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Kent, > > Fixed-size HDF5 string is very commonly used inside HDF5 files that users > > are interested in making netCDF-4 to access. > > I happened to find an old report regarding this issue. The student did > > some investigations and provided a patch for the netcdf-4 package. > > Hopefully this can help you guys fix the bug. > > > > Check > > ftp://ftp.hdfgroup.uiuc.edu/pub/outgoing/ymuqun/temp/netcdf_seg_fault/old-report/ > > > > > > especially README can help you get started. > > Yes, that's very helpful, although the fix has become more complex since we > added a > dispatch layer. Nevertheless, I'll commit to getting the fix into the 4.2.1 > release, > which we're aiming to make available in the next two or three weeks. > > Another complication is our inability to include a simple test that just uses > the > netCDF-4 API, because our data model doesn't support HDF5's fixed-length > string > type. Nevertheless, we may be able to just include a simple HDF5 file that > uses > it to make sure we can read it. Although I already responded to the earlier ticket, I'm also responding to and closing this one. I'm not including a test .h5 file in the distribution, but instead generating one as part of the test program for the fixes ... --Russ > > address@hidden> wrote: > > > > > Hi Kent, > > > > > > Thanks for all your work on isolating the bug. > > > > > > I think the problem may be that netCDF-4 has no such type > > > as a "fixed length string", it only has the "string" type, > > > which is always variable length, and an "array of char" > > > type, which was in the netCDF-3 classic model, and for > > > which a dimension must be defined and named to identify > > > the langth of the char array. > > > > > > When Ed added support for reading HDF5 files that were not > > > netCDF-4 files, he may have not realized fixed-length chars > > > were a new type that the netCDF-4 data model does not support. > > > They either have to be converted to variable length strings > > > (perhaps with a hidden attribute indicating they are fixed > > > length) or as array of char, with a new dimension defined > > > that does not correspond to an associated HDF5 dataspace. > > > > > > Or, we have to add support for a new type, which is a lot of > > > work. > > > > > > The netCDF-4 data model supports fixed-size arrays as members > > > of structs, without having to define associated named dimensions. > > > But as far as I understand, it does not support fixed-size arrays > > > that have no associated, named dimensions. > > > > > > I'll have to look at this a little more carefully to verify that > > > the problem is in the netCDF-4 library layer rather than ncdump, > > > but if so, the fix will have to be in the library. > > > > > > --Russ > > > > > > Russ Rew UCAR Unidata Program > > > address@hidden http://www.unidata.ucar.edu > > > > > > > > > > > > Ticket Details > > > =================== > > > Ticket ID: MJR-379092 > > > Department: Support netCDF > > > Priority: Normal > > > Status: Closed > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Kent Yang The HDF Group > > 1800 So. Oak St., Suite 203, Champaign, IL 61820 > > 217.531.6107 > > http://hdfgroup.org http://hdfeos.org > > > > > > Russ Rew UCAR Unidata Program > address@hidden http://www.unidata.ucar.edu > > Russ Rew UCAR Unidata Program address@hidden http://www.unidata.ucar.edu Ticket Details =================== Ticket ID: MJR-379092 Department: Support netCDF Priority: Critical Status: Closed