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Tools and Instructions on Compiling

Compiling applications to use the HDF5 Library can be as simple as executing:

h5cc -o myprog myprog.c

As an application's file base evolves, there are better solutions using autotools and makefiles or CMake and CMakeLists.txt files. Many tutorials and references can be found with a simple search.

This tutorial section will discuss the use of compile scripts on Linux. See the Using Visual Studio section for compiling with Visual Studio.

Compile Scripts

When the library is built, the following compile scripts are included:

h5cc: compile script for HDF5 C programs
h5fc: compile script for HDF5 F90 programs
h5c++: compile script for HDF5 C++ programs

These scripts are easily used to compile single file applications, such as those included in the tutorial.

Warning	The h5cc/h5fc/h5c++ compile scripts are included when building with configure. Versions of these compile scripts have also been added to CMake for Linux ONLY. The CMake versions rely on pkgconfig files.

Examples of Using the Unix Compile Scripts:

Following are examples of compiling and running an application with the Unix compile scripts:

h5fc myprog.f90
./a.out
 
h5cc -o myprog myprog.c
./myprog 

To see how the libraries linked in with a compile script were configured and built, use the -showconfig option. For example, if using h5cc type:

h5cc -showconfig

Detailed Description of Unix Compile Scripts:

The h5cc, h5c++, and h5fc compile scripts come with the HDF5 binary distributions (include files, libraries, and utilities) for the platforms we support. The h5c++ and h5fc utilities are ONLY present if the library was built with C++ and Fortran.

Using Visual Studio

If you are building on 64-bit Windows, find the "Platform" dropdown and select "x64". Also select the correct Configuration (Debug, Release, RelWithDebInfo, etc)
Set up path for external headers

The HDF5 install path settings will need to be in the project property sheets per project. Go to "Project" and select "Properties", find "Configuration Properties", and then "C/C++".

2.1 Add the header path to the "Additional Include Directories" setting. Under "C/C++" find "General" and select "Additional Include Directories". Select "Edit" from the dropdown and add the HDF5 install/include path to the list. (Ex: "C:\Program Files\HDF_Group\HDF5\1.10.9\include")

2.2 Building applications with the dynamic/shared hdf5 libraries requires that the "H5_BUILT_AS_DYNAMIC_LIB" compile definition be used. Under "C/C++" find "Preprocessor" and select "Preprocessor Definitions". Select "Edit" from the dropdown and add "H5_BUILT_AS_DYNAMIC_LIB" to the list.
Set up path for external libraries

The HDF5 install path/lib settings will need to be in the project property sheets per project. Go to "Project" and select "Properties", find "Configuration Properties", and then "Linker".

3.1 Add the libraries to the "Additional Dependencies" setting. Under "Linker" find "Input" and select "Additional Dependencies". Select "Edit" from the dropdown and add the required HDF5 install/lib path to the list. (Ex: "C:\Program Files\HDF_Group\HDF5\1.10.9\lib\hdf5.lib")

3.2 For static builds, the external libraries should be added. For example, to compile a C++ application, enter: libhdf5_cpp.lib libhdf5.lib libz.lib libszaec.lib libaec.lib

HDF5 Libraries

Following are the libraries included with HDF5. Whether you are using the Unix compile scripts or Makefiles, or are compiling on Windows, these libraries are or may need to be specified. The order they are specified is important on Linux:

HDF5 Static Libraries
Library	Linux Name	Mac Name	Windows Name
HDF5 High Level C++ APIs HDF5 C++ Library HDF5 High Level Fortran APIs HDF5 Fortran Library HDF5 High Level C APIs HDF5 C Library	libhdf5_hl_cpp.a libhdf5_cpp.a libhdf5hl_fortran.a libhdf5_fortran.a libhdf5_hl.a libhdf5.a	libhdf5_hl_cpp.a libhdf5_cpp.a libhdf5hl_fortran.a libhdf5_fortran.a libhdf5_hl.a libhdf5.a	Windows libhdf5_hl_cpp.lib libhdf5_cpp.lib libhdf5hl_fortran.lib libhdf5_fortran.lib libhdf5_hl.lib libhdf5.lib

