isconform

Check two variables for array conformance (same shape and size).

Available in version 6.5.0 and later.

Prototype

	function isconform (
		x  ,    
		y       
	)

Arguments

A scalar or array variable of any type.

A scalar or array variable of any type.

Return value

Returns True if x and y are array conformant; False otherwise.

Description

Variable arrays are considered to conform if they have the same dimensionality (ie; same number of dimensions (rank) and identical dimension sizes). In NCL, a scalar variable is special in the sense that scalars conform to any array.

Note: Variables can 'conform' but they may have different variable types.

See Also

conform, conform_dims

Examples

Example 1:

       a  = 1                  ; scalar (integer)
       b  = 2                  ;   "        "
       ab = isconform(a, b)    ; ab=True; both scalars of same types

       c  = 3.0                ; scalar (float)                
       ac = isconform(a, c)    ; ac=True; both scalars of different types

       d  = (/1,99/)           ; integer array
       ad = isconform(a, d)    ; ad=True; array conformant because 'a' is a scalar

       e  = (/1,50, 99/)       ; integer array
       de = isconform(d, e)    ; de=False  ; arrays non-conformant because of size difference

       ntim = 10
       klev = 5
       nlat = 3
       mlon = 2
     
       w    = random_normal(0,1, (/ntim,nlat,mlon/))       ; (10, 3, 2)     ,  rank=3
       xf   = random_normal(0,1, (/ntim,nlat,mlon/))       ; (10, 3, 2)
       xd   = random_normal(0,1d,(/ntim,nlat,mlon/))       ; (10, 3, 2)  
       y    = random_normal(0,1, (/ntim,mlon,nlat/))       ; (10, 2, 3)
       z    = random_normal(0,1, (/nlat,mlon,ntim/))       ; ( 2, 3,10)
       z4   = random_normal(0,1 ,(/ntim,klev,nlat,mlon/))  ; (10, 5, 3, 2)  ,  rank=4  

       wxf  = isconform(w, xf)   ; wxf=True   ; conformant    
                                              ; same rank and dimension sizes
       wxd  = isconform(w, xd)   ; wxd=True   ; conformant    
                                              ; same rank and dimension sizes
                                              ; different types
       wy   = isconform(w, y)    ; wy =False  ; not conformant
                                              ; same rank but size differences
       wz   = isconform(w, z)    ; wz =False  ; not conformant
                                              ; same rank but size differences
       wz4  = isconform(w, z4)   ; wz4=False  ; not conformant
                                              ; different ranks

Example 2: Create functions that use isconform as the basis for testing multiple variables. For the 4-variable test, include a text string.

    undef("isconform_3var")
    function isconform_3var(x, y, z)
    ;
    ; USAGE: tf_3var = isconform_3var(FLUX, T, Q )
    ;
    local tf
    begin
      tf = (/False, False, False/)
      tf(0) = isconform(x, y)
      tf(1) = isconform(x, z)
      tf(2) = isconform(y, z)

      if (all(tf)) then
          return(True)
      else
          return(False)
      end if
    end
    ;---
    undef("isconform_4var")
    function isconform_4var(text[1]:string, w, x, y, z)
    ;
    ; USAGE: tf_4var = isconform_4var("Moisture Transport: " , FLUX, T, Q, ZG )
    ;
    local tf
    begin
      tf = (/False, False, False, False, False, False/)
      tf(0) = isconform(w, x)
      tf(1) = isconform(w, y)
      tf(2) = isconform(w, z)
      tf(3) = isconform(x, y)
      tf(4) = isconform(x, z)
      tf(5) = isconform(y, z)

      if (all(tf)) then
          print("isconform_4var: "+text+": all arrays are conformant")
          return(True)
      else
          print("isconform_4var: "+text+": all arrays are NOT conformant")
          return(False)
      end if
    end