H5LT: HDF5 Lite
Attribute functions

Writing attributes

Similarly to the Lite write dataset functions, there are several Lite write attribute functions, one for each HDF5 datatype. For example, to write an integer attribute we use the unction H5LTset_attribute_int. The use of this function is 

H5LTset_attribute_int( file_id, dset_name, attr_name, data, size );

This function accepts a parameter file_id, obtained with the basic HDF5 library function H5Fcreate or H5Fopen, the object (dataset or group) name in which we want to create the attribute, the data and its array size.

Reading attributes

To read an attribute, the steps are similar, instead we use the read functions. To read the previously written attribute we use

H5LTget_attribute_int( file_id, dset_name, attr_name, data);

Programming Example

The following example demonstrates how to write and read an attribute using the HDF5 Lite functions H5LTset_attributer_int and H5LTget_attributer_int. The corresponding HDF5 file that is generated is also referenced here. You can use an HDF5 file browser to access this file by clicking on the link below.

[ C Example ] -- ex_lite3.c
[ HDF5 output file ] -- ex_lite3.h5

NOTE: To download a tar file of all of the examples, including a Makefile, please go to the Index page.

The other Lite functions that allow the writing of attributes are listed below. These functions are type specific, that is, there is each one of them for the most common HDF5 datatypes. There are similar reading functions.

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HDF Help Desk
Last modified: November 18, 2002