Help us improve by taking our short survey: https://www.hdfgroup.org/website-survey/

| HDF5 Last Updated on 2026-07-28 The HDF5 Field Guide

Loading...
Searching...
No Matches
Tools for Viewing and Editing HDF5 Files

Navigate back: Main / Getting Started with HDF5

# Basic Facts about HDF5

The following are basic facts about HDF5 files to keep in mind while completing these tutorial topics:

- All HDF5 files contain a root group "/".
- There are two primary objects in HDF5, a group and a dataset:
  Groups allow objects to be organized into a group structure, such as a tree.
  Datasets contain raw data values.
- Additional information about an HDF5 object may optionally be stored in attributes attached to the object.

# Tutorial Topics

Tutorial Topic | Description
--- | ---
Learning HDF5 with HDFView | Use HDFView to create, edit and view files.
Command-line Tools | Use the HDF5 command-line tools for viewing, editing, and comparing HDF5 files.
Use Case: Examining a JPSS NPP File With HDF5 Tools | Use HDF5 tools to examine and work with JPSS NPP files.

Navigate back: Main / Getting Started with HDF5