# HDF.PInvoke

**Repository Path**: SpikeXue/HDF.PInvoke

## Basic Information

- **Project Name**: HDF.PInvoke
- **Description**: No description available
- **Primary Language**: Unknown
- **License**: Not specified
- **Default Branch**: master
- **Homepage**: None
- **GVP Project**: No

## Statistics

- **Stars**: 0
- **Forks**: 0
- **Created**: 2021-01-20
- **Last Updated**: 2026-03-19

## Categories & Tags

**Categories**: Uncategorized

**Tags**: None

## README

![AppVeyor Project status badge](https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/github/HDFGroup/HDF.PInvoke?branch=master&svg=true)
[![Gitter](https://badges.gitter.im/HDFGroup/HDF.PInvoke.svg)](https://gitter.im/HDFGroup/HDF.PInvoke?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge)

# What it is (not)

HDF.PInvoke is a collection of [PInvoke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_Invocation_Services)
signatures for the [HDF5 C-API](https://docs.hdfgroup.org/hdf5/develop/).
It's practically *code-free*, which means we can blame all the bugs on Microsoft or [The HDF Group](https://www.hdfgroup.org/) :smile:

It is **not** a high-level .NET interface for HDF5. "It's the [GCD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_common_divisor)
of .NET bindings for HDF5, not the [LCM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_common_multiple)." :bowtie:

## Current Release Version(s)

| HDF5 Release Version                                                   | Assembly Version | Assembly File Version | Git Tag |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- |
| [1.8.21](https://portal.hdfgroup.org/downloads/index.html)  | 1.8.21.1         | [1.8.21.1](https://www.nuget.org/packages/HDF.PInvoke/1.8.21.1) | v1.8.21.1  |
| [1.10.11](https://portal.hdfgroup.org/downloads/index.html) | 1.10.11         | [1.10.11](https://www.nuget.org/packages/HDF.PInvoke/1.10.11) | v1.10.11 |

[How "stuff" is versioned.](../../wiki/Versioning-and-Releases)

## Quick Install:

To install the latest HDF.PInvoke 1.8, run the following command in the
[Package Manager Console](https://docs.nuget.org/docs/start-here/using-the-package-manager-console)
```
    Install-Package HDF.PInvoke -Version 1.8.21.1
```
To install the latest HDF.PInvoke 1.10, run the following command in the
[Package Manager Console](https://docs.nuget.org/docs/start-here/using-the-package-manager-console)
```
    Install-Package HDF.PInvoke -Version 1.10.11
```

# Prerequisites

The ``HDF.PInvoke.dll`` managed assembly depends on the following native DLLs (32-bit and 64-bit):
- HDF5 core API, ``hdf5.dll``
- HDF5 high-level APIs, ``hdf5_hl.dll``
- Gzip compression, ``zlib.dll``
- Szip compression, ``szip.dll``
- The C-runtime of the Visual Studio version used to build the former, e.g., ``msvcr120.dll`` for Visual Studio 2013

All native dependencies, built with [thread-safety enabled](https://support.hdfgroup.org/HDF5/faq/threadsafe.html),
are included in the NuGet packages,
**except** the Visual Studio C-runtime, which is available from Microsoft as [Visual C++ Redistributable Packages for Visual Studio 2013](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40784). In the unlikely event that
they aren't already installed on your system, go get 'em!
(See [this link](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms235299.aspx) for the rationale behind not
distributing the Visual Studio C-runtime in the NuGet package.)

## The DLL Resolution Process

On the first call to an ``H5*`` function, the application's configuration file
(e.g., ``YourApplication.exe.config``) is searched for the key ``NativeDependenciesAbsolutePath``,
whose value, if found, is added to the DLL-search path. If this key is not
specified in the application's config-file, then the ``HDF.PInvoke.dll`` assembly
detects the processor architecture (32- or 64-bit) of the hosting process and expects
to find the native DLLs in the ``bin32`` or ``bin64`` subdirectories, relative to its
location. For example, if ``HDF.PInvoke.dll`` lives in ``C:\bin``, it looks for
the native DLLs in ``C:\bin\bin32`` and ``C:\bin\bin64``.
Finally, the ``PATH`` environment variable of the running process is searched for other locations,
such as installed by the [HDF5 installers](https://www.hdfgroup.org/HDF5/).

# One Major HDF5 Version

The HDF Group currently maintains **one** major HDF5 release family, HDF5 1.14. The Visual Studio Solution is set up to build the `HDF.PInvoke.dll` .NET assemblies for the `"Any CPU"` platform in the `Debug` and `Release` configurations. Support for the HDF5 1.8 or 1.10 API is toggled via the `HDF5_VER1_10` conditional compilation symbol in the *Build* properties of the *HDF.PInvoke* and *UnitTest* projects.

# License

HDF.PInvoke is part of [HDF5](https://www.hdfgroup.org/HDF5/). It is subject to
the *same* terms and conditions as HDF5. Please review [COPYING](COPYING) or
[https://www.hdfgroup.org/licenses/](https://www.hdfgroup.org/licenses/)
for the details. If you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.hdfgroup.org/about/contact.html).

# Supporting HDF.PInvoke

The best way to support HDF.Pinvoke is to contribute to it either by reporting
bugs, writing documentation (e.g., the [cookbook](https://github.com/HDFGroup/HDF.PInvoke/wiki/Cookbook)),
or sending pull requests.

***

![The HDF Group logo](https://github.com/HDFGroup/HDF.PInvoke/blob/master/images/The%20HDF%20Group.jpg)