HDFFV-9984 Add merge/prune h5repack options for ext links

38 files changed, 2100 insertions, 149 deletions

diff --git a/MANIFEST b/MANIFEST
index 025a153..2a90a4d 100644
--- a/MANIFEST
+++ b/MANIFEST
@@ -2573,6 +2573,7 @@
 #test files for h5repack
 ./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/README
 ./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/bounds_latest_latest.h5
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src.h5
 ./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5repack_aggr.h5
 ./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5repack_attr.h5
 ./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5repack_attr_refs.h5
@@ -2649,6 +2650,24 @@
 ./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/3_1_vds.h5-vds_chunk2x5x8-v.ddl
 ./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/4_vds.h5-vds_conti-v.ddl
 ./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/4_vds.h5-vds_compa-v.ddl
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlink-merge.textlink.h5.tst
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlink-mergeprune.textlink.h5.ddl
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlink-prune.textlink.h5.ddl
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinkfar-merge.textlinkfar.h5.tst
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinkfar-mergeprune.textlinkfar.h5.ddl
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinkfar-prune.textlinkfar.h5.ddl
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinksrc-merge.textlinksrc.h5.tst
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinksrc-mergeprune.textlinksrc.h5.ddl
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinksrc-prune.textlinksrc.h5.ddl
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinktar-merge.textlinktar.h5.tst
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinktar-mergeprune.textlinktar.h5.ddl
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinktar-prune.textlinktar.h5.ddl
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/tsoftlinks-merge.tsoftlinks.h5.tst
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/tsoftlinks-mergeprune.tsoftlinks.h5.ddl
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/tsoftlinks-prune.tsoftlinks.h5.ddl
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-merge.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.tst
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-mergeprune.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.ddl
+./tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-prune.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.ddl
 
 # jam utility and tests
 ./tools/src/h5jam/Makefile.am
diff --git a/release_docs/RELEASE.txt b/release_docs/RELEASE.txt
index 04501b1..78dfdd5 100644
--- a/release_docs/RELEASE.txt
+++ b/release_docs/RELEASE.txt
@@ -315,7 +315,16 @@ New Features
 
     Tools:
     ------
-    -
+    - h5repack added options to control how external links are handled.
+
+      Currently h5repack preserves external links and cannot copy and merge
+      data from the external files. Two options, merge and prune, were added to
+      control how to merge data from an external link into the resulting file.
+       --merge             Follow external soft link recursively and merge data.
+       --prune             Do not follow external soft links and remove link.
+       --merge --prune     Follow external link, merge data and remove dangling link.
+
+      (ADB - 2020/08/05, HDFFV-9984)
 
     High-Level APIs:
     ---------------
diff --git a/tools/lib/h5diff_array.c b/tools/lib/h5diff_array.c
index b4d4fa0..9efec66 100644
--- a/tools/lib/h5diff_array.c
+++ b/tools/lib/h5diff_array.c
@@ -756,15 +756,14 @@ diff_datum(void *_mem1, void *_mem2, hsize_t elemtno, diff_opt_t *opts, hid_t co
             hid_t obj2_id = H5I_INVALID_HID;
             diff_opt_t ref_opts;
 
-            ref_opts = *opts;
-            ref_opts.obj_name[0] = NULL;
-            ref_opts.obj_name[1] = NULL;
-
             /*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
              * H5T_STD_REF_OBJ
              * Object references. get the type and OID of the referenced object
              *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
              */
+            ref_opts = *opts;
+            ref_opts.obj_name[0] = NULL;
+            ref_opts.obj_name[1] = NULL;
             if (type_size == H5R_OBJ_REF_BUF_SIZE) {
                 H5O_type_t obj1_type;
                 H5O_type_t obj2_type;
diff --git a/tools/lib/h5diff_attr.c b/tools/lib/h5diff_attr.c
index 2e903be..1473146 100644
--- a/tools/lib/h5diff_attr.c
+++ b/tools/lib/h5diff_attr.c
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ hsize_t diff_attr_data(hid_t attr1_id, hid_t attr2_id,
     hsize_t    dims1[H5S_MAX_RANK];    /* dimensions of dataset */
     hsize_t    dims2[H5S_MAX_RANK];    /* dimensions of dataset */
     hsize_t    nfound = 0;
-    int        j;
+    size_t     sz;
     diff_err_t ret_value = opts->err_stat;
 
     H5TOOLS_START_DEBUG(" - errstat:%d", opts->err_stat);
@@ -372,19 +372,19 @@ hsize_t diff_attr_data(hid_t attr1_id, hid_t attr2_id,
 
     H5TOOLS_DEBUG("attr_names: %s - %s", name1, name2);
     if (name1) {
-        j = (int)HDstrlen(name1);
-        H5TOOLS_DEBUG("attr1_name: %s - %d", name1, j);
-        if (j > 0) {
-            opts->obj_name[0] = (char *)HDmalloc((size_t)j + 1);
-            HDstrncpy(opts->obj_name[0], name1, (size_t)j + 1);
+        sz = HDstrlen(name1);
+        H5TOOLS_DEBUG("attr1_name: %s - %d", name1, sz);
+        if (sz > 0) {
+            opts->obj_name[0] = (char *)HDmalloc(sz + 1);
+            HDstrncpy(opts->obj_name[0], name1, sz + 1);
         }
     }
     if (name2) {
-        j = (int)HDstrlen(name2);
-        H5TOOLS_DEBUG("attr2_name: %s - %d", name2, j);
-        if (j > 0) {
-            opts->obj_name[1] = (char *)HDmalloc((size_t)j + 1);
-            HDstrncpy(opts->obj_name[1], name2, (size_t)j + 1);
+        sz = HDstrlen(name2);
+        H5TOOLS_DEBUG("attr2_name: %s - %d", name2, sz);
+        if (sz > 0) {
+            opts->obj_name[1] = (char *)HDmalloc(sz + 1);
+            HDstrncpy(opts->obj_name[1], name2, sz + 1);
         }
     }
     H5TOOLS_DEBUG("attr_names: %s - %s", opts->obj_name[0], opts->obj_name[1]);
@@ -392,6 +392,9 @@ hsize_t diff_attr_data(hid_t attr1_id, hid_t attr2_id,
     /* pass dims1 and dims2 for maxdims as well since attribute's maxdims
     * are always same */
     if(diff_can_type(ftype1_id, ftype2_id, rank1, rank2, dims1, dims2, dims1, dims2, opts, 0) == 1) {
+
+        int j;
+
         /*-----------------------------------------------------------------
         * "upgrade" the smaller memory size
         *------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -449,22 +452,18 @@ hsize_t diff_attr_data(hid_t attr1_id, hid_t attr2_id,
 
         H5TOOLS_DEBUG("attr_names: %s - %s : %s - %s", name1, name2, path1, path2);
         if (name1) {
-            j = (int)HDstrlen(name1) + (int)HDstrlen(path1) + 7;
-            H5TOOLS_DEBUG("attr1_name: %s - %d", name1, j);
-            if (j > 0) {
-                opts->obj_name[0] = (char *)HDcalloc((size_t)j + 1, sizeof(char));
-                HDsnprintf(opts->obj_name[0], j, "%s of <%s>", name1, path1);
-                opts->obj_name[0][j] = '\0';
-            }
+            sz = HDstrlen(name1) + HDstrlen(path1) + 7;
+            H5TOOLS_DEBUG("attr1_name: %s - %d", name1, sz);
+            opts->obj_name[0] = (char *)HDcalloc(sz + 1, sizeof(char));
+            HDsnprintf(opts->obj_name[0], sz, "%s of <%s>", name1, path1);
+            opts->obj_name[0][sz] = '\0';
         }
         if (name2) {
-            j = (int)HDstrlen(name2) + (int)HDstrlen(path2) + 7;
-            H5TOOLS_DEBUG("attr2_name: %s - %d", name2, j);
-            if (j > 0) {
-                opts->obj_name[1] = (char *)HDcalloc((size_t)j + 1, sizeof(char));
-                HDsnprintf(opts->obj_name[1], j, "%s of <%s>", name2, path2);
-                opts->obj_name[1][j] = '\0';
-            }
+            sz = HDstrlen(name2) + HDstrlen(path2) + 7;
+            H5TOOLS_DEBUG("attr2_name: %s - %d", name2, sz);
+            opts->obj_name[1] = (char *)HDcalloc(sz + 1, sizeof(char));
+            HDsnprintf(opts->obj_name[1], sz, "%s of <%s>", name2, path2);
+            opts->obj_name[1][sz] = '\0';
         }
 
         /*---------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/tools/src/h5copy/h5copy.c b/tools/src/h5copy/h5copy.c
index 5b19ae7..a6e4d4e 100644
--- a/tools/src/h5copy/h5copy.c
+++ b/tools/src/h5copy/h5copy.c
@@ -212,8 +212,8 @@ main (int argc, const char *argv[])
     unsigned     flag = 0;
     unsigned     verbose = 0;
     unsigned     parents = 0;
-    hid_t        ocpl_id = (-1);          /* Object copy property list */
-    hid_t        lcpl_id = (-1);          /* Link creation property list */
+    hid_t        ocpl_id = H5I_INVALID_HID;          /* Object copy property list */
+    hid_t        lcpl_id = H5I_INVALID_HID;          /* Link creation property list */
     int          opt;
     int          li_ret;
     h5tool_link_info_t linkinfo;
diff --git a/tools/src/h5diff/h5diff_common.c b/tools/src/h5diff/h5diff_common.c
index 327be71..1ca4f2b 100644
--- a/tools/src/h5diff/h5diff_common.c
+++ b/tools/src/h5diff/h5diff_common.c
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ static void check_options(diff_opt_t* opts)
  * Return:      <none>
  *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  */
+#if 0
 static void
 parse_hsize_list(const char *h_list, subset_d *d)
 {
@@ -133,6 +134,7 @@ parse_hsize_list(const char *h_list, subset_d *d)
     d->len = size_count;
     H5TOOLS_ENDDEBUG("");
 }
+#endif
 
 /*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  * Function:    parse_subset_params
@@ -143,6 +145,7 @@ parse_hsize_list(const char *h_list, subset_d *d)
  *              Failure:    NULL
  *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  */
+#if 0
 static struct subset_t *
 parse_subset_params(const char *dset)
 {
@@ -184,7 +187,7 @@ parse_subset_params(const char *dset)
 
     return s;
 }
-
+#endif
 
 /*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  * Function: parse_command_line
diff --git a/tools/src/h5repack/h5repack.h b/tools/src/h5repack/h5repack.h
index 1f0dd8c..a8207b5 100644
--- a/tools/src/h5repack/h5repack.h
+++ b/tools/src/h5repack/h5repack.h
@@ -101,25 +101,27 @@ typedef struct {
 
