@martinjuckes I have seen, read, and considered your opposition to data variables of the form "x(x)". Also your opposition to allowing the form "string x(x)" as an auxiliary coordinate variable. I understand fully that you don't want them to be allowed. I believe and agree that the intention was to disallow the form "x(x)" for data variables. (You and your in the sentences above and below are to be considered as plural. Dang you, English!)
I also believe that your stated opposition is not supported by the actual written content of the Climate & Forecast Metadata Conventions document or the NetCDF Users Guide document when read rigorously. This is why I have been talking about being more precise in the language used in CF. I'm not trying to be unkind. I'm trying to be persistent. I want the intentions of CF to be reflected clearly in the documents of CF. If the consensus or majority view is that such forms should not be allowed, then let's put unambiguous language using phrases that include things such as "shall" and "shall not" (or "must and "must not") into CF that make it clear. I am not alone in the view that, at minimum, a form such as 'string x(x)' should be considered a valid auxiliary coordinate variable, so I think that is clearly a topic for continued discussion. We can spin it off into a separate issue if we like. To make myself abundantly clear about the form "x(x)" — I'm not opposed to adding clear language that disallows this form for data variables. I think you make a reasonable argument for excluding it. I feel strongly that if we think this form should be excluded we need to add clear language that proscribes such a form, because the current CF contents have no such language. We can also spin off a new issue to discuss changes related to data variables of the form "x(x)". This issue is about updating the definition of coordinate variable, so it seems like a natural place to address all these issues. -- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub: https://github.com/cf-convention/cf-conventions/issues/174#issuecomment-596629798 This list forwards relevant notifications from Github. It is distinct from [email protected], although if you do nothing, a subscription to the UCAR list will result in a subscription to this list. To unsubscribe from this list only, send a message to [email protected].
