HDF User’s Guide
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Chapter 11 -- Single-file Annotations (DFAN API)
11.1 Chapter Overview
The original HDF annotation tools were the single-file tools that constitute the DFAN interface. These tools, which are used to read and write file and data object annotations, are described in this chapter.
Note that there is a multifile annotations interface, called the AN interface, for dealing with annotations. The AN interface supersedes the DFAN interface and is described in Chapter 10, Annotations (AN API).
11.2 The Single-file Annotation Interface
The functions and routines that comprise the single-file annotation interface have names that begin with the string "DFAN" in C; the equivalent FORTRAN-77 routine names are prefaced by "da". This interface is the older annotation interface and only supports annotation access within one particular HDF file. It doesn't support the concept of an annotation identifier used in the newer multifile interface. Therefore, annotations created with the multifile interface cannot be accessed or manipulated with DFAN interface functions.
11.2.1 DFAN Library Routines
These functions are divided into the following categories:
The DFAN interface routines are listed in the following table and are discussed in the subsequent sections of this document.
TABLE 11A DFAN Library Routines11.2.2 Tags in the Annotation Interface
Table 11B lists the annotation tags defined in HDF versions 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0. Newly-defined tag names in each version are bolded. For a more complete list of tags, refer to the HDF Specifications and Developer's Guide v3.2 from the HDF web site at http://www.hdfgroup.org/.
TABLE 11B List of Annotation Interface Tags in HDF Versions 2.0, 3.0 and 4.011.3 Programming Model for the DFAN Interface
There are two general programming models for the DFAN interface; the first programming model addresses file annotation while the second addresses object annotation. In the case of file annotations, the DFAN interface relies on the calling program to initiate and terminate access to files. This approach necessitates the following programming model:
The object annotation programming model is a simplified version of the file annotation programming model:
Essentially, the difference between the two models is that file annotations require Hopen and Hclose to open and close the target files whereas object annotations do not.
11.4 Writing Annotations
The DFAN interface supports writes to file labels, file descriptions, object labels, and object descriptions.
11.4.1 Assigning a File Label: DFANaddfid
To write a file label, the calling program must call DFANaddfid:
DFANaddfid has two parameters: file_id and label. The file_id parameter contains the file identifier for the file to be annotated and the label parameter contains the annotation string. The label array must be null-terminated. In the FORTRAN-77 version, the length of the label should be the length of the label array as in FORTRAN-77 string lengths are assumed to be the declared length of the array that holds the string.
The parameters of DFANaddfid are further defined in Table 11C on page 372.
11.4.2 Assigning a File Description: DFANaddfds
To write a file description, the calling program must call DFANaddfds:
DFANaddfds has three parameters: file_id, description, and desc_length. The file_id parameter contains the file identifier. The parameter description can contain any sequence of ASCII characters and is not limited to a single string (e.g., a carriage return may appear anywhere in the description). The desc_length parameter specifies the length of the description.
The parameters of DFANaddfds are defined in Table 11C.
TABLE 11C DFANaddfid and DFANaddfds Parameter ListEXAMPLE 1. Writing a File Label and a File DescriptionThe following examples add a file label and description to the file named "Example1.hdf". Notice that after the file is opened, the file_id may be used to add any combination of file annotations before the file is closed.
C:#include "hdf.h" main( ) { int32 file_id; intn status; static char file_label[] = "This is a file label."; static char file_desc[] = "This is a file description."; /* Open the HDF file to write the annotations. */ file_id = Hopen("Example1.hdf", DFACC_CREATE, 0); /* Write the label to the file. */ status = DFANaddfid(file_id, file_label); /* Write the description to the file. */ status = DFANaddfds(file_id, file_desc, strlen(file_desc)); /* Close the file. */ status = Hclose(file_id); }FORTRAN:PROGRAM CREATE ANNOTATION character*50 file_label, file_desc integer daafid, daafds, status, file_id, hopen, hclose integer*4 DFACC_CREATE parameter (DFACC_CREATE = 4) file_label = "This is a file label." file_desc = "This is a file description." C Open the HDF file to write the annotations. file_id = hopen('Example1.hdf', DFACC_CREATE, 0) C Write the label to the file. status = daafid(file_id, file_label) C Write the description to the file. status = daafds(file_id, file_desc, 26) C Close the file. status = hclose(file_id) end11.4.3 Assigning an Object Label: DFANputlabel
To write a file label, the calling program must contain a call to DFANputlabel:
DFANputlabel has four parameters: filename, tag, ref, and label. The label parameter contains a single null-terminated string that defines the annotation.