 /* all the above, ready to go to the hrepack call */
 typedef struct {
-    pack_opttbl_t   *op_tbl;        /*table with all -c and -f options */
-    int             all_layout;     /*apply the layout to all objects */
-    int             all_filter;     /*apply the filter to all objects */
+    pack_opttbl_t   *op_tbl;           /* table with all -c and -f options */
+    int             all_layout;        /* apply the layout to all objects */
+    int             all_filter;        /* apply the filter to all objects */
     filter_info_t   filter_g[H5_REPACK_MAX_NFILTERS];    /*global filter array for the ALL case */
-    int             n_filter_g;     /*number of global filters */
-    chunk_info_t    chunk_g;        /*global chunk INFO for the ALL case */
-    H5D_layout_t    layout_g;       /*global layout information for the ALL case */
-    int             verbose;        /*verbose mode */
-    hsize_t         min_comp;       /*minimum size to compress, in bytes */
-    int             use_native;     /*use a native type in write */
-    hbool_t         latest;         /*pack file with the latest file format */
-    H5F_libver_t    low_bound;      /* The file's low bound as in H5Fset_libver_bounds() */
-    H5F_libver_t    high_bound;     /* The file's high bound as in H5Fset_libver_bounds() */
-    hid_t           fin_fapl;       /* FAPL to use for opening the input file */
-    hid_t           fout_fapl;      /* FAPL to use for opening/creating the output file */
-    int             grp_compact;    /* Set the maximum number of links to store as header messages in the group */
-    int             grp_indexed;    /* Set the minimum number of links to store in the indexed format */
-    int             msg_size[8];    /* Minimum size of shared messages: dataspace,
-                                       datatype, fill value, filter pipleline, attribute */
+    int             n_filter_g;        /* number of global filters */
+    chunk_info_t    chunk_g;           /* global chunk INFO for the ALL case */
+    H5D_layout_t    layout_g;          /* global layout information for the ALL case */
+    int             verbose;           /* verbose mode */
+    hbool_t         merge;             /* Merge external file. */
+    hbool_t         prune;             /* Don't follow external file. */
+    hsize_t         min_comp;          /* minimum size to compress, in bytes */
+    int             use_native;        /* use a native type in write */
+    hbool_t         latest;            /* pack file with the latest file format */
+    H5F_libver_t    low_bound;         /* The file's low bound as in H5Fset_libver_bounds() */
+    H5F_libver_t    high_bound;        /* The file's high bound as in H5Fset_libver_bounds() */
+    hid_t           fin_fapl;          /* FAPL to use for opening the input file */
+    hid_t           fout_fapl;         /* FAPL to use for opening/creating the output file */
+    int             grp_compact;       /* Set the maximum number of links to store as header messages in the group */
+    int             grp_indexed;       /* Set the minimum number of links to store in the indexed format */
+    int             msg_size[8];       /* Minimum size of shared messages: dataspace,
+                                          datatype, fill value, filter pipleline, attribute */
     const char      *ublock_filename;  /* user block file name */
     hsize_t         ublock_size;       /* user block size */
     hsize_t         meta_block_size;   /* metadata aggregation block size (for H5Pset_meta_block_size) */
diff --git a/tools/src/h5repack/h5repack_copy.c b/tools/src/h5repack/h5repack_copy.c
index c3017f4..4d330d1 100644
--- a/tools/src/h5repack/h5repack_copy.c
+++ b/tools/src/h5repack/h5repack_copy.c
@@ -594,6 +594,8 @@ do_copy_objects(hid_t fidin, hid_t fidout, trav_table_t *travt,
     hid_t f_space_id = H5I_INVALID_HID; /* file space ID */
     hid_t ftype_id = H5I_INVALID_HID; /* file type ID */
     hid_t wtype_id = H5I_INVALID_HID; /* read/write type ID */
+    hid_t ocpl_id = H5I_INVALID_HID;  /* property to pass copy options */
+    hid_t lcpl_id = H5I_INVALID_HID;  /* link creation property list */
     named_dt_t *named_dt_head = NULL; /* Pointer to the stack of named datatypes copied */
     size_t msize;        /* size of type */
     hsize_t nelmts;      /* number of elements in dataset */
@@ -610,6 +612,7 @@ do_copy_objects(hid_t fidin, hid_t fidout, trav_table_t *travt,
     int req_filter;      /* there was a request for a filter */
     int req_obj_layout = 0; /* request layout to current object */
     unsigned crt_order_flags; /* group creation order flag */
+    h5tool_link_info_t linkinfo;
     unsigned i;
     unsigned u;
     int ifil;
@@ -619,6 +622,9 @@ do_copy_objects(hid_t fidin, hid_t fidout, trav_table_t *travt,
     hsize_t size_dset;
     int ret_value = 0;
 
+    /* init linkinfo struct */
+    HDmemset(&linkinfo, 0, sizeof(h5tool_link_info_t));
+
     /*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
      * copy the supplied object list
      *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -1100,26 +1106,25 @@ do_copy_objects(hid_t fidin, hid_t fidout, trav_table_t *travt,
                  *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  */
                 else {
-                    hid_t pid = H5I_INVALID_HID;
-
                     /* create property to pass copy options */
-                    if ((pid = H5Pcreate(H5P_OBJECT_COPY)) < 0)
+                    if ((ocpl_id = H5Pcreate(H5P_OBJECT_COPY)) < 0)
                         H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR((-1), "H5Pcreate failed");
 
                     /* set options for object copy */
-                    if (H5Pset_copy_object(pid, H5O_COPY_WITHOUT_ATTR_FLAG) < 0)
+                    if (H5Pset_copy_object(ocpl_id, H5O_COPY_WITHOUT_ATTR_FLAG) < 0)
                         H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR((-1), "H5Pset_copy_object failed");
 
                     if (H5Ocopy(fidin, /* Source file or group identifier */
                             travt->objs[i].name, /* Name of the source object to be copied */
                             fidout, /* Destination file or group identifier  */
                             travt->objs[i].name, /* Name of the destination object  */
-                            pid, /* Properties which apply to the copy   */
+                            ocpl_id, /* Properties which apply to the copy   */
                             H5P_DEFAULT) < 0) /* Properties which apply to the new hard link */
                         H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR((-1), "H5Ocopy failed");
 
-                    if (H5Pclose(pid) < 0)
+                    if (H5Pclose(ocpl_id) < 0)
                         H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR((-1), "H5Pclose failed");
+                    ocpl_id = H5I_INVALID_HID;
 
                     /*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      * Copy attrs manually
@@ -1191,11 +1196,61 @@ do_copy_objects(hid_t fidin, hid_t fidout, trav_table_t *travt,
                 if (options->verbose)
                     HDprintf(FORMAT_OBJ, "link", travt->objs[i].name);
 
-                if (H5Lcopy(fidin, travt->objs[i].name, fidout, travt->objs[i].name, H5P_DEFAULT, H5P_DEFAULT) < 0)
-                    H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR((-1), "H5Lcopy failed");
+                /* Check -X option. */
+                if (options->merge) {
+                    if (H5tools_get_symlink_info(fidin, travt->objs[i].name, &linkinfo, 1) == 0) {
+                        /* dangling link */
+                        if (options->prune) {
+                            HDprintf("Pruned %s.\n", travt->objs[i].name);
+                        }
+                        else {
+                            if (H5Lcopy(fidin, travt->objs[i].name, fidout, travt->objs[i].name, H5P_DEFAULT, H5P_DEFAULT) < 0)
+                                H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR((-1), "H5Lcopy failed");
+                        }
+                    }
+                    else {
+                        /* valid link */
+                        /* create property to pass copy options */
+                        if ((ocpl_id = H5Pcreate(H5P_OBJECT_COPY)) < 0)
+                            H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR((-1), "H5Pcreate create property failed");
 
-                if (options->verbose)
-                    HDprintf(FORMAT_OBJ, "link", travt->objs[i].name);
+                        /* set options for object copy */
+                        if (H5Pset_copy_object(ocpl_id, H5O_COPY_EXPAND_EXT_LINK_FLAG) < 0)
+                            H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR((-1), "H5Pset_copy_object failed");
+
+                        /* Create link creation property list */
+                        if((lcpl_id = H5Pcreate(H5P_LINK_CREATE)) < 0) {
+                            H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR((-1), "H5Pcreate link creation property failed");
+                        }
+
+                        /* Set flag for intermediate group creation */
+                        if (H5Pset_create_intermediate_group(lcpl_id, TRUE) < 0)
+                            H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR((-1), "H5Pset_create_intermediate_group failed");
+
+                        if (H5Ocopy(fidin, travt->objs[i].name, fidout, travt->objs[i].name, ocpl_id, lcpl_id) < 0)
+                            H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR((-1), "H5Ocopy failed");
+
+                        if (H5Pclose(lcpl_id) < 0)
+                            H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR((-1), "H5Pclose failed");
+
+                        if (H5Pclose(ocpl_id) < 0)
+                            H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR((-1), "H5Pclose failed");
+                    }
+
+                    /* free link info path */
+                    if (linkinfo.trg_path)
+                        HDfree(linkinfo.trg_path);
+                    linkinfo.trg_path = NULL;
+                } /* options->merge */
+                else {
+                    if (options->prune) {
+                        HDprintf("Pruned %s.\n", travt->objs[i].name);
+                    }
+                    else {
+                        if (H5Lcopy(fidin, travt->objs[i].name, fidout, travt->objs[i].name, H5P_DEFAULT, H5P_DEFAULT) < 0)
+                            H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR((-1), "H5Lcopy failed");
+                    }
+                }
                 break;
 
             default:
@@ -1212,15 +1267,22 @@ done:
         if (named_datatype_free(&named_dt_head, 0) < 0)
             H5TOOLS_ERROR((-1), "named_datatype_free failed");
     }
-    else
+    else {
         H5E_BEGIN_TRY {
             named_datatype_free(&named_dt_head, 1);
         } H5E_END_TRY;
+    }
+
+    /* free link info path */
+    if (linkinfo.trg_path)
+        HDfree(linkinfo.trg_path);
 
