HDF Newsletter 19
                      Feb. 9, 1996

Contents

   . HDF4.0r1 release
   . HDF4.0 documentation
   . Progress in HDF related projects
   . Platforms to be dropped
   . New HDFers

HDF4.0r1 release
================

   We are very glad to announce that HDF4.0r1 is now officially
   released. HDF4.0 represents a substantial revision, expansion 
   and improvement of the HDF library over HDF3.3. Its new 
   features include: 
   . Interfaces that support multi-file/multi-object access for
     raster images and annotations, similar to the multifile SDS
     interface.
   . Support for n-bit integer data within the SDS interface.
   . Support for RLE, adaptive Huffman and Gzip deflation 
     compression for SDSs.
   . Uses v5 of Independent JPEG Group (IJG) JPEG file access library 
   . Support low level function for RLE, adaptive Huffman 
         and Gzip deflation compression for any object. 
   . Support for creation and search for external elements.
   . Support for external vdata elements.
   . Unified auto-configuration that eases the installation and test 
     of HDF package on UNIX platforms. 
   . A new version of dimension record decreasing the size of 
     HDF files which contain large 1-dimensional SDS's. 
   . A new HDF utility hdp -- an HDF file dumper
   . Full support for SGI Power Challenge running IRIX6.1
   . Support for parallel I/O on the Thinking Machines'CM-5.
   . Modifications in the implementation of memory management
     that decrease the required memory size and execution time. 
   . Integration of Pablo performance measurement software.
   . I/O performance improvements
   . Limited support for reading CDF files.
    
   Details are listed in the $(toplevel)/release_notes/ABOUT_4.0r1.
   
   HDF4.0r1 has been tested on: SunOS 4.1.4, Solaris 2.4,
   Solaris 2.5, IRIX5.3, IRIX6.1 (both 32-bit and 64-bit modes),
   HPUX 9.03, UNICOS 803, CM5, AIX v3.2, Digital Unix v3.2,
   OpenVMS AXP v6.2, Solarisx86, Linux(a.out) v1.2.4, and
   Free BSD 2.0. More details are included in the $(toplevel)/INSTALL
   file.

   Many thanks to the HDF4.0 alpha and beta testers for their
   feedback, comments and suggestions. 

HDF4.0 documentation 
====================

   An HDF 4.0 User's Guide is available on the NCSA ftp server,
   ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu, in subdirectory:

        /HDF/Documentation/HDF4.0/Users_Guide/.

  We are working on more documentation, including a new Getting started
  manual, a new HDF 4.0 Reference Manual, and a new HDF Specification 
  and Developer's Guide.  We will announce the availability of these 
  documents as they are completed.

Progress in HDF related projects
================================

BigHDF
------

  In the last Newsletter we described the BigHDF project, in which we
   are building a prototype next-generation HDF.  A proposed 
   specification for the prototype is available on the web at

     http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/internal/NRA/BigHDFSpec.html

  There is also a reproduction of talk on BigHDF entitled "HDF: The 
  Next Generation," given by Mike Folk and Quincey Koziol, at

   http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/nra/BigHDF/talk/coverpage.html

  We welcome your comments and ideas about BigHDF.


HDF Support for Parallel Computing Environment
----------------------------------------------

  With support from NASA's Advanced Information Systems Research 
  project (AISR), we are designing new features to provide HDF 
  library support for the parallel computing environment of 
  Network of Workstations (HDF-NOW).  
  Preliminary design has completed and we are in the stage of 
  functional definitions.  We plan to release a prototype version 
  this year.  
  Tentative platforms are the IBM SP2 and network of workstations 
  like HP, SGI and Sun.  More details are available at 

         "http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/parallel_hdf.html".


Platforms to be dropped 
=======================

  Due to lack of resources and waning interest, we have decided to stop
  supporting HDF on the following platforms:

      DecStation/MIPSEL
      NeXT/Next-STEP
      Fujitsu VP/UXPM
      Intel i860
      IRIX4.0
      IRIX5.2
      VAX/VMS

  If you need HDF support on these platforms, please contact us and we 
  will try to help you port HDF 4.0 to them.

New HDFers
==========

Don Gibson, a University of Illinois M.B.A. student, has been working
with the HDF group for several months.  Don is helping to manage the
concurrent HDF projects and assisting in the development of future projects.
He is currently helping to write an HDF business plan.

Barbara Jones recently joined us to help provide user-support to the HDF
community.  She comes to us with 16 years of programming and technical support
experience.  Barbara moved here from Providence, Rhode Island where she spent
the last 6 years as a Technical Support Specialist at Cadre Tech.