Inspect a variable

Goal: read exact values, understand coordinates, and inspect a specific point of a dataset slice.

Open and select files

ncv data.nc                      # single file
ncv run*.nc                      # shell glob (expanded by ncv itself too)
ncv a.nc b.nc c.nc               # explicit list; { and } switch files

Source files are opened read-only and never modified.

Move through variables and slices

Read the status bar

The status line reports, for the displayed slice:

• the active variable name (subgroup variables appear qualified, e.g. physics/temperature),
• min / max / mean and a finite count — non-finite values are counted but never averaged into the statistics,
• the active time label and depth label when the axes exist.

Hover the mouse anywhere on the map to see that cell’s latitude, longitude, and source value. On files without recognizable coordinate variables the readout falls back to source indices — it says so explicitly rather than inventing coordinates.

Pin a point and inspect its history

1. Click a map cell — it gets a ◆ marker.
2. Press Enter to open its time-series plot, or p for the plot chooser: t time series, d scatter, h histogram, k CDF, u vertical profile.
3. Hover other points and press m to add them to the same plot for multi-trace comparison.

Curvilinear and projected grids

Files with 2-D latitude/longitude fields render in projected mode. Press g to switch between logical and projected grid. In projected mode the pixel → coordinate lookup is nearest-coordinate; the status bar discloses the approximation and keeps the original source indices visible. See Data fidelity for what this does and does not guarantee.

Related

• Style the map — palettes, limits, masks
• Keyboard reference
• Supported formats