     H5E_BEGIN_TRY
     {
         H5Gclose(grp_in);
         H5Gclose(grp_out);
+        H5Pclose(lcpl_id);
+        H5Pclose(ocpl_id);
         H5Pclose(dcpl_in);
         H5Pclose(gcpl_in);
         H5Pclose(gcpl_out);
diff --git a/tools/src/h5repack/h5repack_main.c b/tools/src/h5repack/h5repack_main.c
index 793c689..009755e 100644
--- a/tools/src/h5repack/h5repack_main.c
+++ b/tools/src/h5repack/h5repack_main.c
@@ -32,36 +32,38 @@ const char *outfile = NULL;
  * Command-line options: The user can specify short or long-named
  * parameters.
  */
-static const char *s_opts = "hVvf:l:m:e:nLj:k:c:d:s:u:b:M:t:a:i:o:S:P:T:G:q:z:E";
+static const char *s_opts = "a:b:c:d:e:f:hi:j:k:l:m:no:q:s:t:u:vz:EG:LM:P:S:T:VXW";
 static struct long_options l_opts[] = {
-    { "help",                no_arg,      'h' },
-    { "version",             no_arg,      'V' },
-    { "verbose",             no_arg,      'v' },
+    { "alignment",           require_arg, 'a' },
+    { "block",               require_arg, 'b' },
+    { "compact",             require_arg, 'c' },
+    { "indexed",             require_arg, 'd' },
+    { "file",                require_arg, 'e' },
     { "filter",              require_arg, 'f' },
+    { "help",                no_arg,      'h' },
+    { "infile",              require_arg, 'i' }, /* for backward compability */
+    { "low",                 require_arg, 'j' },
+    { "high",                require_arg, 'k' },
     { "layout",              require_arg, 'l' },
     { "minimum",             require_arg, 'm' },
-    { "file",                require_arg, 'e' },
     { "native",              no_arg,      'n' },
-    { "latest",              no_arg,      'L' },
-    { "low",                 require_arg, 'j' },
-    { "high",                require_arg, 'k' },
-    { "compact",             require_arg, 'c' },
-    { "indexed",             require_arg, 'd' },
+    { "outfile",             require_arg, 'o' }, /* for backward compability */
+    { "sort_by",             require_arg, 'q' },
     { "ssize",               require_arg, 's' },
+    { "threshold",           require_arg, 't' },
     { "ublock",              require_arg, 'u' },
-    { "block",               require_arg, 'b' },
+    { "verbose",             no_arg,      'v' },
+    { "sort_order",          require_arg, 'z' },
+    { "enable-error-stack",  no_arg,      'E' },
+    { "fs_pagesize",         require_arg, 'G' },
+    { "latest",              no_arg,      'L' },
     { "metadata_block_size", require_arg, 'M' },
-    { "threshold",           require_arg, 't' },
-    { "alignment",           require_arg, 'a' },
-    { "infile",              require_arg, 'i' }, /* for backward compability */
-    { "outfile",             require_arg, 'o' }, /* for backward compability */
-    { "fs_strategy",         require_arg, 'S' },
     { "fs_persist",          require_arg, 'P' },
+    { "fs_strategy",         require_arg, 'S' },
     { "fs_threshold",        require_arg, 'T' },
-    { "fs_pagesize",         require_arg, 'G' },
-    { "sort_by",             require_arg, 'q' },
-    { "sort_order",          require_arg, 'z' },
-    { "enable-error-stack",  no_arg,      'E' },
+    { "version",             no_arg,      'V' },
+    { "merge",               no_arg,      'X' },
+    { "prune",               no_arg,      'W' },
     { NULL, 0, '\0' }
 };
 
@@ -95,6 +97,9 @@ static void usage(const char *prog) {
     PRINTVALSTREAM(rawoutstream, "   --high=BOUND            The high bound for library release versions to use\n");
     PRINTVALSTREAM(rawoutstream, "                           when creating objects in the file\n");
     PRINTVALSTREAM(rawoutstream, "                           (default is H5F_LIBVER_LATEST)\n");
+    PRINTVALSTREAM(rawoutstream, "   --merge                 Follow external soft link recursively and merge data\n");
+    PRINTVALSTREAM(rawoutstream, "   --prune                 Do not follow external soft links and remove link\n");
+    PRINTVALSTREAM(rawoutstream, "   --merge --prune         Follow external link, merge data and remove dangling link\n");
     PRINTVALSTREAM(rawoutstream, "   -c L1, --compact=L1     Maximum number of links in header messages\n");
     PRINTVALSTREAM(rawoutstream, "   -d L2, --indexed=L2     Minimum number of links in the indexed format\n");
     PRINTVALSTREAM(rawoutstream, "   -s S[:F], --ssize=S[:F] Shared object header message minimum size\n");
@@ -516,6 +521,14 @@ int parse_command_line(int argc, const char **argv, pack_opt_t* options)
                 options->high_bound = bound;
                 break;
 
+            case 'X':
+                options->merge = TRUE;
+                break;
+
+            case 'W':
+                options->prune = TRUE;
+                break;
+
             case 'c':
                 options->grp_compact = HDatoi( opt_arg );
                 if (options->grp_compact > 0)
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/CMakeTests.cmake b/tools/test/h5repack/CMakeTests.cmake
index 5e7bbcf..33c12d1 100644
--- a/tools/test/h5repack/CMakeTests.cmake
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/CMakeTests.cmake
@@ -72,6 +72,14 @@
       ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/h5repack_paged_persist.h5
       # h5diff/testfile
       ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5DIFF_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/h5diff_attr1.h5
+      # tools/testfiles for external links
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_DIR}/testfiles/tsoftlinks.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_DIR}/testfiles/textlinkfar.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_DIR}/testfiles/textlinksrc.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_DIR}/testfiles/textlinktar.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_DIR}/testfiles/textlink.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_trg.h5
       # tools/testfiles
       ${HDF5_TOOLS_DIR}/testfiles/tfamily00000.h5
       ${HDF5_TOOLS_DIR}/testfiles/tfamily00001.h5
@@ -125,6 +133,13 @@
       ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/plugin_version_test.h5repack_layout.h5
       ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/plugin_zero.h5repack_layout.h5
       ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/plugin_none.h5repack_layout.UD.h5
+      # tools/testfiles for external links
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/tsoftlinks-merge.tsoftlinks.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlinkfar-merge.textlinkfar.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlinksrc-merge.textlinksrc.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlinktar-merge.textlinktar.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlink-merge.textlink.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-merge.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5
   )
 
   set (LIST_DDL_TEST_FILES
@@ -148,6 +163,25 @@
       ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/3_1_vds.h5-vds_chunk2x5x8-v
       ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/4_vds.h5-vds_compa-v
       ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/4_vds.h5-vds_conti-v
+      # tools/testfiles for external links
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlinkfar-base.textlinkfar.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlinksrc-base.textlinksrc.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlinktar-base.textlinktar.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlink-base.textlink.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/tsoftlinks-base.tsoftlinks.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-base.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlinkfar-prune.textlinkfar.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlinksrc-prune.textlinksrc.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlinktar-prune.textlinktar.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlink-prune.textlink.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/tsoftlinks-prune.tsoftlinks.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-prune.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlinkfar-mergeprune.textlinkfar.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlinksrc-mergeprune.textlinksrc.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlinktar-mergeprune.textlinktar.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/textlink-mergeprune.textlink.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/tsoftlinks-mergeprune.tsoftlinks.h5
+      ${HDF5_TOOLS_TEST_H5REPACK_SOURCE_DIR}/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-mergeprune.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5
   )
 
   foreach (h5_file ${LIST_HDF5_TEST_FILES})
@@ -270,7 +304,7 @@
     endif ()
   endmacro ()
 
-  macro (ADD_H5_CMP_TEST testname testfilter testtype resultcode resultfile)
+  macro (ADD_H5_FILTER_TEST testname testfilter testtype resultcode resultfile)
     if ("${testtype}" STREQUAL "SKIP")
       if (NOT HDF5_ENABLE_USING_MEMCHECKER)
         add_test (
@@ -404,6 +438,48 @@
     endif ()
   endmacro ()
 
+  macro (ADD_H5_DIFF_TEST testname testtype resultcode testfile)
+    if ("${testtype}" STREQUAL "SKIP")
+      if (NOT HDF5_ENABLE_USING_MEMCHECKER)
+        add_test (
+            NAME H5REPACK_DIFF-${testname}
+            COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E echo "SKIP ${ARGN} ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/testfiles/${testfile} ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/testfiles/out-${testname}.${testfile}"
+        )
+        set_property(TEST H5REPACK_DIFF-${testname} PROPERTY DISABLED)
+      endif ()
+    else ()
+      add_test (
+          NAME H5REPACK_DIFF-${testname}-clear-objects
+          COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E remove testfiles/out-${testname}.${testfile}
+      )
+      set_tests_properties (H5REPACK_DIFF-${testname}-clear-objects PROPERTIES
+          FIXTURES_REQUIRED clear_h5repack
+      )
+      add_test (
+          NAME H5REPACK_DIFF-${testname}
+          COMMAND ${CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING_EMULATOR} $<TARGET_FILE:h5repack${tgt_file_ext}> --enable-error-stack ${ARGN} ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/testfiles/${testfile} ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/testfiles/out-${testname}.${testfile}
+      )
+      set_tests_properties (H5REPACK_DIFF-${testname} PROPERTIES
+          DEPENDS H5REPACK_DIFF-${testname}-clear-objects
+      )
+      add_test (
+          NAME H5REPACK_DIFF-${testname}_DFF
+          COMMAND "${CMAKE_COMMAND}"
+              -D "TEST_EMULATOR=${CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING_EMULATOR}"
+              -D "TEST_PROGRAM=$<TARGET_FILE:h5diff${tgt_file_ext}>"
+              -D "TEST_ARGS:STRING=-v;--enable-error-stack;${testfile};out-${testname}.${testfile}"
+              -D "TEST_FOLDER=${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/testfiles"
+              -D "TEST_OUTPUT=out-${testname}.${testfile}.out"
+              -D "TEST_EXPECT=${resultcode}"
+              -D "TEST_REFERENCE=${testname}.${testfile}.tst"
+              -P "${HDF_RESOURCES_EXT_DIR}/runTest.cmake"
+      )
+      set_tests_properties (H5REPACK_DIFF-${testname}_DFF PROPERTIES
+          DEPENDS H5REPACK_DIFF-${testname}
+      )
+    endif ()
+  endmacro ()
+
   macro (ADD_H5_STAT_TEST testname testtype resultcode statarg resultfile)
     if ("${testtype}" STREQUAL "SKIP")
       if (NOT HDF5_ENABLE_USING_MEMCHECKER)
@@ -1142,7 +1218,7 @@
   if (NOT USE_FILTER_DEFLATE)
     set (TESTTYPE "SKIP")
   endif ()
-  ADD_H5_CMP_TEST (gzip_verbose_filters "O?...ing file[^\n]+\n" ${TESTTYPE} 0 ${arg})
+  ADD_H5_FILTER_TEST (gzip_verbose_filters "O?...ing file[^\n]+\n" ${TESTTYPE} 0 ${arg})
 
 ###########################################################
 # the following tests assume the input files have filters
@@ -1528,6 +1604,44 @@ ADD_H5_EXTERNAL_TEST (ext_int32le_3d "TEST" int32le_3d -l CONTI)
 ADD_H5_EXTERNAL_TEST (ext_uint8be "TEST" uint8be -l CONTI)
 
