Dimension ID, from a previous call to nc inq dimid or nc def dim.
name New dimension name.

Errors
nc rename dim returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the re-
turned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
Chapter 3: Dimensions 35

• The new name is the name of another dimension.

• The dimension ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.
• The new name is longer than the old name and the netCDF dataset is not in define
mode.

Example
Here is an example using nc rename dim to rename the dimension lat to latitude in an
existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status, ncid, latid;
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid); /* open for writing */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_redef(ncid); /* put in define mode to rename dimension */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_inq_dimid(ncid, "lat", &latid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_rename_dim(ncid, latid, "latitude");
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_enddef(ncid); /* leave define mode */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
36 NetCDF C Interface Guide
Chapter 4: Variables 37

4 Variables

4.1 Introduction
Variables for a netCDF dataset are defined when the dataset is created, while the netCDF
dataset is in define mode. Other variables may be added later by reentering define mode.
A netCDF variable has a name, a type, and a shape, which are specified when it is defined.
A variable may also have values, which are established later in data mode.
Ordinarily, the name, type, and shape are fixed when the variable is first defined. The
name may be changed, but the type and shape of a variable cannot be changed. However,
a variable defined in terms of the unlimited dimension can grow without bound in that
dimension.
A netCDF variable in an open netCDF dataset is referred to by a small integer called a
variable ID.
Variable IDs reflect the order in which variables were defined within a netCDF dataset.
Variable IDs are 0, 1, 2,..., in the order in which the variables were defined. A function is
available for getting the variable ID from the variable name and vice-versa.
Attributes (see Chapter 5 [Attributes], page 69) may be associated with a variable to
specify such properties as units.
Operations supported on variables are:
• Create a variable, given its name, data type, and shape.
• Get a variable ID from its name.
• Get a variable’s name, data type, shape, and number of attributes from its ID.
• Put a data value into a variable, given variable ID, indices, and value.
• Put an array of values into a variable, given variable ID, corner indices, edge lengths,
and a block of values.
• Put a subsampled or mapped array-section of values into a variable, given variable ID,
corner indices, edge lengths, stride vector, index mapping vector, and a block of values.
• Get a data value from a variable, given variable ID and indices.
• Get an array of values from a variable, given variable ID, corner indices, and edge
lengths.
• Get a subsampled or mapped array-section of values from a variable, given variable ID,
corner indices, edge lengths, stride vector, and index mapping vector.
• Rename a variable.

4.2 Language Types Corresponding to netCDF external

data types
The following table gives the netCDF external data types and the corresponding type
constants for defining variables in the C interface:
Type C #define Bits

byte NC BYTE 8
38 NetCDF C Interface Guide

char NC CHAR 8

short NC SHORT 16

int NC INT 32

float NC FLOAT 32

double NC DOUBLE 64
The first column gives the netCDF external data type, which is the same as the CDL data
type. The next column gives the corresponding C preprocessor macro for use in netCDF
functions (the preprocessor macros are defined in the netCDF C header-file netcdf.h). The
last column gives the number of bits used in the external representation of values of the
corresponding type.
Note that there are no netCDF types corresponding to 64-bit integers or to characters
wider than 8 bits in the current version of the netCDF library.

4.3 Create a Variable: nc_def_var

The function nc def var adds a new variable to an open netCDF dataset in define mode.
It returns (as an argument) a variable ID, given the netCDF ID, the variable name, the
variable type, the number of dimensions, and a list of the dimension IDs.

Usage
int nc_def_var (int ncid, const char *name, nc_type xtype,
int ndims, const int dimids[], int *varidp);

ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.

name Variable name. Must begin with an alphabetic character, followed by zero or
more alphanumeric characters including the underscore (’ ’). Case is significant.

xtype One of the set of predefined netCDF external data types. The type of this pa-
rameter, nc type, is defined in the netCDF header file. The valid netCDF exter-
nal data types are NC BYTE, NC CHAR, NC SHORT, NC INT, NC FLOAT,
and NC DOUBLE.

ndims Number of dimensions for the variable. For example, 2 specifies a matrix, 1
specifies a vector, and 0 means the variable is a scalar with no dimensions. Must
not be negative or greater than the predefined constant NC MAX VAR DIMS.

dimids Vector of ndims dimension IDs corresponding to the variable dimensions. If the
ID of the unlimited dimension is included, it must be first. This argument is
ignored if ndims is 0.

varidp Pointer to location for the returned variable ID.

Chapter 4: Variables 39

Errors
nc def var returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned
status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The netCDF dataset is not in define mode.
• The specified variable name is the name of another existing variable.
• The specified type is not a valid netCDF type.
• The specified number of dimensions is negative or more than the constant
NC MAX VAR DIMS, the maximum number of dimensions permitted for a netCDF
variable.
• One or more of the dimension IDs in the list of dimensions is not a valid dimension ID
for the netCDF dataset.
• The number of variables would exceed the constant NC MAX VARS, the maximum
number of variables permitted in a netCDF dataset.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc def var to create a variable named rh of type double with three
dimensions, time, lat, and lon in a new netCDF dataset named foo.nc:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status; /* error status */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int lat_dim, lon_dim, time_dim; /* dimension IDs */
int rh_id; /* variable ID */
int rh_dimids[3]; /* variable shape */
...
status = nc_create("foo.nc", NC_NOCLOBBER, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
/* define dimensions */
status = nc_def_dim(ncid, "lat", 5L, &lat_dim);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_def_dim(ncid, "lon", 10L, &lon_dim);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_def_dim(ncid, "time", NC_UNLIMITED, &time_dim);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
/* define variable */
rh_dimids[0] = time_dim;
rh_dimids[1] = lat_dim;
rh_dimids[2] = lon_dim;
status = nc_def_var (ncid, "rh", NC_DOUBLE, 3, rh_dimids, &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
40 NetCDF C Interface Guide

4.4 Get a Variable ID from Its Name: nc inq varid

The function nc inq varid returns the ID of a netCDF variable, given its name.

Usage
int nc_inq_varid (int ncid, const char *name, int *varidp);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
name Variable name for which ID is desired.
varidp Pointer to location for returned variable ID.

Errors
nc inq varid returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned
status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The specified variable name is not a valid name for a variable in the specified netCDF
dataset.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc inq varid to find out the ID of a variable named rh in an
existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status, ncid, rh_id;
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_NOWRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid, "rh", &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

4.5 Get Information about a Variable from Its ID:

nc inq var
family
A family of functions that returns information about a netCDF variable, given its ID.
Information about a variable includes its name, type, number of dimensions, a list of di-
mension IDs describing the shape of the variable, and the number of variable attributes
that have been assigned to the variable.
The function nc inq var returns all the information about a netCDF variable, given its
ID. The other functions each return just one item of information about a variable.
These other functions include nc inq varname, nc inq vartype, nc inq varndims,
nc inq vardimid, and nc inq varnatts.
Chapter 4: Variables 41

Usage
int nc_inq_var (int ncid, int varid, char *name, nc_type *xtypep,
int *ndimsp, int dimids[], int *nattsp);
int nc_inq_varname (int ncid, int varid, char *name);
int nc_inq_vartype (int ncid, int varid, nc_type *xtypep);
int nc_inq_varndims (int ncid, int varid, int *ndimsp);
int nc_inq_vardimid (int ncid, int varid, int dimids[]);
int nc_inq_varnatts (int ncid, int varid, int *nattsp);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
varid Variable ID.
name Returned variable name. The caller must allocate space for the returned name.
The maximum possible length, in characters, of a variable name is given by
the predefined constant NC MAX NAME. (This doesn’t include the null ter-
minator, so declare your array to be size NC MAX NAME+1). The returned
character array will be null-terminated.
xtypep Pointer to location for returned variable type, one of the set of predefined
netCDF external data types. The type of this parameter, nc type, is defined in
the netCDF header file. The valid netCDF external data types are NC BYTE,
NC CHAR, NC SHORT, NC INT, NC FLOAT, and NC DOUBLE.
ndimsp Pointer to location for returned number of dimensions the variable was defined
as using. For example, 2 indicates a matrix, 1 indicates a vector, and 0 means
the variable is a scalar with no dimensions.
dimids Returned vector of *ndimsp dimension IDs corresponding to the variable dimen-
sions. The caller must allocate enough space for a vector of at least *ndimsp
integers to be returned. The maximum possible number of dimensions for a
variable is given by the predefined constant NC MAX VAR DIMS.
nattsp Pointer to location for returned number of variable attributes assigned to this
variable.
These functions return the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the
returned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
The variable ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset. The specified netCDF ID
does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc inq var to find out about a variable named rh in an existing
netCDF dataset named foo.nc:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status /* error status */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int rh_id; /* variable ID */
nc_type rh_type; /* variable type */
42 NetCDF C Interface Guide

int rh_ndims; /* number of dims */

int rh_dims[NC_MAX_VAR_DIMS]; /* variable shape */
int rh_natts /* number of attributes */
...
status = nc_open ("foo.nc", NC_NOWRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid, "rh", &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
/* we don’t need name, since we already know it */
status = nc_inq_var (ncid, rh_id, 0, &rh_type, &rh_ndims, rh_dims,
&rh_natts);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

4.6 Write a Single Data Value: nc put var1 type

The functions nc put var1 type put a single data value of the specified type into a variable
of an open netCDF dataset that is in data mode. Inputs are the netCDF ID, the variable
ID, an index that specifies which value to add or alter, and the data value. The value is
converted to the external data type of the variable, if necessary.

Usage
int nc_put_var1_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
const char *tp);
int nc_put_var1_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
const unsigned char *up);
int nc_put_var1_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
const signed char *cp);
int nc_put_var1_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
const short *sp);
int nc_put_var1_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
const int *ip);
int nc_put_var1_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
const long *lp);
int nc_put_var1_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
const float *fp);
int nc_put_var1_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
const double *dp);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
varid Variable ID.
index[] The index of the data value to be written. The indices are relative to 0, so for ex-
ample, the first data value of a two-dimensional variable would have index (0,0).
The elements of index must correspond to the variable’s dimensions. Hence, if
the variable uses the unlimited dimension, the first index would correspond to
the unlimited dimension.
Chapter 4: Variables 43

tp
up
cp
sp
ip
lp
fp
dp Pointer to the data value to be written. If the type of data values differs
from the netCDF variable type, type conversion will occur. See section “Type
Conversion” in The NetCDF Users Guide.

Errors
nc put var1 type returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the
returned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The variable ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• The specified indices were out of range for the rank of the specified variable. For
example, a negative index or an index that is larger than the corresponding dimension
length will cause an error.
• The specified value is out of the range of values representable by the external data type
of the variable.
• The specified netCDF is in define mode rather than data mode.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc put var1 double to set the (1,2,3) element of the variable named
rh to 0.5 in an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc. For simplicity in this example, we
assume that we know that rh is dimensioned with time, lat, and lon, so we want to set the
value of rh that corresponds to the second time value, the third lat value, and the fourth
lon value:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status; /* error status */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int rh_id; /* variable ID */
static size_t rh_index[] = {1, 2, 3}; /* where to put value */
static double rh_val = 0.5; /* value to put */
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid, "rh", &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_put_var1_double(ncid, rh_id, rh_index, &rh_val);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
44 NetCDF C Interface Guide

4.7 Write an Entire Variable: nc put var type

The nc put var type family of functions write all the values of a variable into a netCDF
variable of an open netCDF dataset. This is the simplest interface to use for writing a
value in a scalar variable or whenever all the values of a multidimensional variable can all
be written at once. The values to be written are associated with the netCDF variable by
assuming that the last dimension of the netCDF variable varies fastest in the C interface.
The values are converted to the external data type of the variable, if necessary.
Take care when using the simplest forms of this interface with record variables when
you don’t specify how many records are to be written. If you try to write all the values
of a record variable into a netCDF file that has no record data yet (hence has 0 records),
nothing will be written. Similarly, if you try to write all of a record variable but there are
more records in the file than you assume, more data may be written to the file than you
supply, which may result in a segmentation violation.

