Provided by: libhdf4-dev_4.2r10-0ubuntu1_amd64 bug

NAME

       hdf - Hierarchical Data Format library

SYNOPSIS

       -lmfhdf -ldf -ljpeg -lz [ -lsz ]
       /usr/lib/libmfhdf.a /usr/lib/libdf.a /usr/lib/libjpeg.a /usr/lib/libz.a /usr/lib/libsz.a

DESCRIPTION

       HDF  is  a  multi-object  file  format  that  facilitates the transfer of various types of
       scientific     data     between     machines     and     operating      systems.       See
       http://www.hdfgroup.org/release4/platforms.html   for   a   list  of  platforms  currently
       supported.

       HDF allows self-definitions of data content and easy extensibility for future enhancements
       or  compatibility  with  other  standard  formats.  HDF  includes  Fortran  and  C calling
       interfaces, and utilities for manipulating, viewing, and analyzing data in HDF files.  The
       HDF  library  contains  interfaces  for  storing and retrieving compressed or uncompressed
       8-bit and 24-bit raster images with palettes, n-Dimensional scientific datasets and binary
       tables. An interface is also included that allows arbitrary grouping of other HDF objects.

   HDF Raster Images
       HDF  supports  the  storing  of  both  8-bit  and  24-bit  raster  images.  Beside storing
       information about the dimensions and palette of a raster image, HDF supports raster  image
       compression.   In previous versions of HDF (DF interfaces,) Run-length encoding and Imcomp
       compression were both supported.  The  currently  supported  compression  methods  include
       simple  RLE,  N-bit,  Skipping  huffman, Gzip, Szip, and JPEG.  Although no longer support
       Imcomp compression, the library can read images with Imcomp compression.

   HDF Scientific Data Sets
       Scientific Data Sets (SDSs) are useful for storing n-Dimensional gridded data.  The actual
       data  in  the dataset can be of any of the "standard" number types: 8, 16 and 32bit signed
       and unsigned integers and 32 and 64bit floating point  values.   In  addition,  a  certain
       amount of meta-data can be stored with an SDS including:

         o The coordinate system to use when interpreting or displaying the data.
         o Scales to be used for each dimension.
         o Labels for each dimension and the dataset as a whole.
         o Units for each dimension and the data.
         o The valid max and min values for the data.
         o Calibration information for the data.
         o Fill or missing value information.
         o Ability of having more than one file open at a time.
         o A more general framework for meta-data within the SDS data-model
           (allowing 'name = value' style meta-data.)
         o Support for an "unlimited dimension" in the SDS data-model, making
           it possible to append planes to an array along one dimension.

   HDF Annotations
       Any  object in an HDF file can have annotations associated with it.  There are a number of
       types of annotations:

         o Labels are assumed to be short strings giving the "name" of a
           data object.
         o Descriptions are longer text segments that are useful for giving
           more indepth information about a data object
         o File annotations are assumed to apply to all of the objects in a
           single file.

   HDF Vset Interfaces
       The Vset module provides interfaces to two basic HDF building blocks.  Vgroups are generic
       grouping  elements  allowing  a  user to associate related objects within an HDF file.  As
       Vgroups can contain other Vgroups, it is possible to build a  hierarchical  file.   Vdatas
       are data structures made up of fields and records.  Data is organized into "fields" within
       each Vdata.  Each field is identified by a unique "fieldname".  The type of each field may
       be  any  of the basic number types that HDF supports.  Fields of different types may exist
       within the same Vdata.

       By combining Vdatas in Vgroups it is possible to represent higher level  data  constructs:
       mesh  data,  multi-variate  datasets,  sparse matrices, finite-element data, spreadsheets,
       splines, non-Cartesian coordinate data, etc.

   HDF and netCDF
       Starting with HDF version 3.3,  netCDF  v.2.3.2  of  Unidata  is  supported  with  the  SD
       multifile  interface.  SD  and  netCDF  interfaces  can  read both netCDF files and multi-
       dimensional arrays (SDS) stored in the HDF4 files transparently.   For  more  information,
       see Chapter 3, "Scientific Data Sets", of the HDF User's Guide.

       To  disable  netCDF  interfaces in the HDF library, configure the library using --disable-
       netcdf flag and rebuild it.

   EXAMPLES
       All HDF routines require the header "hdf.h" to be included in the C source file, unless if
       the SD routines are used, then the header "mfhdf.h" should be included instead.

       Fortran  programs  should  use  "dffunc.inc"  for  all interfaces, "mffunc.inc" for the SD
       interfaces, and "hdf.inc" for non-SD interfaces.

       To compile a program that makes HDF calls on most Unix platforms.

          (FORTRAN):
          {HDFLIBDIR}/bin/h4fc myprog.f

          (C):
          {HDFLIBDIR}/bin/h4cc myprog.c

DOCUMENTATION

       The HDF web site is located at http://www.hdfgroup.org/.

       For the vast majority of users, the "HDF User's Guide" and "HDF Reference Manual" should
       be sufficient.

       These documents can be viewed or downloaded at
       http://www.hdfgroup.org/products/hdf4/.

VENDOR

       The HDF Group
       1800 South Oak Street, Suite 203
       Champaign, IL 61820
       USA
       www.hdfgroup.org

VERSION

       4.2.10

LICENSE & SOURCE AVAILABILITY

       Copyright by The HDF Group.
       Copyright by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

       All rights reserved.

       This file is part of HDF.  The full HDF copyright notice, including terms governing use,
       modification, and redistribution, is contained in the files COPYING and Copyright.html.
       COPYING can be found at the root of the source code distribution tree; Copyright.html can
       be found at
       http://hdfgroup.org/products/hdf4/doc/Copyright.html.  If you do not have access to either
       file, you may request a copy from
       help@hdfgroup.org.

CONTACT & HELP

       The HDF Group
       Email: help@hdfgroup.org

FILES

       /usr/lib/{libmfhdf,libdf,libjpeg,libz,libsz}.{a,so}
                                     hdf libraries
       /usr/bin                      Location of most hdf utilities
       /usr/include/hdf              Location of include file hdf.h, mfhdf.h, and others