The parameters of DFANputlabel are further defined in Table 11D.
11.4.4 Assigning an Object Description: DFANputdesc
To write an object description, the calling program must contain a call to DFANputdesc:
DFANputdesc has five parameters: filename, tag, ref, description, and desc_len. The filename parameter is the name of the HDF file containing the object to be annotated. The tag and ref parameters are the tag/reference number pair of the object to be annotated. The description parameter contains a buffer for the annotation text and the desc_len parameter specifies the length of the buffer.
The parameters of DFANputdesc are further defined in Table 11D.
TABLE 11D DFANputlabel and DFANputdesc Parameter ListEXAMPLE 2. Writing an Object Label and Description to a Scientific Data SetThese examples illustrate the use of DFANputlabel and DFANputdesc to assign both an object label and an object description to a scientific data set immediately after it is written to file. The tag for scientific data sets is
DFTAG_NDG.C:#include "hdf.h" #define X_LENGTH 3 #define Y_LENGTH 2 #define Z_LENGTH 5 main( ) { /* Create the data array. */ static float32 sds_data[X_LENGTH][Y_LENGTH][Z_LENGTH] = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 }; /* * Create the array that will hold the dimensions of * the data array. */ int32 dims[3] = {X_LENGTH, Y_LENGTH, Z_LENGTH}; intn refnum, status; static char object_desc[] = "This is an object description."; static char object_label[] = "This is an object label."; /* Write the data to the HDF file. */ status = DFSDadddata("Example1.hdf", 3, dims, (VOIDP)sds_data); /* Get the reference number for the newly written data set. */ refnum = DFSDlastref( ); /* Assign the object label to the scientific data set. */ status = DFANputlabel("Example1.hdf", DFTAG_NDG, refnum, \ object_label); /* Assign the object description to the scientific data set. */ status = DFANputdesc("Example1.hdf", DFTAG_NDG, refnum, \ object_desc, strlen(object_desc)); }FORTRAN:PROGRAM ANNOTATE OBJECT integer dsadata, dims(3), status, refnum integer daplab, dapdesc, dslref integer*4 DFTAG_NDG, X_LENGTH, Y_LENGTH, Z_LENGTH parameter(DFTAG_NDG = 720, + X_LENGTH = 5, + Y_LENGTH = 2, + Z_LENGTH = 3) C Create the data array. real*4 sds_data(X_LENGTH, Y_LENGTH, Z_LENGTH) data sds_data / + 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, + 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, + 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, + 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, + 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, + 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 / C Create the array the will hold the dimensions of the data array. data dims /X_LENGTH, Y_LENGTH, Z_LENGTH/ C Write the data to the HDF file. ref = dsadata('Example1.hdf', 3, dims, sds_data) C Get the reference number for the newly written data set. refnum = dslref( ) C Assign the object label to the scientific data set. status = daplab('Example1.hdf', DFTAG_NDG, refnum, + 'This is an object label.') C Assign an object description to the scientific data set. status = dapdesc('Example1.hdf', DFTAG_NDG, refnum, + 'This is an object description.', 30) end11.5 Reading Annotations
The DFAN interface provides several functions for reading file and data object annotations, which are described below.
11.5.1 Reading a File Label: DFANgetfidlen and DFANgetfid
The DFAN programming model for reading a file label is as follows:
To read the first file label in a file, the calling program must contain the following function calls:
DFANgetfidlen has two parameters: file_id and isfirst. The isfirst parameter specifies whether the first or subsequent file annotations are to be read. To read the first file label length, isfirst should be set to the value
1; to sequentially step through all the remaining file labels assigned to a file isfirst should be set to0.When DFANgetfidlen is first called for a given file, it returns the length of the first file label. To get the lengths of subsequent file labels, you must call DFANgetfid between calls to DFANgetfidlen. Otherwise, additional calls to DFANgetfidlen will return the length of the same file label.