Usage
int nc_put_var_text (int ncid, int varid, const char *tp);
int nc_put_var_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const unsigned char *up);
int nc_put_var_schar (int ncid, int varid, const signed char *cp);
int nc_put_var_short (int ncid, int varid, const short *sp);
int nc_put_var_int (int ncid, int varid, const int *ip);
int nc_put_var_long (int ncid, int varid, const long *lp);
int nc_put_var_float (int ncid, int varid, const float *fp);
int nc_put_var_double(int ncid, int varid, const double *dp);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
varid Variable ID.
tp
up
cp
sp
ip
lp
fp
dp Pointer to a block of data values to be written. The order in which the data will
be written to the netCDF variable is with the last dimension of the specified
variable varying fastest. If the type of data values differs from the netCDF
variable type, type conversion will occur. See section “Type Conversion” in
The NetCDF Users Guide.

Errors
Members of the nc put var type family return the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred.
Otherwise, the returned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The variable ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• One or more of the specified values are out of the range of values representable by the
external data type of the variable.
Chapter 4: Variables 45

• One or more of the specified values are out of the range of values representable by the
external data type of the variable.
• The specified netCDF dataset is in define mode rather than data mode.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc put var double to add or change all the values of the variable
named rh to 0.5 in an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc. For simplicity in this example,
we assume that we know that rh is dimensioned with time, lat, and lon, and that there are
three time values, five lat values, and ten lon values.
#include <netcdf.h>
...
#define TIMES 3
#define LATS 5
#define LONS 10
int status; /* error status */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int rh_id; /* variable ID */
double rh_vals[TIMES*LATS*LONS]; /* array to hold values */
int i;
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid, "rh", &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
for (i = 0; i < TIMES*LATS*LONS; i++)
rh_vals[i] = 0.5;
/* write values into netCDF variable */
status = nc_put_var_double(ncid, rh_id, rh_vals);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

4.8 Write an Array of Values: nc put vara type

The function nc put vara type writes values into a netCDF variable of an open netCDF
dataset. The part of the netCDF variable to write is specified by giving a corner and a
vector of edge lengths that refer to an array section of the netCDF variable. The values to
be written are associated with the netCDF variable by assuming that the last dimension of
the netCDF variable varies fastest in the C interface. The netCDF dataset must be in data
mode.

Usage
int nc_put_vara_ type (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const type *valuesp);
int nc_put_vara_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
46 NetCDF C Interface Guide

const size_t count[], const char *tp);

int nc_put_vara_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const unsigned char *up);
int nc_put_vara_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const signed char *cp);
int nc_put_vara_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const short *sp);
int nc_put_vara_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const int *ip);
int nc_put_vara_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const long *lp);
int nc_put_vara_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const float *fp);
int nc_put_vara_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const double *dp);

ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.

varid Variable ID.

start A vector of size t integers specifying the index in the variable where the first
of the data values will be written. The indices are relative to 0, so for example,
the first data value of a variable would have index (0, 0, ... , 0). The size of
start must be the same as the number of dimensions of the specified variable.
The elements of start must correspond to the variable’s dimensions in order.
Hence, if the variable is a record variable, the first index would correspond to
the starting record number for writing the data values.

count A vector of size t integers specifying the edge lengths along each dimension of
the block of data values to be written. To write a single value, for example,
specify count as (1, 1, ... , 1). The length of count is the number of dimensions
of the specified variable. The elements of count correspond to the variable’s
dimensions. Hence, if the variable is a record variable, the first element of
count corresponds to a count of the number of records to write.

tp
up
cp
sp
ip
lp
fp
dp Pointer to a block of data values to be written. The order in which the data will
be written to the netCDF variable is with the last dimension of the specified
variable varying fastest. If the type of data values differs from the netCDF
variable type, type conversion will occur. See section “Type Conversion” in
The NetCDF Users Guide.
Chapter 4: Variables 47

Errors
nc put vara type returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the
returned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The variable ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• The specified corner indices were out of range for the rank of the specified variable. For
example, a negative index, or an index that is larger than the corresponding dimension
length will cause an error.
• The specified edge lengths added to the specified corner would have referenced data
out of range for the rank of the specified variable. For example, an edge length that is
larger than the corresponding dimension length minus the corner index will cause an
error.
• One or more of the specified values are out of the range of values representable by the
external data type of the variable.
• The specified netCDF dataset is in define mode rather than data mode.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc put vara double to add or change all the values of the variable
named rh to 0.5 in an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc. For simplicity in this example,
we assume that we know that rh is dimensioned with time, lat, and lon, and that there are
three time values, five lat values, and ten lon values.
#include <netcdf.h>
...
#define TIMES 3
#define LATS 5
#define LONS 10
int status; /* error status */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int rh_id; /* variable ID */
static size_t start[] = {0, 0, 0}; /* start at first value */
static size_t count[] = {TIMES, LATS, LONS};
double rh_vals[TIMES*LATS*LONS]; /* array to hold values */
int i;
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid, "rh", &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
for (i = 0; i < TIMES*LATS*LONS; i++)
rh_vals[i] = 0.5;
/* write values into netCDF variable */
status = nc_put_vara_double(ncid, rh_id, start, count, rh_vals);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
48 NetCDF C Interface Guide

4.9 Write a Subsampled Array of Values: nc put vars type

Each member of the family of functions nc put vars type writes a subsampled (strided)
array section of values into a netCDF variable of an open netCDF dataset. The subsampled
array section is specified by giving a corner, a vector of counts, and a stride vector. The
netCDF dataset must be in data mode.

Usage
int nc_put_vars_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const char *tp);
int nc_put_vars_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const unsigned char *up);
int nc_put_vars_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const signed char *cp);
int nc_put_vars_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const short *sp);
int nc_put_vars_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const int *ip);
int nc_put_vars_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const long *lp);
int nc_put_vars_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const float *fp);
int nc_put_vars_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const double *dp);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
varid Variable ID.
start A vector of size t integers specifying the index in the variable where the first
of the data values will be written. The indices are relative to 0, so for example,
the first data value of a variable would have index (0, 0, ... , 0). The elements of
start correspond, in order, to the variable’s dimensions. Hence, if the variable
is a record variable, the first index corresponds to the starting record number
for writing the data values.
count A vector of size t integers specifying the number of indices selected along each
dimension. To write a single value, for example, specify count as (1, 1, ... ,
1). The elements of count correspond, in order, to the variable’s dimensions.
Hence, if the variable is a record variable, the first element of count corresponds
to a count of the number of records to write.
Chapter 4: Variables 49

stride A vector of ptrdiff t integers that specifies the sampling interval along each di-
mension of the netCDF variable. The elements of the stride vector correspond,
in order, to the netCDF variable’s dimensions (stride[0] gives the sampling inter-
val along the most slowly varying dimension of the netCDF variable). Sampling
intervals are specified in type-independent units of elements (a value of 1 selects
consecutive elements of the netCDF variable along the corresponding dimen-
sion, a value of 2 selects every other element, etc.). A NULL stride argument
is treated as (1, 1, ... , 1).
tp
up
cp
sp
ip
lp
fp
dp Pointer to a block of data values to be written. The order in which the data will
be written to the netCDF variable is with the last dimension of the specified
variable varying fastest. If the type of data values differs from the netCDF
variable type, type conversion will occur. See section “Type Conversion” in
The NetCDF Users Guide.

Errors
nc put vars type returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the
returned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The variable ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• The specified start, count and stride generate an index which is out of range.
• One or more of the specified values are out of the range of values representable by the
external data type of the variable.
• The specified netCDF is in define mode rather than data mode.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example of using nc put vars float to write – from an internal array – every
other point of a netCDF variable named rh which is described by the C declaration float
rh[4][6] (note the size of the dimensions):
#include <netcdf.h>
...
#define NDIM 2 /* rank of netCDF variable */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int status; /* error status */
int rhid; /* variable ID */
static size_t start[NDIM] /* netCDF variable start point: */
= {0, 0}; /* first element */
static size_t count[NDIM] /* size of internal array: entire */
50 NetCDF C Interface Guide

= {2, 3}; /* (subsampled) netCDF variable */

static ptrdiff_t stride[NDIM] /* variable subsampling intervals: */
= {2, 2}; /* access every other netCDF element */
float rh[2][3]; /* note subsampled sizes for */
/* netCDF variable dimensions */
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid(ncid, "rh", &rhid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_put_vars_float(ncid, rhid, start, count, stride, rh);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

4.10 Write a Mapped Array of Values: nc put varm type

The nc put varm type family of functions writes a mapped array section of values into
a netCDF variable of an open netCDF dataset. The mapped array section is specified by
giving a corner, a vector of counts, a stride vector, and an index mapping vector. The index
mapping vector is a vector of integers that specifies the mapping between the dimensions of
a netCDF variable and the in-memory structure of the internal data array. No assumptions
are made about the ordering or length of the dimensions of the data array. The netCDF
dataset must be in data mode.

Usage
int nc_put_varm_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const ptrdiff_t imap[], const char *tp);
int nc_put_varm_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const ptrdiff_t imap[], const unsigned char *up);
int nc_put_varm_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const ptrdiff_t imap[], const signed char *cp);
int nc_put_varm_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const ptrdiff_t imap[], const short *sp);
int nc_put_varm_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const ptrdiff_t imap[], const int *ip);
int nc_put_varm_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const ptrdiff_t imap[], const long *lp);
int nc_put_varm_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const ptrdiff_t imap[], const float *fp);
Chapter 4: Variables 51

int nc_put_varm_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],

const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const ptrdiff_t imap[], const double *dp);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
varid Variable ID.
start A vector of size t integers specifying the index in the variable where the first
of the data values will be written. The indices are relative to 0, so for example,
the first data value of a variable would have index (0, 0, ... , 0). The elements of
start correspond, in order, to the variable’s dimensions. Hence, if the variable
is a record variable, the first index corresponds to the starting record number
for writing the data values.
count A vector of size t integers specifying the number of indices selected along each
dimension. To write a single value, for example, specify count as (1, 1, ... ,
1). The elements of count correspond, in order, to the variable’s dimensions.
Hence, if the variable is a record variable, the first element of count corresponds
to a count of the number of records to write.
stride A vector of ptrdiff t integers that specifies the sampling interval along each di-
mension of the netCDF variable. The elements of the stride vector correspond,
in order, to the netCDF variable’s dimensions (stride[0] gives the sampling inter-
val along the most slowly varying dimension of the netCDF variable). Sampling
intervals are specified in type-independent units of elements (a value of 1 selects
consecutive elements of the netCDF variable along the corresponding dimen-
sion, a value of 2 selects every other element, etc.). A NULL stride argument
is treated as (1, 1, ... , 1).
imap A vector of ptrdiff t integers that specifies the mapping between the dimensions
of a netCDF variable and the in-memory structure of the internal data array.
The elements of the index mapping vector correspond, in order, to the netCDF
variable’s dimensions (imap[0] gives the distance between elements of the inter-
nal array corresponding to the most slowly varying dimension of the netCDF
variable). Distances between elements are specified in type-independent units
of elements (the distance between internal elements that occupy adjacent mem-
ory locations is 1 and not the element’s byte-length as in netCDF 2). A NULL
argument means the memory-resident values have the same structure as the
associated netCDF variable.
tp
up
cp
sp
ip
lp
fp
dp Pointer to the location used for computing where the data values will be found;
the data should be of the type appropriate for the function called. If the type of
52 NetCDF C Interface Guide

data values differs from the netCDF variable type, type conversion will occur.
See section “Type Conversion” in The NetCDF Users Guide.

