ncinfo
Return information about NetCDF data source
Syntax
finfo = ncinfo(source)
vinfo = ncinfo(source,varname)
ginfo = ncinfo(source,groupname)
Description
finfo = ncinfo(source) returns information in the structure finfo about the entire NetCDF data source specified by source, where source can be the name of a NetCDF file or the URL of an OPeNDAP NetCDF data source.
vinfo = ncinfo(source,varname) returns information in the structure vinfo about the variable varname in source.
ginfo = ncinfo(source,groupname) returns information in the structure ginfo about the group groupname in source (only NetCDF4 data sources).
Note: Use ncdisp for visual inspection of a NetCDF source.
Input Arguments
source Text string specifying the name of a NetCDF file or the URL of an OPeNDAP NetCDF data source.
varname Text string specifying the name of a variable in a NetCDF file or OPeNDAP data source.
groupname Text string specifying the name of a group in a NetCDF file or OPeNDAP data source.
Output Arguments
finfoA structure with the following fields.
FieldDescription
Filename NetCDF file name or OPeNDAP URL
Name '/', indicating the full file
Dimensions An array of structures with these fields:
Name Dimension name
Length Current length of dimension
Unlimited Boolean flag, true for unlimited dimensions
Variables An array of structures with these fields:
Name Variable name
Dimensions Associated dimensions
Size Current variable size
Datatype MATLAB® datatype
Attributes Associated variable attributes
ChunkSize Chunk size, if defined. [] otherwise
FillValue Fill value of the variable.
DeflateLevel Deflate filter level, if enabled.
Shuffle Shuffle filter enabled flag
Attributes An array of global attributes with these fields:
Name Attribute name
Value Attribute value
Groups An array of groups present in the file, for netcdf4 files; An empty array ([]) for all other NetCDF file formats.
Format The format of the NetCDF file
vinfo A structure containing only the variable fields from finfo.
Field Description
Filename NetCDF file name
Name Name of the variable
Dimensions Dimensions of the variable
Size Size of the current variable
Datatype MATLAB datatype
Attributes Attributes associated with the variable
ChunkSize Chunk size, if defined. [] otherwise.
FillValue Fill value used in the variable.
DeflateLevel Deflate filter level, if enabled.
Shuffle Shuffle filter enabled flag
Format The format of the NetCDF file
Examples
Search for dimensions with names that start with the character x in the file.
finfo = ncinfo('example.nc');
disp(finfo);
dimNames = {finfo.Dimensions.Name};
dimMatch = strncmpi(dimNames,'x',1);
disp(finfo.Dimensions(dimMatch));
Obtain the size of a variable and check if it has any unlimited dimensions.
vinfo = ncinfo('example.nc','peaks');
varSize = vinfo.Size;
disp(vinfo);
hasUnLimDim = any([vinfo.Dimensions.Unlimited]);
Find all unlimited dimensions defined in a group.
ginfo = ncinfo('example.nc','/grid2/');
unlimDims = [ginfo.Dimensions.Unlimited];
disp(ginfo.Dimensions(unlimDims));