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                              Newsletter #25
                               July 28, 1997

CONTENTS

HDFNOW Release 0.3 
 A. New Features and Changes               *******************************
 B. Software Requirements                  * Visit the HDF home page     * 
 C. Platforms Supported                    * for up-to-date information  * 
                                           * on HDF:                     *    
                                           *   http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/ *  
                                           ******************************* 
                                         
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

HDFNOW Release 0.3
==================

HDFNOW Release 0.3 is now available on the HDF ftp server (hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
in the directory pub/HDFNOW.  Please refer to the release_notes file
for information on installing HDFNOW.  If you have any questions or
concerns, please email hdfparallel@ncsa.uiuc.edu.

HDFNOW is a library that supports HDF for a Network of Workstations.  The 
initial design supports the distributed Scientific Datasets for HDF files.

The Distributed SD (DSD) interface is designed for those who are familiar 
with the SD interface and experienced with message-passing programs. The
DSD interface is a layer on top of the SD interface, which uses MPI for 
interprocess communications.

A. New Features and Changes

 o  Linux is now supported.

 o  Changes in HDF NOW file structure

    -  A library generated string, DHDF_SetId, is stored in each of the 
       distributed HDF files (DHDF).

    -  A library assigned integer, DHDF_FileId, is stored in each DHDF.

    -  The file information of all the files in the same DHDF represented by
       a vdata is stored in the main HDF file (MHF). The file information in
       an associated HDF file contains the information of the MHF and itself.
 
    Please refer to man/HDFNOW.5 for more information.
 

B. Software Requirements:

 o  HDF distribution release 4.1r1
 
 o  MPICH 1.1.0 distribution


C. Platforms Supported:
 
 o  HP-UX A.09.03
 
 o  IRIX 5.3
 
 o  Linux 2.0.30
 
 o  SunOS 4.1.3


For more information on HDF support for Parallel Computing Systems, take a 
look at the Parallel HDF home page at:

    http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Parallel_HDF/