DFANgetfid has four parameters: file_id, label_buffer, label_length, and isfirst. The label_buffer parameter is a pointer to a buffer for the label text. The label_length parameter is the length of the buffer in memory, which can be shorter than the full length of the label in the file. If the label_length is not large enough, the label is truncated to label_length - 1 characters in the buffer label_buffer. The isfirst parameter is used to determine whether to read the first or subsequent file annotations. To read the first file label, isfirst should be set to
1; to sequentially step through all the remaining file labels assigned to a file, isfirst should be set to0.HDgetspace is described in Chapter 2, HDF Fundamentals.
The parameters of DFANgetfidlen and DFANgetfid are described in Table 11E.
11.5.2 Reading a File Description: DFANgetfdslen and DFANgetfds
The DFAN programming model for reading a file description is as follows:
To read the first file description in a file, the calling program must contain the following calls:
DFANgetfdslen has two parameters: file_id and isfirst. The isfirst parameter specifies whether the first or subsequent file annotations are to be read. To read the first file description length, isfirst should be set to the value
1; to sequentially step through all the remaining file descriptions assigned to a file, isfirst should be set to0.When DFANgetfdslen is first called for a given file, it returns the length of the first file description. As with DFANgetfidlen, you must call DFANgetfds between calls to DFANgetfdslen to get the lengths of successive file descriptions.
DFANgetfds has four parameters: file_id, desc_buf, desc_length, and isfirst. The desc_buffer parameter is a pointer to a buffer for the description text. The desc_length parameter is the length of the buffer in memory, which can be shorter than the full length of the description in the file. If desc_length is not large enough, the description is truncated to desc_length characters in the buffer desc_buf. The isfirst parameter specifies whether the first or subsequent file annotations are to be read. To read the first file description, isfirst should be set to the value
1; to sequentially step through all the remaining file descriptions assigned to a file, isfirst should be set to0.The parameters of these routines are described further in the following table.
TABLE 11E DFANgetfidlen, DFANgetfid, DFANgetfdslen, and DFANgetfds Parameter ListEXAMPLE 3. Reading a File Label and a File DescriptionThe following examples read a file label from the HDF file named "Example1.hdf". The DFANgetfidlen routine is used to verify the length of the label before the read operation is performed. The argument "1" in both routines indicate the first description in the HDF file is the target. DFANgetfdslen and DFANgetfds can be directly substituted for DFANgetfidlen and DFANgetfid in order to read a file description instead of a file label.
C:#include "hdf.h" main( ) { int32 file_id, file_label_len; char *file_label; intn status; /* Open the HDF file containing the annotation. */ file_id = Hopen("Example1.hdf", DFACC_READ, 0); /* Determine the length of the file label. */ file_label_len = DFANgetfidlen(file_id, 1); /* Allocated memory for the file label buffer. */ file_label = HDgetspace(file_label_len); /* Read the file label. */ file_label_len = DFANgetfid(file_id, file_label, file_label_len, 1); /* Close the file */ status = Hclose(file_id); }FORTRAN:PROGRAM GET ANNOTATION integer status, file_id, label_length integer hopen, hclose, dagfidl, dagfid character file_label(50) integer*4 DFACC_READ parameter(DFACC_READ = 1) C Open the HDF file containing the file label. file_id = hopen("Example1.hdf", DFACC_READ, 0) C Determine the length of the file label. label_length = dagfidl(file_id, 1) C Read the file label. status = dagfid(file_id, file_label, label_length, 1) C Close the HDF file. status = hclose(file_id) end11.5.3 Reading an Object Label: DFANgetlablen and DFANgetlabel
The DFAN programming model for reading a data object label is as follows:
To read the first object label in a file, the calling program must contain the following routines:
DFANgetlablen returns the length of the label assigned to the object identified by the given tag/reference number pair. DFANgetlabel must be called between calls to DFANgetlablen. DFANgetlabel is the routine that actually returns the label and prepares the API to read the next label.
DFANgetlabel has five parameters: filename, tag, ref, label_buf, and label_length. The label_buf parameter is a pointer to a buffer that stores the label text. The label_length parameter is the length of the buffer in memory. label_length can be shorter than the full length of the label in the file, but if so, the label is truncated to label_length characters in the buffer label_buf. The length of label_buf must be at least one greater than the anticipated length of the label to account for the null termination appended to the label text.
