OPeNDAP User Guide -- 2.2.1 WWW Interface

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2.2.1 WWW Interface

Each OPeNDAP server implements a service called the WWW Interface. This is a way to use a standard Web client, such as Netscape, to get information about the data served by a specific server.⁷ The WWW Interface has two modes of operation: the directory level and the file level.

If an OPeNDAP URL references a directory instead of a file on the server machine, the server produces a listing similar to that shown in figure 2.2.1.

WWW Interface - Directory Level

Clicking on a dataset shown in the directory-level listing will produce an HTML form similar to the one in figure 2.2.1. The top line in the window ("Data URL") shows a URL that makes a request for an OPeNDAP dataset. The windows below it show the variables that make up the dataset. You can edit the form to select the data you'd like to see from this dataset, and the WWW Interface will edit the Data URL so that it only requests the data you are interested in. When done, you can push the "ASCII" button, to see an ASCII representation of the data you've requested. Netscape cannot handle binary data, so if you want to use the binary data, you should copy the URL in the Data URL window to the OPeNDAP client you'd like to use.

WWW Interface

Tom Sgouros, August 25, 2004