Feature To NetCDF (Multidimension)
Release 9.2 Last modified November 9, 2006	Print all topics in : "Tools"

Converts a point featureclass to a netCDF file.

Usage tips

• The default variable name is the same as the field name specified in the field_to_variable parameter.

• The type of variable is the same as the type of field.

• Special fields Shape.X and Shape.Y are always available in the drop-down list. They can be used for specifying variable names for x-coordinates and y-coordinates, respectively. If variable names are not specified or Shape.X and Shape.Y are not added to the list, the x- and y-coordinates are exported with default variable names. The default variable names for Shape.X and Shape.Y are lon and lat, respectively, when the feature is in geographic coordinate system. In all other cases, the default variable names for Shape.X and Shape.Y are x and y, respectively.

• Special fields Shape.Z and Shape.M are available for features with Z and M values. To export Z and M values, you must add Shape.Z and Shape.M to the list. The default variable names for Shape.Z and Shape.M are z and m, respectively.

• The default dimension name is the same as the field name specified in the field_to_dimension parameter.

• The size of a dimension is equal to the number of unique values in the respective field.

• If no field is specified as a row dimension, then a dimension RecordID is created in the output netCDF file with a size equal to the number of features.

• The following environment settings affect this tool: workspace and scratch workspace.

Command line syntax
An overview of the Command Line window
FeatureToNetCDF_md <in_features> <field {variable} {units}; field {variable} {units}...> <out_netCDF_file> {field {dimension} {units}; field {dimension} {units}...}

Parameter	Explanation	Data Type
<in_features>	The input feature class.	Feature Layer
<field {variable} {units}; field {variable} {units}...>	The field or fields used to create variables in the netCDF file. Four special fields, Shape.X, Shape.Y, Shape.Z, and Shape.M are available in the drop-down list. They can be used for exporting x-coordinates or longitude, y-coordinates or latitude, Z values, and M values of input features, respectively. field — A field in the input feature attribute table. {variable} — The netCDF variable name. {units} — The units of the data represented by the field.	(String String String; String String String;...)
<out_netCDF_file>	The output netCDF file. The filename must have a .nc extension.	File
{field {dimension} {units}; field {dimension} {units}...}	The field or fields used to create dimensions in the netCDF file. field — A field in the input feature attribute table. {dimension} — The netCDF dimension name. {units} — The units of the data represented by the field.	(String String String; String String String;...)

Data types for geoprocessing tool parameters

Command line example

FeatureToNetCDF C:\Data\WLStations.shp "Shape.X xc; Shape.Y yc; Shape.M chainame mile; WL WaterLevel meter; Q Discharge" D:\Data\HydroFile.nc StationID

Scripting syntax
About getting started with writing geoprocessing scripts
FeatureToNetCDF_md (in_features, fields_to_variables, out_netCDF_file, fields_to_dimensions)

Parameter	Explanation	Data Type
in_features (Required)	The input feature class.	Feature Layer
fields_to_variables (Required)	The field or fields used to create variables in the netCDF file. Four special fields, Shape.X, Shape.Y, Shape.Z, and Shape.M are available in the drop-down list. They can be used for exporting x-coordinates or longitude, y-coordinates or latitude, Z values, and M values of input features, respectively. field — A field in the input feature attribute table. {variable} — The netCDF variable name. {units} — The units of the data represented by the field.	(String String String; String String String;...)
out_netCDF_file (Required)	The output netCDF file. The filename must have a .nc extension.	File
fields_to_dimensions (Optional)	The field or fields used to create dimensions in the netCDF file. field — A field in the input feature attribute table. {dimension} — The netCDF dimension name. {units} — The units of the data represented by the field.	(String String String; String String String;...)

Data types for geoprocessing tool parameters

Script example

# FeatureToNetCDF.py
# Description: Converts a feature class to a netCDF file.
# Requirements: None
# Author: ESRI

# Create the Geoprocessor object
import arcgisscripting, sys, string, os
gp = arcgisscripting.create()

try:
    # Set local variables
    InFeatures = "C:\Data\WLStations.shp"
    InFieldToVariable = "Shape.X xc; Shape.Y yc; Shape.M chainame mile; WL WaterLevel meter; Q Discharge"
    OutNetCDFFile = "D:\Data\HydroFile.nc"
    InFieldToDimension = "StationID"

    # Process: FeatureToNetCDF
    gp.FeatureToNetCDF (InFeatures, InFieldToVariable, OutNetCDFFile, InFieldToDimension)

except:
    # Print error message if an error occurs
    print gp.GetMessages()

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