Index: configure.in
===================================================================
--- configure.in	(revision 23757)
+++ configure.in	(working copy)
@@ -1410,6 +1410,10 @@
 NETCDF_ROOT=
 NETCDF_HAS_NC4=
 NETCDF_HAS_HDF4=
+NETCDF_VERSION=
+NETCDF_VERSION_MAJOR=
+NETCDF_NCDUMP=
+NETCDF_NCCONFIG=
 
 AC_ARG_WITH([netcdf],[  --with-netcdf[=ARG]     Include netCDF support (ARG=no or netCDF tree prefix)],,)
 
@@ -1419,6 +1423,62 @@
 
   echo "netCDF support disabled."
 
+dnl use ncdump and nc-config to find version and linking information
+else
+
+  dnl find ncdump location
+  if test "$with_netcdf" = "yes" -o "$with_netcdf" = "" ; then
+    NETCDF_NCDUMP=`which ncdump` 
+  else
+    NETCDF_NCDUMP="$with_netcdf/bin/ncdump"
+    if ! test -x "$NETCDF_NCDUMP" ; then
+      NETCDF_NCDUMP="$with_netcdf/ncdump"
+    fi
+  fi
+
+  if test -x "$NETCDF_NCDUMP" ; then
+
+    dnl find libnetcdf version with ncdump
+    AC_MSG_CHECKING([libnetcdf version with $NETCDF_NCDUMP]) 
+    NETCDF_VERSION=`$NETCDF_NCDUMP 2>&1 | grep "netcdf library version" | awk '{gsub(/"/,"");print $4}'`
+    AC_MSG_RESULT([got $NETCDF_VERSION])
+    if test "$NETCDF_VERSION" != "" -a "${NETCDF_VERSION:0:1}" != "" ; then
+      NETCDF_VERSION_MAJOR=${NETCDF_VERSION:0:1}
+    fi
+
+    dnl find nc-config location
+    NETCDF_NCCONFIG=`dirname $NETCDF_NCDUMP`/nc-config
+    if ! test -x "$NETCDF_NCCONFIG" ; then
+      echo "did not find nc-config, some features may be missing"
+      NETCDF_NCCONFIG=
+    fi
+
+  else
+    echo "did not find ncdump, some features may be missing"
+    NETCDF_NCDUMP=
+  fi
+
+fi
+
+dnl test linking using information from nc-config
+if test "$NETCDF_NCCONFIG" != "" ; then
+
+  AC_MSG_CHECKING([libnetcdf compiler and linker flags with $NETCDF_NCCONFIG])
+  NETCDF_PREFIX=`nc-config --prefix`
+  NETCDF_INCLUDEDIR=`nc-config --includedir`
+  NETCDF_LIBS=`nc-config --libs` 
+  echo ""
+  AC_MSG_RESULT([        got prefix="$NETCDF_PREFIX" libs="$NETCDF_LIBS"] includedir="$NETCDF_INCLUDEDIR")
+
+  AC_CHECK_LIB([netcdf], [nc_open], [NETCDF_SETTING=yes], [NETCDF_SETTING=no], $NETCDF_LIBS)
+
+  if test "$NETCDF_SETTING" = "yes" ; then
+    EXTRA_INCLUDES="-I$NETCDF_INCLUDEDIR $EXTRA_INCLUDES"
+    NETCDF_ROOT=$NETCDF_PREFIX
+    LIBS="$NETCDF_LIBS $LIBS"
+  fi
+
+dnl test linking using default settings
 elif test "$with_netcdf" = "yes" -o "$with_netcdf" = "" ; then
 
   AC_CHECK_LIB([netcdf], [nc_open], [NETCDF_SETTING=yes], [NETCDF_SETTING=no],)
@@ -1455,6 +1515,7 @@
     echo "libnetcdf not found - netCDF support disabled"
   fi
 
+dnl test linking using --with_netcdf dir
 else
 
   AC_CHECK_LIB([netcdf], [nc_open], [NETCDF_SETTING=yes], [NETCDF_SETTING=no],-L$with_netcdf -L$with_netcdf/lib)
@@ -1480,30 +1541,13 @@
 
 fi
 
-dnl start new test
-
-dnl test for NC4 and HDF4 support
+dnl test for NC4 and HDF4 support with nc-config
   if test "$NETCDF_SETTING" = "yes" ; then
 
-    ncdump=$NETCDF_ROOT"/bin/ncdump" 
-    nc_config=""
+    if test "$NETCDF_NCCONFIG" != "" ; then
 
-    dnl test for libnetcdf v4
-    if { test -x "$ncdump"; }; then
-      AC_MSG_CHECKING([libnetcdf version with $ncdump]) 
-      netcdf_version=`$ncdump 2>&1 | grep "netcdf library version" | awk '{gsub(/"/,"");print $4}'`
-      AC_MSG_RESULT([got $netcdf_version])
-      if test "$netcdf_version" != "" -a "${netcdf_version:0:1}" == "4" ; then
-          nc_config=$NETCDF_ROOT"/bin/nc-config"
-      fi
-    fi
-
-    dnl if nc-config is found (only for libnetcdf-4), test for netcdf-4 and HDF4 support 
-    if { test -x "$nc_config"; }; then
-      echo "checking libnetcdf config with $nc_config"
-
       AC_MSG_CHECKING([for netcdf-4 (and HDF5) support in libnetcdf])
-        if test "x$($nc_config --has-nc4)" = "xyes"; then :
+        if test "x$($NETCDF_NCCONFIG --has-nc4)" = "xyes"; then :
           AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
           NETCDF_HAS_NC4=yes
         else
@@ -1512,7 +1556,7 @@
         fi
 
       AC_MSG_CHECKING([for HDF4 support in libnetcdf])
-        if test "x$($nc_config --has-hdf4)" = "xyes"; then :
+        if test "x$($NETCDF_NCCONFIG --has-hdf4)" = "xyes"; then :
           AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
           NETCDF_HAS_HDF4=yes
         else
@@ -1527,15 +1571,18 @@
     fi
 fi
 
-dnl end new test
+dnl export results
 
 AC_SUBST([NETCDF_SETTING], [$NETCDF_SETTING])
-AC_SUBST([NETCDF_ROOT], [$NETCDF_ROOT])
-AC_SUBST([NETCDF_HAS_NC4], [$NETCDF_HAS_NC4])
-AC_SUBST([NETCDF_HAS_HDF4], [$NETCDF_HAS_HDF4])
 
 if test "$NETCDF_SETTING" != "no" ; then
-  OPT_GDAL_FORMATS="netcdf $OPT_GDAL_FORMATS"
+
+   AC_SUBST([NETCDF_ROOT], [$NETCDF_ROOT])
+   AC_SUBST([NETCDF_HAS_NC4], [$NETCDF_HAS_NC4])
+   AC_SUBST([NETCDF_HAS_HDF4], [$NETCDF_HAS_HDF4])
+
+   OPT_GDAL_FORMATS="netcdf $OPT_GDAL_FORMATS"
+
 fi