Re: HDF, netCDF, etc question

[Randall Skelton <rhskelto(at)atm.ox.ac.uk>]

I suggest the use of an SQL database :-)  (If you use postgresql I have a
set of DLM wrappers that allow you to query directly from IDL to the
database back-end).  I know there are a couple of astronomy groups using
SQL for astronomy images and I use them all the time for storing huge
datasets of atmospheric spectra and ancillary parameters.  If you only
have a few dozen images and a few parameters then HDF and netCDF would
both work but if you start having lots of data to work with, then these
files get cumbersome and quickly become difficult to manage.  
Nevertheless, they are very nice if you need to distribute data...

Cheers,
Randall

On Fri, 6 Jul 2001, ronn kling wrote:

> Hi All,
> 
> Which format would be best for a large number of large sequential images
> along with  ancillary data such as field of view, exposure time, etc?
> Discrimators would be things like speed in reading them in, ease to pull out
> the images and information.
> 
> I don't have a lot of experience with these things so any and all opinions
> are welcomed.
> 
> Thanks,
> Ronn
> 
> 
> --
> Ronn Kling
> KRS, inc.
> email: ronn@rlkling.com
> "Application Development with IDL"  programming book updated for IDL5.4!
> "Calling C from IDL, Using DLM's to extend your IDL code" NEW BOOK!
> Shareware and Freeware at: http://www.rlkling.com/
> 
> 
> 
> 
>