Errors
nc put varm type returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the
returned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The variable ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• The specified start, count, and stride generate an index which is out of range. Note
that no error checking is possible on the imap vector.
• One or more of the specified values are out of the range of values representable by the
external data type of the variable.
• The specified netCDF is in define mode rather than data mode.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
The following imap vector maps in the trivial way a 4x3x2 netCDF variable and an internal
array of the same shape:
float a[4][3][2]; /* same shape as netCDF variable */
int imap[3] = {6, 2, 1};
/* netCDF dimension inter-element distance */
/* ---------------- ---------------------- */
/* most rapidly varying 1 */
/* intermediate 2 (=imap[2]*2) */
/* most slowly varying 6 (=imap[1]*3) */
Using the imap vector above with nc put varm float obtains the same result as simply
using nc put var float.
Here is an example of using nc put varm float to write – from a transposed, internal
array – a netCDF variable named rh which is described by the C declaration float rh[6][4]
(note the size and order of the dimensions):
#include <netcdf.h>
...
#define NDIM 2 /* rank of netCDF variable */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int status; /* error status */
int rhid; /* variable ID */
static size_t start[NDIM] /* netCDF variable start point: */
= {0, 0}; /* first element */
static size_t count[NDIM] /* size of internal array: entire netCDF */
= {6, 4}; /* variable; order corresponds to netCDF */
/* variable -- not internal array */
static ptrdiff_t stride[NDIM]/* variable subsampling intervals: */
= {1, 1}; /* sample every netCDF element */
static ptrdiff_t imap[NDIM] /* internal array inter-element distances; */
= {1, 6}; /* would be {4, 1} if not transposing */
Chapter 4: Variables 53

float rh[4][6]; /* note transposition of netCDF variable */

/* dimensions */
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid(ncid, "rh", &rhid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_put_varm_float(ncid, rhid, start, count, stride, imap, rh);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
Here is another example of using nc put varm float to write – from a transposed, internal
array – a subsample of the same netCDF variable, by writing every other point of the
netCDF variable:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
#define NDIM 2 /* rank of netCDF variable */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int status; /* error status */
int rhid; /* variable ID */
static size_t start[NDIM] /* netCDF variable start point: */
= {0, 0}; /* first element */
static size_t count[NDIM] /* size of internal array: entire */
= {3, 2}; /* (subsampled) netCDF variable; order of */
/* dimensions corresponds to netCDF */
/* variable -- not internal array */
static ptrdiff_t stride[NDIM] /* variable subsampling intervals: */
= {2, 2}; /* sample every other netCDF element */
static ptrdiff_t imap[NDIM] /* internal array inter-element distances; */
= {1, 3}; /* would be {2, 1} if not transposing */
float rh[2][3]; /* note transposition of (subsampled) */
/* netCDF variable dimensions */
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid(ncid, "rh", &rhid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_put_varm_float(ncid, rhid, start, count, stride, imap, rh);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

4.11 Read a Single Data Value: nc get var1 type

The functions nc get var1 type get a single data value from a variable of an open netCDF
dataset that is in data mode. Inputs are the netCDF ID, the variable ID, a multidimensional
index that specifies which value to get, and the address of a location into which the data
54 NetCDF C Interface Guide

value will be read. The value is converted from the external data type of the variable, if
necessary.

Usage
int nc_get_var1_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
char *tp);
int nc_get_var1_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
unsigned char *up);
int nc_get_var1_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
signed char *cp);
int nc_get_var1_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
short *sp);
int nc_get_var1_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
int *ip);
int nc_get_var1_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
long *lp);
int nc_get_var1_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
float *fp);
int nc_get_var1_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t index[],
double *dp);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
varid Variable ID.
index[] The index of the data value to be read. The indices are relative to 0, so for
example, the first data value of a two-dimensional variable would have index
(0,0). The elements of index must correspond to the variable’s dimensions.
Hence, if the variable is a record variable, the first index is the record number.
tp
up
cp
sp
ip
lp
fp
dp Pointer to the location into which the data value is read. If the type of data
value differs from the netCDF variable type, type conversion will occur. See
section “Type Conversion” in The NetCDF Users Guide.

Errors
nc get var1 type returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the
returned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The variable ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• The specified indices were out of range for the rank of the specified variable. For
example, a negative index or an index that is larger than the corresponding dimension
length will cause an error.
Chapter 4: Variables 55

• The value is out of the range of values representable by the desired data type.
• The specified netCDF is in define mode rather than data mode.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc get var1 double to get the (1,2,3) element of the variable
named rh in an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc. For simplicity in this example, we
assume that we know that rh is dimensioned with time, lat, and lon, so we want to get the
value of rh that corresponds to the second time value, the third lat value, and the fourth
lon value:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status; /* error status */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int rh_id; /* variable ID */
static size_t rh_index[] = {1, 2, 3}; /* where to get value from */
double rh_val; /* where to put it */
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_NOWRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid, "rh", &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_get_var1_double(ncid, rh_id, rh_index, &rh_val);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

4.12 Read an Entire Variable nc get var type

The members of the nc get var type family of functions read all the values from a netCDF
variable of an open netCDF dataset. This is the simplest interface to use for reading the
value of a scalar variable or when all the values of a multidimensional variable can be read
at once. The values are read into consecutive locations with the last dimension varying
fastest. The netCDF dataset must be in data mode.
Take care when using the simplest forms of this interface with record variables when you
don’t specify how many records are to be read. If you try to read all the values of a record
variable into an array but there are more records in the file than you assume, more data
will be read than you expect, which may cause a segmentation violation.

Usage
int nc_get_var_text (int ncid, int varid, char *tp);
int nc_get_var_uchar (int ncid, int varid, unsigned char *up);
int nc_get_var_schar (int ncid, int varid, signed char *cp);
int nc_get_var_short (int ncid, int varid, short *sp);
int nc_get_var_int (int ncid, int varid, int *ip);
56 NetCDF C Interface Guide

int nc_get_var_long (int ncid, int varid, long *lp);

int nc_get_var_float (int ncid, int varid, float *fp);
int nc_get_var_double(int ncid, int varid, double *dp);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
varid Variable ID.
tp
up
cp
sp
ip
lp
fp
dp Pointer to the location into which the data value is read. If the type of data
value differs from the netCDF variable type, type conversion will occur. See
section “Type Conversion” in The NetCDF Users Guide.

Errors
nc get var type returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the re-
turned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The variable ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• One or more of the values are out of the range of values representable by the desired
type.
• The specified netCDF is in define mode rather than data mode.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc get var double to read all the values of the variable named rh
from an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc. For simplicity in this example, we assume
that we know that rh is dimensioned with time, lat, and lon, and that there are three time
values, five lat values, and ten lon values.
#include <netcdf.h>
...
#define TIMES 3
#define LATS 5
#define LONS 10
int status; /* error status */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int rh_id; /* variable ID */
double rh_vals[TIMES*LATS*LONS]; /* array to hold values */
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_NOWRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
Chapter 4: Variables 57

status = nc_inq_varid (ncid, "rh", &rh_id);

if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
/* read values from netCDF variable */
status = nc_get_var_double(ncid, rh_id, rh_vals);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

4.13 Read an Array of Values: nc get vara type

The members of the nc get vara type family of functions read an array of values from
a netCDF variable of an open netCDF dataset. The array is specified by giving a corner
and a vector of edge lengths. The values are read into consecutive locations with the last
dimension varying fastest. The netCDF dataset must be in data mode.

Usage
int nc_get_vara_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[] char *tp);
int nc_get_vara_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[] unsigned char *up);
int nc_get_vara_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[] signed char *cp);
int nc_get_vara_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[] short *sp);
int nc_get_vara_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[] int *ip);
int nc_get_vara_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[] long *lp);
int nc_get_vara_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[] float *fp);
int nc_get_vara_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[] double *dp);

ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.

varid Variable ID.
start A vector of size t integers specifying the index in the variable where the first of
the data values will be read. The indices are relative to 0, so for example, the
first data value of a variable would have index (0, 0, ... , 0). The length of start
must be the same as the number of dimensions of the specified variable. The
elements of start correspond, in order, to the variable’s dimensions. Hence, if
the variable is a record variable, the first index would correspond to the starting
record number for reading the data values.
count A vector of size t integers specifying the edge lengths along each dimension of
the block of data values to be read. To read a single value, for example, specify
count as (1, 1, ... , 1). The length of count is the number of dimensions of the
specified variable. The elements of count correspond, in order, to the variable’s
58 NetCDF C Interface Guide

dimensions. Hence, if the variable is a record variable, the first element of count
corresponds to a count of the number of records to read.
tp
up
cp
sp
ip
lp
fp
dp Pointer to the location into which the data value is read. If the type of data
value differs from the netCDF variable type, type conversion will occur. See
section “Type Conversion” in The NetCDF Users Guide.

Errors
nc get vara type returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the
returned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The variable ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• The specified corner indices were out of range for the rank of the specified variable. For
example, a negative index or an index that is larger than the corresponding dimension
length will cause an error.
• The specified edge lengths added to the specified corner would have referenced data
out of range for the rank of the specified variable. For example, an edge length that is
larger than the corresponding dimension length minus the corner index will cause an
error.
• One or more of the values are out of the range of values representable by the desired
type.
• The specified netCDF is in define mode rather than data mode.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc get vara double to read all the values of the variable named rh
from an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc. For simplicity in this example, we assume
that we know that rh is dimensioned with time, lat, and lon, and that there are three time
values, five lat values, and ten lon values.
#include <netcdf.h>
...
#define TIMES 3
#define LATS 5
#define LONS 10
int status; /* error status */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int rh_id; /* variable ID */
static size_t start[] = {0, 0, 0}; /* start at first value */
static size_t count[] = {TIMES, LATS, LONS};
Chapter 4: Variables 59

double rh_vals[TIMES*LATS*LONS]; /* array to hold values */

...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_NOWRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid, "rh", &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
/* read values from netCDF variable */
status = nc_get_vara_double(ncid, rh_id, start, count, rh_vals);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

4.14 Read a Subsampled Array of Values: nc get vars type

The nc get vars type family of functions read a subsampled (strided) array section of
values from a netCDF variable of an open netCDF dataset. The subsampled array section
is specified by giving a corner, a vector of edge lengths, and a stride vector. The values are
read with the last dimension of the netCDF variable varying fastest. The netCDF dataset
must be in data mode.