 ##############################################################################
+###    E X T E R N A L  L I N K  T E S T S
+##############################################################################
+### HDFFV-11128 needs fixed to enable the following test
+#ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (h5copy_extlinks_src-base "TEST" 0 h5copy_extlinks_src.h5 --enable-error-stack)
+ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (tsoftlinks-base "TEST" 0 tsoftlinks.h5 --enable-error-stack)
+ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (textlink-base "TEST" 0 textlink.h5 --enable-error-stack)
+ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (textlinkfar-base "TEST" 0 textlinkfar.h5 --enable-error-stack)
+ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (textlinksrc-base "TEST" 0 textlinksrc.h5 --enable-error-stack)
+ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (textlinktar-base "TEST" 0 textlinktar.h5 --enable-error-stack)
+
+ADD_H5_DIFF_TEST (h5copy_extlinks_src-merge "TEST" 0 h5copy_extlinks_src.h5 --merge)
+ADD_H5_DIFF_TEST (tsoftlinks-merge "TEST" 1 tsoftlinks.h5 --merge)
+ADD_H5_DIFF_TEST (textlink-merge "TEST" 0 textlink.h5 --merge)
+### HDFFV-11128 needs fixed to enable the following test
+#ADD_H5_DIFF_TEST (textlinkfar-merge "TEST" 1 textlinkfar.h5 --merge)
+### HDFFV-11128 needs fixed to enable the following test
+#ADD_H5_DIFF_TEST (textlinksrc-merge "TEST" 1 textlinksrc.h5 --merge)
+### HDFFV-11128 needs fixed to enable the following test
+#ADD_H5_DIFF_TEST (textlinktar-merge "TEST" 1 textlinktar.h5 --merge)
+
+ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (h5copy_extlinks_src-prune "TEST" 0 h5copy_extlinks_src.h5 --prune --enable-error-stack)
+ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (tsoftlinks-prune "TEST" 0 tsoftlinks.h5 --prune --enable-error-stack)
+ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (textlink-prune "TEST" 0 textlink.h5 --prune --enable-error-stack)
+ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (textlinkfar-prune "TEST" 0 textlinkfar.h5 --prune --enable-error-stack)
+ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (textlinksrc-prune "TEST" 0 textlinksrc.h5 --prune --enable-error-stack)
+ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (textlinktar-prune "TEST" 0 textlinktar.h5 --prune --enable-error-stack)
+
+ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (h5copy_extlinks_src-mergeprune "TEST" 0 h5copy_extlinks_src.h5 --merge --prune --enable-error-stack)
+ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (tsoftlinks-mergeprune "TEST" 0 tsoftlinks.h5 --merge --prune --enable-error-stack)
+ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (textlink-mergeprune "TEST" 0 textlink.h5 --merge --prune --enable-error-stack)
+### HDFFV-11128 needs fixed to enable the following test
+#ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (textlinkfar-mergeprune "TEST" 0 textlinkfar.h5 --merge --prune --enable-error-stack)
+### HDFFV-11128 needs fixed to enable the following test
+#ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (textlinksrc-mergeprune "TEST" 0 textlinksrc.h5 --merge --prune --enable-error-stack)
+### HDFFV-11128 needs fixed to enable the following test
+#ADD_H5_DMP_TEST (textlinktar-mergeprune "TEST" 0 textlinktar.h5 --merge --prune --enable-error-stack)
+
+##############################################################################
 ###    P L U G I N  T E S T S
 ##############################################################################
 if (BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/h5repack.sh.in b/tools/test/h5repack/h5repack.sh.in
index 437a2d9..0b0c489 100644
--- a/tools/test/h5repack/h5repack.sh.in
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/h5repack.sh.in
@@ -88,10 +88,18 @@ $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_attr_refs.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_deflate.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_early.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_ext.h5
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_f32le.h5
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_f32le_ex.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_fill.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_filters.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_fletcher.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_hlink.h5
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_1d.h5
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_1d_ex.h5
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_2d.h5
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_2d_ex.h5
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_3d.h5
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_3d_ex.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_layout.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_layouto.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_layout2.h5
@@ -105,23 +113,26 @@ $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_refs.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_shuffle.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_soffset.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_szip.h5
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_uint8be.h5
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_uint8be_ex.h5
+########fsm#files########
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_aggr.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_fsm_aggr_nopersist.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_fsm_aggr_persist.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_none.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_paged_nopersist.h5
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_paged_persist.h5
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_f32le.h5
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_f32le_ex.h5
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_1d.h5
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_1d_ex.h5
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_2d.h5
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_2d_ex.h5
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_3d.h5
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_3d_ex.h5
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_uint8be.h5
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_uint8be_ex.h5
+########h5diff/testfile########
 $SRC_H5DIFF_TESTFILES/h5diff_attr1.h5
+########tools/testfiles#for#external#links########
+$SRC_TOOLS_TESTFILES/tsoftlinks.h5
+$SRC_TOOLS_TESTFILES/textlinkfar.h5
+$SRC_TOOLS_TESTFILES/textlinksrc.h5
+$SRC_TOOLS_TESTFILES/textlinktar.h5
+$SRC_TOOLS_TESTFILES/textlink.h5
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5copy_extlinks_src.h5
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5copy_extlinks_trg.h5
+########tools/testfiles########
 $SRC_TOOLS_TESTFILES/tfamily00000.h5
 $SRC_TOOLS_TESTFILES/tfamily00001.h5
 $SRC_TOOLS_TESTFILES/tfamily00002.h5
@@ -134,6 +145,8 @@ $SRC_TOOLS_TESTFILES/tfamily00008.h5
 $SRC_TOOLS_TESTFILES/tfamily00009.h5
 $SRC_TOOLS_TESTFILES/tfamily00010.h5
 $SRC_TOOLS_TESTFILES/tordergr.h5
+########reference#conversion#files########
+########tools/testfiles/vds########
 $SRC_TOOLS_TESTFILES/vds/1_a.h5
 $SRC_TOOLS_TESTFILES/vds/1_b.h5
 $SRC_TOOLS_TESTFILES/vds/1_c.h5
@@ -164,33 +177,71 @@ $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack-help.txt
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_ext.bin
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/ublock.bin
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack.info
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/crtorder.tordergr.h5.ddl
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/deflate_limit.h5repack_layout.h5.ddl
+########dat#files########
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_f32le_ex-0.dat
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_1d_ex-0.dat
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_1d_ex-1.dat
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_2d_ex-0.dat
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_int32le_3d_ex-0.dat
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_layout.h5.ddl
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_filters.h5-gzip_verbose_filters.tst
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_layout.h5-dset2_chunk_20x10-errstk.tst
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_layout.h5-plugin_test.ddl
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_uint8be_ex-0.dat
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_uint8be_ex-1.dat
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_uint8be_ex-2.dat
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_uint8be_ex-3.dat
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/plugin_test.h5repack_layout.h5.tst
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/1_vds.h5-vds_dset_chunk20x10x5-v.ddl
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/2_vds.h5-vds_chunk3x6x9-v.ddl
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/3_1_vds.h5-vds_chunk2x5x8-v.ddl
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/4_vds.h5-vds_compa-v.ddl
-$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/4_vds.h5-vds_conti-v.ddl
+###############
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/crtorder.tordergr.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/deflate_limit.h5repack_layout.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_layout.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_layout.h5-plugin_test.ddl
+########fsm#files########
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/SP.h5repack_fsm_aggr_nopersist.h5.ddl
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/S.h5repack_fsm_aggr_persist.h5.ddl
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/STG.h5repack_none.h5.ddl
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/GS.h5repack_paged_nopersist.h5.ddl
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/SP.h5repack_paged_persist.h5.ddl
 $SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/SPT.h5repack_aggr.h5.ddl
+########vds#files########
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/1_vds.h5-vds_dset_chunk20x10x5-v.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/2_vds.h5-vds_chunk3x6x9-v.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/3_1_vds.h5-vds_chunk2x5x8-v.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/4_vds.h5-vds_compa-v.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/4_vds.h5-vds_conti-v.ddl
+########refs#files########
+########external#links#files########
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlinkfar-base.textlinkfar.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlinksrc-base.textlinksrc.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlinktar-base.textlinktar.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlink-base.textlink.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/tsoftlinks-base.tsoftlinks.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5copy_extlinks_src-base.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlinkfar-merge.textlinkfar.h5.tst
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlinksrc-merge.textlinksrc.h5.tst
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlinktar-merge.textlinktar.h5.tst
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlink-merge.textlink.h5.tst
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/tsoftlinks-merge.tsoftlinks.h5.tst
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5copy_extlinks_src-merge.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.tst
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlinkfar-prune.textlinkfar.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlinksrc-prune.textlinksrc.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlinktar-prune.textlinktar.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlink-prune.textlink.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/tsoftlinks-prune.tsoftlinks.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5copy_extlinks_src-prune.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlinkfar-mergeprune.textlinkfar.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlinksrc-mergeprune.textlinksrc.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlinktar-mergeprune.textlinktar.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlink-mergeprune.textlink.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/tsoftlinks-mergeprune.tsoftlinks.h5.ddl
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5copy_extlinks_src-mergeprune.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.ddl
+########tst#files########
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_filters.h5-gzip_verbose_filters.tst
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5repack_layout.h5-dset2_chunk_20x10-errstk.tst
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/plugin_test.h5repack_layout.h5.tst
+########external#links#tst#files########
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/tsoftlinks-merge.tsoftlinks.h5.tst
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlinkfar-merge.textlinkfar.h5.tst
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlinksrc-merge.textlinksrc.h5.tst
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlinktar-merge.textlinktar.h5.tst
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/textlink-merge.textlink.h5.tst
+$SRC_H5REPACK_TESTFILES/h5copy_extlinks_src-merge.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.tst
 "
 
 #
@@ -267,6 +318,12 @@ SKIP() {
     echo " -SKIP-"
 }
 
+##############################################################################
+##############################################################################
+###           T H E   T E S T S  M A C R O S                               ###
+##############################################################################
+##############################################################################
+
 # Call the h5diff tool
 #
 DIFFTEST()
@@ -615,25 +672,6 @@ VERIFY_INVALIDBOUNDS()
 } # end of VERIFY_INVALIDBOUNDS
 
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-# Expect h5diff to fail
-# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-DIFFFAIL()
-{
-    VERIFY h5diff unequal $@
-    (
-        cd $TESTDIR
-        $RUNSERIAL $H5DIFF_BIN -q  "$@"
-    )
-    RET=$?
-    if [ $RET == 0 ] ; then
-         echo "*FAILED*"
-         nerrors="`expr $nerrors + 1`"
-    else
-         echo " PASSED"
-    fi
-}
-
-# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Catchall test for repacking with external files
 # Loops over all (internally-listed) cases and applies the given arguments
 # to h5repack.
@@ -801,6 +839,121 @@ TOOLTESTV()
    rm -f $outfile
 }
 
