HDF5 documents and links 
Introduction to HDF5 
HDF5 User Guide 
And in this document, the HDF5 Reference Manual  
H5   H5A   H5D   H5E   H5F   H5G   H5I   H5P  
H5R   H5S   H5T   H5Z   Tools   Datatypes  
(PDF of complete manual formatted as print volume)   

H5F: File Interface

File API Functions

These functions are designed to provide file-level access to HDF5 files. Further manipulation of objects inside a file is performed through one of APIs documented below.

The C Interfaces:
             

Alphabetical Listing
             

The FORTRAN90 Interfaces:
In general, each FORTRAN90 subroutine performs exactly the same task as the corresponding C function.
             


Name: H5Fclose
Signature:
herr_t H5Fclose(hid_t file_id )
Purpose:
Terminates access to an HDF5 file.
Description:
H5Fclose terminates access to an HDF5 file by flushing all data to storage and terminating access to the file through file_id.

If this is the last file identifier open for the file and no other access identifier is open (e.g., a dataset identifier, group identifier, or shared datatype identifier), the file will be fully closed and access will end.

Delayed close:
Note the following deviation from the above-described behavior. If H5Fclose is called for a file but one or more objects within the file remain open, those objects will remain accessible until they are individually closed. Thus, if the dataset data_sample is open when H5Fclose is called for the file containing it, data_sample will remain open and accessible (including writable) until it is explicitely closed. The file will be automatically closed once all objects in the file have been closed.

Be warned, hoever, that there are circumstances where it is not possible to delay closing a file. For example, an MPI-IO file close is a collective call; all of the processes that opened the file must close it collectively. The file cannot be closed at some time in the future by each process in an independent fashion. Another example is that an application using an AFS token-based file access privilage may destroy its AFS token after H5Fclose has returned successfully. This would make any future access to the file, or any object within it, illegal.

In such situations, applications must close all open objects in a file before calling H5Fclose. It is generally recommended to do so in all cases.

Parameters:
Returns:
Returns a non-negative value if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface: h5fclose_f
SUBROUTINE h5fclose_f(file_id, hdferr) 
  IMPLICIT NONE
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(IN) :: file_id ! File identifier
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT) :: hdferr        ! Error code
                                        ! 0 on success and -1 on failure
END SUBROUTINE h5fclose_f 
	

Name: H5Fcreate
Signature:
hid_t H5Fcreate(const char *name, unsigned flags, hid_t create_id, hid_t access_id )
Purpose:
Creates HDF5 files.
Description:
H5Fcreate is the primary function for creating HDF5 files .

The flags parameter determines whether an existing file will be overwritten. All newly created files are opened for both reading and writing. All flags may be combined with the bit-wise OR operator (`|') to change the behavior of the H5Fcreate call.

The more complex behaviors of file creation and access are controlled through the file-creation and file-access property lists. The value of H5P_DEFAULT for a property list value indicates that the library should use the default values for the appropriate property list.

The return value is a file identifier for the newly-created file; this file identifier should be closed by calling H5Fclose when it is no longer needed.

Special case -- File creation in the case of an already-open file:
If a file being created is already opened, by either a previous H5Fopen or H5Fcreate call, the HDF5 library may or may not detect that the open file and the new file are the same physical file. (See H5Fopen regarding the limitations in detecting the re-opening of an already-open file.)

If the library detects that the file is already opened, H5Fcreate will return a failure, regardless of the use of H5F_ACC_TRUNC.

If the library does not detect that the file is already opened and H5F_ACC_TRUNC is not used, H5Fcreate will return a failure because the file already exists. Note that this is correct behavior.

But if the library does not detect that the file is already opened and H5F_ACC_TRUNC is used, H5Fcreate will truncate the existing file and return a valid file identifier. Such a truncation of a currently-opened file will almost certainly result in errors. While unlikely, the HDF5 library may not be able to detect, and thus report, such errors.