Usage
int nc_get_vars_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
char *tp);
int nc_get_vars_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
unsigned char *up);
int nc_get_vars_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
signed char *cp);
int nc_get_vars_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
short *sp);
int nc_get_vars_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
int *ip);
int nc_get_vars_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
long *lp);
int nc_get_vars_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
float *fp);
int nc_get_vars_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
double *dp)
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
60 NetCDF C Interface Guide

varid Variable ID.

start A vector of size t integers specifying the index in the variable where the first of
the data values will be read. The indices are relative to 0, so for example, the
first data value of a variable would have index (0, 0, ... , 0). The elements of
start correspond, in order, to the variable’s dimensions. Hence, if the variable
is a record variable, the first index corresponds to the starting record number
for reading the data values.
count A vector of size t integers specifying the number of indices selected along each
dimension. To read a single value, for example, specify count as (1, 1, ... ,
1). The elements of count correspond, in order, to the variable’s dimensions.
Hence, if the variable is a record variable, the first element of count corresponds
to a count of the number of records to read.
stride A vector of ptrdiff t integers specifying, for each dimension, the interval between
selected indices. The elements of the stride vector correspond, in order, to the
variable’s dimensions. A value of 1 accesses adjacent values of the netCDF
variable in the corresponding dimension; a value of 2 accesses every other value
of the netCDF variable in the corresponding dimension; and so on. A NULL
stride argument is treated as (1, 1, ... , 1).
tp
up
cp
sp
ip
lp
fp
dp Pointer to the location into which the data value is read. If the type of data
value differs from the netCDF variable type, type conversion will occur. See
section “Type Conversion” in The NetCDF Users Guide.

Errors
nc get vars type returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the
returned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The variable ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• The specified start, count and stride generate an index which is out of range.
• One or more of the values are out of the range of values representable by the desired
type.
• The specified netCDF is in define mode rather than data mode.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example that uses nc get vars double to read every other value in each dimension
of the variable named rh from an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc. For simplicity in
this example, we assume that we know that rh is dimensioned with time, lat, and lon, and
that there are three time values, five lat values, and ten lon values.
Chapter 4: Variables 61

#include <netcdf.h>
...
#define TIMES 3
#define LATS 5
#define LONS 10
int status; /* error status */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int rh_id; /* variable ID */
static size_t start[] = {0, 0, 0}; /* start at first value */
static size_t count[] = {TIMES, LATS, LONS};
static ptrdiff_t stride[] = {2, 2, 2};/* every other value */
double data[TIMES][LATS][LONS]; /* array to hold values */
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_NOWRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid, "rh", &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
/* read subsampled values from netCDF variable into array */
status = nc_get_vars_double(ncid, rh_id, start, count, stride,
&data[0][0][0]);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...

4.15 Read a Mapped Array of Values: nc get varm type

The nc get varm type family of functions reads a mapped array section of values from
a netCDF variable of an open netCDF dataset. The mapped array section is specified by
giving a corner, a vector of edge lengths, a stride vector, and an index mapping vector.
The index mapping vector is a vector of integers that specifies the mapping between the
dimensions of a netCDF variable and the in-memory structure of the internal data array.
No assumptions are made about the ordering or length of the dimensions of the data array.
The netCDF dataset must be in data mode.

Usage
int nc_get_varm_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const ptrdiff_t imap[], char *tp);
int nc_get_varm_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const ptrdiff_t imap[], unsigned char *up);
int nc_get_varm_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const ptrdiff_t imap[], signed char *cp);
int nc_get_varm_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
62 NetCDF C Interface Guide

const ptrdiff_t imap[], short *sp);

int nc_get_varm_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const ptrdiff_t imap[], int *ip);
int nc_get_varm_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const ptrdiff_t imap[], long *lp);
int nc_get_varm_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const ptrdiff_t imap[], float *fp);
int nc_get_varm_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t start[],
const size_t count[], const ptrdiff_t stride[],
const ptrdiff_t imap[], double *dp);

ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.

varid Variable ID.
start A vector of size t integers specifying the index in the variable where the first of
the data values will be read. The indices are relative to 0, so for example, the
first data value of a variable would have index (0, 0, ... , 0). The elements of
start correspond, in order, to the variable’s dimensions. Hence, if the variable
is a record variable, the first index corresponds to the starting record number
for reading the data values.
count A vector of size t integers specifying the number of indices selected along each
dimension. To read a single value, for example, specify count as (1, 1, ... ,
1). The elements of count correspond, in order, to the variable’s dimensions.
Hence, if the variable is a record variable, the first element of count corresponds
to a count of the number of records to read.
stride A vector of ptrdiff t integers specifying, for each dimension, the interval between
selected indices. The elements of the stride vector correspond, in order, to the
variable’s dimensions. A value of 1 accesses adjacent values of the netCDF
variable in the corresponding dimension; a value of 2 accesses every other value
of the netCDF variable in the corresponding dimension; and so on. A NULL
stride argument is treated as (1, 1, ... , 1).
imap A vector of integers that specifies the mapping between the dimensions of
a netCDF variable and the in-memory structure of the internal data array.
imap[0] gives the distance between elements of the internal array corresponding
to the most slowly varying dimension of the netCDF variable. imap[n-1] (where
n is the rank of the netCDF variable) gives the distance between elements of
the internal array corresponding to the most rapidly varying dimension of the
netCDF variable. Intervening imap elements correspond to other dimensions
of the netCDF variable in the obvious way. Distances between elements are
specified in type-independent units of elements (the distance between internal
elements that occupy adjacent memory locations is 1 and not the element’s
byte-length as in netCDF 2).
Chapter 4: Variables 63

tp
up
cp
sp
ip
lp
fp
dp Pointer to the location used for computing where the data values are read; the
data should be of the type appropriate for the function called. If the type of
data value differs from the netCDF variable type, type conversion will occur.
See section “Type Conversion” in The NetCDF Users Guide.

Errors
nc get varm type returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the
returned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The variable ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• The specified start, count, and stride generate an index which is out of range. Note
that no error checking is possible on the imap vector.
• One or more of the values are out of the range of values representable by the desired
type.
• The specified netCDF is in define mode rather than data mode.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
The following imap vector maps in the trivial way a 4x3x2 netCDF variable and an internal
array of the same shape:
float a[4][3][2]; /* same shape as netCDF variable */
size_t imap[3] = {6, 2, 1};
/* netCDF dimension inter-element distance */
/* ---------------- ---------------------- */
/* most rapidly varying 1 */
/* intermediate 2 (=imap[2]*2) */
/* most slowly varying 6 (=imap[1]*3) */
Using the imap vector above with nc get varm float obtains the same result as simply
using nc get var float.
Here is an example of using nc get varm float to transpose a netCDF variable named
rh which is described by the C declaration float rh[6][4] (note the size and order of the
dimensions):
#include <netcdf.h>
...
#define NDIM 2 /* rank of netCDF variable */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int status; /* error status */
int rhid; /* variable ID */
64 NetCDF C Interface Guide

static size_t start[NDIM] /* netCDF variable start point: */

= {0, 0}; /* first element */
static size_t count[NDIM] /* size of internal array: entire netCDF */
= {6, 4}; /* variable; order corresponds to netCDF */
/* variable -- not internal array */
static ptrdiff_t stride[NDIM] /* variable subsampling intervals: */
= {1, 1}; /* sample every netCDF element */
static ptrdiff_t imap[NDIM] /* internal array inter-element distances; */
= {1, 6}; /* would be {4, 1} if not transposing */
float rh[4][6]; /* note transposition of netCDF variable */
/* dimensions */
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid(ncid, "rh", &rhid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_get_varm_float(ncid, rhid, start, count, stride, imap, rh);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
Here is another example of using nc get varm float to simultaneously transpose and
subsample the same netCDF variable, by accessing every other point of the netCDF variable:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
#define NDIM 2 /* rank of netCDF variable */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int status; /* error status */
int rhid; /* variable ID */
static size_t start[NDIM] /* netCDF variable start point: */
= {0, 0}; /* first element */
static size_t count[NDIM] /* size of internal array: entire */
= {3, 2}; /* (subsampled) netCDF variable; order of */
/* dimensions corresponds to netCDF */
/* variable -- not internal array */
static ptrdiff_t stride[NDIM]/* variable subsampling intervals: */
= {2, 2}; /* sample every other netCDF element */
static ptrdiff_t imap[NDIM] /* internal array inter-element distances; */
= {1, 3}; /* would be {2, 1} if not transposing */
float rh[2][3]; /* note transposition of (subsampled) */
/* netCDF variable dimensions */
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid(ncid, "rh", &rhid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
Chapter 4: Variables 65

...
status = nc_get_varm_float(ncid, rhid, start, count, stride, imap, rh);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

4.16 Reading and Writing Character String Values

Character strings are not a primitive netCDF external data type, in part because FOR-
TRAN does not support the abstraction of variable-length character strings (the FORTRAN
LEN function returns the static length of a character string, not its dynamic length). As
a result, a character string cannot be written or read as a single object in the netCDF
interface. Instead, a character string must be treated as an array of characters, and array
access must be used to read and write character strings as variable data in netCDF datasets.
Furthermore, variable-length strings are not supported by the netCDF interface except by
convention; for example, you may treat a zero byte as terminating a character string, but
you must explicitly specify the length of strings to be read from and written to netCDF
variables.
Character strings as attribute values are easier to use, since the strings are treated as a
single unit for access. However, the value of a character-string attribute is still an array of
characters with an explicit length that must be specified when the attribute is defined.
When you define a variable that will have character-string values, use a character-position
dimension as the most quickly varying dimension for the variable (the last dimension for the
variable in C). The length of the character-position dimension will be the maximum string
length of any value to be stored in the character-string variable. Space for maximum-length
strings will be allocated in the disk representation of character-string variables whether you
use the space or not. If two or more variables have the same maximum length, the same
character-position dimension may be used in defining the variable shapes.
To write a character-string value into a character-string variable, use either entire vari-
able access or array access. The latter requires that you specify both a corner and a vector
of edge lengths. The character-position dimension at the corner should be zero for C. If the
length of the string to be written is n, then the vector of edge lengths will specify n in the
character-position dimension, and one for all the other dimensions:(1, 1, ... , 1, n).
In C, fixed-length strings may be written to a netCDF dataset without the terminating
zero byte, to save space. Variable-length strings should be written with a terminating zero
byte so that the intended length of the string can be determined when it is later read.
Here is an example that defines a record variable, tx, for character strings and stores
a character-string value into the third record using nc put vara text. In this example, we
assume the string variable and data are to be added to an existing netCDF dataset named
foo.nc that already has an unlimited record dimension time.
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int chid; /* dimension ID for char positions */
int timeid; /* dimension ID for record dimension */
int tx_id; /* variable ID */
#define TDIMS 2 /* rank of tx variable */
int tx_dims[TDIMS]; /* variable shape */
66 NetCDF C Interface Guide

size_t tx_start[TDIMS];
size_t tx_count[TDIMS];
static char tx_val[] =
"example string"; /* string to be put */
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_redef(ncid); /* enter define mode */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
/* define character-position dimension for strings of max length 40 */
status = nc_def_dim(ncid, "chid", 40L, &chid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
/* define a character-string variable */
tx_dims[0] = timeid;
tx_dims[1] = chid; /* character-position dimension last */
status = nc_def_var (ncid, "tx", NC_CHAR, TDIMS, tx_dims, &tx_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_enddef(ncid); /* leave define mode */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
/* write tx_val into tx netCDF variable in record 3 */
tx_start[0] = 3; /* record number to write */
tx_start[1] = 0; /* start at beginning of variable */
tx_count[0] = 1; /* only write one record */
tx_count[1] = strlen(tx_val) + 1; /* number of chars to write */
status = nc_put_vara_text(ncid, tx_id, tx_start, tx_count, tx_val);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

4.17 Fill Values

What happens when you try to read a value that was never written in an open netCDF
dataset? You might expect that this should always be an error, and that you should get an
error message or an error status returned. You do get an error if you try to read data from
a netCDF dataset that is not open for reading, if the variable ID is invalid for the specified
netCDF dataset, or if the specified indices are not properly within the range defined by the
dimension lengths of the specified variable. Otherwise, reading a value that was not written
returns a special fill value used to fill in any undefined values when a netCDF variable is
first written.