+# This is same as TOOLTESTV() with comparing display output
+# with actual filename swapped
+#
+TOOLTESTSV()
+{
+    expect="$TESTDIR/$1.$2.tst"
+    actual="$TESTDIR/`basename $2 .ddl`.out"
+    actual_err="$TESTDIR/`basename $2 .ddl`.err"
+
+    infile=$2
+    outfile=out-$1.$2
+    shift
+    shift
+
+    # Run test.
+    TESTING $H5REPACK $@
+    (
+        cd $TESTDIR
+        $RUNSERIAL $H5REPACK_BIN "$@" $infile $outfile
+    ) >$actual 2>$actual_err
+    RET=$?
+    if [ $RET != 0 ] ; then
+    echo "*FAILED*"
+    nerrors="`expr $nerrors + 1`"
+    else
+    echo " PASSED"
+    VERIFY h5diff equal $@
+    (
+        cd $TESTDIR
+        $RUNSERIAL $H5DIFF_BIN -v $infile $outfile
+    ) >$actual 2>$actual_err
+    RET=$?
+    if [ $RET != 0 ] ; then
+         echo "*FAILED*"
+         nerrors="`expr $nerrors + 1`"
+    else
+         echo " PASSED"
+    fi
+    fi
+
+    # display output compare
+    STDOUT_FILTER $actual
+    cat $actual_err >> $actual
+
+    VERIFY output from $H5REPACK $@
+    if cmp -s $expect $actual; then
+     echo " PASSED"
+    else
+     echo "*FAILED*"
+     echo "    Expected result (*.tst) differs from actual result (*.out)"
+     nerrors="`expr $nerrors + 1`"
+     test yes = "$verbose" && diff -c $expect $actual |sed 's/^/    /'
+    fi
+
+   rm -f $actual $actual_err
+   rm -f $outfile
+}
+
+# This is same as TOOLTESTSV() but expects a diff fail
+#
+TOOLFAILSV()
+{
+    expect="$TESTDIR/$1.$2.tst"
+    actual="$TESTDIR/`basename $2 .ddl`.out"
+    actual_err="$TESTDIR/`basename $2 .ddl`.err"
+
+    infile=$2
+    outfile=out-$1.$2
+    shift
+    shift
+
+    # Run test.
+    TESTING $H5REPACK $@
+    (
+        cd $TESTDIR
+        $RUNSERIAL $H5REPACK_BIN "$@" $infile $outfile
+    ) >$actual 2>$actual_err
+    RET=$?
+    if [ $RET != 0 ] ; then
+    echo "*FAILED*"
+    nerrors="`expr $nerrors + 1`"
+    else
+    echo " PASSED"
+    VERIFY h5diff unequal $@
+    (
+        cd $TESTDIR
+        $RUNSERIAL $H5DIFF_BIN -v $infile $outfile
+    ) >$actual 2>$actual_err
+    RET=$?
+    if [ $RET == 0 ] ; then
+         echo "*FAILED*"
+         nerrors="`expr $nerrors + 1`"
+    else
+         echo " PASSED"
+    fi
+    fi
+
+    # display output compare
+    STDOUT_FILTER $actual
+    cat $actual_err >> $actual
+
+    VERIFY output from $H5REPACK $@
+    if cmp -s $expect $actual; then
+     echo " PASSED"
+    else
+     echo "*FAILED*"
+     echo "    Expected result (*.tst) differs from actual result (*.out)"
+     nerrors="`expr $nerrors + 1`"
+     test yes = "$verbose" && diff -c $expect $actual |sed 's/^/    /'
+    fi
+
+   rm -f $actual $actual_err
+   rm -f $outfile
+}
+
 # same as TOOLTESTV but filters error stack output and compares to an error file
 # Extract file name, line number, version and thread IDs because they may be different
 # ADD_H5ERR_MASK_TEST
@@ -1352,44 +1505,28 @@ TOOLTEST_STAT SPT $arg
 # layout options (these files have no filters)
 #########################################################
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET dset2_chunk_20x10 h5repack_layout.h5 dset2 CHUNKED --layout dset2:CHUNK=20x10
-
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_ALL chunk_20x10 h5repack_layout.h5 CHUNKED -l CHUNK=20x10
-
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET dset2_conti h5repack_layout.h5 dset2 CONTIGUOUS -l dset2:CONTI
-
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_ALL conti h5repack_layout.h5 CONTIGUOUS -l CONTI
-
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET dset2_compa h5repack_layout.h5 dset2 COMPACT -l dset2:COMPA
-
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_ALL compa h5repack_layout.h5 COMPACT -l COMPA
-
 TOOLTESTM dset2_chunk_20x10-errstk h5repack_layout.h5 --layout=dset2:CHUNK=20x10x5 --enable-error-stack
 
 ################################################################
 # layout conversions (file has no filters)
 ###############################################################
-
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET dset_compa_conti h5repack_layout.h5 dset_compact CONTIGUOUS -l dset_compact:CONTI
-
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET dset_compa_chunk h5repack_layout.h5 dset_compact CHUNKED -l dset_compact:CHUNK=2x5
-
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET dset_compa_compa h5repack_layout.h5 dset_compact COMPACT -l dset_compact:COMPA
-
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET dset_conti_compa h5repack_layout.h5 dset_contiguous COMPACT -l dset_contiguous:COMPA
-
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET dset_conti_chunk h5repack_layout.h5 dset_contiguous CHUNKED -l dset_contiguous:CHUNK=3x6
-
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET dset_conti_conti h5repack_layout.h5 dset_contiguous CONTIGUOUS -l dset_contiguous:CONTI
-
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET chunk_compa h5repack_layout.h5 dset_chunk COMPACT -l dset_chunk:COMPA
-
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET chunk_conti h5repack_layout.h5 dset_chunk CONTIGUOUS -l dset_chunk:CONTI
-
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET chunk_18x13 h5repack_layout.h5 dset_chunk CHUNKED -l dset_chunk:CHUNK=18x13
 
 # test convert small size dataset ( < 1k) to compact layout without -m
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET contig_small_compa h5repack_layout2.h5 contig_small COMPACT -l contig_small:COMPA
-
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET contig_small_fixed_compa h5repack_layout2.h5 chunked_small_fixed COMPACT -l chunked_small_fixed:COMPA
 
 #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -1417,6 +1554,7 @@ VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET chunk2compa h5repack_layout3.h5 chunk_unlimit1 CHUNK -l chunk
 # chunk dim is bigger than dataset dim. ( dset size < 64k )
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET error1 h5repack_layout3.h5 chunk_unlimit1 H5S_UNLIMITED -f chunk_unlimit1:NONE
 # chunk dim is bigger than dataset dim. ( dset size > 64k )
+
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET error2 h5repack_layout3.h5 chunk_unlimit2 H5S_UNLIMITED -f chunk_unlimit2:NONE
 
 # chunk dims are smaller than dataset dims. ( dset size < 64k )
@@ -1431,7 +1569,6 @@ TOOLTEST error4 h5repack_layout3.h5 -f NONE
 # (dset size < 64K) and with unlimited max dims on a condition as follow.
 # (HDFFV-8214)
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
 # chunk dim is bigger than dataset dim. should succeed.
 VERIFY_LAYOUT_DSET ckdim_biger h5repack_layout3.h5 chunk_unlimit2 CONTI -l chunk_unlimit2:CONTI
 # chunk dim is smaller than dataset dim. should succeed.
@@ -1462,7 +1599,6 @@ else
 fi
 
 # several global filters
-
 arg="h5repack_layout.h5 --filter GZIP=1 --filter SHUF"
 if test $USE_FILTER_DEFLATE != "yes" ; then
  SKIP $arg
@@ -1558,9 +1694,9 @@ else
  VERIFY_LAYOUT_VDS vds_conti 4_vds.h5 vds_dset CONTIGUOUS -l vds_dset:CONTI
 fi
 
-#########################################################
-# Testing version bounds
-#########################################################
+##############################################################################
+###    V E R S I O N  B O U N D S  T E S T S
+##############################################################################
 # -j 0 -k 2, superblock will be 0
 VERIFY_SUPERBLOCK 0 2 0 h5repack_layout.h5 -j 0 -k 2 h5repack_layout.h5
 # -j 1 -k 2, superblock will be 2
@@ -1570,11 +1706,49 @@ VERIFY_SUPERBLOCK 2 2 3 h5repack_layout.h5 -j 2 -k 2 h5repack_layout.h5
 # -j 0 -k 1, file cannot be opened
 VERIFY_INVALIDBOUNDS 0 1 bounds_latest_latest.h5
 
-########################################
-# Testing external storage
-########################################
+##############################################################################
+###    E X T E R N A L  S T O R A G E  T E S T S
+##############################################################################
 VERIFY_EXTERNAL_CONSOLIDATION -l CONTI
 
+##############################################################################
+###    E X T E R N A L  L I N K  T E S T S
+##############################################################################
+### HDFFV-11128 needs fixed to enable the following test
+#TOOLTEST_DUMP h5copy_extlinks_src-base h5copy_extlinks_src.h5 --enable-error-stack
+TOOLTEST_DUMP tsoftlinks-base tsoftlinks.h5 --enable-error-stack
+TOOLTEST_DUMP textlink-base textlink.h5 --enable-error-stack
+TOOLTEST_DUMP textlinkfar-base textlinkfar.h5 --enable-error-stack
+TOOLTEST_DUMP textlinksrc-base textlinksrc.h5 --enable-error-stack
+TOOLTEST_DUMP textlinktar-base textlinktar.h5 --enable-error-stack
+
+TOOLTESTSV h5copy_extlinks_src-merge h5copy_extlinks_src.h5 --merge
+TOOLFAILSV tsoftlinks-merge tsoftlinks.h5 --merge
+TOOLTESTSV textlink-merge textlink.h5 --merge
+### HDFFV-11128 needs fixed to enable the following test
+#TOOLFAILSV textlinkfar-merge textlinkfar.h5 --merge
+### HDFFV-11128 needs fixed to enable the following test
+#TOOLFAILSV textlinksrc-merge textlinksrc.h5 --merge
+### HDFFV-11128 needs fixed to enable the following test
+#TOOLFAILSV textlinktar-merge textlinktar.h5 --merge
+
+TOOLTEST_DUMP h5copy_extlinks_src-prune h5copy_extlinks_src.h5 --prune --enable-error-stack
+TOOLTEST_DUMP tsoftlinks-prune tsoftlinks.h5 --prune --enable-error-stack
+TOOLTEST_DUMP textlink-prune textlink.h5 --prune --enable-error-stack
+TOOLTEST_DUMP textlinkfar-prune textlinkfar.h5 --prune --enable-error-stack
+TOOLTEST_DUMP textlinksrc-prune textlinksrc.h5 --prune --enable-error-stack
+TOOLTEST_DUMP textlinktar-prune textlinktar.h5 --prune --enable-error-stack
+
+TOOLTEST_DUMP h5copy_extlinks_src-mergeprune h5copy_extlinks_src.h5 --merge --prune --enable-error-stack
+TOOLTEST_DUMP tsoftlinks-mergeprune tsoftlinks.h5 --merge --prune --enable-error-stack
+TOOLTEST_DUMP textlink-mergeprune textlink.h5 --merge --prune --enable-error-stack
+### HDFFV-11128 needs fixed to enable the following test
+#TOOLTEST_DUMP textlinkfar-mergeprune textlinkfar.h5 --merge --prune --enable-error-stack
+### HDFFV-11128 needs fixed to enable the following test
+#TOOLTEST_DUMP textlinksrc-mergeprune textlinksrc.h5 --merge --prune --enable-error-stack
+### HDFFV-11128 needs fixed to enable the following test
+#TOOLTEST_DUMP textlinktar-mergeprune textlinktar.h5 --merge --prune --enable-error-stack
+
 # Clean up temporary files/directories
 CLEAN_TESTFILES_AND_TESTDIR
 
