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EPIC I/O Library (EPSLIB)

The EPIC I/O library (is also called EPIC System Library, epslib) consists of a set of routines which provides data file Input/Output for the EPIC system for management, display and analysis of oceanographic or meteorological data. Epslib supports multiple data file formats transparently, as illustrated in the schematic diagram below:

Application programs call a "file independent layer", which is a set of generic input/output routines to open data files and read or write data. A lower level "file dependent layer" of routines actually reads and writes each of the supported data file formats. In this way, application programs are independent of the format of the data files on the disk. Additional formats can be supported by the addition of a single set of file format dependent routines for the new data file format, and application programs will transparently read and write data files in any of the supported formats without modification.

The EPIC System library supports multiple data file formats. At present, supported formats include the Unidata netCDF format and the Classic EPIC format. Read only support is also provided for generic ASCII file formats and ASCII file formats used internally at PMEL for processing PROTEUS mooring data (hpf format). Classic EPIC data files are binary sequential files designed for observational data with three of the four space-time axes represented by a single point. NetCDF data files are multi-dimensional, and are transportable between many different types of hardware platforms. Additional data file formats can easily be supported as well.

The EPIC system library consists of a "format independent layer", which is a set of generic input/output routines which are called by application programs to open data files, read or write "attributes", axes and data, and then close the files. These routines do not directly manipulate the data files on the disk. Rather, there is a lower level "format dependent layer" of routines for each of the supported data formats. These format dependent routines perform the actual data file manipulations for each of the supported formats. In this way, application programs are freed of dependence on the physical structure of the data files on the disk, additional formats can be supported by the addition of a single set of format dependent routines for the new data file format, and application programs will transparently read and write data files in any of the supported formats without modification.

EPIC system library routines are callable from Fortran and from C, and are supported for VAX/VMS and for Unix machines. PMEL provides very simple example application programs, in Fortran and C, which can easily be used as templates for more complex programs. The EPS library and the example programs are available via anonymous ftp: ftp://ftp.pmel.noaa.gov/eps/.

• EPIC System Library User's Guide -- on-line EPSLIB user's manual
• MexEPS -- interface between Matlab and EPIC System
• Obtaining epslib -- anonymous ftp site to download EPSLIB
• EPIC-netCDF convention -- information about EPIC-netCDF convention
• Creating EPIC data files -- information on how to create EPIC data files