You may ignore fill values and use the entire range of a netCDF external data type, but
in this case you should make sure you write all data values before reading them. If you
know you will be writing all the data before reading it, you can specify that no prefilling of
variables with fill values will occur by calling nc set fill before writing. This may provide a
significant performance gain for netCDF writes.
Chapter 4: Variables 67

The variable attribute FillValue may be used to specify the fill value for a
variable. Their are default fill values for each type, defined in the include file
netcdf.h: NC FILL CHAR, NC FILL BYTE, NC FILL SHORT, NC FILL INT,
NC FILL FLOAT, and NC FILL DOUBLE.
The netCDF byte and character types have different default fill values. The default fill
value for characters is the zero byte, a useful value for detecting the end of variable-length
C character strings. If you need a fill value for a byte variable, it is recommended that you
explicitly define an appropriate FillValue attribute, as generic utilities such as ncdump will
not assume a default fill value for byte variables.
Type conversion for fill values is identical to type conversion for other values: attempting
to convert a value from one type to another type that can’t represent the value results in
a range error. Such errors may occur on writing or reading values from a larger type (such
as double) to a smaller type (such as float), if the fill value for the larger type cannot be
represented in the smaller type.

4.18 Rename a Variable: nc rename var

The function nc rename var changes the name of a netCDF variable in an open netCDF
dataset. If the new name is longer than the old name, the netCDF dataset must be in define
mode. You cannot rename a variable to have the name of any existing variable.

Usage
int nc rename var(int ncid, int varid, const char* name);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
varid Variable ID.
name New name for the specified variable.

Errors
nc rename var returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned
status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
The new name is in use as the name of another variable. The variable ID is invalid for
the specified netCDF dataset. The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF
dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc rename var to rename the variable rh to rel hum in an existing
netCDF dataset named foo.nc:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status; /* error status */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int rh_id; /* variable ID */
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid);
68 NetCDF C Interface Guide

if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

...
status = nc_redef(ncid); /* put in define mode to rename variable */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid, "rh", &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_rename_var (ncid, rh_id, "rel_hum");
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_enddef(ncid); /* leave define mode */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
Chapter 5: Attributes 69

5 Attributes

5.1 Introduction
Attributes may be associated with each netCDF variable to specify such properties as units,
special values, maximum and minimum valid values, scaling factors, and offsets. Attributes
for a netCDF dataset are defined when the dataset is first created, while the netCDF dataset
is in define mode. Additional attributes may be added later by reentering define mode. A
netCDF attribute has a netCDF variable to which it is assigned, a name, a type, a length,
and a sequence of one or more values. An attribute is designated by its variable ID and
name. When an attribute name is not known, it may be designated by its variable ID and
number in order to determine its name, using the function nc inq attname.
The attributes associated with a variable are typically defined immediately after the
variable is created, while still in define mode. The data type, length, and value of an
attribute may be changed even when in data mode, as long as the changed attribute requires
no more space than the attribute as originally defined.
It is also possible to have attributes that are not associated with any variable. These are
called global attributes and are identified by using NC GLOBAL as a variable pseudo-ID.
Global attributes are usually related to the netCDF dataset as a whole and may be used
for purposes such as providing a title or processing history for a netCDF dataset.
Operations supported on attributes are:
• Create an attribute, given its variable ID, name, data type, length, and value.
• Get attribute’s data type and length from its variable ID and name.
• Get attribute’s value from its variable ID and name.
• Copy attribute from one netCDF variable to another.
• Get name of attribute from its number.
• Rename an attribute.
• Delete an attribute.

5.2 Create an Attribute: nc put att type

The function nc put att type adds or changes a variable attribute or global attribute of an
open netCDF dataset. If this attribute is new, or if the space required to store the attribute
is greater than before, the netCDF dataset must be in define mode.

Usage
Although it’s possible to create attributes of all types, text and double attributes are ade-
quate for most purposes.
int nc_put_att_text (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
size_t len, const char *tp);
int nc_put_att_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type xtype, size_t len, const unsigned char *up);
int nc_put_att_schar (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type xtype, size_t len, const signed char *cp);
70 NetCDF C Interface Guide

int nc_put_att_short (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,

nc_type xtype, size_t len, const short *sp);
int nc_put_att_int (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type xtype, size_t len, const int *ip);
int nc_put_att_long (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type xtype, size_t len, const long *lp);
int nc_put_att_float (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type xtype, size_t len, const float *fp);
int nc_put_att_double (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type xtype, size_t len, const double *dp);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
varid Variable ID of the variable to which the attribute will be assigned or
NC GLOBAL for a global attribute.
name Attribute name. Must begin with an alphabetic character, followed by zero or
more alphanumeric characters including the underscore (’ ’). Case is significant.
Attribute name conventions are assumed by some netCDF generic applications,
e.g., units as the name for a string attribute that gives the units for a netCDF
variable. For examples of attribute conventions section “Attribute Conventions”
in The NetCDF Users’ Guide.
xtype One of the set of predefined netCDF external data types. The type of this pa-
rameter, nc type, is defined in the netCDF header file. The valid netCDF exter-
nal data types are NC BYTE, NC CHAR, NC SHORT, NC INT, NC FLOAT,
and NC DOUBLE. Although it’s possible to create attributes of all types,
NC CHAR and NC DOUBLE attributes are adequate for most purposes.
len Number of values provided for the attribute.
tp, up, cp, sp, ip, lp, fp, or dp
Pointer to one or more values. If the type of values differs from the netCDF
attribute type specified as xtype, type conversion will occur. See section “Type
Conversion” in The NetCDF Users Guide.

Errors
nc put att type returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the
returned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The variable ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• The specified netCDF type is invalid.
• The specified length is negative.
• The specified open netCDF dataset is in data mode and the specified attribute would
expand.
• The specified open netCDF dataset is in data mode and the specified attribute does
not already exist.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.
• The number of attributes for this variable exceeds NC MAX ATTRS.
Chapter 5: Attributes 71

Example
Here is an example using nc put att double to add a variable attribute named valid range
for a netCDF variable named rh and a global attribute named title to an existing netCDF
dataset named foo.nc:

#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status; /* error status */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int rh_id; /* variable ID */
static double rh_range[] = {0.0, 100.0};/* attribute vals */
static char title[] = "example netCDF dataset";
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_redef(ncid); /* enter define mode */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid, "rh", &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_put_att_double (ncid, rh_id, "valid_range",
NC_DOUBLE, 2, rh_range);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_put_att_text (ncid, NC_GLOBAL, "title",
strlen(title), title)
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_enddef(ncid); /* leave define mode */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

5.3 Get Information about an Attribute: nc inq att Family

This family of functions returns information about a netCDF attribute. All but one of these
functions require the variable ID and attribute name; the exception is nc inq attname.
Information about an attribute includes its type, length, name, and number. See the
nc get att family for getting attribute values.

The function nc inq attname gets the name of an attribute, given its variable ID and
number. This function is useful in generic applications that need to get the names of all
the attributes associated with a variable, since attributes are accessed by name rather than
number in all other attribute functions. The number of an attribute is more volatile than
the name, since it can change when other attributes of the same variable are deleted. This
is why an attribute number is not called an attribute ID.

The function nc inq att returns the attribute’s type and length. The other functions
each return just one item of information about an attribute.
72 NetCDF C Interface Guide

Usage
int nc_inq_att (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type *xtypep, size_t *lenp);
int nc_inq_atttype(int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type *xtypep);
int nc_inq_attlen (int ncid, int varid, const char *name, size_t *lenp);
int nc_inq_attname(int ncid, int varid, int attnum, char *name);
int nc_inq_attid (int ncid, int varid, const char *name, int *attnump);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
varid Variable ID of the attribute’s variable, or NC GLOBAL for a global attribute.
name Attribute name. For nc inq attname, this is a pointer to the location for the
returned attribute name.
xtypep Pointer to location for returned attribute type, one of the set of predefined
netCDF external data types. The type of this parameter, nc type, is defined in
the netCDF header file. The valid netCDF external data types are NC BYTE,
NC CHAR, NC SHORT, NC INT, NC FLOAT, and NC DOUBLE. If this
parameter is given as ’0’ (a null pointer), no type will be returned so no variable
to hold the type needs to be declared.
lenp Pointer to location for returned number of values currently stored in the at-
tribute. For attributes of type NC CHAR, you should not assume that this
includes a trailing zero byte; it doesn’t if the attribute was stored without a
trailing zero byte, for example from a FORTRAN program. Before using the
value as a C string, make sure it is null-terminated. If this parameter is given
as ’0’ (a null pointer), no length will be returned so no variable to hold this
information needs to be declared.
attnum For nc inq attname, attribute number. The attributes for each variable are
numbered from 0 (the first attribute) to natts-1, where natts is the number of
attributes for the variable, as returned from a call to nc inq varnatts.
attnump For nc inq attid, pointer to location for returned attribute number that specifies
which attribute this is for this variable (or which global attribute). If you
already know the attribute name, knowing its number is not very useful, because
accessing information about an attribute requires its name.

Errors
Each function returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned
status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The variable ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• The specified attribute does not exist.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.
• For nc inq attname, the specified attribute number is negative or more than the number
of attributes defined for the specified variable.
Chapter 5: Attributes 73

Example
Here is an example using nc inq att to find out the type and length of a variable attribute
named valid range for a netCDF variable named rh and a global attribute named title in
an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status; /* error status */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int rh_id; /* variable ID */
nc_type vr_type, t_type; /* attribute types */
int vr_len, t_len; /* attribute lengths */

...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_NOWRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid, "rh", &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_att (ncid, rh_id, "valid_range", &vr_type, &vr_len);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_inq_att (ncid, NC_GLOBAL, "title", &t_type, &t_len);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

5.4 Get Attribute’s Values:nc get att type

Members of the nc get att type family of functions get the value(s) of a netCDF attribute,
given its variable ID and name.

Usage
int nc_get_att_text (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
char *tp);
int nc_get_att_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
unsigned char *up);
int nc_get_att_schar (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
signed char *cp);
int nc_get_att_short (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
short *sp);
int nc_get_att_int (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
int *ip);
int nc_get_att_long (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
long *lp);
int nc_get_att_float (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
float *fp);
int nc_get_att_double (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
double *dp);
74 NetCDF C Interface Guide

ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.

varid Variable ID of the attribute’s variable, or NC GLOBAL for a global attribute.
name Attribute name.
tp
up
cp
sp
ip
lp
fp
dp Pointer to location for returned attribute value(s). All elements of the vector of
attribute values are returned, so you must allocate enough space to hold them.
For attributes of type NC CHAR, you should not assume that the returned
values include a trailing zero byte; they won’t if the attribute was stored without
a trailing zero byte, for example from a FORTRAN program. Before using the
value as a C string, make sure it is null-terminated. If you don’t know how much
space to reserve, call nc inq attlen first to find out the length of the attribute.

Errors
nc get att type returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the re-
turned status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The variable ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• The specified attribute does not exist.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.
• One or more of the attribute values are out of the range of values representable by the
desired type.

