Metadata File Formats

Metadata can be provided in one (or more if so desired) of four different formats - CSV, JSON, YAML and XML. This page describes the required layout of each of these formats.

CSV

Metadata in CSV files must be formatted with one attribute per line, starting with the name of the attribute, followed by its value (which can have commas in it), optionally followed by type=, for example:

attribute_name1,attribute_value1
attribute_name2,153,type=integer
attribute_name3,attribute_value3, value3 continued, type=string

This will write to three attributes into the netCDF file:

attribute_name1 will be written with the value attribute_value1.
attribute_name2 will be written with the value 153 as an integer.
attribute_name3 will be written with the value attribute_value3, value3 continued as a string.

JSON

The following example will produce the same end result as above:

{
    "attribute_name1": "attribute_value1",
    "attribute_name2": {
        "value": 153,
        "type": "int"
    },
    "attribute_name3": {
        "value": "attribute_value3, value3 continued",
        "type": "string"
    }
}

In the JSON format, if the value given to the attribute name is a single value (as in attribute_name1), then that will be the attributes value, with the default options for type applied. If the value given is a dictionary (as in attribute_name2 and attribute_name3, then it must have a key value for the value of the attribute, and can optionally have type given.

YAML

The same information as shown in the previous examples can be given in a YAML file:

attribute_name1: attribute_value1
attribute_name2:
  value: 153
  type: int
attribute_name3:
  value: attribute_value3, value3 continued
  type: string

XML

These metadata can also be given in an XML file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<attributes>
    <attribute_name1>
        <value>attribute_value1</value>
    </attribute_name1>
    <attribute_name2>
        <value>153</value>
        <type>integer</type>
    </attribute_name2>
    <attribute_name3>
        <value>attribute_value3, value3 continued</value>
        <type>string</value>
    </attribute_name3>
</attributes>