Error Short Names

These short names are designed to be independent of the software implementation. Error reports will also include a software specific code that relates to the code segment detecting the error.

variable_ncattribute_mipvalues

Consistency of variable NetCDF attributes with MIP tables.

Test of the consistency of the NetCDF attributes of a variable with those specified in a MIP tables entry. The attributes tested will generally include the standard_name, long_name, units, cell_methods, _FillValue and missingvalue. The last 3 have special treatment. The "cell_methods" attribute has a compound structure. The test should parse the structure to evaluate whether the information specified in the MIP tables is given correctly. Inclusion of additional information in the "cell_methods" attribute should be allowed. The two attributes "_FillValue" and "missingvalue" provide the same information. "_FillValue" is given special treatment by the NetCDF libraries, "missingvalue" is included for compatibility with earlier standards. They should be both present or both omitted (for some MIPs it may be specified that they should always be present) and if present, they should have the same value (generally specified in the MIP requirements).

global_ncattribute_present

Presence of required NetCDF global attributes.

Test that required global NetCDF attributes are present in the data file.

variable_ncattribute_present

Presence of required NetCDF variable attributes.

Test that required NetCDF variable attributes are present in the data file.

variable_in_group

The data variable is a valid member of the indicated collection of variables.

Test that the data variable is in a list of variables associated with a specified collection: in the context of MIPs this means checking that the variable is present in the relevant MIP table.

variable_type

Verify that the data variable is of the appropriate data type (e.g. single precision or double precision)

global_ncattribute_cv

Global NetCDF attribute controlled vocabularies.

Verify that NetCDF global attribute values are consistent with controlled vocabulary constraints.

filename_filemetadata_consistency

Consistency of NetCDF global attributes and variable name with file name.

Verify the consistency between the file name and the internal metadata of the file.

exception

Compliance checker failed to run as designed.

An exception error code indicates that the software crashed while running checks. Details should be in the processing log files.

parse_filename

File names will generally consist of a sequence of elements separated by a special character. This test checks that the correct number of elements are present (or that the number of elements is in the correct range).

parse_filename_timerange

If the file name contains a time range, this test will check that the given element has the correct syntax (usually "start-end", where "start" and "end" are strings such as "19900101" or "199001").

filename_timerange_length

Verify that the number of characters used to specify the time range fits the requirements. This will be 6 if the time range is specified to the nearest month, 8 if it is specified to the nearest day.

time_attributes

Check that a "time" variable is present and has appropriate attributes, including units and, if required, bounds. The bounds attribute is required if the "cell_methods" attribute on the data variable specifies that the data is not instantaneous.

pressure_levels

Check attributes, bounds and values of pressure levels. Where data is interpolated to pressure levels, the MIP data request generally defines the levels required.

height_levels

Check attributes, bounds and values of height levels.

grid_mapping

Check the grid_mapping attributes.

Check the attributes specifying the grid in the grid_mapping variable. The usage of the "grid_mapping" variable is defined in the etCDF CF Convention.

rotated_latlon_attributes

Check the attributes of the rotated latitude and longitude coordinate variables. This test checks variable attributes (e.g. long_name, standard_name, units, and axis attributes) and the type of the variable.

rotated_latlon_domain

Check the domain specified by rotated latitude and longitude coordinate variables. There may be some tolerance specified, rather than requiring an exact match.

regular_grid_attributes

Check the attributes of the latitude and longitude coordinate variables.

regular_grid_domain

Check the domain specified by latitude and longitude coordinate variables. This may also include a check on the grid spacing.

filename_timerange_value

Check the time range specified in the file name.

Check that the time range specified in the file name is consistent with the data request (e.g. some variables should be in blocks of 10 years, starting on January 1st in the 1st year of a decade).