@DocOtak, I agree the "coordinates" attribute in xarray is a bad example of simply reading a text attribute. But it is also a good example of a lower level fully encapsulating that functionality, therefore hiding the details. Encapsulating functions are part of my thinking about allowing **`string`** arrays for CF simple lists.
I do not know how MATLAB handles character and string attributes. However I found that NCL automatically converts **`char`** attributes to scalar **`strings`**. Because of this and lack of another inquiry function, there is no good way at the NCL user level, to distinguish **`char`** and **`string`** file attributes. The same may be true with python-netCDF4 and some other programming languages. This ability to distinguish would be essential for my **`string`** array proposal to work. I come from a Fortran perspective where the raw file data type is right up front. Making a library function to handle this distinction would be natural. I feel this could be done for CF simple list attributes, for all languages, without much trouble. -- You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub: https://github.com/cf-convention/cf-conventions/issues/141#issuecomment-410853335
