Dave, > Woah! That whooshing sound you heard was the knowledge of that change > swooping by over my head. :) Thanks for clearing it up. > > You know, the configure script happily accepts the --with-hdf5 flag with > nary a hint of complaint. As a suggestion, how about if you modify the > configure.in or applicable m4 file so that it prints out essentially what > you wrote me in the email if a --with-hdf5 argument is supplied? That would > stop this error in its tracks. > > And, upon failing to find the hdf5 library, right now the configure prints > out: > > configure: error: Can't find or link to the hdf5 library. Use > --disable-netcdf-4, or see config.log for errors. > > Maybe it could be changed to: > > configure: error: Can't find or link to the hdf5 library. Add the location > of the hdf5 include and library directories to the CPPFLAGS and LDFLAGS > environmental variables, or use --disable-netcdf-4, or see config.log for > errors. > > Those minor tweaks might reduce the number of support tickets you get > regarding this change. Excellent suggestions, it's too bad we didn't do those for the 4.1.3 release, but we got no comments on the 4.1.3-rc1 release candidate. I didn't realize that the configure script still accepts the "--with-hdf5" option without complaint. We'll put those on our list for the 4.1.4 release ... And continued thanks for developing, maintaining, and supporting ncview! --Russ > address@hidden> wrote: > > > Hi David, > > > > > just thought I'd report a possible problem with the new netcdf 4.1.3 > > > release. When I tried to make it on a clean CentOS machine, specifying > > the > > > --with-hdf5=/path/to/my/hdf5/installation flag to configure did not work. > > It > > > kept complaining that it could not find hdf5. Dropping back to 4.1.2, > > with > > > the exact same configure command, worked fine. > > > > Although the change is not very prominent in our documentation, there was > > an > > important simplification in the build process with release 4.1.3, as > > mentioned > > at the top of the Release Notes: > > > > [NCF-20] - use of --with-hdf5= and other such options violates conventions > > and causes build problems > > > > indicating that the "--with-hdf5" configure option was removed and replaced > > by > > the use of environment variables. The reason for this change to the build > > procedure > > is explained in our Jira database, accessible from the Release notes: > > > > https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/jira/browse/NCF-20 > > > > where, if you click on the "History" tab (!), you can uncover the > > following: > > > > Although these options were put in with the best of intentions, and > > following the example of the HDF5 package, they were nonetheless > > misguided, and contributed to many bugs, and many support issues. > > > > Additionally, since this is not the normal way that packages are > > built, the use of these options caused netCDF to require more > > documentation, and, what's worse, required that each installer read > > the documentation (this is not the usual case with Unix packages, > > which can generally be built without setting any options.) > > > > More importantly, the use of the --with-hdf5 option (and similar ones > > like --with-zlib, --with-szlib, --with-pnetcdf, --with-hdf4) cause two > > serious bugs: > > > > 1 - No way for these options to work on platforms that have > > libraries in /lib and /lib64 for 32 and 64 bit builds. > > > > 2 - Caused problem for for cross-compiles link the mingw32 build and > > builds on some supercomputers. > > > > Ultimately, it is only possible for the builder of the software to > > know what settings to use in the various FLAG environment > > variables. All of our attempts to "help" in this area just result in > > problems for some small (but important) fraction of the user > > base. Therefore I have decided that all these options must go, both in > > netCDF and in libCF. I regret the inconvenience this may cause users > > who have become accustomed to these options. > > > > So try building 4.1.3 using the environment variables CPPFLAGS and LDFLAGS > > set to appropriate values, such as > > > > CPPFLAGS=-I/share/ed/local/spike/include > > LDFLAGS=-L/share/ed/local/spike/lib > > > > instead of using "--with-hdf5=...". > > > > And thanks for sending in the support report, it indicates we still need to > > improve the documentation and Release Notes information to alert users to > > the > > change. > > > > --Russ > > > > > > > > Russ Rew UCAR Unidata Program > > address@hidden http://www.unidata.ucar.edu > > > > > > > > Ticket Details > > =================== > > Ticket ID: NCE-881982 > > Department: Support netCDF > > Priority: Normal > > Status: Closed > > > > > > > -- > David W. Pierce > Division of Climate, Atmospheric Science, and Physical Oceanography > Scripps Institution of Oceanography > (858) 534-8276 (voice) / (858) 534-8561 (fax) address@hidden > > Russ Rew UCAR Unidata Program address@hidden http://www.unidata.ucar.edu Ticket Details =================== Ticket ID: NCE-881982 Department: Support netCDF Priority: Normal Status: Closed
NOTE: All email exchanges with Unidata User Support are recorded in the Unidata inquiry tracking system and then made publicly available through the web. If you do not want to have your interactions made available in this way, you must let us know in each email you send to us.