HDF5 Shared Libraries
Library	Linux Name	Mac Name	Windows Name
HDF5 High Level C++ APIs HDF5 C++ Library HDF5 High Level Fortran APIs HDF5 Fortran Library HDF5 High Level C APIs HDF5 C Library	libhdf5_hl_cpp.so libhdf5_cpp.so libhdf5hl_fortran.so libhdf5_fortran.so libhdf5_hl.so libhdf5.so	libhdf5_hl_cpp.dylib libhdf5_cpp.dylib libhdf5hl_fortran.dylib libhdf5_fortran.dylib libhdf5_hl.dylib libhdf5.dylib	hdf5_hl_cpp.lib hdf5_cpp.lib hdf5hl_fortran.lib hdf5_fortran.lib hdf5_hl.lib hdf5.lib hdf5 Definition HDF5.F90:26

External Libraries
Library	Linux Name	Mac Name	Windows Name
SZIP Compression Library SZIP Compression Library ZLIB or DEFLATE Compression Library	libszaec.a libaec.a libz.a	libszaec.a libaec.a libz.a	libszaec.lib libaec.lib libz.lib

The pre-compiled binaries, in particular, are built (if at all possible) with these libraries as well as with SZIP and ZLIB. If using shared libraries you may need to add the path to the library to LD_LIBRARY_PATH on Linux or on WINDOWS you may need to add the path to the bin folder to PATH.

Compiling an Application with CMake

CMake Scripts for Building Applications

Simple scripts are provided for building applications with different languages and options. See CMake Scripts for Building Applications.

For a more complete script (and to help resolve issues) see the script provided with the HDF5 Examples project.

HDF5 Examples

The installed HDF5 can be verified by compiling the HDF5 Examples project, included with the CMake built HDF5 binaries in the share folder or you can go to the HDF5 Examples github repository.

Go into the share directory and follow the instructions in USING_CMake_examples.txt to build the examples.

In general, users must first set the HDF5_ROOT environment variable to the installed location of the CMake configuration files for HDF5. For example, on Windows the following path might be set:

HDF5_ROOT=C:/Program Files/HDF_Group/HDF5/1.N.N

Troubleshooting CMake

How do you use find_package with HDF5?

To use find_package you will first need to make sure that HDF5_ROOT is set correctly. For setting this environment variable see the Preconditions in the USING_HDF5_CMake.txt file in the share directory.

See the CMakeLists.txt file provided with these examples for how to use find_package with HDF5.

Please note that the find_package invocation changed to require "shared" or "static":

FIND_PACKAGE(HDF5 COMPONENTS C HL NO_MODULE REQUIRED shared)

FIND_PACKAGE(HDF5 COMPONENTS C HL NO_MODULE REQUIRED static)

Previously, the find_package invocation was:

FIND_PACKAGE(HDF5 COMPONENTS C HL NO_MODULE REQUIRED)

My platform/compiler is not included. Can I still use the configuration files?

Yes, you can but you will have to edit the HDF5_Examples.cmake file and update the variable:

CTEST_CMAKE_GENERATOR

The generators for your platform can be seen by typing:

cmake --help

What do I do if the build fails?

I received an error during the build and the application binary is not in the build directory as I expected. How do I determine what the problem is?

If the error is not clear, then the first thing you may want to do is replace the -V (Dash Uppercase Vee) option for ctest in the build script to -VV (Dash Uppercase Vee Uppercase Vee). Then remove the build directory and re-run the build script. The output should be more verbose.

If the error is still not clear, then check the log files. You will find those in the build directory. For example, on Unix the log files will be in:

build/Testing/Temporary/

There are log files for the configure, test, and build.

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