What is a .NC file?
The .nc extension is used by CNC G-code programs and NetCDF scientific datasets.
NetCDF dataset
- What it is
- A Unidata NetCDF dataset - self-describing array data for climate, ocean and geoscience work. Analyser identifies it and reads its dimensions and variables.
- How to tell it apart
- NetCDF is binary, beginning with the magic CDF (classic) or the HDF5 signature (NetCDF-4).
- Did you know
- NetCDF was built by Unidata for atmospheric science, and today almost every climate model and weather dataset in the world is distributed in it.
- NetCDF was written in 1988 by Glenn Davis and colleagues at Unidata, part of the US university consortium UCAR.
- The classic format's 32-bit offsets originally capped a file at about 2 GB, which is why a 64-bit-offset variant and the HDF5-based NetCDF-4 were later added.
CNC G-code
- What it is
- A CNC G-code program - toolpath commands for a mill, lathe, router or laser. Analyser reconstructs and visualises the toolpath and reads the CAM tool and dimensions.
- How to tell it apart
- G-code is text full of G and M commands.
- Did you know
- G-code dates to the late 1950s at MIT and barely changed - the same G0/G1 move commands drive a 200-dollar 3D printer and a million-dollar mill alike.
- It was standardised by the US Electronic Industries Alliance as RS-274, whose RS-274-D revision landed around 1979, and is known internationally as ISO 6983.
- The G in G-code means geometric or preparatory commands, while the paired M-codes handle machine functions like switching the spindle or coolant on and off.
- Open a .NC file
- Drag a .NC file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It opens entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.