Glossary

• A
• B
• F
• I
• N
• P

A

ASCII File - A plain text file that can be opened and viewed in a standard text editor.

B

Binary File - A file which contains data in binary format, this is not a text file and as such cannot be read into or viewed in an editor.

F

Function - A function is a piece of code which performs a certain task. It accepts multiple inputs, but unlike a procedure it only produces a single output.

I

IDL Command Line - This is the IDL prompt (IDL>) which you get by typing IDL in a shell window.

N

NetCDF File - A self-describing scientific data access interface and library file used to store geographical data sets.

P

Procedure - A procedure is a piece of code which performs a certain task. It accepts multiple inputs and outputs.