Using This Guide with HDF5 Release 1.8.x

Several sections describing new features introduced with HDF5 Release 1.8.x have been added to this HDF5 User's Guide:

Other work to bring the Guide up to date with the HDF5 Release 1.8.x series remains to be done. Readers should keep the following things in mind:

 


Using 1.6.x syntax with the 1.8.x library

HDF5 Release 1.8.x includes an API compatibility feature that enables codes written with 1.6.x function syntax to be compiled against and linked with an HDF5 Release 1.8.x Library.

When working with an installed version of the HDF5 Library that has been built with default settings, use the h5cc script and the -DH5_USE_16_API flag to compile and link your C program as follows:

    h5cc <other_instructions> -DH5_USE_16_API . . .
A comparable script, h5fc, is provided for Fortran programs.

For further details or alternate approaches, see “API Compatibility Macros in HDF5.”