We describe an all-Java package developed and released for storing and retrieving multidimensional data in self-describing files. This package is totally compatible with the widely used netCDF library (with its Fortran, C, C++, and Perl interfaces) and hence facilitates cross-language use of scientific data.
Unidata's netCDF-for-Java package encompasses all the functionality of the original netCDF library with respect to metadata (i.e., names, dimensions, units of measure, and other attributes) and the storage of multiple variables (i.e., arrays) in a single dataset or file. Unlike the current netCDF software, the new package supports remote access to netCDF data via Javaûs Remote Method Invocation (RMI). The new software realizes an all-new, object-oriented abstraction for multidimensional array access (Unidata's MultiArray package) and provides a framework for accessing non-netCDF data via the same MultiArray interfaces