In this episode of Call the Doctor," director of software engineering, Dana Robinson covers updates and changes in the HDF4 library. Dana discusses HDF 4.3.0 (released 2/29/24) and version 4.4, with plans to maintain HDF4 indefinitely. The focus is on improving HDF4's compatibility with modern compilers and platforms, addressing issues like the xdr library's compatibility problems and the deployment of internal header files. Significant changes include removing xdr from configuration options, improving compiler support, and cleaning up memory sanitizer issues.

The episode also touches on restructuring the Fortran code, removing outdated Fortran 77 support, and potentially merging libraries into a single HDF4 library. Additionally, plans involve phasing out the old netCDF 2.3.2 API and associated tools in favor of newer alternatives.

The HDF Group will continue to modernizing HDF4 to ensure its long-term maintainability, despite potential disruptions caused by these changes. We do need to hear from users about these plans and how they might work or cause conflict with your code, so please reach out to us to let us know about your concerns on the HDF4 Forum or by emailing help@hdfgroup.org.

This session happened on February 27, 2024. You can also watch this episode online.

Call the Doctor is a series of weekly, unscripted, live events! The HDF Group’s staff members will answer attendee questions and, for example, go over the previous week’s HDF Forum posts. The HDF Clinics are free sessions intended to help users tackle real-world HDF problems from a common cold to severe headaches and offer relief where that’s possible. As time permits, we will include how-tos, offer advice on tool usage, review your code samples, teach you survival in the documentation jungle, and discuss what’s new or just around the corner in the land of HDF.

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