Implementing Dapper for in-situ profile data

[Joe Sirott]

Hi Mike,

DChart uses OpenDap for all data access, even for local data. It should 
work with any Dapper compatible OpenDap server. The dapperload.sh 
command loads commands into Dapper, not DChart, and support formats 
other than EPIC netCDF.

I should mention that, whatever OpenDap server is used, the server must 
deliver outer sequence data quickly (a few seconds) in response to a 
query or DChart will not work well.

By the way, I think it might actually be easier to create netCDF files 
from your database and load them into Dapper then it would be to write 
your own database layer for an OpenDap SQL based server, especially if 
the database is large and is not updated often (> 1 hour, say). You 
could use any language with SQL and netCDF support (Java, Python, Ruby, 
Perl, etc) to generate the files and run the loader program.

- Joe

McCann, Mike wrote:
> Hi Joe,
>  
> Thanks. I see that Thomas responded, I'll respond in another email.
>  
> Another question: If I make our profile CTD data available via a 
> dapper/dods url can it be dapperload'ed so that DChart can access it?  
> My initial examination of the dapperload.sh command options and source 
> code indicates that only EPIC netCDF files can be loaded.
>  
> -Mike
>
>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     *From:* Joe Sirott [mailto:Joe.Sirott at noaa.gov]
>     *Sent:* Thursday, October 26, 2006 5:56 PM
>     *To:* McCann, Mike
>     *Cc:* Tech DODS
>     *Subject:* Re: Implementing Dapper for in-situ profile data
>
>     Hi Mike,
>
>     Another possibility -- have you spoken to Thomas Loubrieu at
>     Coriolis about their Dapper compliant server (at
>     http://www.ifremer.fr/dap4cor/ <http://www.ifremer.fr/dap4cor/>) ?
>     I believe that they store all of their data in an Oracle database.
>     I'm not sure if the software is publicly available or not.
>
>     - Joe
>
>     McCann, Mike wrote:
>>     DODS techies,
>>
>>     The discussion over the dapper specification has been interesting to follow.
>>
>>     I would like to contribute to the discussion, but feel that I need some experience with implementing a server for our data which reside in a relational database.  
>>
>>     I know that I could extract the data into EPIC-compliant netCDF files and load them into dapper with dapperload.sh, but am hoping that there might be a better way.  I've experimented a bit with the OPeNDAP DRDS server but don't see how I can write a das/dds to mimic the dapper spec, viz:
>>
>>       
>>>     -------------------------------
>>>
>>>     Profile / Sounding Collection: (same as Dapper "CTD measurements" example)
>>>
>>>      Sequence {
>>>       lat, lon, time;
>>>       id;       
>>>       Sequence {
>>>         z;		
>>>         v1, v2, ...
>>>       } obs;             
>>>      } profile;         
>>>
>>>     -------------------------------
>>>         
>>     Is this possible with DRDS?  Or, is the reason there is so much discussion regarding the spec is that this capability is in the process of being implemented?
>>
>>     Some guidance would be welcome and I'd be glad to contribute if I can.
>>
>>     -Mike
>>
>>     --
>>     Mike McCann 
>>     Software Engineer
>>     Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
>>     7700 Sandholdt Road
>>     Moss Landing, CA 95039-9644
>>     Voice: (831) 775-1769 Fax: (831) 775-1646 http://www.mbari.org
>>
>>       
>