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Proposed Changes to the h5dump utility

This document shows a revised proposal for changes to the h5dump utility.

The following tables show

  1. The changes that will definitely be implemented for HDF5-1.6.3

  2. Changes that will be done for 5-1.6.3, time permitting.  These will likely not be done in time for 1.6.3.

  3. Changes that will not be attempted for 1.6.3 unless everything else is done.


In this list, there are at least 5 changes to the DDL.

The basic milestones will be:

  1. RFC for changes to the DDL
  2. RFC for feature changes (after DDL is agreed.)
  3. implement changes (1.6 and 1.7 branch)
  4. implement new tests
  5. check in of all features

Table 1. High Priority Do For 5-1.6.3

Bug ID Date opened Description Requires change in DDL? Description of changes to code
868
12/24/2002
Changes to DDL document
Bug868.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
Yes
TBD.  (Need to discuss the default and optional outputs)
870 12/24/2002 report required filters
Bug870.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
Yes Add code to  get and print required filters, filter parameters for each dataset



869

12/24/2002
report storage parameters (chunk, compression, fill value, fill policy, ...)
Bug869.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
Yes
Similar to #870, probably implemented in the same code.
871
12/24/2002
report settings of tuning knobs (?)
Bug871.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
Yes
Similar to #870, probably implemented in same code.
872
12/24/2002
report VFL used & specific info
Bug872.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
Yes
Same as above
680
11/16/2001
h5dump doesn't show group comment. (Group is OK, need to support dataset comment.)
Bug680.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
Yes
Note: this feature needs to be implemented for datasets and datatypes.  This requires changes to the internal APIs of the dumper: need to pass the enclosing group in order to read the comment of a dataset.
1088
11/25/2003

fail on file w/enum w/space in name
Bug1088.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)

No
Fix h5tools_str.c
1079
11/5/2003
fails on named VL datatype
Bug1079.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
No
Need to investigate.
(library bug)
903
3/6/2003

truncates output on SGI
Bug903.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)

No
Need to investigate.

804
7/23/2002
does not handle bitfield datatype
Bug804.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
Maybe
Bug is unclear, not clear what needs to be done



a switch to see 'character array' datasets as 'strings'.  i.e., instead of printing "C, H, A, R,  , A, R, R, A, Y"
they would like the output to look like "CHAR ARRAY".
No

795
5/31/2002
Add index label feature to h5dump -- label the indexes of the data from arrays
Bug795.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
Maybe (depends on design of output.)
This will require changing the  h5tools_dump_dset routine.  This is a very significant change.
(Look at h5ls)
926
4/1/2003
Add ability to interpet CR/LF w/viewing attrs
Bug926.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
No
 
900 2/27/2003 add index option-- a table of contents that lists all the objects
Bug900.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
No
(Assuming this is not part of the DDL. Need to define the format of the output.)
Probably can use existing data structures, new code to print out the index.
874 12/24/2002 display obj refs as path
Bug874.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
No XML has mechanism to dump OR as path.  Generalize this mechanism?  Move into h5tools_?
(This may be messy)
(There are objects with no path)

 

Table 2. Do If Possible, Probably Not In Time for 5-1.6.3

Bug ID Date opened Description Requires change in DDL? Description of changes to code


Improve performance for a file with very large number of objects
No
Check what h5ls does and other code that may exist.


Improve performance for files with very large datasets, including dataset bigger than core
No
Check earlier work in the h4toh5 library.
429
03/23/00
Add a -transpose option to h5dump, so that Fortran users can see their data as they wrote it.
Bug429.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
Maybe (depends on design of output.)
Same as 795.

(Don't let scaliing issues deter solving part of the problem)
429
03/23/00
Floating point uses 'G' format, the '.0' is omitted from the output.  (This is a problem when reading the data back in.) The request is to make sure the 7.0 is printed as 7., not 7.
(Look at other problems with FP display, e.g., specify the format with an option.)
Bug429.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
No
Same as 795.
560
2/15/2001
Add option to h5dump for -binary (?) and ASCII
Bug560.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
No
(ASCII is done)


Table 3. Don't Try to Do These Unless Everything Else is Done

Bug ID Date opened Description Requires change in DDL? Reason to defer
429 03/23/00 h5dump should show obj id on obj reference
Bug429.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
No Already done?
877 12/24/2002 h5dump, h5ls:combine the two
Bug877.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
No Huge Job, not sure this is a good idea
876 12/24/2002 report a checksum on dataset
Bug876.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
 Yes
873 12/24/2002 report ref count on objects
Bug873.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
 Yes
730 3/11/2002 doesn’t handle time datasets
Bug730.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
Yes Wait until time data is implemented.
864 12/16/2002 support import/export compound DT to Excel
Bug864.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
No Make a separate tool for this?
912 3/12/2003 add wildcard for attrs/objs path
Bug912.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
No
1060 10/27/2003 Add mounting to h5dump (i.e., tell h5dump which files to mount)
Bug1060.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
Yes
926 4/1/2003 Add ability to interpet CR/LF w/viewing attrs
Bug926.html (internal.ncsa.uiuc.edu)
No

 

June 16, 2004Last modified: March 15, 2004
Describes h5dump new features