Issues with Specific NVODS/OPeNDAP Servers
There are problems with our servers that have crept in over time. List them here along with ideas about fixing the code.
HDF
The HDF4 server cannot serve some HDF4 files. The reasons seem rooted in the odd way the server was written. The HDF5 server is just sitting around waiting for someone to write some tests. I doubt it works any more given that the DAP implementation has changed so much since the server was written.
FreeForm
This server is not broken
per se but there are some many files it cannot serve. Maybe it should be replaced by a Perl/Python server? The problem is that the server requires data to 'line up by columns.' This is a real drag because it means that the server cannot serve CSV data files. Bummer. A Per/Python server could/would be something that people could hack for their data.
MatLAB
The MatLAB server is two mayor versions behind MatLAB itself. The server cannot serve ML files that use any of the new ML data types. Ouch. People are using this code! Ouch...
JGOFS
The JGOFS server cannot make full use of the CE evaluator. It probably needs the DAP to be refactored so that the CE evaluator is easier to subclass. This would make it possible for the server to strip off parts of the CE whcih cannot be handled by the data's JGOFS server. This would a design similar to the one used by the Java RDBMS server.
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JamesGallagher - 15 Sep 2003
