ncdump [-c] [-h] [-v var1,...] [-b lang] [-f
lang] [-l len]
          [-n name] [-d f_digits[,d_digits]]
fileWhere:
-c        Show the values of
coordinate variables (variables that
          are also dimensions) as well as the declarations of all
          dimensions,  variables,  and  attribute  values.   Data
          values  of non-coordinate variables are not included in
          the output.  This is the most suitable  option  to  use
          for  a  brief  look  at the structure and contents of a
          netCDF file.
-h        Show only the
header
information in the output, that is
          the  declarations  of dimensions, variables, and attributes but no data values for any variables.  The output
          is  identical  to  using  the -c option except
that the
          values of coordinate variables are not  included.   (At
          most one of -c or -h options may be
present.) 
-v     
var1,...,varn
-c
          or  -h options, is to include data values for
all variables in the output.
-b lang
lang begins with
C or c, then C
          language  conventions will be used (zero-based indices,
          last dimension varying fastest).  If lang 
begins
with
          F  or  f, then Fortran language
conventions will be
          used  (one-based  indices,  first   dimension   varying
          fastest).   In  either case, the data will be presented
          in the same order; only the  annotations  will  differ.
          This  option  is  useful  for  browsing  through  large
          volumes of multidimensional data.     
-f lang
lang
          begins with C or c,  then  C
language conventions
          will  be used (zero-based indices, last dimension varying
fastest).  If lang begins with  F  or
f, then
          Fortran  language  conventions  will be used (one-based
          indices, first dimension varying fastest).   In  either
          case,  the  data  will  be presented in the same order;
          only the annotations will differ.  This option  may  be
          useful  for  piping data into other filters, since each
          data value appears on a separate  line,  fully
identified.
-l len
-n name
ncgen -b 
in generating a default netCDF file name. By
          default, ncdump constructs this name from the
last component  of  the  pathname  of  the input netCDF file by
          stripping off any extension it has.  Use the -n 
option
          to  specify a different name.  Although the output file
          name used by ncgen -b 
can be specified, it may be wise
          to  have  ncdump change the default name to avoid
inadvertantly overwriting a valuable netCDF file when using
          ncdump, editing the resulting CDL file, and using
ncgen
          -b to generate a new netCDF file from  the  edited
CDL
file.
-d float_digits[,double_digits]
float_digits significant digits.  If
double_digits is
          also   specified,   double-precision   values  will  be
          displayed with that  many  significant  digits.   If  a
          variable has a `C_format' attribute, that overrides any
          specified floating-point default.  In  the  absence  of
          any   -d  specifications,  floating-point  and
double-
          precision data are displayed with 7 and 15  significant
          digits  respectively.  CDL files can be made smaller if
          less precision is required.  If both floating-point and
          double-presision  precisions  are  specified,  the  two
          values must appear separated by a comma (no blanks)  as
          a  single  argument to the command.  If you really want
          every last  bit  of  precision  from  the  netCDF  file
          represented  in the CDL file for all possible floating-
          point values, you will have to  specify  this  with  -d
          9,17.ncdump generates an  ASCII  representation  of  a
specified
     netCDF file on standard output.  The ASCII representation is
     in a form called CDL (``network Common Data form
Language'')
     that  can  be  viewed,  edited,  or serve as input to ncgen.
     ncgen is a companion program
that can generate a binary
     netCDF  file from a CDL file.  Hence ncgen and ncdump can
be
     used  as  inverses  to  transform  the  data  representation
     between  binary  and ASCII representations.  See ncgen for a
     description of CDL and netCDF representations.
ncdump defines a default format used for each type of
netCDF
     data,  but  this can be changed if a `C_format' attribute is
     defined for a netCDF variable.  In this  case,  ncdump 
will
     use  the `C_format' attribute to format each value.  For example,
if floating-point data for the netCDF variable Z is
     known  to  be  accurate to only three significant digits, it
     would be appropriate to use the variable attribute
Z:C_format = "%.3g"
ncdump may also be used as a simple browser for netCDF
data
     files,  to  display  the dimension names and sizes; variable
     names, types, and shapes; attribute names  and  values;  and
     optionally, the values of data for all variables or selected
     variables in a netCDF file.
foo.nc:
ncdump -c foo.nc
foo.nc, using C-style indexing for
the
     annotations:
ncdump -b c foo.nc > foo.cdl
uwind and
vwind from
     the  netCDF  file foo.nc, and show the floating-point
data
     with only three significant digits of precision:
ncdump -v uwind,vwind -d 3 foo.nc
omega, using Fortran
conventions for indices, and changing the netCDF dataset  name  in
     the resulting CDL file to omega:
ncdump -v omega -f fortran -n omega foo.nc > Z.cdl