xnetcdf

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xnetcdf is a Python open source library for representing datasets, in a variety of formats and accessed through diverse Python backends, with a common netCDF view.

A dataset format can be one of many formats that can be logically mapped to the netCDF Enhanced Data Model.

A dataset is mapped to an xnetcdf.Dataset object, which contains netCDF groups (xnetcdf.Group objects), netCDF dimensions (xnetcdf.Dimension objects), netCDF variables (xnetcdf.Variable objects), and attributes. A variable is associated with dimensions and may contain attributes; and a group may contain sub-groups, dimensions, variables, and attributes.

Backends

xnetcdf has no native capability for directly opening a dataset, rather external backend libraries are relied on to read the dataset which can then be mapped to the common netCDF view.

xnetcdf supports the following backends for giving access to a dataset: pyfive, zarr, ppfive, netCDF4, scipy.io.netcdf_file, h5py, and xarray

Dataset formats

Supported dataset formats that can be read by at least one of the supported backends are: netCDF-4, netCDF-3, Zarr v3, Zarr v2, Kerchunk, UK Met Office PP, and UK Met Office fields file.

Dataset definitions

A dataset can be passed to xnetcdf.Dataset with one of the following dataset definitions:

• A string-like path name to the dataset (such as str or pathlib.Path instance).

• A file-like object that accesses the dataset (such as io.BufferedReader or the result of an fsspec file system open)

• A directory-like object that accesses the dataset (such as fsspec.mapping.FSMap)

• Any of the following allowed backend objects that accesses the dataset: pyfive.File, zarr.Group, xarray.Dataset, xarray.DataTree, ppfive.File, netCDF4.Dataset, scipy.io.netcdf_file, and h5py.File.

• Any object x that accesses the dataset and has the same API as one of the allowed backend objects. In pratice, this means any object x for which isinstance(x, <backend-object>) is True for any <backend-object> from the selection of allowed backend objects.

A simple example

An example of how to use xnetcdf to open a dataset and inspect its contents:

>>> import xnetcdf
>>> nc = xnetcdf.Dataset('path/to/your/dataset')  # Open the dataset
>>> print(nc)  # Inspect the dataset contents
path/to/your/dataset: <xnetcdf.Dataset: /, 3 dimensions, 6 variables, 0 groups>
    Dimensions:
        lat: <xnetcdf.Dimension: /lat, size=5>
        bounds2: <xnetcdf.Dimension: /bounds2, size=2>
        lon: <xnetcdf.Dimension: /lon, size=8>
    Variables:
        lat_bnds: <xnetcdf.Variable: /lat_bnds, shape=(5, 2), dimensions=(/lat, /bounds2)>
        lat: <xnetcdf.Variable: /lat, shape=(5,), dimensions=(/lat,)>
        lon_bnds: <xnetcdf.Variable: /lon_bnds, shape=(8, 2), dimensions=(/lon, /bounds2)>
        lon: <xnetcdf.Variable: /lon, shape=(8,), dimensions=(/lon,)>
        time: <xnetcdf.Variable: /time, shape=(), dimensions=()>
        q: <xnetcdf.Variable: /q, shape=(5, 8), dimensions=(/lat, /lon)>
>>> nc['lat'].attrs  # Get a variable's attributes
{'bounds': 'lat_bnds',
 'standard_name': 'latitude',
 'units': 'degrees_north'}
>>> nc['lat'][...]  # Get a variable's data array
array([-75., -45.,   0.,  45.,  75.])

The dataset is presented in terms of netCDF groups, dimensions and variables (there is only the root group in this example), which can contain attributes and data arrays.

See the documentation for more information and examples.

Dependencies

xnetcdf is tested against Python versions 3.10 to 3.14. It may also work with other Python versions.

The only dependency required run the software, besides Python, is numpy.

However, each of the backend libraries pyfive, netCDF4, zarr, scipy.io.netcdf_file, xarray, ppfive, and h5py can only be used if it also installed. It is not a problem, in general, if a backend library is not installed, as it just reduces the size of the pool of backends that are available for reading a dataset.

Installation

xnetcdf can be installed using pip using the command:

$ pip install xnetcdf

or, to also install all of the backend libraries:

$ pip install xnetcdf[all]

conda packages, which also install all of the backend libraries, are also available from conda-forge:

$ conda install -c conda-forge xnetcdf

To install from source in your home directory use:

$ pip install --user ./xnetcdf

The library can also be imported directly from the xnetcdf source root directory:

$ pip install -e . 

Conda-forge feedstock

Package repository conda-forge feedstock.

Contributing

See the Contributing page of the documentation for details.

Development

Testing

Run the pytest test suite:

$ cd xnetcdf
$ pytest

Documentation

Build the documentation with sphinx:

$ cd xnetcdf/docs
$ make html

View the documentation locally at xnetcdf/docs/build/html/index.html.