Applications should avoid calling H5Fcreate with an already opened file.

Parameters:
Returns:
Returns a file identifier if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface: h5fcreate_f
SUBROUTINE h5fcreate_f(name, access_flags, file_id, hdferr, &  
                       creation_prp, access_prp)
  IMPLICIT NONE 
  CHARACTER(LEN=*), INTENT(IN) :: name   ! Name of the file
  INTEGER, INTENT(IN) :: access_flag     ! File access flags 
                                         ! Possible values are:
                                         !     H5F_ACC_RDWR_F   
                                         !     H5F_ACC_RDONLY_F   
                                         !     H5F_ACC_TRUNC_F  
                                         !     H5F_ACC_EXCL_F    
                                         !     H5F_ACC_DEBUG_F   
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(OUT) :: file_id ! File identifier 
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT) :: hdferr         ! Error code 
                                         ! 0 on success and -1 on failure
  INTEGER(HID_T), OPTIONAL, INTENT(IN) :: creation_prp 
                                         ! File creation propertly 
                                         ! list identifier, if not 
                                         ! specified its value is
                                         ! H5P_DEFAULT_F  
  INTEGER(HID_T), OPTIONAL, INTENT(IN) :: access_prp  
                                         ! File access property list 
                                         ! identifier, if not 
                                         ! specified its value is
                                         ! H5P_DEFAULT_F  
END SUBROUTINE h5fcreate_f
	

Name: H5Fflush
Signature:
herr_t H5Fflush(hid_t object_id, H5F_scope_t scope )
Purpose:
Flushes all buffers associated with a file to disk.
Description:
H5Fflush causes all buffers associated with a file to be immediately flushed to disk without removing the data from the cache.

object_id can be any object associated with the file, including the file itself, a dataset, a group, an attribute, or a named data type.

scope specifies whether the scope of the flushing action is global or local. Valid values are

H5F_SCOPE_GLOBAL      Flushes the entire virtual file.
H5F_SCOPE_LOCAL Flushes only the specified file.
Note:
HDF5 does not possess full control over buffering. H5Fflush flushes the internal HDF5 buffers then asks the operating system (the OS) to flush the system buffers for the open files. After that, the OS is responsible for ensuring that the data is actually flushed to disk.
Parameters:
Returns:
Returns a non-negative value if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface: h5fflush_f
SUBROUTINE h5fflush_f(obj_id, new_file_id, hdferr)
  IMPLICIT NONE 
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(IN)  :: obj_id      ! Object identifier
  INTEGER, INTENT(IN)         :: scope       ! Flag with two possible values:
                                             !     H5F_SCOPE_GLOBAL_F  
                                             !     H5F_SCOPE_LOCAL_F  
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT)        :: hdferr      ! Error code 
                                             ! 0 on success and -1 on failure
END SUBROUTINE h5fflush_f
	

Name: H5Fget_access_plist
Signature:
hid_t H5Fget_access_plist(hid_t file_id)
Purpose:
Returns a file access property list identifier.
Description:
H5Fget_access_plist returns the file access property list identifier of the specified file.

See "File Access Properties" in H5P: Property List Interface in this reference manual and "File Access Property Lists" in Files in the HDF5 User's Guide for additional information and related functions.

Parameters:
Returns:
Returns a file access property list identifier if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface: h5fget_access_plist_f
SUBROUTINE h5fget_access_plist_f(file_id, fcpl_id, hdferr)

  IMPLICIT NONE 
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(IN)   :: file_id ! File identifier
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(OUT)  :: fapl_id ! File access property list identifier
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT)         :: hdferr  ! Error code 
                                          ! 0 on success and -1 on failure
END SUBROUTINE h5fget_access_plist_f
	

Name: H5Fget_create_plist
Signature:
hid_t H5Fget_create_plist(hid_t file_id )
Purpose:
Returns a file creation property list identifier.
Description:
H5Fget_create_plist returns a file creation property list identifier identifying the creation properties used to create this file. This function is useful for duplicating properties when creating another file.

