What is a .CDF file?
The .cdf extension is used by NetCDF datasets and Wolfram Computable Document Format files.
NetCDF dataset
- What it is
- A Unidata NetCDF classic dataset - array-based scientific data. Analyser identifies it from its CDF magic.
- How to tell it apart
- NetCDF begins with the bytes CDF.
- Did you know
- The CDF in a NetCDF file's first bytes stands for Common Data Form, an early self-describing-data idea that is now everywhere in science.
- Climate scientists layer the CF (Climate and Forecast) conventions on top of NetCDF so each variable carries standard names, units and grid information.
- Since version 4, NetCDF can store its data inside HDF5, gaining compression and datasets far larger than the classic format's limits.
Wolfram CDF
- What it is
- A Wolfram Computable Document Format file - an interactive Mathematica notebook or document. Analyser identifies it.
- How to tell it apart
- A Wolfram CDF is a Mathematica notebook container.
- Did you know
- A Wolfram CDF can embed live, interactive Mathematica computations that a reader manipulates without owning Mathematica.
- Wolfram launched the Computable Document Format in July 2011 alongside a free CDF Player, so documents with live calculations could reach readers who had no Mathematica licence.
- It was the delivery format behind the Wolfram Demonstrations Project's thousands of interactive visualisations, though Wolfram now lists CDF as a legacy format superseded by its notebooks.
- Depth of analysis
- .CDF is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .CDF file
- Drag a .CDF file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.