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-base.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-base.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad8a320
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-base.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+HDF5 "out-h5copy_extlinks_src-mergeprune.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+   GROUP "group_ext" {
+      DATATYPE "extlink_datatype" H5T_STD_I32LE;
+      DATASET "extlink_dset" {
+         DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+         DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+         STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+            CONTIGUOUS
+            SIZE 24
+            OFFSET 2200
+         }
+         FILTERS {
+            NONE
+         }
+         FILLVALUE {
+            FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+            VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+         }
+         ALLOCATION_TIME {
+            H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+         }
+      }
+      GROUP "extlink_grp" {
+      }
+   }
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-merge.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.tst b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-merge.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.tst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..52f215d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-merge.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.tst
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+
+file1     file2
+---------------------------------------
+    x      x    /              
+    x      x    /group_ext     
+    x      x    /group_ext/extlink_datatype
+    x      x    /group_ext/extlink_dset
+    x      x    /group_ext/extlink_grp
+    x      x    /group_ext/extlink_notyet1
+    x      x    /group_ext/extlink_notyet2
+
+group  : </> and </>
+0 differences found
+group  : </group_ext> and </group_ext>
+0 differences found
+Not comparable: </group_ext/extlink_datatype> is of type H5G_UDLINK and </group_ext/extlink_datatype> is of type H5G_TYPE
+Not comparable: </group_ext/extlink_dset> is of type H5G_UDLINK and </group_ext/extlink_dset> is of type H5G_DATASET
+Not comparable: </group_ext/extlink_grp> is of type H5G_UDLINK and </group_ext/extlink_grp> is of type H5G_GROUP
+external link: </group_ext/extlink_notyet1> and </group_ext/extlink_notyet1>
+0 differences found
+external link: </group_ext/extlink_notyet2> and </group_ext/extlink_notyet2>
+0 differences found
+--------------------------------
+Some objects are not comparable
+--------------------------------
+Use -c for a list of objects without details of differences.
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-mergeprune.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-mergeprune.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad8a320
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-mergeprune.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+HDF5 "out-h5copy_extlinks_src-mergeprune.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+   GROUP "group_ext" {
+      DATATYPE "extlink_datatype" H5T_STD_I32LE;
+      DATASET "extlink_dset" {
+         DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+         DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+         STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+            CONTIGUOUS
+            SIZE 24
+            OFFSET 2200
+         }
+         FILTERS {
+            NONE
+         }
+         FILLVALUE {
+            FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+            VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+         }
+         ALLOCATION_TIME {
+            H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+         }
+      }
+      GROUP "extlink_grp" {
+      }
+   }
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-prune.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-prune.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b7d7bca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src-prune.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+HDF5 "out-h5copy_extlinks_src-prune.h5copy_extlinks_src.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+   GROUP "group_ext" {
+   }
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src.h5 b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src.h5
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b8621e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_src.h5
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_trg.h5 b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_trg.h5
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3a0242d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5copy_extlinks_trg.h5
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5repack-help.txt b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5repack-help.txt
index 9231e01..a184ae8 100644
--- a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5repack-help.txt
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/h5repack-help.txt
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ usage: h5repack [OPTIONS] file1 file2
    --high=BOUND            The high bound for library release versions to use
                            when creating objects in the file
                            (default is H5F_LIBVER_LATEST)
+   --merge                 Follow external soft link recursively and merge data
+   --prune                 Do not follow external soft links and remove link
+   --merge --prune         Follow external link, merge data and remove dangling link
    -c L1, --compact=L1     Maximum number of links in header messages
    -d L2, --indexed=L2     Minimum number of links in the indexed format
    -s S[:F], --ssize=S[:F] Shared object header message minimum size
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlink-base.textlink.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlink-base.textlink.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b87a17d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlink-base.textlink.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+HDF5 "out-textlink-base.textlink.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+   EXTERNAL_LINK "extlink1" {
+      TARGETFILE "filename"
+      TARGETPATH "objname"
+   }
+   EXTERNAL_LINK "extlink2" {
+      TARGETFILE "anotherfile"
+      TARGETPATH "anotherobj"
+   }
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlink-merge.textlink.h5.tst b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlink-merge.textlink.h5.tst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7ff71d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlink-merge.textlink.h5.tst
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+
+file1     file2
+---------------------------------------
+    x      x    /              
+    x      x    /extlink1      
+    x      x    /extlink2      
+
+group  : </> and </>
+0 differences found
+external link: </extlink1> and </extlink1>
+0 differences found
+external link: </extlink2> and </extlink2>
+0 differences found
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlink-mergeprune.textlink.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlink-mergeprune.textlink.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7206ae9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlink-mergeprune.textlink.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+HDF5 "out-textlink-mergeprune.textlink.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlink-prune.textlink.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlink-prune.textlink.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..83db344
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlink-prune.textlink.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+HDF5 "out-textlink-prune.textlink.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinkfar-base.textlinkfar.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinkfar-base.textlinkfar.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a5eb497
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinkfar-base.textlinkfar.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+HDF5 "out-textlinkfar-base.textlinkfar.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+   EXTERNAL_LINK "src_file" {
+      TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+      TARGETPATH "/"
+         GROUP "/" {
+            EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2soft_link1" {
+               TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+               TARGETPATH "/soft_dset1"
+                  DATASET "/soft_dset1" {
+                     DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+                     DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+                     STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                        CONTIGUOUS
+                        SIZE 32
+                        OFFSET 2848
+                     }
+                     FILTERS {
+                        NONE
+                     }
+                     FILLVALUE {
+                        FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                        VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+                     }
+                     ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                        H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+                     }
+                  }
+            }
+            EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2softdangle_link1" {
+               TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+               TARGETPATH "/soft_dangle"
+            }
+            EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link1" {
+               TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+               TARGETPATH "group"
+                  GROUP "group" {
+                     DATASET "dset" {
+                        DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+                        DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+                        STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                           CONTIGUOUS
+                           SIZE 24
+                           OFFSET 3136
+                        }
+                        FILTERS {
+                           NONE
+                        }
+                        FILLVALUE {
+                           FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                           VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+                        }
+                        ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                           H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+                        }
+                     }
+                     EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t1" {
+                        TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+                        TARGETPATH "/"
+                           GROUP "/" {
+                              HARDLINK "/"
+                           }
+                     }
+                     EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t2" {
+                        TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+                        TARGETPATH "/ext_link4"
+                     }
+                     GROUP "subgroup" {
+                        GROUP "link_to_group" {
+                           HARDLINK "/group"
+                        }
+                     }
+                  }
+            }
+            EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link2" {
+               TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+               TARGETPATH "dset"
+                  DATASET "dset" {
+                     DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+                     DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+                     STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                        CONTIGUOUS
+                        SIZE 24
+                        OFFSET 3160
+                     }
+                     FILTERS {
+                        NONE
+                     }
+                     FILLVALUE {
+                        FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                        VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+                     }
+                     ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                        H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+                     }
+                  }
+            }
+            EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link3" {
+               TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+               TARGETPATH "type"
+                  DATATYPE "type" H5T_STD_I32LE;
+            }
+            EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link4" {
+               TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+               TARGETPATH "group/elink_t2"
+            }
+            EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link5" {
+               TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+               TARGETPATH "empty_group"
+                  GROUP "empty_group" {
+                  }
+            }
+         }
+   }
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinkfar-merge.textlinkfar.h5.tst b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinkfar-merge.textlinkfar.h5.tst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6673d39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinkfar-merge.textlinkfar.h5.tst
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+
+file1     file2
+---------------------------------------
+    x      x    /              
+    x      x    /src_file      
+           x    /src_file/ext2soft_link1
+           x    /src_file/ext2softdangle_link1
+           x    /src_file/ext_link1
+           x    /src_file/ext_link2
+           x    /src_file/ext_link3
+           x    /src_file/ext_link4
+           x    /src_file/ext_link5
+
+group  : </> and </>
+0 differences found
+Not comparable: </src_file> is of type H5G_UDLINK and </src_file> is of type H5G_GROUP
+--------------------------------
+Some objects are not comparable
+--------------------------------
+Use -c for a list of objects without details of differences.
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinkfar-mergeprune.textlinkfar.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinkfar-mergeprune.textlinkfar.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ba3308
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinkfar-mergeprune.textlinkfar.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+HDF5 "out-textlinkfar-mergeprune.textlinkfar.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+   GROUP "src_file" {
+      EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2soft_link1" {
+         TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+         TARGETPATH "/soft_dset1"
+            DATASET "/soft_dset1" {
+               DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+               DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+               STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                  CONTIGUOUS
+                  SIZE 32
+                  OFFSET 2848
+               }
+               FILTERS {
+                  NONE
+               }
+               FILLVALUE {
+                  FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                  VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+               }
+               ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                  H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+               }
+            }
+      }
+      EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2softdangle_link1" {
+         TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+         TARGETPATH "/soft_dangle"
+      }
+      EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link1" {
+         TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+         TARGETPATH "group"
+            GROUP "group" {
+               DATASET "dset" {
+                  DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+                  DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+                  STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                     CONTIGUOUS
+                     SIZE 24
+                     OFFSET 3136
+                  }
+                  FILTERS {
+                     NONE
+                  }
+                  FILLVALUE {
+                     FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                     VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+                  }
+                  ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                     H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+                  }
+               }
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t1" {
+                  TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "/"
+                     GROUP "/" {
+                        EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2soft_link1" {
+                           TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+                           TARGETPATH "/soft_dset1"
+                              DATASET "/soft_dset1" {
+                                 HARDLINK "/dset1"
+                              }
+                        }
+                        EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2softdangle_link1" {
+                           TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+                           TARGETPATH "/soft_dangle"
+                        }
+                        EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link1" {
+                           TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                           TARGETPATH "group"
+                              GROUP "group" {
+                                 HARDLINK "/group"
+                              }
+                        }
+                        EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link2" {
+                           TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                           TARGETPATH "dset"
+                              DATASET "dset" {
+                                 DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+                                 DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+                                 STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                                    CONTIGUOUS
+                                    SIZE 24
+                                    OFFSET 3160
+                                 }
+                                 FILTERS {
+                                    NONE
+                                 }
+                                 FILLVALUE {
+                                    FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                                    VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+                                 }
+                                 ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                                    H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+                                 }
+                              }
+                        }
+                        EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link3" {
+                           TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                           TARGETPATH "type"
+                              DATATYPE "type" H5T_STD_I32LE;
+                        }
+                        EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link4" {
+                           TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                           TARGETPATH "group/elink_t2"
+                        }
+                        EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link5" {
+                           TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                           TARGETPATH "empty_group"
+                              GROUP "empty_group" {
+                              }
+                        }
+                     }
+               }
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t2" {
+                  TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "/ext_link4"
+               }
+               GROUP "subgroup" {
+                  GROUP "link_to_group" {
+                     HARDLINK "/group"
+                  }
+               }
+            }
+      }
+      EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link2" {
