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                            Newsletter #101
                             March 28, 2008
CONTENTS:

   - Release of h5check 1.0
   - Release of HDF5-OPeNDAP Handler 1.2.2
   - Second Prototype Release of HDF5 .NET APIs
   - HDF5 and Python Pilot Study

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Release of h5check 1.0
======================

The first release of h5check is now available.  This tool
is a validation tool for verifying that an HDF5 file is
encoded according to the HDF5 File Format Specification.
The purpose of this tool is to ensure data model integrity
and long-term compatibility between evolving versions of the
HDF5 library.

The h5check tool can be obtained from the following location:

   ftp://ftp.hdfgroup.org/HDF5/special_tools/h5check/

For information on how to use it, please refer to the PDF
documentation that comes with it, and which can be accessed
from:

   ftp://ftp.hdfgroup.org/HDF5/special_tools/h5check/h5check.pdf



Release of HDF5-OPenDAP Handler 1.2.2
=====================================

The HDF5-OPeNDAP handler version 1.2.2 has been released through
the OPeNDAP website at:

   http://opendap.org/download/hdf5_handler.html

This is a source-only beta release.

The OPeNDAP software is a software framework that allows simple
access to remote data. The HDF5-OPeNDAP handler allows remote HDF5
files and subsets of HDF5 files to be accessed locally.


Second Prototype Release of HDF5 .NET APIs
==========================================

A second release of the HDF5 .NET APIs is now available. Following
are the new features in this release:

  - H5A APIs were added.
  - The set of H5T APIs for datatype discovery was extended.
  - H5P APIs to support chunking and compression were added.
  - It was built with HDF5 1.8.0.

This software can be obtained from the HDF5 home page at:
    
  http://hdfgroup.org/products/hdf5/index.html

The location of the software is:

  ftp://ftp.hdfgroup.uiuc.edu/pub/outgoing/hdf5/HDF5dotNetEnv/
 
Download and unzip the file:  hdf5DotNet18.zip

The release notes can be found with the software and in:
  ftp://ftp.hdfgroup.uiuc.edu/pub/outgoing/hdf5/HDF5dotNetEnv/ReleaseNotes18.pdf

Please note that this version was built and tested with HDF5 1.8.0.
The original prototype, which supports HDF5 1.6 is still accessible
from the ftp server location.

This software is not complete and therefore still considered a prototype.
If your organization is interested in providing the resources to make
this a fully supported and integrated product, just let us know!


HDF5 and Python Pilot Study
===========================

THG will be conducting a pilot study on the feasibility of applying
user-defined transform operations to data being read from an HDF5
file.  This will be done using a dynamic programming language,
initially with Python. An RFC outlining the work and seeking feedback
is available at:

  http://www.hdfgroup.uiuc.edu/RFC/HDF5/DynamicTransformations/



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   help@hdfgroup.org