Subject: HDF Newsletter #14

From: [email-masked] (Shiming Xu)
Date: 27 May 1994 23:01:25 GMT

HDF Newsletter #14

                    May 26, 1994 

Contents
========

1. HDF 4.0: Status and Plans 
2. HDF4.0 Alpha release 
3. Important change in the names of the FORTRAN include files 
4. New URL for the HDF information server 
5. New contributions 
6. Update on NCSA tools 
7. NCSA ftp server clogged 
8. Thanks and good luck, Chris! 

HDF 4.0: Status and Plans
=========================

The HDF group has been working for some time on a next version
of HDF, which we are calling HDF 4.0. The defining
characteristic of HDF 4.0 will be that it supports multi-file
and multi-object access to all major HDF objects. The full
list of features we have planned for HDF 4.0 includes the
following: 

 o Interfaces that support multi-file/multi-object access for
   raster images and annotations, similar to the current SDS
   interface. 
 o Support for n-bit integer data within the SDS interface. 
 o Support for parallel I/O on the Thinking Machines' CM-5. 
 o Limited support for reading CDF files. 
 o Support for compression for SDSs. 
 o Support for chunked storage of SDSs. 

As the next article indicates, we now have an alpha version of
HDF 4.0, which includes some of the items on the list. Our
original plans were to have a full beta version of HDF 4.0
ready by mid-summer. However, with the loss of Chris Houck
(see final article), the release will almost certainly be
delayed. We are considering postponing one or more of the
above features (probably the chunked storage, maybe the
annotations) in order to speed up the release, but have not
decided yet for sure. We welcome your thoughts about these
features. 

HDF4.0 Alpha release
====================

HDF Version 4.0 is ready for enthusiastic HDF users to run an
alpha test now. The new version supports n-bit number types, a
parallel I/O HDF interface for CM5, and reads CDF files.
Please read ABOUT_4.0.alpha for more details. 

  o In order to increase the clarity and maintainability of HDF
    code, we are moving towards the use of ANSI C conforming
    compilers. HDF 4.0 Alpha is the first trial release. 
  o Users of Scientific data sets have been asking for ways to
    store datasets which are composed of integer number types
    that don't fall into any of our current pre-defined number
    types. For example, users would like to be able to read and
    write 10-bit integers using an HDF SDS interface. HDF 4.0
    includes several new routines to let users define, write
    and read n-bit Scientific data sets. 
  o HDF 4.0 is able to read CDF files. 
  o HDF 4.0 also added a CM5 parallel I/O interface. 

Important change in the names of the FORTRAN include files
==========================================================

HDF FORTRAN users, please notice that the constant.i has been
renamed as hdf.inc and dffunct.i as dffunct.inc. If your
existing programs include those *.i files , you need to change
them correspondently before you compile them with HDF4.0. The 
ABOUT_4.0.alpha explains why the names were changed. 

New URL for the HDF information server
======================================

An HDF information server is set up. Its URL is: 

http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu:8001/. The server has the Online
Hypertext Version of the HDF Reference Manual. There is a
fill-out form in the home page for users to submit questions
to the HDF team. 

New contributions
=================

HDF and XDS extensions to support blocked SDS. Hugo Patterson,
graduate research fellow of Carnegie Mellon University
contributed the extensions made to HDF3.2r3 and XDS2.2 to
support read/ write/display of blocked scientific data sets.
The contribution is in HDF/contrib/HDF3.2r3.Blocked_SDS/ on
the NCSA ftp server. Read the README file in that directory
for more information.

Update on NCSA tools
====================

Collage release 1.3 for X Window System. 

New features in 1.3: 

  o Full support of int16 (short) HDF type. 
  o Support of int8 HDF type. 
  o Backspace works when doodling text in image or whiteboard. 
  o Contour works for all data type. 
  o Animation of a 3d data along an arbitrary axis can be
    generated from the 3d panel. 
  o A bug was fixed that occurs when the default number of
    colorcells is less than 256. 
  o Options were added for naming of SDSs (use of annotation or
    not...). 
  o Screen capture on SGI works better. 
  o Delete buttons were added so that you can recover some
    memory. 
  o A private copy button was added on the spreadsheet. 

Distribution: 

The software is available through anonymous ftp for both
binaries and source code. ftp ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu
(141.142.20.50) and answer anonymous to the Name question.
Than cd /UNIX/XCollage/Collage1.3, get DOCS, quit ftp, read
DOCS and download the binaries that you need. 

NCSA ftp server clogged
=======================

If you have tried recently to get anything from the NCSA ftp
server (ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu), you have probably noticed that it
is very hard to connect. This is caused by an overwhelming
increase in the number of accesses over the past couple of
months, most likely a side effect of the popularity of NCSA
Mosaic and the NCSA World Wide Web server. 

This is just to let you know that we are aware of the problem,
we regret the inconvenience it is causing many of you, and we
are taking measures to fix it. We hope to have it solved
within a month. 

Thanks and good luck, Chris Houck!
==================================

Chris Houck is leaving NCSA and the HDF group to pursue
opportunities in the commercial world. 

Chris has been a joy to work with and a tremendous asset to
the HDF project during the two and a half years that he has
been with us. He was responsible for the enormous task of
merging the netCDF interface into HDF, for rewriting the SDS
interface to make it completely compatible with the netCDF and
CDF data models, and for making a countless improvements and
fixes to practically all parts of the HDF code. Chris has
continuously contributed important insights and opinions about
how to approach HDF-related problems and issues. In addition
to all this, Chris has consistently and cheerfully provided
support to the growing population of HDF users. 

Chris, obviously we will really miss you, we are enormously
grateful for your contributions to HDF, and we wish you all
the best.