UNIX

The first step is to unpack the distribution. For ths purposes of this documentation, the path `/usr/local/src' will be the root of the installation. Unpack the distribution with

/usr/local/src % tar xvzf hlhdf_r717.tgz

This will create a directory called `hlhdf' and the distribution will be placed in it. If the above arguments fail, then you have not used GNU tar.

HL-HDF has a configure script to determine paths to compilers, headers and libraries. In short it tries to find everything HL-HDF needs to be built.

Execute the `configure' script. The most relevant arguments are:

-prefix=PATH	Set the root of the installation path. Defaults to `/usr/local/hlhdf'.
-with-zlib=INC,LIB	Use GNU ZLIB compression headers located at INC and library located at LIB.
-with-hdf5=INC,LIB	Use the HDF5 headers located at INC and libraries located at LIB.
-with-python=yes|no	Configure in Python support. Default is yes. Enables building a Python interface.
-with-fortran=yes|no	Configure with Fortran. Default is no. Useful if integrating with F77 code.

There are a few more arguments and they are listed by executing

/usr/local/src/hlhdf % ./configure -help

If `configure' fails, which is unlikely, then you may be in trouble. See Section 2.5 for platform-specific notes. The bottom line is that you may have to make some manual adjustments to your configuration files.

If configuration has been carried out without any problems then you're ready to build HL-HDF with:

/usr/local/src/hlhdf % make

This will generate the library `libhlhdf.a' located in the `/usr/local/src/hlhdf/hlhdf' directory.