Hierarchical data format
| Hierarchical data format | |
|---|---|
|
|
| File extension : |
.hdf, .h4, .hdf4, .he2, .h5, .hdf5, .he5
|
| Current version: | 5-1.10.5 (as of April 26, 2019) |
| Website : | www.hdfgroup.org |
Hierarchical Data Format ( HDF ) refers to the data formats HDF4 (obsolete, but still supported) and HDF5 . These formats are used especially in scientific applications for storing large amounts of data. Optimized structures and algorithms allow the efficient storage and reading of single and multi-dimensional homogeneous tables. Tables and other data can be stored in the same file in any directory structure. This makes it possible, for example, to save measured values together with metadata.
HDF was originally developed by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), which also provides the software libraries for using the HDF. In order to professionalise the further development, the HDF Group was founded as a non-profit company in 2006. The HDF Group provides libraries and applications for the use of HDF5 and HDF4 and offers user support for a fee. In order to be able to process data generated on a supercomputer also offline, there are ports to all common operating systems . HDF is the mandatory data format for the data products of the NASA Earth Observing System .
HDF could be displayed directly from the first versions of the Mosaic web browser, which was also developed at the NCSA .
From version HDF4.0 (1995) there is a netCDF interface for HDF, which merges the two most important scientific data formats; Version 4 of netCDF is built into HDF5.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ HDF5 version 1.10.5 released on 2019-02-25. Retrieved April 26, 2019 .
- ↑ A table is called homogeneous if all entries have the same data type. This is a key requirement for efficient storage organization.
- ^ About Us - The HDF Group. Retrieved May 18, 2019 .