See "File Creation Properties" in H5P: Property List Interface in this reference manual and "File Creation Properties" in Files in the HDF5 User's Guide for additional information and related functions.

Parameters:
Returns:
Returns a file creation property list identifier if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface: h5fget_create_plist_f
SUBROUTINE h5fget_create_plist_f(file_id, fcpl_id, hdferr)

  IMPLICIT NONE 
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(IN)   :: file_id ! File identifier
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(OUT)  :: fcpl_id ! File creation property list 
                                          ! identifier
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT)         :: hdferr  ! Error code 
                                          ! 0 on success and -1 on failure
END SUBROUTINE h5fget_create_plist_f
	

Name: H5Fget_filesize
Signature:
herr_t H5Fget_filesize(hid_t file_id, hsize_t *size )
Purpose:
Returns the size of an HDF5 file.
Description:
H5Fget_filesize returns the size of the HDF5 file specified by file_id.

The returned size is that of the entire file, as opposed to only the HDF5 portion of the file. I.e., size includes the user block, if any, the HDF5 portion of the file, and any data that may have been appended beyond the data written through the HDF5 Library.

Parameters:
hid_t file_id
IN: Identifier of a currently-open HDF5 file
hsize_t *size
OUT: Size of the file, in bytes.
Returns:
Returns a non-negative value if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface: h5fget_freespace_f
SUBROUTINE h5fget_filesize_f(file_id, size, hdferr)

  IMPLICIT NONE
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(IN) :: file_id    ! file identifier
  INTEGER(HSIZE_T), INTENT(OUT) :: size    ! Size of the file 
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT) :: hdferr           ! Error code: 0 on success,
                                           ! -1 if fail
END SUBROUTINE h5fget_filesize_f 
	
History:

Name: H5Fget_freespace
Signature:
hssize_t H5Fget_freespace(hid_t file_id)
Purpose:
Returns the amount of free space in a file.
Description:
Given the identifier of an open file, file_id, H5Fget_freespace returns the amount of space that is unused by any objects in the file.

Currently, the HDF5 library only tracks free space in a file from a file open or create until that file is closed, so this routine will only report the free space that has been created during that interval.

Parameters:
Returns:
Returns the amount of free space in the file if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface: h5fget_freespace_f
SUBROUTINE h5fget_freespace_f(file_id, free_space, hdferr)

  IMPLICIT NONE 
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(IN)  :: file_id       ! File identifier
  INTEGER(HSSIZE_T), INTENT(OUT) :: free_space ! Amount of free space in file
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT)        :: hdferr        ! Error code 
                                               ! 0 on success and -1 on failure
END SUBROUTINE h5fget_freespace_f 
	
History:

Name: H5Fget_name
Signature:
ssize_t H5Fget_name(hid_t obj_id, char *name, size_t size )
Purpose:
Retrieves name of file to which object belongs.
Description:
H5Fget_name retrieves the name of the file to which the object obj_id belongs. The object can be a group, dataset, attribute, or named datatype.

Up to size characters of the filename are returned in name; additional characters, if any, are not returned to the user application.

If the length of the name, which determines the required value of size, is unknown, a preliminary H5Fget_name call can be made by setting name to NULL. The return value of this call will be the size of the filename; that value can then be assigned to size for a second H5Fget_name call, which will retrieve the actual name.

If an error occurs, the buffer pointed to by name is unchanged and the function returns a negative value.