The parameters of DFANgetlablen and DFANgetlabel are defined below.
11.5.4 Reading an Object Description: DFANgetdesclen and DFANgetdesc
The DFAN programming model for reading a data object description is as follows:
To read the first object description in a file, the calling program must contain the following routines:
DFANgetdesclen returns the length of the description assigned to the object identified by the specified tag/reference number pair. DFANgetdesc must be called between calls to DFANgetdesclen to reset the current object description to the next in the file.
DFANgetdesc takes five parameters: filename, tag, ref, desc_buf, and desc_length. The desc_buf parameter is a pointer to the buffer that stores the description text. The desc_length parameter is the length of the buffer in memory, which can be shorter than the full length of the description in the file. If the desc_length is not large enough, the description is truncated to desc_length characters in the buffer desc_buf.
The parameters of DFANgetdesclen and DFANgetdesc are defined in the following table.
TABLE 11F DFANgetlablen, DFANgetlabel, DFANgetdesc and DFANgetdesclen Parameter ListEXAMPLE 4. Reading an Object Label and DescriptionThe following examples demonstrate the use of DFANgetdesclen and DFANgetdesc to read an object description assigned to a scientific data set. These examples assume that, in addition to other data objects, the "Example1.hdf" HDF file also contains multiple scientific data sets, some of which may not be annotated. Hfind is used to determine the reference number for the first annotated scientific data object in the file.
C:#include "hdf.h" main( ) { intn desc_length = -1, status; char desc[50]; int32 file_id; uint16 tag = 0, ref = 0; uint32 find_offset, find_length; /* Open the file and initialize the searching parameters to 0. */ file_id = Hopen("Example1.hdf", DFACC_READ, 0); /* * Start a sequential forward search for the first reference * number assigned to a scientific data set. */ while (Hfind(file_id, DFTAG_NDG, DFREF_WILDCARD, &tag, &ref, \ &find_offset, &find_length, DF_FORWARD) != FAIL) { /* * After discovering a valid reference number, check for an * object description by returning the length of the description. * If the inquiry fails, continue searching for the next valid * reference number assigned to a scientific data set. */ if ((desc_length = DFANgetdesclen("Example1.hdf", tag, ref)) \ == FAIL) break; /* * If a description exists and it will fit in the description buffer, * print it. */ if (desc_length != FAIL && desc_length <= 50) { status = DFANgetdesc("Example1.hdf", tag, ref, desc, desc_length); printf("Description: %s\n", desc); } } /* Close the file. */ status = Hclose(file_id); }FORTRAN:There is no FORTRAN-77 version of the Example 4 C code for this version of the documentation as there is no FORTRAN-77 equivalent of Hfind.
11.6 Maintenance Routines
The DFAN interface provides one function for interface maintenance, DFANclear.
11.6.1 Clearing the DFAN Interface Internal Structures and Settings: DFANclear
DFANclear clears all internal library structures and parameters of the DFAN annotation interface.
When a file is regenerated in a single run by a library routine of another interface (such as DFSDputdata), DFANclear should be called to reset the interface
DFANclear returns
SUCCEED(or0) if successful andFAIL(or-1) otherwise. DFANclear takes no parameters, as described in the following table.TABLE 11G DFANclear Parameter List
11.7 Determining Reference Numbers
It is advisable to check the reference number before attempting to assign an object annotation, as the overwriting of reference numbers is not prevented by the HDF library routines.
There are three ways to check a reference number for an object:
11.7.1 Determining a Reference Number for the Last Object Accessed: DF*lastref and DF*writeref
There are two methods of obtaining a reference number through the use of a DF*lastref call. The first approach is to obtain and store the reference number of an object immediately after the object is created:
The second approach is to determine the reference number at some time after the data object is created. This approach requires repeated DF*read calls until the appropriate object is accessed, followed by a call to DF*lastref:
Most HDF interfaces provide one routine that assigns a specified reference number to a data object and another routine that returns the reference number for the last data object accessed. (See Table 11H.) However, the SD interface doesn't. Also, the DFAN annotation doesn't include a DF*lastref routine.
Although DF*writeref calls are designed to assign specific reference numbers, they are not recommended for general use because there is no protection against reassigning an existing reference number and overwriting data. In general, it is better to determine a reference number for a data object by calling DF*lastref immediately after reading or writing a data object.
