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Hi Ed,
> Mike Folk <mfolk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>
> > Having seen the arguments from the HDF side and the netCDF side, I
> > still agree, wholeheartedly, with Ed. If we say HDF5 supports a
> > certain kind of compression, there should be no if's about it. It has
> > to be complete support, not 95% support.
> >
> > Mike
>
> That's funny, because Albert and Quincey have started to change my
> mind!
>
> Certainly Albert makes a good point - if zlib is built into HDF5, and
> then a user wants to link a program with zlib (say, because he wants
> to use zlib for something else), then everything will break, because
> the zlib functions will already be built into HDF5, and there will be
> clashes.
>
> (This could be solved, however, by the user just using the hdf5
> versions, and rebuilding HDF5 with a new zlib if that is required).
>
> So now I don't know what to do.
>
> I am going to cycle home and think about it. Any consensus from the
> HDF5 team on this would be very interesting.
That's us, just trying to help settle your mind on one solution. :-) :-)
> One other problem with just accepting what the user has installed is
> the version. I don't just need HDF5, I need version 1.8 or
> better. Otherwise my compile will break, because I use functions from
> the (upcoming) 1.8 release which are not in previous versions.
>
> This problem is removed if I distribute HDF5 with netCDF, because of
> course then I could distribute a HDF5 version that I know to work with
> netCDF-4.
Well, autoconf allows you to test for certain function's presence in a
dependent library, so you could use that feature to make certain that you
had a compatible HDF5 installation.
> I would like to find a way to make this easier for the end users, but
> it is not clear what the best solution is. I have posted a general
> question about this in the autoconf mailing list, to see if there is
> any community consensus there. I'll let you know if there is any
> useful feedback.
I'd certainly be interested in hearing about any good solutions.
Quincey
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