Parameters:
hid_t obj_id
IN: Identifier of the object for which the associated filename is sought. The object can be a group, dataset, attribute, or named datatype.
char *name
OUT: Buffer to contain the returned filename.
size_t size
IN: Size, in bytes, of the name buffer.
Returns:
Returns the length of the filename if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface: h5fget_name_f
SUBROUTINE h5fget_name_f(obj_id, buf, size, hdferr)

  IMPLICIT NONE
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(IN) :: obj_id     ! Object identifier 
  CHARACTER(LEN=*), INTENT(INOUT) :: buf   ! Buffer to hold filename
  INTEGER(SIZE_T), INTENT(OUT) :: size     ! Size of the filename
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT) :: hdferr           ! Error code: 0 on success,
                                           ! -1 if fail
END SUBROUTINE h5fget_name_f
	
History:

Name: H5Fget_obj_count
Signature:
int H5Fget_obj_count(hid_t file_id, unsigned int types )
Purpose:
Returns the number of open object identifiers for an open file.
Description:
Given the identifier of an open file, file_id, and the desired object types, types, H5Fget_obj_count returns the number of open object identifiers for the file.

To retrieve a count of open identifiers for open objects in all HDF5 application files that are currently open, pass the value H5F_OBJ_ALL in file_id.

The types of objects to be counted are specified in types as follows:

H5F_OBJ_FILE Files only
H5F_OBJ_DATASET Datasets only
H5F_OBJ_GROUP Groups only
H5F_OBJ_DATATYPE   Named datatypes only
H5F_OBJ_ATTR Attributes only
H5F_OBJ_ALL All of the above
(I.e., H5F_OBJ_FILE | H5F_OBJ_DATASET | H5F_OBJ_GROUP | H5F_OBJ_DATATYPE | H5F_OBJ_ATTR )
H5F_OBJ_LOCAL Restrict search to objects opened through current file identifier.

Multiple object types can be combined with the logical OR operator (|). For example, the expression (H5F_OBJ_DATASET|H5F_OBJ_GROUP) would call for datasets and groups.

Parameters:
Returns:
Returns the number of open objects if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface: h5fget_obj_count_f
SUBROUTINE h5fget_obj_count_f(file_id, obj_type, obj_count, hdferr)

  IMPLICIT NONE 
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(IN)  :: file_id   ! File identifier
  INTEGER, INTENT(IN)         :: obj_type  ! Object types, possible values are:
                                           !     H5F_OBJ_FILE_F
                                           !     H5F_OBJ_GROUP_F
                                           !     H5F_OBJ_DATASET_F
                                           !     H5F_OBJ_DATATYPE_F
                                           !     H5F_OBJ_ALL_F
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT)        :: obj_count ! Number of opened objects
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT)        :: hdferr    ! Error code 
                                           ! 0 on success and -1 on failure
END SUBROUTINE h5fget_obj_count_f
	
History:

Name: H5Fget_obj_ids
Signature:
int H5Fget_obj_ids(hid_t file_id, unsigned int types, int max_objs, hid_t *obj_id_list )
Purpose:
Returns a list of open object identifiers.
Description:
Given the file identifier file_id and the type of objects to be identified, types, H5Fget_obj_ids returns the list of identifiers for all open HDF5 objects fitting the specified criteria.

To retrieve identifiers for open objects in all HDF5 application files that are currently open, pass the value H5F_OBJ_ALL in file_id.

The types of object identifiers to be retrieved are specified in types using the codes listed for the same parameter in H5Fget_obj_count

To retrieve identifiers for all open objects, pass a negative value for the max_objs.

Parameters:
Returns:
Returns number of objects placed into obj_id_list if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface: h5fget_obj_ids_f
SUBROUTINE h5fget_obj_ids_f(file_id, obj_type, max_objs, obj_ids, hdferr)

  IMPLICIT NONE 
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(IN)   :: file_id  ! File identifier
  INTEGER,        INTENT(IN)   :: obj_type ! Object types, possible values are:
                                           !     H5F_OBJ_FILE_F
                                           !     H5F_OBJ_GROUP_F
                                           !     H5F_OBJ_DATASET_F
                                           !     H5F_OBJ_DATATYPE_F
                                           !     H5F_OBJ_ALL_F
  INTEGER, INTENT(IN)          :: max_objs ! Maximum number of object 
                                           ! identifiers to retrieve
  INTEGER(HID_T), DIMENSION(*), INTENT(OUT) :: obj_ids
                                           ! Array of requested object 
                                           ! identifiers
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT)        :: hdferr    ! Error code 
                                           ! 0 on success and -1 on failure
END SUBROUTINE h5fget_obj_ids_f
	