Example
Here is an example using nc get att double to determine the values of a variable attribute
named valid range for a netCDF variable named rh and a global attribute named title in
an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc. In this example, it is assumed that we don’t
know how many values will be returned, but that we do know the types of the attributes.
Hence, to allocate enough space to store them, we must first inquire about the length of
the attributes.
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status; /* error status */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int rh_id; /* variable ID */
int vr_len, t_len; /* attribute lengths */
double *vr_val; /* ptr to attribute values */
char *title; /* ptr to attribute values */
extern char *malloc(); /* memory allocator */
Chapter 5: Attributes 75

...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_NOWRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid, "rh", &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
/* find out how much space is needed for attribute values */
status = nc_inq_attlen (ncid, rh_id, "valid_range", &vr_len);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_inq_attlen (ncid, NC_GLOBAL, "title", &t_len);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);

/* allocate required space before retrieving values */

vr_val = (double *) malloc(vr_len * sizeof(double));
title = (char *) malloc(t_len + 1); /* + 1 for trailing null */

/* get attribute values */

status = nc_get_att_double(ncid, rh_id, "valid_range", vr_val);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_get_att_text(ncid, NC_GLOBAL, "title", title);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
title[t_len] = ’\0’; /* null terminate */
...

5.5 Copy Attribute from One NetCDF to Another:

nc copy att
The function nc copy att copies an attribute from one open netCDF dataset to another. It
can also be used to copy an attribute from one variable to another within the same netCDF.

Usage
int nc_copy_att (int ncid_in, int varid_in, const char *name,
int ncid_out, int varid_out);
ncid_in The netCDF ID of an input netCDF dataset from which the attribute will be
copied, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
varid_in ID of the variable in the input netCDF dataset from which the attribute will
be copied, or NC GLOBAL for a global attribute.
name Name of the attribute in the input netCDF dataset to be copied.
ncid_out The netCDF ID of the output netCDF dataset to which the attribute will be
copied, from a previous call to nc open or nc create. It is permissible for the
input and output netCDF IDs to be the same. The output netCDF dataset
should be in define mode if the attribute to be copied does not already exist for
the target variable, or if it would cause an existing target attribute to grow.
76 NetCDF C Interface Guide

varid_out
ID of the variable in the output netCDF dataset to which the attribute will be
copied, or NC GLOBAL to copy to a global attribute.

Errors
nc copy att returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned
status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The input or output variable ID is invalid for the specified netCDF dataset.
• The specified attribute does not exist.
• The output netCDF is not in define mode and the attribute is new for the output
dataset is larger than the existing attribute.
• The input or output netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc copy att to copy the variable attribute units from the variable
rh in an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc to the variable avgrh in another existing
netCDF dataset named bar.nc, assuming that the variable avgrh already exists, but does
not yet have a units attribute:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status; /* error status */
int ncid1, ncid2; /* netCDF IDs */
int rh_id, avgrh_id; /* variable IDs */
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_NOWRITE, ncid1);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_open("bar.nc", NC_WRITE, ncid2);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid1, "rh", &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid2, "avgrh", &avgrh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_redef(ncid2); /* enter define mode */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
/* copy variable attribute from "rh" to "avgrh" */
status = nc_copy_att(ncid1, rh_id, "units", ncid2, avgrh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_enddef(ncid2); /* leave define mode */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
Chapter 5: Attributes 77

5.6 Rename an Attribute: nc rename att

The function nc rename att changes the name of an attribute. If the new name is longer
than the original name, the netCDF dataset must be in define mode. You cannot rename
an attribute to have the same name as another attribute of the same variable.

Usage
int nc_rename_att (int ncid, int varid, const char* name,
const char* newname);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create
varid ID of the attribute’s variable, or NC GLOBAL for a global attribute
name The current attribute name.
newname The new name to be assigned to the specified attribute. If the new name is
longer than the current name, the netCDF dataset must be in define mode.

Errors
nc rename att returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned
status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The specified variable ID is not valid.
• The new attribute name is already in use for another attribute of the specified variable.
• The specified netCDF dataset is in data mode and the new name is longer than the
old name.
• The specified attribute does not exist.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc rename att to rename the variable attribute units to Units for
a variable rh in an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status; /* error status */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int rh_id; /* variable id */
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_NOWRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid, "rh", &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
/* rename attribute */
status = nc_rename_att(ncid, rh_id, "units", "Units");
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
78 NetCDF C Interface Guide

5.7 Delete an Attribute: nc del att

The function nc del att deletes a netCDF attribute from an open netCDF dataset. The
netCDF dataset must be in define mode.

Usage
int nc del att (int ncid, int varid, const char* name);
ncid NetCDF ID, from a previous call to nc open or nc create.
varid ID of the attribute’s variable, or NC GLOBAL for a global attribute.
name The name of the attribute to be deleted.

Errors
nc del att returns the value NC NOERR if no errors occurred. Otherwise, the returned
status indicates an error. Possible causes of errors include:
• The specified variable ID is not valid.
• The specified netCDF dataset is in data mode.
• The specified attribute does not exist.
• The specified netCDF ID does not refer to an open netCDF dataset.

Example
Here is an example using nc del att to delete the variable attribute Units for a variable rh
in an existing netCDF dataset named foo.nc:
#include <netcdf.h>
...
int status; /* error status */
int ncid; /* netCDF ID */
int rh_id; /* variable ID */
...
status = nc_open("foo.nc", NC_WRITE, &ncid);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
status = nc_inq_varid (ncid, "rh", &rh_id);
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
...
/* delete attribute */
status = nc_redef(ncid); /* enter define mode */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_del_att(ncid, rh_id, "Units");
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
status = nc_enddef(ncid); /* leave define mode */
if (status != NC_NOERR) handle_error(status);
Appendix A: Summary of C Interface 79

Appendix A Summary of C Interface

const char* nc_inq_libvers (void);
const char* nc_strerror (int ncerr);

int nc_create (const char *path, int cmode, int *ncidp);

int nc_open (const char *path, int mode, int *ncidp);
int nc_set_fill (int ncid, int fillmode, int *old_modep);
int nc_redef (int ncid);
int nc_enddef (int ncid);
int nc_sync (int ncid);
int nc_abort (int ncid);
int nc_close (int ncid);
int nc_inq (int ncid, int *ndimsp, int *nvarsp,
int *ngattsp, int *unlimdimidp);
int nc_inq_ndims (int ncid, int *ndimsp);
int nc_inq_nvars (int ncid, int *nvarsp);
int nc_inq_natts (int ncid, int *ngattsp);
int nc_inq_unlimdim (int ncid, int *unlimdimidp);

int nc_def_dim (int ncid, const char *name, size_t len,

int *idp);
int nc_inq_dimid (int ncid, const char *name, int *idp);
int nc_inq_dim (int ncid, int dimid, char *name, size_t *lenp);
int nc_inq_dimname (int ncid, int dimid, char *name);
int nc_inq_dimlen (int ncid, int dimid, size_t *lenp);
int nc_rename_dim (int ncid, int dimid, const char *name);

int nc_def_var (int ncid, const char *name, nc_type xtype,

int ndims, const int *dimidsp, int *varidp);
int nc_inq_var (int ncid, int varid, char *name,
nc_type *xtypep, int *ndimsp, int *dimidsp,
int *nattsp);
int nc_inq_varid (int ncid, const char *name, int *varidp);
int nc_inq_varname (int ncid, int varid, char *name);
int nc_inq_vartype (int ncid, int varid, nc_type *xtypep);
int nc_inq_varndims (int ncid, int varid, int *ndimsp);
int nc_inq_vardimid (int ncid, int varid, int *dimidsp);
int nc_inq_varnatts (int ncid, int varid, int *nattsp);
int nc_rename_var (int ncid, int varid, const char *name);
int nc_put_var_text (int ncid, int varid, const char *op);
int nc_get_var_text (int ncid, int varid, char *ip);
int nc_put_var_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const unsigned char *op);
int nc_get_var_uchar (int ncid, int varid, unsigned char *ip);
int nc_put_var_schar (int ncid, int varid, const signed char *op);
int nc_get_var_schar (int ncid, int varid, signed char *ip);
int nc_put_var_short (int ncid, int varid, const short *op);
80 NetCDF C Interface Guide

int nc_get_var_short (int ncid, int varid, short *ip);

int nc_put_var_int (int ncid, int varid, const int *op);
int nc_get_var_int (int ncid, int varid, int *ip);
int nc_put_var_long (int ncid, int varid, const long *op);
int nc_get_var_long (int ncid, int varid, long *ip);
int nc_put_var_float (int ncid, int varid, const float *op);
int nc_get_var_float (int ncid, int varid, float *ip);
int nc_put_var_double (int ncid, int varid, const double *op);
int nc_get_var_double (int ncid, int varid, double *ip);
int nc_put_var1_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
const char *op);
int nc_get_var1_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
char *ip);
int nc_put_var1_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
const unsigned char *op);
int nc_get_var1_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
unsigned char *ip);
int nc_put_var1_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
const signed char *op);
int nc_get_var1_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
signed char *ip);
int nc_put_var1_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
const short *op);
int nc_get_var1_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
short *ip);
int nc_put_var1_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
const int *op);
int nc_get_var1_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
int *ip);
int nc_put_var1_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
const long *op);
int nc_get_var1_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
long *ip);
int nc_put_var1_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
const float *op);
int nc_get_var1_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
float *ip);
int nc_put_var1_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
const double *op);
int nc_get_var1_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t *indexp,
double *ip);
int nc_put_vara_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const char *op);
int nc_get_vara_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, char *ip);
int nc_put_vara_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const unsigned char *op);
Appendix A: Summary of C Interface 81

int nc_get_vara_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,

const size_t *countp, unsigned char *ip);
int nc_put_vara_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const signed char *op);
int nc_get_vara_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, signed char *ip);
int nc_put_vara_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const short *op);
int nc_get_vara_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, short *ip);
int nc_put_vara_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const int *op);
int nc_get_vara_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, int *ip);
int nc_put_vara_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const long *op);
int nc_get_vara_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, long *ip);
int nc_put_vara_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const float *op);
int nc_get_vara_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, float *ip);
int nc_put_vara_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const double *op);
int nc_get_vara_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, double *ip);
int nc_put_vars_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const char *op);
int nc_get_vars_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
char *ip);
int nc_put_vars_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const unsigned char *op);
int nc_get_vars_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
unsigned char *ip);
int nc_put_vars_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const signed char *op);
int nc_get_vars_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
signed char *ip);
int nc_put_vars_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const short *op);
82 NetCDF C Interface Guide

int nc_get_vars_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,

const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
short *ip);
int nc_put_vars_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const int *op);
int nc_get_vars_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
int *ip);
int nc_put_vars_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const long *op);
int nc_get_vars_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
long *ip);
int nc_put_vars_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const float *op);
int nc_get_vars_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
float *ip);
int nc_put_vars_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const double *op);
int nc_get_vars_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
double *ip);
int nc_put_varm_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const ptrdiff_t *imapp, const char *op);
int nc_get_varm_text (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const ptrdiff_t *imapp, char *ip);
int nc_put_varm_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const ptrdiff_t *imapp, const unsigned char *op);
int nc_get_varm_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const ptrdiff_t *imapp, unsigned char *ip);
int nc_put_varm_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const ptrdiff_t *imapp, const signed char *op);
int nc_get_varm_schar (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const ptrdiff_t *imapp, signed char *ip);
int nc_put_varm_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
Appendix A: Summary of C Interface 83

const ptrdiff_t *imapp, const short *op);

