Index: netcdf.py
===================================================================
--- netcdf.py	(revision 25890)
+++ netcdf.py	(working copy)
@@ -150,9 +150,9 @@
         return 'skip'
 
     ofile1 = 'tmp/' + os.path.basename(ifile) + '-1.nc'
-    ofile1_opts = [ 'FILETYPE=NC4C', 'COMPRESS=NONE']
+    ofile1_opts = [ 'FORMAT=NC4C', 'COMPRESS=NONE']
     ofile2 = 'tmp/' + os.path.basename(ifile) + '-2.nc'
-    ofile2_opts = [ 'FILETYPE=NC4C', 'COMPRESS=DEFLATE', 'ZLEVEL='+str(zlevel) ]
+    ofile2_opts = [ 'FORMAT=NC4C', 'COMPRESS=DEFLATE', 'ZLEVEL='+str(zlevel) ]
 
     if not os.path.exists( ifile ):
         gdaltest.post_reason( 'ifile %s does not exist' % ifile )
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@
 
 ###############################################################################
 # check support for reading attributes (single values and array values)
-def netcdf_check_vars( ifile, vals_global, vals_band ):
+def netcdf_check_vars( ifile, vals_global=None, vals_band=None ):
 
     src_ds = gdal.Open( ifile )
 
@@ -207,6 +207,8 @@
     
     metadata = metadata_global
     vals = vals_global
+    if vals is None:
+        vals = dict()
     for k, v in vals.items():
         if not k in metadata:
             gdaltest.post_reason("missing metadata [%s]" % (str(k)))
@@ -220,6 +222,8 @@
 
     metadata = metadata_band
     vals = vals_band
+    if vals is None:
+        vals = dict()
     for k, v in vals.items():
         if not k in metadata:
             gdaltest.post_reason("missing metadata [%s]" % (str(k)))
@@ -1128,8 +1132,98 @@
     return 'success'
 
 ###############################################################################
+# Test NC_UBYTE write/read - netcdf-4 (FORMAT=NC4) only (#5053)
 
+def netcdf_32():
+
+    if gdaltest.netcdf_drv is None:
+        return 'skip'
+
+    if not gdaltest.netcdf_drv_has_nc4:
+        return 'skip'
+
+    ifile = 'data/byte.tif'
+    ofile = 'tmp/netcdf_32.nc'
+
+    #gdal.SetConfigOption('CPL_DEBUG', 'ON')
+
+    # test basic read/write
+    result = netcdf_test_copy( ifile, 1, 4672, ofile, [ 'FORMAT=NC4' ] )
+    if result != 'success':
+        return 'fail'
+    result = netcdf_test_copy( ifile, 1, 4672, ofile, [ 'FORMAT=NC4C' ] )
+    if result != 'success':
+        return 'fail'
+
+    return 'success'
+
 ###############################################################################
+# TEST NC_UBYTE metadata read - netcdf-4 (FORMAT=NC4) only (#5053)
+def netcdf_33():
+
+    if gdaltest.netcdf_drv is None:
+        return 'skip'
+
+    ifile = 'data/nc_vars.nc'
+    ofile = 'tmp/netcdf_33.nc'
+
+    result = netcdf_test_copy( ifile, 1, None, ofile, [ 'FORMAT=NC4' ] )
+    if result != 'success':
+        return result
+
+    return netcdf_check_vars( 'tmp/netcdf_33.nc' )
+
+###############################################################################
+# check support for reading large file with chunking and DEFLATE compression
+# if chunking is not supported within the netcdf driver, this test can take very long
+def netcdf_34():
+
+    filename = 'utm-big-chunks.nc'
+    # this timeout is more than enough - on my system takes <1s with fix, about 25 seconds without
+    timeout = 5
+
+    if gdaltest.netcdf_drv is None:
+        return 'skip'
+
+    if not gdaltest.netcdf_drv_has_nc4:
+        return 'skip'
+
+    if not gdaltest.run_slow_tests():
+        return 'skip'
+
+    try:
+        from multiprocessing import Process
+    except:
+        print('from multiprocessing import Process failed')
+        return 'skip'
+
+    if not gdaltest.download_file('http://download.osgeo.org/gdal/data/netcdf/'+filename,filename):
+        return 'skip'
+
+    sys.stdout.write('.')
+    sys.stdout.flush()
+
+    tst = gdaltest.GDALTest( 'NetCDF', '../tmp/cache/'+filename, 1, 31621 )
+    #tst.testOpen()
+
+    gdal.PushErrorHandler( 'CPLQuietErrorHandler' )
+    proc = Process( target=tst.testOpen )
+    proc.start()
+    proc.join( timeout )
+    gdal.PopErrorHandler()
+
+    # if proc is alive after timeout we must terminate it, and return fail
+    # valgrind detects memory leaks when this occurs (although it should never happen)
+    if proc.is_alive():
+        proc.terminate()
+        print('testOpen() for file %s has reached timeout limit of %d seconds' % (filename, timeout) )
+        return 'fail' 
+
+    return 'success'
+
+###############################################################################
+
+###############################################################################
 # main tests list
 
 gdaltest_list = [
@@ -1164,6 +1258,9 @@
     netcdf_29,
     netcdf_30,
     netcdf_31,
+    netcdf_32,
+    netcdf_33,
+    netcdf_34
  ]
 
 ###############################################################################