5.0 Using FORTRAN to read neCDF files

The simplest way to create the Fortran code you need to read a netCDF is to use the fortran programs cdf2fortran.f (at the above site or http://www-c4.ucsd.edu/~cids/software/visual.html ) or gennet.for ( www.unidata.ucar.edu/packages/netcdf/contrib.html and http://www.coaps.fsu.edu/WOCE/html/wcdtools.htm ). These programs read a netCDF file and create another fortran program with the required calls to the netCDF libraries. This machine generated program only needs to be compiled (with the correct include file and netCDF libraries). When executed this code fragment can then read the netCDF file and is ready for the fortran code to be added to undertake the analysis required by the user. The variable names reflect the internal structure of the netCDF file and this machine generated code is quite readable by humans.

5.1 Worked example of cdf2fortran

The cdf2fortran.f code has been tested on the samples of the netCDF files for the WOCE Global Data V2. Retrieve cdf2fortran tar file and use the make file to compile the code. You will have to check that the include directory and the LIBS directory are correct for your particular installation of the netCDF libraries. For Windows machines some extra work may be needed to get these routines to compile.  On Unix/Linux machines to compile cdf2fortran just type

> make cdf2fortran

To execute the cdf2fortran code

> cdf2fortran rcm00683.cdf

Generated fortran program called readnet.f

>

Either edit readnet.f file and correct the "include 'netcdf.inc'" file for your particular installation and compile

> f77 readnet.f

or compile using the -I option to get the correct include file and the -l option to get the correct library files

> f77 -c readnet.f -I/usr/local/netcdf/include

> f77 -o readnet readnet.o -l/usr/local/netcdf/lib/libnetcdf.a

Sometimes there is a problem at compilation because the variable names may have the same name as a parameter name (eg Dimension time(time)).  Changing the parameter name fixes this problem and now you should have a complete fortran code able to read your particular netCDF file. The result of compiling the above for a sample of the curent meter data on WOCE Global Data CD ROM2 is shown in Appendix 1 but is equally applicable to the netcdf files in WOCE Global Data V3.

Although this piece of code is quite long (compared to the examples shown below) it is reliable and is quick to develop compared reading files that are not self-describing (eg plain ascii files). The sample code fragment can be generalised to read the netCDF data for all of the different current meter data. The program gennet.for works in a very similar way and produces a slightly better documented fortran code. See Appendix 4 for fixing a bug in the readnet.for programs created by gennet.for.