int nc_get_varm_short (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const ptrdiff_t *imapp, short *ip);
int nc_put_varm_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const ptrdiff_t *imapp, const int *op);
int nc_get_varm_int (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const ptrdiff_t *imapp, int *ip);
int nc_put_varm_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const ptrdiff_t *imapp, const long *op);
int nc_get_varm_long (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const ptrdiff_t *imapp, long *ip);
int nc_put_varm_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const ptrdiff_t *imapp, const float *op);
int nc_get_varm_float (int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const ptrdiff_t *imapp, float *ip);
int nc_put_varm_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const ptrdiff_t *imapp, const double *op);
int nc_get_varm_double(int ncid, int varid, const size_t *startp,
const size_t *countp, const ptrdiff_t *stridep,
const ptrdiff_t * imap, double *ip);

int nc_inq_att (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,

nc_type *xtypep, size_t *lenp);
int nc_inq_attid (int ncid, int varid, const char *name, int *idp);
int nc_inq_atttype (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type *xtypep);
int nc_inq_attlen (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
size_t *lenp);
int nc_inq_attname (int ncid, int varid, int attnum, char *name);
int nc_copy_att (int ncid_in, int varid_in, const char *name,
int ncid_out, int varid_out);
int nc_rename_att (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
const char *newname);
int nc_del_att (int ncid, int varid, const char *name);
int nc_put_att_text (int ncid, int varid, const char *name, size_t len,
const char *op);
int nc_get_att_text (int ncid, int varid, const char *name, char *ip);
int nc_put_att_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type xtype, size_t len, const unsigned char *op);
84 NetCDF C Interface Guide

int nc_get_att_uchar (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,

unsigned char *ip);
int nc_put_att_schar (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type xtype, size_t len, const signed char *op);
int nc_get_att_schar (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
signed char *ip);
int nc_put_att_short (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type xtype, size_t len, const short *op);
int nc_get_att_short (int ncid, int varid, const char *name, short *ip);
int nc_put_att_int (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type xtype,size_t len, const int *op);
int nc_get_att_int (int ncid, int varid, const char *name, int *ip);
int nc_put_att_long (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type xtype, size_t len, const long *op);
int nc_get_att_long (int ncid, int varid, const char *name, long *ip);
int nc_put_att_float (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type xtype, size_t len, const float *op);
int nc_get_att_float (int ncid, int varid, const char *name, float *ip);
int nc_put_att_double (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
nc_type xtype, size_t len, const double *op);
int nc_get_att_double (int ncid, int varid, const char *name,
double *ip);
Appendix B: NetCDF 2 C Transition Guide 85

Appendix B NetCDF 2 C Transition Guide

B.1 Overview of C interface changes

NetCDF version 3 includes a complete rewrite of the netCDF library. It is about twice as
fast as the previous version. The netCDF file format is unchanged, so files written with
version 3 can be read with version 2 code and vice versa.
The core library is now written in ANSI C. For example, prototypes are used throughout
as well as const qualifiers where appropriate. You must have an ANSI C compiler to compile
this version.
Rewriting the library offered an opportunity to implement improved C and FORTRAN
interfaces that provide some significant benefits:
type safety, by eliminating the need to use generic void* pointers;
automatic type conversions, by eliminating the undesirable coupling between the
language-independent external netCDF types (NC BYTE, ..., NC DOUBLE) and
language-dependent internal data types (char, ..., double);
support for future enhancements, by eliminating obstacles to the clean addition of sup-
port for packed data and multithreading;
more standard error behavior, by uniformly communicating an error status back to the
calling program in the return value of each function.
It is not necessary to rewrite programs that use the version 2 C interface, because
the netCDF-3 library includes a backward compatibility interface that supports all the old
functions, globals, and behavior. We are hoping that the benefits of the new interface will be
an incentive to use it in new netCDF applications. It is possible to convert old applications to
the new interface incrementally, replacing netCDF-2 calls with the corresponding netCDF-3
calls one at a time. If you want to check that only netCDF-3 calls are used in an application,
a preprocessor macro (NO NETCDF 2) is available for that purpose.
Other changes in the implementation of netCDF result in improved portability, main-
tainability, and performance on most platforms. A clean separation between I/O and type
layers facilitates platform-specific optimizations. The new library no longer uses a vendor-
provided XDR library, which simplifies linking programs that use netCDF and speeds up
data access significantly in most cases.

B.2 The New C Interface

First, here’s an example of C code that uses the netCDF-2 interface:
void *bufferp;
nc_type xtype;
ncvarinq(ncid, varid, ..., &xtype, ...
...
/* allocate bufferp based on dimensions and type */
...
if (ncvarget(ncid, varid, start, count, bufferp) == -1) {
fprintf(stderr, "Can’t get data, error code = %d\n",ncerr);
/* deal with it */
86 NetCDF C Interface Guide

...
}
switch(xtype) {
/* deal with the data, according to type */
...
case NC_FLOAT:
fanalyze((float *)bufferp);
break;
case NC_DOUBLE:
danalyze((double *)bufferp);
break;
}
Here’s how you might handle this with the new netCDF-3 C interface:
/*
* I want to use doubles for my analysis.
*/
double dbuf[NDOUBLES];
int status;

/* So, I use the function that gets the data as doubles. */

status = nc_get_vara_double(ncid, varid, start, count, dbuf)
if (status != NC_NOERR) {
fprintf(stderr, "Can’t get data: %s\n", nc_strerror(status));
/* deal with it */
...
}
danalyze(dbuf);
The example above illustrates changes in function names, data type conversion, and
error handling, discussed in detail in the sections below.

B.3 Function Naming Conventions

The netCDF-3 C library employs a new naming convention, intended to make netCDF
programs more readable. For example, the name of the function to rename a variable is
now nc rename var instead of the previous ncvarrename.
All netCDF-3 C function names begin with the nc prefix. The second part of the name
is a verb, like get, put, inq (for inquire), or open. The third part of the name is typically
the object of the verb: for example dim, var, or att for functions dealing with dimensions,
variables, or attributes. To distinguish the various I/O operations for variables, a single
character modifier is appended to var:
var entire variable access var1 single value access vara array or array section access vars
strided access to a subsample of values varm mapped access to values not contiguous in
memory
At the end of the name for variable and attribute functions, there is a component indi-
cating the type of the final argument: text, uchar, schar, short, int, long, float, or double.
Appendix B: NetCDF 2 C Transition Guide 87

This part of the function name indicates the type of the data container you are using in
your program: character string, unsigned char, signed char, and so on.
Also, all macro names in the public C interface begin with the prefix NC . For example,
the macro which was formerly MAX NC NAME is now NC MAX NAME, and the former
FILL FLOAT is now NC FILL FLOAT.
As previously mentioned, all the old names are still supported for backward compatibil-
ity.

B.4 Type Conversion

With the new interface, users need not be aware of the external type of numeric variables,
since automatic conversion to or from any desired numeric type is now available. You
can use this feature to simplify code, by making it independent of external types. The
elimination of void* pointers provides detection of type errors at compile time that could
not be detected with the previous interface. Programs may be made more robust with the
new interface, because they need not be changed to accommodate a change to the external
type of a variable.
If conversion to or from an external numeric type is necessary, it is handled by the library.
This automatic conversion and separation of external data representation from internal data
types will become even more important in netCDF version 4, when new external types will
be added for packed data for which there is no natural corresponding internal type, for
example, arrays of 11-bit values.
Converting from one numeric type to another may result in an error if the target type
is not capable of representing the converted value. (In netCDF-2, such overflows can only
happen in the XDR layer.) For example, a float may not be able to hold data stored
externally as an NC DOUBLE (an IEEE floating-point number). When accessing an array
of values, an NC ERANGE error is returned if one or more values are out of the range of
representable values, but other values are converted properly.
Note that mere loss of precision in type conversion does not return an error. Thus,
if you read double precision values into an int, for example, no error results unless the
magnitude of the double precision value exceeds the representable range of ints on your
platform. Similarly, if you read a large integer into a float incapable of representing all the
bits of the integer in its mantissa, this loss of precision will not result in an error. If you
want to avoid such precision loss, check the external types of the variables you access to
make sure you use an internal type that has a compatible precision.
The new interface distinguishes arrays of characters intended to represent text strings
from arrays of 8-bit bytes intended to represent small integers. The interface supports the
internal types text, uchar, and schar, intended for text strings, unsigned byte values, and
signed byte values.
The uchar and schar functions were introduced in netCDF-3 to eliminate an ambiguity,
and support both signed and unsigned byte data. In netCDF-2, whether the external
NC BYTE type represented signed or unsigned values was left up to the user. In netcdf-3,
we treat NC BYTE as signed for the purposes of conversion to short, int, long, float, or
double. (Of course, no conversion takes place when the internal type is signed char.) In the
uchar functions, we treat NC BYTE as if it were unsigned. Thus, no NC ERANGE error
can occur converting between NC BYTE and unsigned char.
88 NetCDF C Interface Guide

B.5 Error handling

The new interface handles errors differently than netCDF-2. In the old interface, the default
behavior when an error was detected was to print an error message and exit. To get control
of error handling, you had to set flag bits in a global variable, ncopts, and to determine the
cause of an error, you had to test the value of another global variable ncerr.
In the new interface, functions return an integer status that indicates not only success
or failure, but also the cause of the error. The global variables ncerr and ncopt have
been eliminated. The library will never try to print anything, nor will it call exit (unless
you are using the netCDF version 2 compatibility functions). You will have to check the
function return status and do this yourself. We eliminated these globals in the interest
of supporting parallel (multiprocessor) execution cleanly, as well as reducing the number
of assumptions about the environment where netCDF is used. The new behavior should
provide better support for using netCDF as a hidden layer in applications that have their
own GUI interface.

B.6 NC LONG and NC INT

Where the netCDF-2 interface used NC LONG to identify an external data type corre-
sponding to 32-bit integers, the new interface uses NC INT instead. NC LONG is defined
to have the same value as NC INT for backward compatibility, but it should not be used in
new code. With new 64-bit platforms using long for 64-bit integers, we would like to reduce
the confusion caused by this name clash. Note that there is still no netCDF external data
type corresponding to 64-bit integers.

B.7 What’s Missing?

