Last modified: 15 May 2009
Name: H5Fcreate
Signature:
hid_t H5Fcreate( const char *name, unsigned flags, hid_t fcpl_id, hid_t fapl_id )

Purpose:
Creates an HDF5 file.

Description:
H5Fcreate is the primary function for creating HDF5 files; it creates a new HDF5 file with the specified name and property lists and specifies whether an existing file of same name should be overwritten.

The name parameter specifies the name of the new file.

The flags parameter specifies whether an existing file is to be overwritten. It should be set to either H5F_ACC_TRUNC to overwrite an existing file or H5F_ACC_EXCL, instructing the function to fail if the file already exists.

New files are always created in read-write mode, so the read-write and read-only flags, H5F_ACC_RDWR and H5F_ACC_RDONLY, respectively, are not relevant in this function. Further note that a specification of H5F_ACC_RDONLY will be ignored; the file will be created in read-write mode, regardless.

More complex behaviors of file creation and access are controlled through the file creation and file access property lists, fcpl_id and fapl_id, respectively. The value of H5P_DEFAULT for any property list value indicates that the library should use the default values for that appropriate property list.

The return value is a file identifier for the newly-created file; this file identifier should be closed by calling H5Fclose when it is no longer needed.

Special case -- File creation in the case of an already-open file:
If a file being created is already opened, by either a previous H5Fopen or H5Fcreate call, the HDF5 library may or may not detect that the open file and the new file are the same physical file. (See H5Fopen regarding the limitations in detecting the re-opening of an already-open file.)

If the library detects that the file is already opened, H5Fcreate will return a failure, regardless of the use of H5F_ACC_TRUNC.

If the library does not detect that the file is already opened and H5F_ACC_TRUNC is not used, H5Fcreate will return a failure because the file already exists. Note that this is correct behavior.

But if the library does not detect that the file is already opened and H5F_ACC_TRUNC is used, H5Fcreate will truncate the existing file and return a valid file identifier. Such a truncation of a currently-opened file will almost certainly result in errors. While unlikely, the HDF5 library may not be able to detect, and thus report, such errors.

Applications should avoid calling H5Fcreate with an already opened file.

Parameters:
const char *name     IN: Name of the file to access.
uintn flags IN: File access flags. Allowable values are:
    H5F_ACC_TRUNC
    Truncate file, if it already exists, erasing all data previously stored in the file.
    H5F_ACC_EXCL
    Fail if file already exists.
  • H5F_ACC_TRUNC and H5F_ACC_EXCL are mutually exclusive; use exactly one.
  • An additional flag, H5F_ACC_DEBUG, prints debug information. This flag can be combined with one of the above values using the bit-wise OR operator (`|'), but it is used only by HDF5 Library developers; it is neither tested nor supported for use in applications.
  • hid_t fcpl_id IN: File creation property list identifier, used when modifying default file meta-data. Use H5P_DEFAULT to specify default file creation properties.
    hid_t fapl_id IN: File access property list identifier. If parallel file access is desired, this is a collective call according to the communicator stored in the fapl_id. Use H5P_DEFAULT for default file access properties.

    Returns:
    Returns a file identifier if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.

    Fortran90 Interface: h5fcreate_f
    SUBROUTINE h5fcreate_f(name, access_flags, file_id, hdferr, &  
                           creation_prp, access_prp)
      IMPLICIT NONE 
      CHARACTER(LEN=*), INTENT(IN) :: name   ! Name of the file
      INTEGER, INTENT(IN) :: access_flag     ! File access flags 
                                             ! Valid values are:
                                             !     H5F_ACC_TRUNC_F  
                                             !     H5F_ACC_EXCL_F    
                                             !     H5F_ACC_DEBUG_F   
      INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(OUT) :: file_id ! File identifier 
      INTEGER, INTENT(OUT) :: hdferr         ! Error code 
                                             ! 0 on success and -1 on failure
      INTEGER(HID_T), OPTIONAL, INTENT(IN) :: creation_prp 
                                             ! File creation propertly 
                                             ! list identifier, if not 
                                             ! specified its value is
                                             ! H5P_DEFAULT_F  
      INTEGER(HID_T), OPTIONAL, INTENT(IN) :: access_prp  
                                             ! File access property list 
                                             ! identifier, if not 
                                             ! specified its value is
                                             ! H5P_DEFAULT_F  
    END SUBROUTINE h5fcreate_f
        

    History:
    Release     Change
    1.8.10 Removed H5F_ACC_RDWR_F and H5F_ACC_RDONLY_F from comments for access_flag field in Fortran subroutine, and changed “Possible values” to “Valid values”.