+         TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+         TARGETPATH "dset"
+            DATASET "dset" {
+               HARDLINK "/dset"
+            }
+      }
+      EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link3" {
+         TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+         TARGETPATH "type"
+            DATATYPE "type" HARDLINK "/type"
+      }
+      EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link4" {
+         TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+         TARGETPATH "group/elink_t2"
+      }
+      EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link5" {
+         TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+         TARGETPATH "empty_group"
+            GROUP "empty_group" {
+               HARDLINK "/empty_group"
+            }
+      }
+   }
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinkfar-prune.textlinkfar.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinkfar-prune.textlinkfar.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..30f8f1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinkfar-prune.textlinkfar.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+HDF5 "out-textlinkfar-prune.textlinkfar.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinksrc-base.textlinksrc.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinksrc-base.textlinksrc.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a9a9aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinksrc-base.textlinksrc.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+HDF5 "out-textlinksrc-base.textlinksrc.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+   EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2soft_link1" {
+      TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+      TARGETPATH "/soft_dset1"
+         DATASET "/soft_dset1" {
+            DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+            DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+            STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+               CONTIGUOUS
+               SIZE 32
+               OFFSET 2848
+            }
+            FILTERS {
+               NONE
+            }
+            FILLVALUE {
+               FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+               VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+            }
+            ALLOCATION_TIME {
+               H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+            }
+         }
+   }
+   EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2softdangle_link1" {
+      TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+      TARGETPATH "/soft_dangle"
+   }
+   EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link1" {
+      TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+      TARGETPATH "group"
+         GROUP "group" {
+            DATASET "dset" {
+               DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+               DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+               STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                  CONTIGUOUS
+                  SIZE 24
+                  OFFSET 3136
+               }
+               FILTERS {
+                  NONE
+               }
+               FILLVALUE {
+                  FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                  VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+               }
+               ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                  H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+               }
+            }
+            EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t1" {
+               TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+               TARGETPATH "/"
+                  GROUP "/" {
+                     EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2soft_link1" {
+                        TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+                        TARGETPATH "/soft_dset1"
+                           DATASET "/soft_dset1" {
+                              HARDLINK "/dset1"
+                           }
+                     }
+                     EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2softdangle_link1" {
+                        TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+                        TARGETPATH "/soft_dangle"
+                     }
+                     EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link1" {
+                        TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                        TARGETPATH "group"
+                           GROUP "group" {
+                              HARDLINK "/group"
+                           }
+                     }
+                     EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link2" {
+                        TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                        TARGETPATH "dset"
+                           DATASET "dset" {
+                              DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+                              DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+                              STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                                 CONTIGUOUS
+                                 SIZE 24
+                                 OFFSET 3160
+                              }
+                              FILTERS {
+                                 NONE
+                              }
+                              FILLVALUE {
+                                 FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                                 VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+                              }
+                              ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                                 H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+                              }
+                           }
+                     }
+                     EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link3" {
+                        TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                        TARGETPATH "type"
+                           DATATYPE "type" H5T_STD_I32LE;
+                     }
+                     EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link4" {
+                        TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                        TARGETPATH "group/elink_t2"
+                     }
+                     EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link5" {
+                        TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                        TARGETPATH "empty_group"
+                           GROUP "empty_group" {
+                           }
+                     }
+                  }
+            }
+            EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t2" {
+               TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+               TARGETPATH "/ext_link4"
+            }
+            GROUP "subgroup" {
+               GROUP "link_to_group" {
+                  HARDLINK "/group"
+               }
+            }
+         }
+   }
+   EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link2" {
+      TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+      TARGETPATH "dset"
+         DATASET "dset" {
+            HARDLINK "/dset"
+         }
+   }
+   EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link3" {
+      TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+      TARGETPATH "type"
+         DATATYPE "type" HARDLINK "/type"
+   }
+   EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link4" {
+      TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+      TARGETPATH "group/elink_t2"
+   }
+   EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link5" {
+      TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+      TARGETPATH "empty_group"
+         GROUP "empty_group" {
+            HARDLINK "/empty_group"
+         }
+   }
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinksrc-merge.textlinksrc.h5.tst b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinksrc-merge.textlinksrc.h5.tst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d5a5902
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinksrc-merge.textlinksrc.h5.tst
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+
+file1     file2
+---------------------------------------
+    x      x    /              
+    x      x    /ext2soft_link1
+    x      x    /ext2softdangle_link1
+    x      x    /ext_link1     
+           x    /ext_link1/dset
+           x    /ext_link1/elink_t1
+           x    /ext_link1/elink_t2
+           x    /ext_link1/subgroup
+           x    /ext_link1/subgroup/link_to_group
+    x      x    /ext_link2     
+    x      x    /ext_link3     
+    x      x    /ext_link4     
+    x      x    /ext_link5     
+
+group  : </> and </>
+0 differences found
+Not comparable: </ext2soft_link1> is of type H5G_UDLINK and </ext2soft_link1> is of type H5G_DATASET
+external link: </ext2softdangle_link1> and </ext2softdangle_link1>
+0 differences found
+Not comparable: </ext_link1> is of type H5G_UDLINK and </ext_link1> is of type H5G_GROUP
+Not comparable: </ext_link2> is of type H5G_UDLINK and </ext_link2> is of type H5G_DATASET
+Not comparable: </ext_link3> is of type H5G_UDLINK and </ext_link3> is of type H5G_TYPE
+external link: </ext_link4> and </ext_link4>
+0 differences found
+Not comparable: </ext_link5> is of type H5G_UDLINK and </ext_link5> is of type H5G_GROUP
+--------------------------------
+Some objects are not comparable
+--------------------------------
+Use -c for a list of objects without details of differences.
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinksrc-mergeprune.textlinksrc.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinksrc-mergeprune.textlinksrc.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5b3c740
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinksrc-mergeprune.textlinksrc.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,187 @@
+HDF5 "out-textlinksrc-mergeprune.textlinksrc.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+   DATASET "ext2soft_link1" {
+      DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+      DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+      STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+         CONTIGUOUS
+         SIZE 32
+         OFFSET 2048
+      }
+      FILTERS {
+         NONE
+      }
+      FILLVALUE {
+         FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+         VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+      }
+      ALLOCATION_TIME {
+         H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+      }
+   }
+   GROUP "ext_link1" {
+      DATASET "dset" {
+         DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+         DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+         STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+            CONTIGUOUS
+            SIZE 24
+            OFFSET 2080
+         }
+         FILTERS {
+            NONE
+         }
+         FILLVALUE {
+            FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+            VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+         }
+         ALLOCATION_TIME {
+            H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+         }
+      }
+      EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t1" {
+         TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+         TARGETPATH "/"
+            GROUP "/" {
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2soft_link1" {
+                  TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "/soft_dset1"
+                     DATASET "/soft_dset1" {
+                        DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+                        DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+                        STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                           CONTIGUOUS
+                           SIZE 32
+                           OFFSET 2848
+                        }
+                        FILTERS {
+                           NONE
+                        }
+                        FILLVALUE {
+                           FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                           VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+                        }
+                        ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                           H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+                        }
+                     }
+               }
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2softdangle_link1" {
+                  TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "/soft_dangle"
+               }
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link1" {
+                  TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "group"
+                     GROUP "group" {
+                        DATASET "dset" {
+                           DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+                           DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+                           STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                              CONTIGUOUS
+                              SIZE 24
+                              OFFSET 3136
+                           }
+                           FILTERS {
+                              NONE
+                           }
+                           FILLVALUE {
+                              FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                              VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+                           }
+                           ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                              H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+                           }
+                        }
+                        EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t1" {
+                           TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+                           TARGETPATH "/"
+                              GROUP "/" {
+                                 HARDLINK "/"
+                              }
+                        }
+                        EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t2" {
+                           TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+                           TARGETPATH "/ext_link4"
+                        }
+                        GROUP "subgroup" {
+                           GROUP "link_to_group" {
+                              HARDLINK "/group"
+                           }
+                        }
+                     }
+               }
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link2" {
+                  TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "dset"
+                     DATASET "dset" {
+                        DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+                        DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+                        STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                           CONTIGUOUS
+                           SIZE 24
+                           OFFSET 3160
+                        }
+                        FILTERS {
+                           NONE
+                        }
+                        FILLVALUE {
+                           FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                           VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+                        }
+                        ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                           H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+                        }
+                     }
+               }
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link3" {
+                  TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "type"
+                     DATATYPE "type" H5T_STD_I32LE;
+               }
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link4" {
+                  TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "group/elink_t2"
+               }
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link5" {
+                  TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "empty_group"
+                     GROUP "empty_group" {
+                     }
+               }
+            }
+      }
+      EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t2" {
+         TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+         TARGETPATH "/ext_link4"
+      }
+      GROUP "subgroup" {
+         GROUP "link_to_group" {
+            HARDLINK "/ext_link1"
+         }
+      }
+   }
+   DATASET "ext_link2" {
+      DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+      DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+      STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+         CONTIGUOUS
+         SIZE 24
+         OFFSET 2104
+      }
+      FILTERS {
+         NONE
+      }
+      FILLVALUE {
+         FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+         VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+      }
+      ALLOCATION_TIME {
+         H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+      }
+   }
+   DATATYPE "ext_link3" H5T_STD_I32LE;
+   GROUP "ext_link5" {
+   }
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinksrc-prune.textlinksrc.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinksrc-prune.textlinksrc.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..65d35ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinksrc-prune.textlinksrc.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+HDF5 "out-textlinksrc-prune.textlinksrc.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinktar-base.textlinktar.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinktar-base.textlinktar.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f02ff2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinktar-base.textlinktar.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+HDF5 "out-textlinktar-base.textlinktar.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+   DATASET "dset" {
+      DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+      DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+      STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+         CONTIGUOUS
+         SIZE 24
+         OFFSET 2048
+      }
+      FILTERS {
+         NONE
+      }
+      FILLVALUE {
+         FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+         VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+      }
+      ALLOCATION_TIME {
+         H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+      }
+   }
+   GROUP "empty_group" {
+   }
+   GROUP "group" {
+      DATASET "dset" {
+         DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+         DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+         STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+            CONTIGUOUS
+            SIZE 24
+            OFFSET 2072
+         }
+         FILTERS {
+            NONE
+         }
+         FILLVALUE {
+            FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+            VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+         }
+         ALLOCATION_TIME {
+            H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+         }
+      }
+      EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t1" {
+         TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+         TARGETPATH "/"
+            GROUP "/" {
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2soft_link1" {
+                  TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "/soft_dset1"
+                     DATASET "/soft_dset1" {
+                        DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+                        DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+                        STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                           CONTIGUOUS
+                           SIZE 32
+                           OFFSET 2848
+                        }
+                        FILTERS {
+                           NONE
+                        }
+                        FILLVALUE {
+                           FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                           VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+                        }
+                        ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                           H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+                        }
+                     }