The DF*lastref routines have no parameters. The DF*writeref routines have two: filename, which is the name of the file that contains the data object, and ref, which is the reference number for the next data object read operation.
The DF*lastref and DF*writeref routines are further described in the following table.
TABLE 11H List and Descriptions of the DF*writeref and DF*lastref Routines11.7.2 Querying a List of Reference Numbers for a Given Tag: DFANlablist
Given a tag and two buffers, DFANlablist will fill one buffer with all reference numbers for the given tag and the other with all labels assigned to the given tag. The programming model for determining a list of reference numbers is as follows:
To create a list of reference numbers and their labels for a given tag, the following routines should be called:
C: num_refs = Hnumber(file_id, tag);
ref_buf = HDmalloc(sizeof(uint16*)*num_refs);
max_lab_len = 16;
label_buf = HDmalloc(max_lab_len * num_refs);
start_pos = 0;
num_of_refs = DFANlablist(filename, tag, ref_buf, label_buf,
num_refs, max_lab_len,
start_pos);
FORTRAN: num_refs = hnumber(file_id, tag)
max_lab_len = 16
start_pos = 0
num_of_refs = dallist(filename, tag, ref_buf, label_buf,
num_refs, max_lab_len, start_pos)
Hnumber determines how many objects with the specified tag are in a file. It is described in Chapter 2, HDF Fundamentals.
DFANlablist has seven parameters: filename, tag, ref_list, label_buf, num_refs, max_lab_len, and start_pos. The filename parameter specifies the name of the file to search and tag specifies the search tag to use when creating the reference and label list. The ref_buf and label_buf parameters are buffers used to store the reference numbers and labels associated with tag. The num_ref parameter specifies the length of the reference number list and the max_lab_len parameter specifies the maximum length of a label. The start_pos parameter specifies the first label to read. For instance, if start_pos has a value of
1all labels will be read; if it has a value of4, all but the first three labels will be read.Taken together, the contents of ref_list and label_list constitute a directory of all objects and their labels for a given tag. The contents of label_list can be displayed to show all of the labels for a given tag or it can be searched to find the reference number of a data object with a certain label. Once the reference number for a given label is found, the corresponding data object can be accessed by invoking other HDF routines. Therefore, this routine provides a mechanism for direct access to data objects in HDF files.
TABLE 11I DFANlablist Parameter ListEXAMPLE 5. Getting a List of Labels for All Scientific Data SetsThese examples illustrate the method used to get a list of all labels used in scientific data sets in an HDF file using DFANlablist. The
DFS_MAXLENdefinition is located in the "hlimits.h" include file.C:#include "hdf.h" #define LISTSIZE 20 main( ) { int i, num_of_labels, start_position = 1, list_length = 10; uint16 ref_list[LISTSIZE]; char label_list[DFS_MAXLEN*LISTSIZE-1]; /* Get the total number of labels in the "Example1.hdf" file. */ num_of_labels = DFANlablist("Example1.hdf", DFTAG_NDG, ref_list, \ label_list, list_length, DFS_MAXLEN, \ start_position); /* * Print the reference numbers and label names for each label * in the list. */ for (i = 0; i < num_of_labels; i++) printf("\n\t%d\tRef number: %d\tLabel: %s", i+1, ref_list[i], \ label_list - (i * 13)); printf("\n"); }FORTRAN:PROGRAM GET LABEL LIST integer dallist integer*4 DFTAG_NDG, LISTSIZE, DFS_MAXLEN parameter (DFTAG_NDG = 720, + LISTSIZE = 20, + DFS_MAXLEN = 255) character*60 label_list(DFS_MAXLEN*LISTSIZE) integer i, num_of_labels, start_position, ref_list(DFS_MAXLEN) start_position = 1 num_of_labels = dallist('Example1.hdf', DFTAG_NDG, ref_list, + label_list, 10, DFS_MAXLEN, + start_position) do 10 i = 1, num_of_labels print *,' Ref number: ',ref_list(i), + ' Label: ',label_list(i) 10 continue end11.7.3 Locate an Object by Its Tag and Reference Number: Hfind
Instead of using DFANlablist to create a list of reference numbers to search, HDF provides a general search routine called Hfind. Hfind is described in Chapter 2, HDF Fundamentals.
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