cdm/src/main/java/ucar/nc2/util/TableParser.java
static public List<Record> readTable(String urlString, String format, int maxLines) throws IOException, NumberFormatException {

    InputStream ios;
    if (urlString.startsWith("http:")) {
      URL url = new URL(urlString);
      ios = url.openStream();
    } else {
      ios = new FileInputStream(urlString);
    }

    return readTable(ios, format, maxLines);
  }
static public List<Record> readTable(String urlString, String format, int maxLines) throws IOException, NumberFormatException {

    InputStream ios;
    if (urlString.startsWith("http:")) {
      URL url = new URL(urlString);
      ios = url.openStream();
    } else {
      ios = new FileInputStream(urlString);
    }

    return readTable(ios, format, maxLines);
  }
Reads a URL or file in as a table.

@param urlString starts with http, read URL contenets, else read file.
@param format    describe format of each line.
@param maxLines  maximum number of lines to parse, set to < 0 to read all
@return List of TableParser.Record
@throws IOException           on read error
@throws NumberFormatException on parse number error
@see #readTable(InputStream ios, String format, int maxLines)