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Chapter 1: Introduction


1.1Overview

The HDFView is a Java-based tool for browsing and editing HDF4 and HDF5 files. HDFView allows users to browse through any HDF4 and HDF5 file, starting with a tree view of all top-level objects in an HDF file's hierarchy. HDFView allows a user to descend through the hierarchy and navigate among the file's data objects. The content of a data object is loaded only when the object is selected, providing interactive and efficient access to HDF4 and HDF5 files. HDFView editing features allow a user to create, delete, and modify the value of HDF objects and attributes.

The HDFView graphical user interface (GUI) is simple and easy-to-use. First, HDFView was implemented by using the JavaTM 2 Platform, which is machine-independent. The GUI components have the same look-and-feel for all machines. Second, HDFView uses conventional folders and icons to display groups and datasets in a tree structure. Users can easily expand or collapse folders to navigate the hierarchical structure of an HDF file. Third, HDFView shows data content as text (table or plain text) or as image.

1.2 About This Release

This release includes bug fixes, new features,a test suite, and improved documentation.

HDF libraries

This release was built and tested with HDF4.2r4 and HDF5-1.8.2 with HDF5 1.6 compatibility flag. For information on new features in HDF5 Release 1.8.0 and format compatibility considerations, please visit http://www.hdfgroup.org/HDF5/doc/ADGuide/CompatFormat180.html.

Platforms

This release was built and tested for the following platforms:

32-bit Java 2 SDK
64-bit Java 2 SDK

New features

Of the many new features added to this release, the following is a list of the major ones:

1.3 Features

This version fixed bugs from previous versions and added a few new and enhanced features. It is a continuous work from the previous versions of HDFView. Some of the major features from previous versions include replaceable I/O and GUI modules, memory leak fixes, enhanced documentation, and test suite.

This version is user-configurable to support HDF4 or HDF5 or both. Users can choose HDFView features to support HDF4 or HDF5 or both when installing HDFView or compiling from the source code.

The following is a list of the browsing and editing features of HDFView. Details of the features are discussed in their related chapters.

1.3.1 Browsing Features

1.3.2 Editing Features

1.4 Limitations / Known Problems

The current implementation of HDFView has the following limitations:

1.5 System Requirements

The HDFView is distributed in two forms: No_VM_bundled and VM_bundled. The No_VM_bundled distribution does not contain the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) while the VM_bundled distribution bundles the JRE.

To run HDFView with No_VM_bundled distribution, JDK 1.5+ is required. The HDFView does not compile on JDK 1.4.x or earlier version.

Download JavaTM 2 Platform at:

JavaTM 2 Platform, Standard Edition (Windows, Solaris, Linux)

HDFView uses the HDF4 and HDF5 Java Native Interfaces, which calls the HDF4 and HDF5 library, respectively. These native interfaces are included in the distribution. For more information (source and pre-built) on the HDF4/5 Java Native Interface, see "Java Native Interface for HDF" at http://www.hdfgroup.org/hdf-java-html/JNI/.

1.6 Installing HDFView

The source and pre-built binaries for HDFView can be downloaded from ftp://ftp.hdfgroup.org/HDF5/hdf-java

The pre-built binaries are available in two forms: No_VM_bundled and VM_bundled.

32-bit Java Pre-built Binaries Distribution

PlatformDownloadFile size

Java Virtual Machine Bundled
Linux hdfview_install_linux_vm.bin 60M
Solaris hdfview_install_solaris_vm.bin 61M
Windows hdfview_install_windows_vm.exe 34M

Java Virtual Machine Required
Linux hdfview_install_linux_novm.bin 11M
Mac Intel hdfview_install_macosx_intel_novm.zip 7.3M
Mac PowerPC hdfview_install_macosx_novm.zip 8.2M
Solaris hdfview_install_solaris_novm.bin 17M
Windows hdfview_install_windows_novm.exe 7.9M

64-bit Java Pre-built Binaries Distribution

PlatformDownloadFile size

Java Virtual Machine Bundled
Linux x86-64 AMD hdfview_install_linux64x86_vm.bin 49M

Java Virtual Machine Required
Linux x86-64 hdfview_install_linux64x86_novm.bin 9.0M
Linux 64-bit Intel hdfview_install_linux64ia_novm.bin 10.0M
Solaris 64-bit SPARC hdfview_install_solaris64_novm.bin 11M

Java Virtual Machine Required

The No_VM_bundled binary distribution does not contain the Java 2 Runtime Environment. The No_VM_bundled requires JDK1.5.0 or above. Before you install the No_VM_bundled distribution, you must have JDK1.5.0 or above installed on your machine. If you don't have a Java 2 VM, you must download and install one. As all releases of Macintosh OS X include a fully functional Java 2 Virtual Machine, there is no need for a Mac OS X JRE.

Download JavaTM 2 Platform at:

JavaTM 2 Platform, Standard Edition (Windows, Solaris, Linux)

StandAlone Application [JRE Bundled]

JRE1.5.0 is bundled in the VM_bundled distribution. You do not need any aditional software to run HDFView.

To download and install HDFView, you must accept the Java 2 Runtime Environment license agreement. Please read the Java 2 Runtime Environment Binary Code License Agreement before you download the VM_bundled distribution. The installation program will not install HDFView unless you accept the Java 2 Runtime Environment License Agreement.

Install on Unix or MAC OS X

After downloading the installation file, cd to the directory where you downloaded the installer. At the prompt, type
sh ./hdfview-xxx.bin
where xxx is the Unix OS name such as solaris, linux or macosx. The installer will guide you to select the Java Virtual Machine and the HDFView home directory (where you want to install the HDFView).

Install on Windows

After downloading the installation file— hdfview-windows.exe — double-click it.

The installer will guide you to select the Java Virtual Machine and HDFView home directory (where you want to install the HDFView). After installing, you can launch the HDFView from Start -> Program Files -> NCSA HDFView

1.7 Further Information

General information about HDF (HDF4 and HDF5) is available at http://www.hdfgroup.org/.

Information about the HDFView tool and related products is available at http://www.hdfgroup.org/hdf-java-html/

Questions and feedback may be sent to the HDF Helpdesk.


[Index] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Last Modified:   December 16, 2008