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The following example shows a retrieve request with directives grouped according to their meaning:
retrieve
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action class=od stream = oper, identification of archive
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expver = 1,
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date = -1,
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date and time related
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type = analysis,
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levtype = model levels,
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levelist = 1/to/91,
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param = temperature,
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grid = 2.5/2.5,
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post-processing
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area = europe,
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use = infrequent,
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execution control
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target = analysis.12
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storage
Retrieve requests have to specify, at least, directives to identify the data and directives for storage of the retrieved data. The ones to identify fields can be found in the Archive Catalogue. Data manipulation (post-processing) directives and execution control directives are optional, depending on user's needs.
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The advantage of retrieve is that it will fail if the requested data is not present in the source file. A disadvantage is that it has to specify all the directives, and the user might not know what are the exact contents of the source file.date = -1,