CFStandardNames: CF Standard names table

In ncdfCF: Easy Access to NetCDF Files with CF Metadata Conventions

CF Standard names table

Description

The CF Metadata Conventions define a large number of standard names for physical parameters, including axes and data variables. This class accesses the standard names table. For each of the entries in the table two properties are provided: the canonical unit and a description. These properties are retrieved when searching for a given name.

Access to this class is through the CF environment. Use the CF$standard_names$find("name_of_interest") method to access a particular standard name. It is strongly recommended not to instantiate this class manually as that may introduce problems with accessing the underlying XML file.

The XML table is retrieved from the CF Metadata Conventions web site here and stored locally in the cache of the ncdfCF package. A check is performed periodically for an updated version, which will then be downloaded automatically. The frequency of the update check can be controlled with the CF.options$cache_stale_days option.

Active bindings

is_loaded

(read-only) Flag to determine if the standard names table is available.

Methods

Public methods

• CFStandardNames$new()

• CFStandardNames$print()

• CFStandardNames$find()

• CFStandardNames$load()

• CFStandardNames$clone()

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Method new()

Initialize an instance of this class. This is done automatically when the package is loaded.

Usage

CFStandardNames$new()

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Method print()

Print the version number of the standard names table in use, if it is loaded. The table is loaded automatically when it is first used.

Usage

CFStandardNames$print()

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Method find()

Retrieve the information on the specified names.

Usage

CFStandardNames$find(names)

Arguments

names

A character vector with the names to search the standard names table for.

Returns

If an entry with a value in names is found, returns a data.frame with with with the canonical units and a description of the name. If no names are found in the table NULL is returned.

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Method load()

Load the standard names table so that it's contents may be used in display and analysis. Note that the table may be downloaded (4.3MB at version 91) if not available or stale.

Usage

CFStandardNames$load()

Returns

Self, invisibly.

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Method clone()

The objects of this class are cloneable with this method.

Usage

CFStandardNames$clone(deep = FALSE)

Arguments

deep

Whether to make a deep clone.

References

https://cfconventions.org/cf-conventions/cf-conventions.html#standard-name

ncdfCF documentation built on Sept. 13, 2025, 5:07 p.m.