The new C interface omits three "record I/O" functions, ncrecput, ncrecget, and ncrecinq,
from the netCDF-2 interface, although these functions are still supported via the netCDF-2
compatibility interface.
This means you may have to replace one record-oriented call with multiple type-specific
calls, one for each record variable. For example, a single call to ncrecput can always be
replaced by multiple calls to the appropriate nc put var functions, one call for each variable
accessed. The record-oriented functions were omitted, because there is no simple way to
provide type-safety and automatic type conversion for such an interface.
There is no function corresponding to the nctypelen function from the version 2 interface.
The separation of internal and external types and the new type-conversion interfaces make
nctypelen unnecessary. Since users read into and write out of native types, the sizeof
operator is perfectly adequate to determine how much space to allocate for a value.
In the previous library, there was no checking that the characters used in the name of a
netCDF object were compatible with CDL restrictions. The ncdump and ncgen utilities that
use CDL permit only alphanumeric characters, " " and "-" in names. Now this restriction
is also enforced by the library for creation of new dimensions, variables, and attributes.
Previously existing components with less restrictive names will still work OK.
Appendix B: NetCDF 2 C Transition Guide 89

B.8 Other Changes

There are two new functions in netCDF-3 that don’t correspond to any netCDF-2 functions:
nc inq libvers and nc strerror. The version of the netCDF library in use is returned as
a string by nc inq libvers. An error message corresponding to the status returned by a
netCDF function call is returned as a string by the nc strerror function.
A new NC SHARE flag is available for use in an nc open or nc create call, to suppress
the default buffering of accesses. The use of NC SHARE for concurrent access to a netCDF
dataset means you don’t have to call nc sync after every access to make sure that disk
updates are synchronous. It is important to note that changes to ancillary data, such as
attribute values, are not propagated automatically by use of the NC SHARE flag. Use of
the nc sync function is still required for this purpose.
The version 2 interface had a single inquiry function, ncvarinq for getting the name,
type, and shape of a variable. Similarly, only a single inquiry function was available for
getting information about a dimension, an attribute, or a netCDF dataset. When you only
wanted a subset of this information, you had to provide NULL arguments as placeholders
for the unneeded information. The new interface includes additional inquire functions that
return each item separately, so errors are less likely from miscounting arguments.
The previous implementation returned an error when 0-valued count components were
specified in ncvarput and ncvarget calls. This restriction has been removed, so that now
functions in the nc put var and nc get var families may be called with 0-valued count com-
ponents, resulting in no data being accessed. Although this may seem useless, it simplifies
some programs to not treat 0-valued counts as a special case.
The previous implementation returned an error when the same dimension was used more
than once in specifying the shape of a variable in ncvardef. This restriction is relaxed in
the netCDF-3 implementation, because an autocorrelation matrix is a good example where
using the same dimension twice makes sense.
In the new interface, units for the imap argument to the nc put varm and nc get varm
families of functions are now in terms of the number of data elements of the desired internal
type, not in terms of bytes as in the netCDF version-2 mapped access interfaces.
Following is a table of netCDF-2 function names and names of the corresponding
netCDF-3 functions. For parameter lists of netCDF-2 functions, see the netCDF-2 User’s
Guide.
ncabort nc abort
ncattcopy
nc copy att
ncattdel nc del att
ncattget nc get att double, nc get att float, nc get att int, nc get att long,
nc get att schar, nc get att short, nc get att text, nc get att uchar
ncattinq nc inq att, nc inq attid, nc inq attlen, nc inq atttype
ncattname
nc inq attname
ncattput nc put att double, nc put att float, nc put att int, nc put att long,
nc put att schar, nc put att short, nc put att text, nc put att uchar
90 NetCDF C Interface Guide

ncattrename
nc rename att
ncclose nc close
nccreate nc create
ncdimdef nc def dim
ncdimid nc inq dimid
ncdiminq nc inq dim, nc inq dimlen, nc inq dimname
ncdimrename
nc rename dim
ncendef nc enddef
ncinquire
nc inq, nc inq natts, nc inq ndims, nc inq nvars, nc inq unlimdim
ncopen nc open
ncrecget (none)
ncrecinq (none)
ncrecput (none)
ncredef nc redef
ncsetfill
nc set fill
ncsync nc sync
nctypelen
(none)
ncvardef nc def var
ncvarget nc get vara double, nc get vara float, nc get vara int, nc get vara long,
nc get vara schar, nc get vara short, nc get vara text, nc get vara uchar
ncvarget1
nc get var1 double, nc get var1 float, nc get var1 int, nc get var1 long,
nc get var1 schar, nc get var1 short, nc get var1 text, nc get var1 uchar
ncvargetg
nc get varm double, nc get varm float, nc get varm int, nc get varm long,
nc get varm schar, nc get varm short, nc get varm text, nc get varm uchar,
nc get vars double, nc get vars float, nc get vars int, nc get vars long,
nc get vars schar, nc get vars short, nc get vars text, nc get vars uchar
ncvarid nc inq varid
ncvarinq nc inq var, nc inq vardimid, nc inq varname, nc inq varnatts,
nc inq varndims, nc inq vartype
Appendix B: NetCDF 2 C Transition Guide 91

ncvarput nc put vara double, nc put vara float, nc put vara int, nc put vara long,
nc put vara schar, nc put vara short, nc put vara text, nc put vara uchar
ncvarput1
nc put var1 double, nc put var1 float, nc put var1 int, nc put var1 long,
nc put var1 schar, nc put var1 short, nc put var1 text, nc put var1 uchar
ncvarputg
nc put varm double, nc put varm float, nc put varm int, nc put varm long,
nc put varm schar, nc put varm short, nc put varm text, nc put varm uchar,
nc put vars double, nc put vars float, nc put vars int, nc put vars long,
nc put vars schar, nc put vars short, nc put vars text, nc put vars uchar
ncvarrename
nc rename var
(none) nc inq libvers
(none) nc strerror
92 NetCDF C Interface Guide
Appendix C: Error Codes 93

Appendix C Error Codes

#define NC_NOERR 0 /* No Error */

#define NC_EBADID (-33) /* Not a netcdf id */

#define NC_ENFILE (-34) /* Too many netcdfs open */
#define NC_EEXIST (-35) /* netcdf file exists && NC_NOCLOBBER */
#define NC_EINVAL (-36) /* Invalid Argument */
#define NC_EPERM (-37) /* Write to read only */
#define NC_ENOTINDEFINE (-38) /* Operation not allowed in data mode */
#define NC_EINDEFINE (-39) /* Operation not allowed in define mode */
#define NC_EINVALCOORDS (-40) /* Index exceeds dimension bound */
#define NC_EMAXDIMS (-41) /* NC_MAX_DIMS exceeded */
#define NC_ENAMEINUSE (-42) /* String match to name in use */
#define NC_ENOTATT (-43) /* Attribute not found */
#define NC_EMAXATTS (-44) /* NC_MAX_ATTRS exceeded */
#define NC_EBADTYPE (-45) /* Not a netcdf data type */
#define NC_EBADDIM (-46) /* Invalid dimension id or name */
#define NC_EUNLIMPOS (-47) /* NC_UNLIMITED in the wrong index */
#define NC_EMAXVARS (-48) /* NC_MAX_VARS exceeded */
#define NC_ENOTVAR (-49) /* Variable not found */
#define NC_EGLOBAL (-50) /* Action prohibited on NC_GLOBAL varid */
#define NC_ENOTNC (-51) /* Not a netcdf file */
#define NC_ESTS (-52) /* In Fortran, string too short */
#define NC_EMAXNAME (-53) /* NC_MAX_NAME exceeded */
#define NC_EUNLIMIT (-54) /* NC_UNLIMITED size already in use */
#define NC_ENORECVARS (-55) /* nc_rec op when there are no record vars */
#define NC_ECHAR (-56) /* Attempt to convert between text & numbers */
#define NC_EEDGE (-57) /* Edge+start exceeds dimension bound */
#define NC_ESTRIDE (-58) /* Illegal stride */
#define NC_EBADNAME (-59) /* Attribute or variable name
contains illegal characters */
/* N.B. following must match value in ncx.h */
#define NC_ERANGE (-60) /* Math result not representable */
#define NC_ENOMEM (-61) /* Memory allocation (malloc) failure */

#define NC_EVARSIZE (-62) /* One or more variable sizes violate

format constraints */
#define NC_EDIMSIZE (-63) /* Invalid dimension size */
94 NetCDF C Interface Guide
Index 95

Index

A create flag, setting default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

abnormal termination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 creating a dataset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
aborting define mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 creating variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
aborting definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
adding attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
adding attributes using nc redef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
D
adding dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 datasets, overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
adding dimensions using nc redef . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 deleting attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
adding variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 dimensions, adding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
adding variables using nc redef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 dimensions, number of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
API, C summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
appending data to variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
array section, reading mapped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 E
array section, reading subsampled . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 entire variable, reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
array section, writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 entire variable, writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
array section, writing mapped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 error codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
array section, writing subsampled . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 error codes, list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
array, writing mapped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 error handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
attnum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
attnump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
attributes, adding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 F
attributes, character string . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 fill values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
attributes, copying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
attributes, creating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
attributes, deleting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 I
attributes, deleting, introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 inquiring about attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
attributes, finding length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 inquiring about variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
attributes, getting information about . . . . . . . . . . 71 interface descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
attributes, ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
attributes, inquiring about . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
attributes, introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 L
attributes, number of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 length of attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
attributes, operations on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 lenp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
attributes, reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 linking to netCDF library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
attributes, renaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 list of error codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
attributes, writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

M
B mapped array section, writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
backing out of definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 mapped array, writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
backward compatibility with v2 API . . . . . . . . . . 85
bit lengths of data types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
byte vs. char fill values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 N
byte, zero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
nc create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
nc create, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
C nc create, flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
C API summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 nc enddef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
call sequence, typical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 nc enddef, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
canceling definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 nc open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
character-string data, writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 nc open, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
code templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 NC 64BIT OFFSET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 14
compiling with netCDF library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 nc abort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
copying attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 nc abort, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
96 NetCDF C Interface Guide

NC CLOBBER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 14 nc open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

nc close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 nc open, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
nc close, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 nc put att, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 6
nc close, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 nc put att type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
nc copy att . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 nc put att type, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
nc copy att, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 nc put var, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
nc create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 nc put var type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
nc create, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 nc put var type, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
nc create, flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 nc put var1 type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
nc create, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 nc put var1 type, example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
nc def dim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 nc put vara type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
nc def dim, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 nc put vara type, example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
nc def dim, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 6 nc put varm type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
nc def var . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 nc put varm type, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
nc def var, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 nc put vars type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
nc def var, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 nc put vars type, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
nc del att . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 nc redef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
nc del att, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 nc redef, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
nc enddef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 nc redef, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
nc enddef, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 nc rename att . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
nc enddef, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 nc rename att, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
nc get att, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 5 nc rename dim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
nc get att type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 nc rename dim, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
nc get att type, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 nc rename var . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
nc get attname, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 nc rename var, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
nc get var, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 5 nc set default format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
nc get var type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 nc set default format, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
nc get var type, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 nc set fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
nc get var1 type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 nc set fill, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
nc get var1 type, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 NC SHARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 11, 14
nc get vara type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 NC SHARE, and buffering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
nc get vara type, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 NC SHARE, in nc open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
nc get varm type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 NC SHARE, in nc open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
nc get varm type, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 nc strerror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
nc get vars type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 nc strerror, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
nc get vars type, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 nc strerror, introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
nc inq Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 nc sync . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
nc inq Family, example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 nc sync, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
nc inq, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 NC WRITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 17
nc inq att Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 ncid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
nc inq att Family, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 netCDF 2 transition guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
nc inq att, typical use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 netCDF library version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
nc inq dim Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
nc inq dim Family, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
nc inq dim, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 R
nc inq dimid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 reading attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
nc inq dimid, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 reading entire variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
nc inq dimid, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 reading netCDF dataset with known names . . . . . 4
nc inq libvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 reading netCDF dataset with unknown names. . . 5
nc inq libvers, example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 reading single value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
nc inq var . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 renaming attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
nc inq var, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 renaming variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
nc inq var, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
nc inq varid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
nc inq varid, example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 S
nc inq varid, typical use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 single value, reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
NC NOCLOBBER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 14 subsampled array, writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
NC NOWRITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 17
Index 97

T write fill mode, setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

templates, code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 writing array section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
transition guide, netCDF 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 writing attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
writing character-string data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
writing entire variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
V writing mapped array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
writing mapped array section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
variable, renaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 writing single value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
variable, writing entire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 writing subsampled array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
variables, adding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
variables, creating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
variables, getting name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 X
variables, inquiring about . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 XDR library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
variables, number of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 xtypep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
varid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
version of netCDF, discovering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Z
zero byte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
W zero length edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
write errors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 zero valued count vector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
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98 NetCDF C Interface Guide