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                            Newsletter #106
                           February 12, 2009


Release of HDF Java Products Version 2.5
========================================

We are pleased to announce the release of HDF Java Products Version
2.5, built with HDF 4.2r4 and HDF5 1.8.2 (with the HDF5 1.6
compatibility flag) and using JDK 1.6.

This version can be downloaded from the HDF Java Products web page
at:

   http://www.hdfgroup.org/hdf-java-html/index.html
 
For information on new features in HDF5 Release 1.8 and format
compatibility considerations, please visit:

   http://www.hdfgroup.org/HDF5/doc/ADGuide/CompatFormat180.html


Platforms Tested
----------------

This release was built and tested for the following platforms:

 32-bit Java 2 SDK

    * Linux
    * Solaris
    * Mac PowerPC
    * Mac Intel
    * Windows (Vista/XP/2000)

 64-bit Java 2 SDK

    * Linux 64-bit AMD
    * Linux 64-bit Intel
    * Solaris 64-bit


New Features
------------

Of the many new features added to this release, the following is a list
of the major ones:

    * Supports access to remote HDF5 files stored at the iRODS server
      (Windows and Linux only). For information on the HDF5-iRODS module,
      please visit:

         http://www.hdfgroup.org/projects/irods/index.html

    * Can quickly display a large dataset (e.g. 1,000,000 x 100) in
      the Table Viewer

    * Converts JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP images to HDF5 or HDF4
 
    * Saves HDF4 or HDF5 images to JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP images

    * Writes variable length string data

    * Supports drag-and-drop of files into HDFView

    * Filters out the fill value from images

    * Imports and applies a palette from an external file




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For questions regarding these or other HDF issues, contact:

   help@hdfgroup.org