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A discussion group for the version 2 of the CF Conventions.

Charter/Scope

1. What use-cases cannot be met with the classic model, or could be met much more easily with the extended model?

2. Possible things to deprecate (because there is a better way to do it) ?

3. Backwards compatibility is desirable, but not required if there is a substantial advantage in simplicity and clarity. So respect precedent and don't constrain important innovation. There has to be a strong advantage for making incompatible changes.

4. If we introduce a new way to do something, we should carefully consider removing the old way, because it is easier for users of the convention if there is only one way to do something.

5. Clarify the “level of obligation” for CF rules and elements, including dependencies. Which rules/attributes should be considered mandatory, and which optional or conditional?

Process:

1. Use the "Issues" feature to discuss. Create a new issue as needed to keep discussions concise.

2. Use the wiki to create a "discussion summary" document. This is a collaborative document which anyone can write to. (add your name to your edits). The wiki can have multiple pages - rearrange as needed to keep things clear.

3. At some point we may consider transitioning to a collection of versioned documents in the repository.

Background

• Developing Conventions for NetCDF-4, by Russ Rew, UCAR Unidata Program