diff --git a/aosstower/level_a0/nc.py b/aosstower/level_a0/nc.py
index 55f700a1464645039476ee405b3551dfd28f1086..774f29b474e9274973449821d80eb6428c4c195e 100644
--- a/aosstower/level_a0/nc.py
+++ b/aosstower/level_a0/nc.py
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 # no returns
 
 def writeDimensions(ncFile):
-    #ncFile.createDimension('time', len(stamps))
     ncFile.createDimension('time', None)
     ncFile.createDimension('max_len_station_name', 32)
 
@@ -119,15 +118,12 @@ def createVariables(ncFile, firstStamp, chunksizes, zlib):
     
     return ncFile
 
-def getData(inputFiles, no_empty):
+def getData(inputFiles):
     dictData = {}
 
     for filename in inputFiles:
         getFrames = list(parser.read_frames(filename))
 
-        if(len(getFrames) == 0 and no_empty):
-            return [None, False]
-
         for frame in getFrames:
             if 'stamp' not in frame:
                 continue
@@ -137,7 +133,7 @@ def getData(inputFiles, no_empty):
 
             dictData[stamp] = frame
 
-    return [pd.DataFrame(dictData).transpose(), True]
+    return pd.DataFrame(dictData).transpose()
 
 def writeVars(ncFile, frame):
     stamps = list(frame.index)
@@ -202,7 +198,7 @@ def writeVars(ncFile, frame):
 # @param input filenames - list of filenames
 # @param output filename - filename of the netcdf file
 
-def createGiantNetCDF(start, end, inputFiles, outputName, zlib, chunkSize, no_empty):
+def createGiantNetCDF(start, end, inputFiles, outputName, zlib, chunkSize):
     default = False
 
     if(chunkSize):
@@ -211,29 +207,12 @@ def createGiantNetCDF(start, end, inputFiles, outputName, zlib, chunkSize, no_em
     else:
         default = True
 
-    frame = getData(inputFiles, no_empty)
-
-    if(not frame[1]):
-        raise IOError('An empty ASCII file was found')
-
-    if(frame[0].empty):
-        ncFile = Dataset(outputName, 'w', format='NETCDF4_CLASSIC')
-        #ncfile = writeDimensions(ncFile)
-        
-        #if(start):
-         #   ncFile = createVariables(ncFile, start, chunksizes, zlib)
-
-        #else:
-         #   firstEmpty = inputFiles[0].split('/')
-          #  filename = firstEmpty[len(firstEmpty) - 1]
-           # first = dt.strptime(filename, 'rig_tower.%Y-%m-%d.ascii')
-           # ncFile = createVariables(ncFile, first, chunksizes, zlib)
+    frame = getData(inputFiles)
 
-        ncFile.close()
-            
+    if(frame.empty):
+        return False
+    
     else:
-        frame = frame[0]
-
         if(start and end):
             frame = frame[start.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'): end.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')]
 
@@ -253,14 +232,31 @@ def createGiantNetCDF(start, end, inputFiles, outputName, zlib, chunkSize, no_em
         ncFile = writeVars(ncFile, frame)
 
         ncFile.close()
+        
+        return True
 
-def createMultiple(filenames, outputFilenames, zlib, chunkSize, no_empty):
+def createMultiple(filenames, outputFilenames, zlib, chunkSize):
     if(outputFilenames and len(filenames) != len(outputFilenames)):
         print('USAGE: number of output filenames must equal number of input filenames when start and end times are not specified')
         exit(0)
     
+    results = []
+
     for idx, filename in enumerate(filenames):
-        createGiantNetCDF(None, None, [filename], outputFilenames[idx], zlib, chunkSize, no_empty)
+        results.append(createGiantNetCDF(None, None, [filename], outputFilenames[idx], zlib, chunkSize))
+
+    print(results)
+
+    allFalse = True
+
+    for result in results:
+        if result == True:
+            print('here')
+            print(result)
+            allFalse = False
+
+    if allFalse == True:
+        raise IOError('All ASCII files were empty')
 
 #The purpose of this method is to take a string in the format
 # YYYY-mm-ddTHH:MM:SS and convert that to a datetime object
@@ -288,8 +284,6 @@ def main():
     parser.add_argument('-e', '--end-time', type=_dt_convert, help='End time of massive netcdf file')
     parser.add_argument('-cs', '--chunk-size', type=int, help='chunk Size for the netCDF file')
     parser.add_argument('-z', '--zlib', action='store_true', help='compress netCDF file with zlib')
-    parser.add_argument('--no-empty', '--no-empty', action='store_true', help='allow empty nc files or not,' +
-                         ' if not and there is an empty file, an exception is raised')
 
     parser.add_argument("input_files", nargs="+",
                          help="aoss_tower level_00 paths")
@@ -304,12 +298,14 @@ def main():
 
 
     if(args.start_time and args.end_time):
-        createGiantNetCDF(args.start_time, args.end_time, args.input_files, args.output[0], args.zlib, args.chunk_size, args.no_empty)
+        result = createGiantNetCDF(args.start_time, args.end_time, args.input_files, args.output[0], args.zlib, args.chunk_size)
+        if(result == False):
+            raise IOError('An empty ASCII file was found')
 
     elif(args.start_time or args.end_time):
         print('USAGE: start time and end time must both be specified or not specified')
 
     else:
-        createMultiple(args.input_files, args.output, args.zlib, args.chunk_size, args.no_empty)
+        createMultiple(args.input_files, args.output, args.zlib, args.chunk_size)
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     main()