/--------------------------/ / CDF V3.1 Release Notes / /--------------------------/ 1. Compatibility with CDF 2.7.2 and Earlier Versions CDF V3.1 is backward compatible with the previous versions of CDF, and it can read CDF files that were created with CDF 3.0 or CDF 2.7.2 or earlier. If a file was created with CDF 2.7 and read and modified by CDF 3.1, the resultant file will be saved in the CDF 2.7 format, not CDF 3.1. The same principle applies to files that were created with CDF 2.5 and 2.6. CDF files that are created from scratch with CDF V3.1 are compatible with CDF 3.0, but not compatible (due to a 64-bit file offsets used in CDF 3.0 or later versions) with CDF 2.7.2 or earlier, and an attempt to read CDF 3.0 or 3.1 files from CDF 2.7.2 or earlier will produce an error. Users of CDF 3.1 or later versions will be able to create CDF files that can be read by CDF 2.7.2 or earlier by using the CDFsetFileBackward function (in C) or CDF_set_FileBackward subroutine (in Fortran), or using the CDF_FILE_BACKWARD environment variable. See section 4.18 of the CDF C Reference Manual and the CDF Fortran Reference Manual for details on how to create CDF 2.7-compatible files. The command-line version of the CDFedit and CDFexport utility programs can now create CDF files that can be read by CDF 2.7.2 or earlier. The routine now returns the data type of 64-bit off_t (or __int64 on Windows) for the compressed file size (cSize) and uncompressed file size (uSize) parameters in V3.1 while they used to return as 32-bit long integer in V2.5, 2.6 or 2.7. Thus, if you have a legacy application that calls the routine, you MUST change the data type of the cSize and uSize parameters to off_t (or __int64 on Windows) from long to access files that were created with V3.1. If the file accessed was created with V2.5, V2.6, or V2.7, you should always use 'long' instead of off_t to get the correct results. Using off_t for non-3.0 files in V3.1 may or may not return the correct results depending upon what operating system it is executed under. 2. Changes The following features have been added to CDF 3.1: * Ability to create a CDF file that is compatible with CDF 2.7.2 or earlier. * Addition of the easy-to-use New Standard Interface that allows almost all of the CDF operations which were previously only available through the Internal Interface. * Retrofit of CDFedit and CDFexport to create a CDF file that is compatible with CDF 2.7.2 or earlier * Addition of the MinGW (Minimalist GNU for Windows) support for PC * Many miscellaneous bug fixes 3. How to Obtain the CDF 3.1 Software The CDF V3.1 software distribution is available either via anonymous FTP or Web (HTTP). Below describes how to obtain the latest CDF 3.1 software. For OpenVMS systems: 1) via anonymous FTP: "anonymous" account on nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov (128.183.241.13) in `standards/cdf/dist/cdf31/vms'. 2) via HTTP Go to http://nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov/standards/cdf/dist/cdf31/vms Download the files: cdf31-dist.bck cdf31-dist.fdl For UNIX/LINUX/POSIX shell (including Windows running Cygwin) systems 1) via anonymous FTP: "anonymous" account on nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov (128.183.114.83) in `standards/cdf/dist/cdf31/unix-linux'. The files you need vary depending on what your needs are. Download the AAREADME.txt file first and determine which tar file and installation instructions are needed. 2) via HTTP a. Go to http://nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov/standards/cdf/dist/cdf31/unix-linux b. Download the AAREADME.txt file first and determine which tar file suits your needs. There are 3 gzipped tar files (i.e. cdf31-dist-all.tar.gz, cdf31-dist-cdf.tar.gz, cdf31-dist-java.tar.gz). cdf-31-dist-all.tar.gz contains everything CDF offers, and this file is recommended for both CDF novice and expert users. For Macintosh OS X Version 10.2 or newer a. Go to http://nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov/standards/cdf/dist/cdf31/macOSx b. Download the cdf31_setup.tar.gz file. Upon completion of the download, the Web browser will automatically uncompress the file and initiate the installation process. For 32-bit or 64-bit Windows NT/2000/XP a. Go to http://nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov/standards/cdf/dist/cdf31/w32 b. Download the cdf31_setup.exe file. Double-click the downloaded file for installation. The CDF documents are available at http://nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov/standards/cdf/doc/cdf31 in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The documentation set consists of the following: cdf31ug.pdf (CDF User's Guide) cdf31crm.pdf (CDF C Reference Manual) cdf31frm.pdf (CDF Fortran Reference Manual) cdf31jrm.pdf (CDF Java Reference Manual) cdf31ifd.pdf (CDF Internal Format Description) Documentation for the CDF Java APIs is also available at http://cdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/cdfjava_doc We have a user support office for CDF that you should contact when you need assistance. For Email requests send to: Internet -- cdfsupport@listserv.gsfc.nasa.gov Please let us know (via Email to CDFSUPPORT) if you get the distribution. We would like to know who has the distribution so we know who to contact when updates are available. CDFsupport