HDF5 (Hierarchical Data Format Ver.5)

 

HDF5は複雑・大容量な科学データを効率よく格納するために、The HDF Groupによって開発されたファイル形式ライブラリです。詳しくはhttp://www.hdfgroup.org/HDF5/をご覧ください。

 

What's HDF5?

HDF5 is a general purpose library and file format for storing scientific data.

HDF5 can store two primary objects: datasets and groups. A dataset is essentially a multidimensional array of data elements, and a group is a structure for organizing objects in an HDF5 file. Using these two basic objects, one can create and store almost any kind of scientific data structure, such as images, arrays of vectors, and structured and unstructured grids. You can also mix and match them in HDF5 files according to your needs.

 

Efficient storage and I/O.

HDF5 was created to address the data management needs of scientists and engineers working in high performance, data intensive computing environments. As a result, the HDF5 library and format emphasize storage and I/O efficiency. For instance, the HDF5 format can accommodate data in a variety of ways, such as compressed or chunked. And the library is tuned and adapted to read and write data efficiently on parallel computing systems.

 

Software.

NCSA maintains a suite of free, open source software, including the HDF5 I/O library and several utilities. The HDF5 user community also develops and contributes software, much of it freely available. Unlike HDF4, there is little commercial support for HDF5 at this time, but we are successfully working with vendors to change this.

 

Emphasis on standards.

Data can be stored in HDF5 in an endless variety of ways, so it is important for communities of users to standardize on how their data is to be organized in HDF5. This makes it possible to share data easily, and also to build and share tools for accessing and analyzing data stored in HDF5. The NCSA HDF team works with users to encourage them to organize HDF5 files in standard ways.

 

Large and varied user community.

HDF5 users range across a variety of engineering and scientific fields, and even some non-technical fields. Data stored in HDF5 is used for a wide range of applications, from computational fluid dynamics to film making.

COPYING

Copyright Notice and Statement for NCSA Hierarchical Data Format (HDF)

Software Library and Utilities

NCSA HDF5 (Hierarchical Data Format 5) Software Library and Utilities

Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 by the Board of

Trustees of the University of Illinois.  All rights reserved.

Contributors: National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Lawrence Livermore

National Laboratory (LLNL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Los Alamos

National Laboratory (LANL), Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler (gzip library).

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without

modification, are permitted for any purpose (including commercial purposes)

provided that the following conditions are met:

1.  Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,

    this list of conditions, and the following disclaimer.

2.  Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,

    this list of conditions, and the following disclaimer in the documentation

    and/or materials provided with the distribution.

3.  In addition, redistributions of modified forms of the source or binary

    code must carry prominent notices stating that the original code was

    changed and the date of the change.

4.  All publications or advertising materials mentioning features or use of

    this software are asked, but not required, to acknowledge that it was

    developed by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and to credit the contributors.

5.  Neither the name of the University nor the names of the Contributors may

    be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without

    specific prior written permission from the University or the Contributors,

    as appropriate for the name(s) to be used.

6.  THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY AND THE CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"

    WITH NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.  In no event

    shall the University or the Contributors be liable for any damages

    suffered by the users arising out of the use of this software, even if

    advised of the possibility of such damage.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Portions of HDF5 were developed with support from the University of

California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (UC LLNL).

The following statement applies to those portions of the product

and must be retained in any redistribution of source code, binaries,

documentation, and/or accompanying materials:

    This work was partially produced at the University of California,

    Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (UC LLNL) under contract no.

    W-7405-ENG-48 (Contract 48) between the U.S. Department of Energy

    (DOE) and The Regents of the University of California (University)

    for the operation of UC LLNL.

    DISCLAIMER:

    This work was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency

    of the United States Government.  Neither the United States

    Government nor the University of California nor any of their

    employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any

    liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or

    usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process

    disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately-

    owned rights.  Reference herein to any specific commercial products,

    process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or

    otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement,

    recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or the

    University of California.  The views and opinions of authors

    expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the

    United States Government or the University of California, and shall

    not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------