diff --git a/libdispatch/Makefile.am b/libdispatch/Makefile.am
index e1d072083..a4f3e00c4 100755
--- a/libdispatch/Makefile.am
+++ b/libdispatch/Makefile.am
@@ -44,9 +44,22 @@ endif # BUILD_V2
 
 EXTRA_DIST=CMakeLists.txt ncsettings.hdr
 
+# Build ncsettings.c as follows:
+# 1. copy ncsettings.hdr to ncsettings.c
+# 2. append libnetcdf.settings to ncsettings.c after
+#    processing it as follows:
+#    1. convert tabs and cr to blanks
+#    2. convert embedded double quote (") to escaped form (\").
+#    3. append newline (\n) to each line
+#    4. surround each line with double quotes.
+# 3. finally, add a semicolon to the end of ncsettings.c
+#    to complete the string constant.
+
 ncsettings.c: $(top_srcdir)/libnetcdf.settings ncsettings.hdr
 	rm -f ncsettings.c
 	cat ncsettings.hdr > ncsettings.c
-	sed -e 's/"/\\"/g' <$(top_srcdir)/libnetcdf.settings | sed -e 's/\(.*\)/"\1\\n"/' >> ncsettings.c
+	tr '\t\r' '  ' <${top_srcdir}/libnetcdf.settings | \
+	sed -e 's/"/\\"/g' | \
+	sed -e 's/\(.*\)/\"\1\\n\"/' | \
+	cat >> ncsettings.c
 	echo ';' >> ncsettings.c
-	
diff --git a/libdispatch/ncsettings.hdr b/libdispatch/ncsettings.hdr
index 8c63a9623..1a3103034 100644
--- a/libdispatch/ncsettings.hdr
+++ b/libdispatch/ncsettings.hdr
@@ -1,36 +1,245 @@
 /*********************************************************************
-  *   Copyright 2014, UCAR/Unidata
-  *   See netcdf/COPYRIGHT file for copying and redistribution conditions.
-  *********************************************************************/
+ *   Copyright 2014, UCAR/Unidata
+ *   See netcdf/COPYRIGHT file for copying and redistribution conditions.
+ *********************************************************************/
 
 #include "config.h"
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <string.h>
 
-static const char* ncsettings;
+/* General rule
+try to avoid any obscure string functions.
+We currently use
+- strcasecmp
+- strchr
+- strndup
+- strlen
+*/
 
+#undef DEBUG
+
+/* Define the legal leading key characters */
+#define KEYCHARS1 "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789$_."
+
+/*forward*/
+static const char* ncsettings_text;
+
+static char** lines;
+static int nlines;
+static char* dup;
 static char** map = NULL;
+
+/*forward*/
 static void parse();
+static int parseline(const char* line, int keypos);
+static int iskeyline(const char* line);
+static void preprocess();
 
 const char*
 nc_settings(const char* key)
 {
     char** mapp;
-    int keylen = strlen(key);
     if(map == NULL)
 	parse();
     for(mapp=map;*mapp != NULL;mapp+=2) {
 	/* Note this assumes that no key is a prefix of another */
-	if(strncmp(*mapp,key,keylen)==0) {
+	if(strcasecmp(*mapp,key)==0) {
 	    return mapp[1];
 	}
     }    
     return NULL;
 }
 
-static void parse()
+const char**
+nc_settings_all()
 {
+    if(map == NULL)
+	parse();
+    return (const char**)map;
 }
 
-static const char* ncsettings =
+const char*
+nc_settings_text()
+{
+    return ncsettings_text;
+}
 
+static void
+parse()
+{
+    int i,keypos;
+    int nkeys;
+    const char** line;
 
