HDF Newsletter #11 September 23, 1993 Contents HDF3.3 1 Release 1 Update on HDF/contrib/ Vset tools inspectHDF fits2hdf New version of NCSA XCollage =============================== HDF 3.3 release 1 now available =============================== NCSA is pleased to announce the release of HDF 3.3r1. HDF 3.3r1 is available on on the NCSA ftp server (ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu; IP address 141.142.20.50) in the directory HDF/HDF3.3r1. README files in this directory and subdirectories contain full details on the new features of HDF 3.3, as well as directions on how to download, install and use it. Briefly, HDF 3.3 contains the following new features: - A new SDS interface that has the following features: * 'multi-file access': support for access to more than one file at a time, and more than one SDS at a time. * 'name = value' style meta-data: support for a more general framework for meta-data within the SDS data model, allowing * support for an "unlimited dimension" within the SDS data model * The ability to read and write random hyperslabs * the ability to subsample arrays * the ability to access netCDF files via the SDS interface - JPEG compression: the 8-bit and 24-bit interfaces now read and write JPEG compressed 24-bit and 8-bit raster images - Support for the netCDF data model, with the following features: * the ability to use the entire netCDF 2.3.2 interface to write data to HDF files * the ability to read SDS data via the netCDF interface * the ability to read netCDF data from files in the netCDF format developed at Unidata - Improved conversion routines on the Cray, providing faster access for SDS and Vdata I/O. - The ability to read and write little-endian (PC native) mode files on all platforms, expanding the capabilities of the SDS and Vdata interfaces. - Vset interface changes, including * the ability to store more than one field of order greater than one in a vdata * several new routines for finding information about Vdata field attributes * the use of integers rather than pointers for Vgroup and Vdata identifiers, to make them more compatible with the other HDF interfaces. The HDF 3.3 library is composed of two main parts. The first part, the "base library" includes all interfaces that were supported prior to HDF 3.3, including any enhancements to those interfaces added in HDF 3.3. The second part, the HDF/netCDF part, contains the new multi-file SDS interface and the netCDF interface. HDF 3.3 Release 1 has been tested successfully on the following machines:. Platform 'base library' HDF/netCDF Sun4 X X IBM/RS6000 X X SGI X X Convex X X Cray Y-MP X X NeXT X X HP X X DecStation X X Mac X * DEC Alpha X Fujitsu VP X IBM PC - MSDOS ** IBM PC - Windows ** VAX/VMS X * The netCDF interface works but you currently are unable to read old netCDF(XDR) files. In addtion, the fortran interface and ncdump utility has yet to be finished. ** There is no FORTRAN support for either PC version of HDF 3.3. ======================== Update on HDF/contrib/ ======================== Vsettools -- vs2ris and vs2ps: ----------------------------- Fred Walsteijn, Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research at Utrecht University of The Netherlands, upgraded the Vset conversion tools vs2ris and vs2ps to HDF3.2r4. The previous version (v2.1) compiled with HDF3.2r2 and was contributed by Fred last year December. The programs, accompanied by README files and example data, are in directory HDF3.2r4.Vsettools/. inspectHDF: ---------- Last August Neil Buesing updated inspectHDF to HDF3.3b2 and improved its functionality. The updated version is now available in the subdirectory inspectHDF/. fits2hdf: -------- Niall Ives Gaffney contributed a fits2hdf utility which converts FITS files into HDF files. The programs are in directory fits2hdf/. There are also README and a Makefile in the same directory. ==================== Update on XCollage: ==================== NCSA XCollage version 1.2 has now been released and is available on ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu. Here is a list of the changes and enhancements in the new version. Changes when generating a raster picture from a SDS : ----------------------------------------------------- - prompt user to modify the minimum and maximum that will be used to compute a raster value from a float or integer value. - default the output raster range to 30-254. Settable through X resources: Collage.basePixel & Colllage.lastPixel - optional bilinear interpolation. Changes in the Rasters Windows : ------------------------------- - By default, the first 30 entries of the colormap are the same as those of the system colormap so that it doesn't "flash" when you enter this window. - In the palette menu, the current palette is shown with an indented diamond. Changes in the Histogram tool : ------------------------------ - when data come from a SDS, computation is made with the SDS data instead of the raster data, and so the labels show floating or integer values. - User can change the number (hence, the size) of intervals thru the Options menu. Changes in the Plot or Profile tool : ------------------------------------- - here too, when data come from a SDS, use the SDS data instead of the raster data and displays the data in the scale labels. Creates contours for images which were generated from SDS's. ------------------------------------------------------------ Changes in the Animation tool : ------------------------------ - Three options when loading an animation : you can use the X server memory (Pixmaps), client memory or store the picture on disk. - New slider to control the speed of animation - when loading SDS, prompt the user for magnification (does not interpolate) Load a file from command line : ------------------------------- - the -load option enables the user to load a file without going through the browser. GIF, XWD support : ----------------- - Collage support reading images from GIF or XWD formatted files. New 3D features : ---------------- - pops up a new panel when you load three dimensionnal data enabling the user to choose an axis and a plane perpendicular to this axis, and display the plane either as a spreadsheet or a raster image. New communication features : -------------------------- - When generating a raster image from an SDS, the image is now sent to everybody on the session and the receiving collage instances are now able to link this raster image with the original SDS, in order to use it in the profile & histogram tool. - When sending the palette that goes with a raster image, we keep the original name of the palette, instead of renaming it to the name of the raster image. The receiving side is now able to link the palette with the raster image using a new tag in the DTM header.