Strategy for learning to use NCL

Introduction

This module describes basic strategies for learning NCL. Since different people have different optimal learning styles, several techniques are presented. You may want to mix and match to suit your own style.

NCL scientific tutorial

If you are a person who prefers to jump right in to a new language, the best starting point may be the NCL scientific tutorial. If, on the other hand, you prefer to read more about the underlying principles of the language, then you may prefer to start by reading the User Guide.

User Guide

Read through the modules listed in the NCL Command Language module. As you read various modules, you may want to run NCL interactively to test various features; you can do this by using the NCL scientific tutorial concurrently with the User Guide. See the NCL user environment module for information about how to set up your environment and run NCL.

Use the "Roadmap" button on the control panel to get an idea of where NCL fits into the big picture. Use the "Contents" button on the control panel to see a listing of the contents of the entire User Guide, and where NCL fits in.

Reference Manual

For a more structured approach, and for details, you need to study the NCL Reference Manual.

Examples

No matter what approach you choose, it will be valuable for you to see examples of running NCL scripts. A starting point is to look at the NCL codes that are contained in the NCL scientific tutorial. The tutorial does not cover all of NCL's functionality, so you may also want to run some of the many NCL examples contained in the Quick Start Guide and available via the ng4ex command. These examples vary from simple Basic examples to more complex overlay and animation examples.

Quick Start Guide examples begin at the Pick a utility module. The examples available via the ncargex command can be accessed with the following useful calls:

   man ng4ex
Gives details of how to use the ng4ex command.

   ng4ex -list -A
Lists the names of all available ng4ex examples.

   ng4ex -list -NCL
Lists the names of all available ng4ex NCL examples.

   ng4ex -NCL
Copies all ng4ex NCL scripts and associated data files into the local directory and runs them, creating output graphics.

   ng4ex -n ex00n
Copies the NCL script and associated data files (if any) into the local directory, but does not run it. ex00n must be the name of a legal ng4ex example.

   ng4ex ex00n
Copies the NCL script and associated data files (if any) into the local directory and runs it. ex00n must be the name of a legal ng4ex example.

Data files and HLUs

The two primary uses of NCL are for interactive manipulation of data files and interfacing with the HLUs. The most common format for data file input and output is netCDF. If you are going to work with netCDF datasets, you can learn about it from the UNIDATA netCDF pages. If you want to produce graphics via the NCAR Graphics HLUs, you will want to look at the modules listed in the High Level Utilities overview.

User Guide Control Panel

NG4.1 Home, Index, Examples, Glossary, Feedback, UG Contents, UG WhereAmI?


$Revision: 1.10 $ $Date: 1998/06/15 22:08:55 $