# Cannot Open some netCDF files
**URL:** https://discourse.paraview.org/t/cannot-open-some-netcdf-files/15792
**Category:** ParaView Support
**Created:** [November 26, 2024, 6:18pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/cannot-open-some-netcdf-files/15792 "2024-11-26T18:18:17Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ANON1](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/ANON1)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 6:18pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/cannot-open-some-netcdf-files/15792/1 "2024-11-26T18:18:17Z")
Hello,
I have the following netCDF file: [some\_data.nc](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/short-url/bNLgb9Gw3ZVE2pcdaSnkRMH6fZW.nc) (3.0 MB). I tried to open it with ParaView 5.12 without success.
Any idea why it is not possible to read it?
Thank you
---
### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2024, 10:27am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/cannot-open-some-netcdf-files/15792/2 "2024-11-27T10:27:14Z")
> [@ANON1](#):
>
> netCDF
Which netCDF standard is this file using ?
---
### Author:  [@ANON1](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/ANON1)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2024, 10:36am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/cannot-open-some-netcdf-files/15792/3 "2024-11-27T10:36:00Z")
netCDF4 according to `ncdump` command:
```auto
$ ncdump -k some_data.nc
netCDF-4
```
---
### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2024, 10:38am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/cannot-open-some-netcdf-files/15792/4 "2024-11-27T10:38:47Z")
Opening the file with ParaView I get this:
```auto
Point ID,Points_0,Points_1,Points_2,Points_Magnitude,sweep_fixed_angle
0,0,0,0,0,-3
```
A single point with an angle associated to it.
Technically, ParaView is able to open the file, even though it does not contains much. Is that expected ?
---
### Author:  [@ANON1](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/ANON1)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2024, 10:45am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/cannot-open-some-netcdf-files/15792/5 "2024-11-27T10:45:40Z")
According to ncks command (`ncks -m some_data.nc`) and opening the file in [Panoply](https://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/panoply/) it appears to contain more data.
---
### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2024, 10:47am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/cannot-open-some-netcdf-files/15792/6 "2024-11-27T10:47:03Z")
Then it may be a bug, please open an issue on [https://gitlab.kitware.com/paraview/paraview/-/issues](https://gitlab.kitware.com/paraview/paraview/-/issues)
---
### Author:  [@ANON1](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/ANON1)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2024, 11:02am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/cannot-open-some-netcdf-files/15792/7 "2024-11-27T11:02:46Z")
It seems like the file contains two groups. Does ParaView supports groups within netCDF files?
---
### Author:  [@Kenneth\_Moreland](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Kenneth_Moreland)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/cannot-open-some-netcdf-files/15792/8 "2024-11-27T18:50:22Z")
No, ParaView does not support groups. (At least, the generic NetCDF reader does not.)
I note that of the two groups, one of them (`georeference_correction`) is just metadata. All of the real data is in the `Sweep_174` group. If that group was written out as its own nc file (without groups), then ParaView would at least see the data.
---
### Author:  [@ANON1](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/ANON1)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2024, 7:23pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/cannot-open-some-netcdf-files/15792/9 "2024-11-27T19:23:21Z")
Thank you for the suggestion. I tried your suggestion by exporting the `Sweep_174` group to its own file, then flattening that group:
```auto
# export the group to its own file
ncks -O -g Sweep_174 some_data.nc Sweep_174.nc
# Flatten the group and save it in a new .nc file
ncks -G : Sweep_174.nc flattened_file.nc
```
I still cannot open the flattened\_file [flattened\_file.nc](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/short-url/tL3JeIE3rGPRc3l4zP9qGWJAmYk.nc) (3.0 MB)
in ParaView.
---
### Author:  [@Kenneth\_Moreland](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Kenneth_Moreland)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2024, 9:58pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/cannot-open-some-netcdf-files/15792/10 "2024-11-27T21:58:54Z")
It looks like ParaView does not support ubyte variables such as `radial_wind_speed_status`. I’ve raised a bug report for that: [https://gitlab.kitware.com/vtk/vtk/-/issues/19546](https://gitlab.kitware.com/vtk/vtk/-/issues/19546).
This should be an easy fix. I can probably update the reader by the next ParaView version.
In the mean time, I guess you need to remove that variable or change its type.