Section: 11.13 Efficient Dynamic Schema Changes

11.13 Efficient Dynamic Schema Changes

In netCDF-4, it is possible to efficiently add new metadata

Without copying data, you can add
- new dimensions
- new variables
- new attributes
- new groups
- new user-defined types
- new symbols to existing enumerations?
- new members to existing compound types?
Lessens importance of getting schema design right the first time
Makes archive maintenance easier
Just as in netCDF-3, old programs just ignore new data objects, continue to work OK