History:

Name: H5Fget_vfd_handle
Signature:
herr_t H5Fget_vfd_handle(hid_t file_id, hid_t fapl_id, void *file_handle )
Purpose:
Returns pointer to the file handle from the virtual file driver.
Description:
Given the file identifier file_id and the file access property list fapl_id, H5Fget_vfd_handle returns a pointer to the file handle from the low-level file driver currently being used by the HDF5 library for file I/O.
Notes:
Users are not supposed to modify any file through this file handle.

This file handle is dynamic and is valid only while the file remains open; it will be invalid if the file is closed and reopened or opened during a subsequent session.

Parameters:
Returns:
Returns a non-negative value if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface:
None.
History:

Name: H5Fis_hdf5
Signature:
htri_t H5Fis_hdf5(const char *name )
Purpose:
Determines whether a file is in the HDF5 format.
Description:
H5Fis_hdf5 determines whether a file is in the HDF5 format.
Parameters:
Returns:
When successful, returns a positive value, for TRUE, or 0 (zero), for FALSE. Otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface: h5fis_hdf5_f
SUBROUTINE h5fis_hdf5_f(name, status, hdferr)   
  IMPLICIT NONE 
  CHARACTER(LEN=*), INTENT(IN) :: name   ! Name of the file
  LOGICAL, INTENT(OUT) :: status         ! This parameter indicates 
                                         ! whether file is an HDF5 file 
                                         ! ( TRUE or FALSE ) 
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT) :: hdferr         ! Error code 
                                         ! 0 on success and -1 on failure
END SUBROUTINE h5fis_hdf5_f
	

Name: H5Fmount
Signature:
herr_t H5Fmount(hid_t loc_id, const char *name, hid_t child_id, hid_t plist_id )
Purpose:
Mounts a file.
Description:
H5Fmount mounts the file specified by child_id onto the group specified by loc_id and name using the mount properties plist_id.

Note that loc_id is either a file or group identifier and name is relative to loc_id.

Parameters:
Returns:
Returns a non-negative value if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface: h5fmount_f
SUBROUTINE h5fmount_f(loc_id, name, child_id, hdferr)
  IMPLICIT NONE 
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(IN)  :: loc_id      ! File or group identifier
  CHARACTER(LEN=*), INTENT(IN):: name        ! Group name at locationloc_id
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(IN)  :: child_id    ! File(to be mounted) identifier
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT)        :: hdferr      ! Error code 
                                             ! 0 on success and -1 on failure
END SUBROUTINE h5fmount_f
	

Name: H5Fopen
Signature:
hid_t H5Fopen(const char *name, unsigned flags, hid_t access_id )
Purpose:
Opens an existing file.
Description:
H5Fopen opens an existing file and is the primary function for accessing existing HDF5 files.

Note that H5Fopen does not create a file if it does not already exist. See H5Fcreate.

The parameter access_id is a file access property list identifier or H5P_DEFAULT if the default I/O access parameters are to be used

The flags argument determines whether writing to an existing file will be allowed. The file is opened with read and write permission if flags is set to H5F_ACC_RDWR. All flags may be combined with the bit-wise OR operator (`|') to change the behavior of the file open call. More complex behaviors of file access are controlled through the file-access property list.

The return value is a file identifier for the open file; this file identifier should be closed by calling H5Fclose when it is no longer needed.

Special case -- Multiple opens:
A file can often be opened with a new H5Fopen call without closing an already-open identifier established in a previous H5Fopen or H5Fcreate call. Each such H5Fopen call will return a unique identifier and the file can be accessed through any of these identifiers as long as the identifier remains valid. In such multiply-opened cases, all the open calls should use the same flags argument.

