function varid = ncdefVar(ncid,varname,xtype,dimlist);
% add a variable in a netcdf file.

global useNativeMatlabNetcdf; 
if isempty(useNativeMatlabNetcdf); useNativeMatlabNetcdf = ~isempty(which('netcdf.open')); end;

if useNativeMatlabNetcdf;
    if isempty(dimlist), error('ncdefVar error: no dimension allocated'); end
    iDim=[];
    for ii=1:length(dimlist),
        iDim(ii)=netcdf.inqDimID(ncid,dimlist{ii});
    end
    netcdf.defVar(ncid,varname,xtype,iDim);
else;%try to use old mex stuff
    % inverse the order of list dimensions
    dimlist=fliplr(dimlist);
    switch length(dimlist)
        case 1,
            eval(sprintf('ncid{''%s''}=nc%s(''%s'');',varname,xtype,dimlist{1}));
        case 2,
            eval(sprintf('ncid{''%s''}=nc%s(''%s'',''%s'');',varname,xtype,dimlist{1},dimlist{2}));
        case 3,
            eval(sprintf('ncid{''%s''}=nc%s(''%s'',''%s'',''%s'');',varname,xtype,dimlist{1},dimlist{2},dimlist{3}));
        otherwise
            error('ncdefVar: number of dimension > 3');
    end
end;