What Kind of File Type is Mine?

At the time this guide was written there were 6 different kinds of files, the list file, column file, labeled column file, point file, binary file and track file. It is possible that these are still the only file types, but since this program was built with the capability of expansion of types, that there are more kinds of files you can use which are not listed here.

What kind of data do you have?

The IDV and the NetCDF format were designed with grids of data in mind; in other words, regularly spaced, consistent data. The elevation of the Earth at ever intersection of latitude and longitude lines would be a good example of this kind of data. These strictures can be broken, if you have data that is not consistent in a grid then you should look at the point file type and track file type. If your data is in grid form then the other 4 file types will hopefully be able to help you.

What is in the file besides the data itself?

This program is not designed to handle very much garbage or superfluous data, for the most part it expects consistent, ordered data. However, metadata and some extra data can be used. If you have the minimal amount of data (no coordinates, extra data, or anything besides specific values) then the list file or binary file will be the closest. If you have information for each point, the latitude, longitude, depth, time, so forth, then the two column files are more appropriate (but keep in mind, they will both expect rigidly ordered files as well).

What does the data look like?

Here the names of the files should be the most helpful in determining the appropriate type. A column file has columns in it, list file, just a long list of data. If your file is not ASCII and can not be so visualized, the only non-ASCII format currently supported is the binary format, which is similar to the list format but with binary data instead of ASCII. Both the point file and track file are in column format. The file types each have a short section of a possible example file, and full example files can be found under ‘bin’ in this folder.

Still Don’t Know?

Looking through the description of each file type should shed more light on the subject, as well as looking at the example files and even opening the program and seeing what data is requested for each one.