In some cases, such as files on a local Unix file system, the HDF5 library can detect that a file is multiply opened and will maintain coherent access among the file identifiers.

But in many other cases, such as parallel file systems or networked file systems, it is not always possible to detect multiple opens of the same physical file. In such cases, HDF5 will treat the file identifiers as though they are accessing different files and will be unable to maintain coherent access. Errors are likely to result in these cases. While unlikely, the HDF5 library may not be able to detect, and thus report, such errors.

It is generally recommended that applications avoid multiple opens of the same file.

Parameters:
Returns:
Returns a file identifier if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface: h5fopen_f
SUBROUTINE h5fopen_f(name, access_flags, file_id, hdferr, &  
                     access_prp)
  IMPLICIT NONE 
  CHARACTER(LEN=*), INTENT(IN) :: name   ! Name of the file
  INTEGER, INTENT(IN) :: access_flag     ! File access flags  
                                         ! Possible values are:
                                         !     H5F_ACC_RDWR_F   
                                         !     H5F_ACC_RDONLY_F    
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(OUT) :: file_id ! File identifier 
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT) :: hdferr         ! Error code 
                                         ! 0 on success and -1 on failure
  INTEGER(HID_T), OPTIONAL, INTENT(IN) :: access_prp  
                                         ! File access property list 
                                         ! identifier  
END SUBROUTINE h5fopen_f
	

Name: H5Freopen
Signature:
hid_t H5Freopen(hid_t file_id )
Purpose:
Returns a new identifier for a previously-opened HDF5 file.
Description:
H5Freopen returns a new file identifier for an already-open HDF5 file, as specified by file_id. Both identifiers share caches and other information. The only difference between the identifiers is that the new identifier is not mounted anywhere and no files are mounted on it.

Note that there is no circumstance under which H5Freopen can actually open a closed file; the file must already be open and have an active file_id. E.g., one cannot close a file with H5Fclose (file_id) then use H5Freopen (file_id) to reopen it.

The new file identifier should be closed by calling H5Fclose when it is no longer needed.

Parameters:
Returns:
Returns a new file identifier if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface: h5freopen_f
SUBROUTINE h5freopen_f(file_id, new_file_id, hdferr)
  IMPLICIT NONE 
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(IN)  :: file_id     ! File identifier 
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(OUT) :: new_file_id ! New file identifier 
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT)        :: hdferr      ! Error code 
                                             ! 0 on success and -1 on failure
END SUBROUTINE h5freopen_f 
	

Name: H5Funmount
Signature:
herr_t H5Funmount(hid_t loc_id, const char *name )
Purpose:
Unmounts a file.
Description:
Given a mount point, H5Funmount dissassociates the mount point's file from the file mounted there. This function does not close either file.

The mount point can be either the group in the parent or the root group of the mounted file (both groups have the same name). If the mount point was opened before the mount then it is the group in the parent; if it was opened after the mount then it is the root group of the child.

Note that loc_id is either a file or group identifier and name is relative to loc_id.

Parameters:
Returns:
Returns a non-negative value if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.
Fortran90 Interface: h5funmount_f
SUBROUTINE h5funmount_f(loc_id, name, child_id, hdferr)
  IMPLICIT NONE 
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(IN)  :: loc_id      ! File or group identifier
  CHARACTER(LEN=*), INTENT(IN):: name        ! Group name at location loc_id
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT)        :: hdferr      ! Error code 
                                             ! 0 on success and -1 on failure
END SUBROUTINE h5funmount_f
	

HDF5 documents and links 
Introduction to HDF5 
HDF5 User Guide 
And in this document, the HDF5 Reference Manual  
H5   H5A   H5D   H5E   H5F   H5G   H5I   H5P  
H5R   H5S   H5T   H5Z   Tools   Datatypes  
(PDF of complete manual formatted as print volume)   

THG Help Desk:
Describes HDF5 Release 1.6.7, January 2008