[netcdfgroup] IMPORTANT: patch release for HDF5-1.8.4 needed for netCDF-4

• To: netcdfgroup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
• Subject: [netcdfgroup] IMPORTANT: patch release for HDF5-1.8.4 needed for netCDF-4
• From: Russ Rew <russ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
• Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:08:07 -0700

Hi,

We have just been informed of a bug in HDF5-1.8.4 that causes a problem
in files written using netCDF-4.1.  The symptom is that if a variable or
group is created with more than 8 attributes, the resulting file becomes
non-portable between little-endian and big-endian platforms.

The HDF5 developers have a fix and are testing it now.  We are also
about to test a prerelease snapshot of the fix.

This note is to inform the netCDF community about this problem and the
upcoming fix, which we expect to be officially announced sometime next
week.

In the meantime, we recommend that you not use netCDF-4 linked with
HDF5-1.8.4 to write netCDF-4 or netCDF-4 classic model files that have
more than 8 attributes for any data object, including more than 8 global
attributes.  We will add a test to the netCDF-4 version 4.1.1 release
that would have uncovered this bug, test the HDF5 fix to make sure it
creates portable netCDF-4 files, and keep you informed of progress on
this issue.

We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

--Russ

• Follow-Ups:
  • Re: [netcdfgroup] IMPORTANT: patch release for HDF5-1.8.4 needed for netCDF-4
    • From: Mary Haley