+    preprocess();
+
+    nkeys = 0;
+    /* Count # of key lines */
+    for(i=0;i<nlines;i++) {
+	const char* line = lines[i];
+#ifdef DEBUG
+	printf("testing: %s\n",line);
+#endif
+	if(iskeyline(line)) {
+#ifdef DEBUG
+	    printf("keyline: %s\n",line);
+#endif
+	    nkeys++;
+	}
+    }    
+#ifdef DEBUG
+    fflush(stdout);
+#endif
+    /* Create the map of proper size */
+    map = (char**)malloc(((2*nkeys)+1) * sizeof(char*));/*+1 for terminating null*/
+    if(map == NULL) {
+	fprintf(stderr,"ncsettings: out of memory\n");
+	return;
+    }
+    map[2*nkeys] = NULL; /* pre-insert terminating null */
+    /* parse the keylines only */
+    keypos = 0;
+    for(i=0;i<nlines;i++) {
+	const char* line = lines[i];
+	if(!iskeyline(line)) continue;
+	if(!parseline(line,keypos))
+	    return;
+	keypos+=2;
+    }
+}
+
+/*
+We assume that each key starts with an alphanumeric character.
+*/
+static int
+parseline(const char* line, int keypos)
+{
+    const char* p;
+    const char* r;
+    char* q;
+    ptrdiff_t delta;
+    char* key;
+    char* value;
+    /* find colon ending of the key */
+    r = strchr(line,':');
+    if(r == NULL) { /* malformed */
+	fprintf(stderr,"malformed libnetcdf.settings file: %s\n,line");
+	return 0;
+    }
+    /* back up from the colon to the first non-blank */
+    for(p=r;p != line;p--) {
+	if(*p != ' ') break;
+    }
+    if(p == line) {/* empty key */
+	fprintf(stderr,"malformed libnetcdf.settings file: %s\n,line");
+	return 0;
+    }
+    delta = p - line;
+    key = strndup(line,delta);
+    /* skip post ':' blanks */
+    for(p=r+1;;p++) {
+	if(*p != ' ') break;
+    }
+    if(*p == '\0') /* empty value */
+	value = strdup("");
+    else { /* assert value is not empty */
+	value = strdup(p);
+	size_t len = strlen(value);
+	q = value + (len - 1); /* point to last char before trailing nul */
+        /* back up to the first non-blank */
+	for(;(*q == ' ');q--); /* will always terminate at value at least */
+	q[1] = '\0'; /* artificial end */
+    }
+    /* Append to the map */	
+    map[keypos] = key;
+    map[keypos+1] = value;
+    return 1;    
+}
+
+/* We assume that each key starts with an alphanumeric character. */
+static int
+iskeyline(const char* line)
+{
+   if(line == NULL || strlen(line) == 0)
+	return 0;
+   if(line[0] == '#' || line[0] == ' ')
+	return 0;
+   if(strchr(KEYCHARS1,line[0]) ==  NULL)
+	return 0;
+   return 1;
+}
+
+/* We need to process the text as follows:
+1. convert tabs and \r to blanks
+2. convert \n to EOL (\0)
+3. remove leading and trailing blanks from each line
+*/
+static void
+preprocess()
+{
+    int c,i;
+    const char* p;
+    char* q;
+    char* r;
+
+#ifdef DEBUG
+    printf("input: %s\n",ncsettings_text);
+    fflush(stdout);
+#endif
+    dup = (char*)malloc(strlen(ncsettings_text)+1);
+    nlines = 0;
+    /* steps 1 and 2 */
+    for(p=ncsettings_text,q=dup;(c=*p);p++) {
+	switch (c) {
+	case '\r': case '\t': *q++ = ' '; break;
+	case '\n': nlines++; *q++ = '\0'; break;
+	default: *q++ = c; break;
+	}
+    }
+    /* step 3 */    
+    lines = (char**)malloc(nlines*sizeof(char*));
+    r = dup;
+    for(i=0;i<nlines;i++) {
+	int suppress;
+	lines[i] = r;
+	r += strlen(r);
+	r++; /* skip terminating nul */
+    }
+    for(i=0;i<nlines;i++) { 
+	char* line = lines[i];
+	p = line;
+	for(;(c=*p);p++) {
+	    if(c != ' ')
+		break;
+	}
+	strcpy(line,p); /* remove leading blanks */
+	q = line+strlen(line); /* terminating nul */
+	while((c=*(--q))) {
+	    if(c != ' ')
+		break;
+	}
+	/* terminate */
+	q++;
+	*q = '\0';
+#ifdef DEBUG
+        printf("processed: %s\n",line);
+#endif
+    }
+#ifdef DEBUG
+    fflush(stdout);
+#endif
+}
+
+void
+nc_settings_reclaim()
+{
+    if(lines != NULL) free(lines);
+    if(dup != NULL) free(dup);
+    if(map != NULL) free(map);
+    lines = NULL;
+    dup = NULL;
+    map = NULL;
+}
+
+static const char* ncsettings_text =
diff --git a/libnetcdf.settings.in b/libnetcdf.settings.in
index 1fe314a57..1bc3b3acd 100644
--- a/libnetcdf.settings.in
+++ b/libnetcdf.settings.in
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-NetCDF C Configuration Summary
+# NetCDF C Configuration Summary
 ==============================
 
-General
+# General
 -------
 NetCDF Version:		@PACKAGE_VERSION@
 Configured On:		@CONFIG_DATE@
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Host System:		@host_cpu@-@host_vendor@-@host_os@
 Build Directory: 	@abs_top_builddir@
 Install Prefix:         @prefix@
 
-Compiling Options
+# Compiling Options
 -----------------
 C Compiler:		@CC_VERSION@
 CFLAGS:			@CFLAGS@
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ Shared Library:		@enable_shared@
 Static Library:		@enable_static@
 Extra libraries:	@LIBS@
 
-Features
+# Features
 --------
 NetCDF-2 API:		@HAS_NC2@
 NetCDF-4 API:		@HAS_NC4@
diff --git a/nc_test/Make0 b/nc_test/Make0
index 8c12d1a8a..439095f6e 100644
--- a/nc_test/Make0
+++ b/nc_test/Make0
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
 # Test c output
-T=tst_diskless3
+T=tst_settings
 #VG=valgrind --leak-check=full
 
 CFLAGS=-g -O0 -I.. -I../include
-LDFLAGS=../liblib/.libs/libnetcdf.a -L/share/ed/local/spock/lib -lhdf5_hl -lhdf5 -lz -lm -lcurl
-LD_RUN_PATH=/share/ed/local/spock/lib
+LDFLAGS=../liblib/.libs/libnetcdf.a  -L/usr/local/lib -lhdf5_hl -lhdf5 -lz -lm -lcurl
 
 #	cd .. ; ${MAKE} all
 
diff --git a/nc_test/Makefile.am b/nc_test/Makefile.am
index 4f9a4d4d3..9fbe130d3 100644
--- a/nc_test/Makefile.am
+++ b/nc_test/Makefile.am
@@ -15,8 +15,10 @@ tst_diskless3.nc tst_diskless3_file.cdl tst_diskless3_memory.cdl \
 tst_diskless4.cdl tst_diskless4.nc tst_formatx.nc
 
 # These are the tests which are always run.
-TESTPROGRAMS = t_nc tst_small nc_test tst_misc tst_norm tst_names	\
-tst_nofill tst_nofill2 tst_nofill3 tst_atts3
+XTESTPROGRAMS = t_nc tst_small nc_test tst_misc tst_norm tst_names	\
+tst_nofill tst_nofill2 tst_nofill3 tst_atts3 tst_settings
+
+TESTPROGRAMS = tst_settings
 
 if USE_NETCDF4
 TESTPROGRAMS += tst_atts