+               }
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2softdangle_link1" {
+                  TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "/soft_dangle"
+               }
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link1" {
+                  TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "group"
+                     GROUP "group" {
+                        DATASET "dset" {
+                           DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+                           DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+                           STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                              CONTIGUOUS
+                              SIZE 24
+                              OFFSET 3136
+                           }
+                           FILTERS {
+                              NONE
+                           }
+                           FILLVALUE {
+                              FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                              VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+                           }
+                           ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                              H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+                           }
+                        }
+                        EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t1" {
+                           TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+                           TARGETPATH "/"
+                              GROUP "/" {
+                                 HARDLINK "/"
+                              }
+                        }
+                        EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t2" {
+                           TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+                           TARGETPATH "/ext_link4"
+                        }
+                        GROUP "subgroup" {
+                           GROUP "link_to_group" {
+                              HARDLINK "/group"
+                           }
+                        }
+                     }
+               }
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link2" {
+                  TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "dset"
+                     DATASET "dset" {
+                        DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+                        DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+                        STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                           CONTIGUOUS
+                           SIZE 24
+                           OFFSET 3160
+                        }
+                        FILTERS {
+                           NONE
+                        }
+                        FILLVALUE {
+                           FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                           VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+                        }
+                        ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                           H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+                        }
+                     }
+               }
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link3" {
+                  TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "type"
+                     DATATYPE "type" H5T_STD_I32LE;
+               }
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link4" {
+                  TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "group/elink_t2"
+               }
+               EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link5" {
+                  TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                  TARGETPATH "empty_group"
+                     GROUP "empty_group" {
+                     }
+               }
+            }
+      }
+      EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t2" {
+         TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+         TARGETPATH "/ext_link4"
+      }
+      GROUP "subgroup" {
+         GROUP "link_to_group" {
+            HARDLINK "/group"
+         }
+      }
+   }
+   DATATYPE "type" H5T_STD_I32LE;
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinktar-merge.textlinktar.h5.tst b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinktar-merge.textlinktar.h5.tst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ccf4f7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinktar-merge.textlinktar.h5.tst
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+
+file1     file2
+---------------------------------------
+    x      x    /              
+    x      x    /dset          
+    x      x    /empty_group   
+    x      x    /group         
+    x      x    /group/dset    
+    x      x    /group/elink_t1
+           x    /group/elink_t1/ext2soft_link1
+           x    /group/elink_t1/ext2softdangle_link1
+           x    /group/elink_t1/ext_link1
+           x    /group/elink_t1/ext_link2
+           x    /group/elink_t1/ext_link3
+           x    /group/elink_t1/ext_link4
+           x    /group/elink_t1/ext_link5
+    x      x    /group/elink_t2
+    x      x    /group/subgroup
+    x      x    /group/subgroup/link_to_group
+    x      x    /type          
+
+group  : </> and </>
+0 differences found
+dataset: </dset> and </dset>
+0 differences found
+group  : </empty_group> and </empty_group>
+0 differences found
+group  : </group> and </group>
+0 differences found
+dataset: </group/dset> and </group/dset>
+0 differences found
+Not comparable: </group/elink_t1> is of type H5G_UDLINK and </group/elink_t1> is of type H5G_GROUP
+external link: </group/elink_t2> and </group/elink_t2>
+0 differences found
+group  : </group/subgroup> and </group/subgroup>
+0 differences found
+group  : </group/subgroup/link_to_group> and </group/subgroup/link_to_group>
+0 differences found
+datatype: </type> and </type>
+0 differences found
+--------------------------------
+Some objects are not comparable
+--------------------------------
+Use -c for a list of objects without details of differences.
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinktar-mergeprune.textlinktar.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinktar-mergeprune.textlinktar.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c52e34d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinktar-mergeprune.textlinktar.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+HDF5 "out-textlinktar-mergeprune.textlinktar.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+   DATASET "dset" {
+      DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+      DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+      STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+         CONTIGUOUS
+         SIZE 24
+         OFFSET 2048
+      }
+      FILTERS {
+         NONE
+      }
+      FILLVALUE {
+         FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+         VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+      }
+      ALLOCATION_TIME {
+         H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+      }
+   }
+   GROUP "empty_group" {
+   }
+   GROUP "group" {
+      DATASET "dset" {
+         DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+         DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+         STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+            CONTIGUOUS
+            SIZE 24
+            OFFSET 2072
+         }
+         FILTERS {
+            NONE
+         }
+         FILLVALUE {
+            FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+            VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+         }
+         ALLOCATION_TIME {
+            H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+         }
+      }
+      GROUP "elink_t1" {
+         EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2soft_link1" {
+            TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+            TARGETPATH "/soft_dset1"
+               DATASET "/soft_dset1" {
+                  DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+                  DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+                  STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                     CONTIGUOUS
+                     SIZE 32
+                     OFFSET 2848
+                  }
+                  FILTERS {
+                     NONE
+                  }
+                  FILLVALUE {
+                     FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                     VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+                  }
+                  ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                     H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+                  }
+               }
+         }
+         EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2softdangle_link1" {
+            TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+            TARGETPATH "/soft_dangle"
+         }
+         EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link1" {
+            TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+            TARGETPATH "group"
+               GROUP "group" {
+                  DATASET "dset" {
+                     DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+                     DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+                     STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                        CONTIGUOUS
+                        SIZE 24
+                        OFFSET 3136
+                     }
+                     FILTERS {
+                        NONE
+                     }
+                     FILLVALUE {
+                        FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                        VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+                     }
+                     ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                        H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+                     }
+                  }
+                  EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t1" {
+                     TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+                     TARGETPATH "/"
+                        GROUP "/" {
+                           EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2soft_link1" {
+                              TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+                              TARGETPATH "/soft_dset1"
+                                 DATASET "/soft_dset1" {
+                                    HARDLINK "/dset1"
+                                 }
+                           }
+                           EXTERNAL_LINK "ext2softdangle_link1" {
+                              TARGETFILE "tsoftlinks.h5"
+                              TARGETPATH "/soft_dangle"
+                           }
+                           EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link1" {
+                              TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                              TARGETPATH "group"
+                                 GROUP "group" {
+                                    HARDLINK "/group"
+                                 }
+                           }
+                           EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link2" {
+                              TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                              TARGETPATH "dset"
+                                 DATASET "dset" {
+                                    DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+                                    DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+                                    STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+                                       CONTIGUOUS
+                                       SIZE 24
+                                       OFFSET 3160
+                                    }
+                                    FILTERS {
+                                       NONE
+                                    }
+                                    FILLVALUE {
+                                       FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+                                       VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+                                    }
+                                    ALLOCATION_TIME {
+                                       H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+                                    }
+                                 }
+                           }
+                           EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link3" {
+                              TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                              TARGETPATH "type"
+                                 DATATYPE "type" H5T_STD_I32LE;
+                           }
+                           EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link4" {
+                              TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                              TARGETPATH "group/elink_t2"
+                           }
+                           EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link5" {
+                              TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+                              TARGETPATH "empty_group"
+                                 GROUP "empty_group" {
+                                 }
+                           }
+                        }
+                  }
+                  EXTERNAL_LINK "elink_t2" {
+                     TARGETFILE "textlinksrc.h5"
+                     TARGETPATH "/ext_link4"
+                  }
+                  GROUP "subgroup" {
+                     GROUP "link_to_group" {
+                        HARDLINK "/group"
+                     }
+                  }
+               }
+         }
+         EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link2" {
+            TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+            TARGETPATH "dset"
+               DATASET "dset" {
+                  HARDLINK "/dset"
+               }
+         }
+         EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link3" {
+            TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+            TARGETPATH "type"
+               DATATYPE "type" HARDLINK "/type"
+         }
+         EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link4" {
+            TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+            TARGETPATH "group/elink_t2"
+         }
+         EXTERNAL_LINK "ext_link5" {
+            TARGETFILE "textlinktar.h5"
+            TARGETPATH "empty_group"
+               GROUP "empty_group" {
+                  HARDLINK "/empty_group"
+               }
+         }
+      }
+      GROUP "subgroup" {
+         GROUP "link_to_group" {
+            HARDLINK "/group"
+         }
+      }
+   }
+   DATATYPE "type" H5T_STD_I32LE;
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinktar-prune.textlinktar.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinktar-prune.textlinktar.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6787784
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/textlinktar-prune.textlinktar.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+HDF5 "out-textlinktar-prune.textlinktar.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+   DATASET "dset" {
+      DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+      DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+      STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+         CONTIGUOUS
+         SIZE 24
+         OFFSET 2048
+      }
+      FILTERS {
+         NONE
+      }
+      FILLVALUE {
+         FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+         VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+      }
+      ALLOCATION_TIME {
+         H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+      }
+   }
+   GROUP "empty_group" {
+   }
+   GROUP "group" {
+      DATASET "dset" {
+         DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32LE
+         DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 6 ) / ( 6 ) }
+         STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+            CONTIGUOUS
+            SIZE 24
+            OFFSET 2072
+         }
+         FILTERS {
+            NONE
+         }
+         FILLVALUE {
+            FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+            VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+         }
+         ALLOCATION_TIME {
+            H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+         }
+      }
+      GROUP "subgroup" {
+         GROUP "link_to_group" {
+            HARDLINK "/group"
+         }
+      }
+   }
+   DATATYPE "type" H5T_STD_I32LE;
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/tsoftlinks-base.tsoftlinks.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/tsoftlinks-base.tsoftlinks.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b0cd32d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/tsoftlinks-base.tsoftlinks.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+HDF5 "out-tsoftlinks-base.tsoftlinks.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+   DATASET "dset1" {
+      DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+      DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+      STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+         CONTIGUOUS
+         SIZE 32
+         OFFSET 2048
+      }
+      FILTERS {
+         NONE
+      }
+      FILLVALUE {
+         FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+         VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+      }
+      ALLOCATION_TIME {
+         H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+      }
+   }
+   DATASET "dset2" {
+      DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+      DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+      STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+         CONTIGUOUS
+         SIZE 32
+         OFFSET 2080
+      }
+      FILTERS {
+         NONE
+      }
+      FILLVALUE {
+         FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+         VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+      }
+      ALLOCATION_TIME {
+         H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+      }
+   }
+   DATATYPE "dtype" H5T_STD_I32BE;
+   GROUP "group1" {
+      SOFTLINK "soft_dangle" {
+         LINKTARGET "not_yet"
+      }
+      SOFTLINK "soft_dset1" {
+         LINKTARGET "/dset1"
+      }
+      SOFTLINK "soft_dset2" {
+         LINKTARGET "/dset2"
+      }
+      SOFTLINK "soft_dtype" {
+         LINKTARGET "/dtype"
+      }
+      SOFTLINK "soft_empty_grp" {
+         LINKTARGET "/group_empty"
+      }
+   }
+   GROUP "group_empty" {
+   }
+   SOFTLINK "soft_dangle" {
+      LINKTARGET "not_yet"
+   }
+   SOFTLINK "soft_dset1" {
+      LINKTARGET "/dset1"
+   }
+   SOFTLINK "soft_dtype" {
+      LINKTARGET "/dtype"
+   }
+   SOFTLINK "soft_empty_grp" {
+      LINKTARGET "/group_empty"
+   }
+   SOFTLINK "soft_group1" {
+      LINKTARGET "/group1"
+   }
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/tsoftlinks-merge.tsoftlinks.h5.tst b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/tsoftlinks-merge.tsoftlinks.h5.tst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..27c33d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/tsoftlinks-merge.tsoftlinks.h5.tst
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+
+file1     file2
+---------------------------------------
+    x      x    /              
+    x      x    /dset1         
+    x      x    /dset2         
+    x      x    /dtype         
+    x      x    /group1        
+    x      x    /group1/soft_dangle
+    x      x    /group1/soft_dset1
+    x      x    /group1/soft_dset2
+    x      x    /group1/soft_dtype
+    x      x    /group1/soft_empty_grp
+    x      x    /group_empty   
+    x      x    /soft_dangle   
+    x      x    /soft_dset1    
+    x      x    /soft_dtype    
+    x      x    /soft_empty_grp
+    x      x    /soft_group1   
+           x    /soft_group1/soft_dangle
+           x    /soft_group1/soft_dset1
+           x    /soft_group1/soft_dset2
+           x    /soft_group1/soft_dtype
+           x    /soft_group1/soft_empty_grp
+
+group  : </> and </>
+0 differences found
+dataset: </dset1> and </dset1>
+0 differences found
+dataset: </dset2> and </dset2>
+0 differences found
+datatype: </dtype> and </dtype>
+0 differences found
+group  : </group1> and </group1>
+0 differences found
+link   : </group1/soft_dangle> and </group1/soft_dangle>
+0 differences found
+Not comparable: </group1/soft_dset1> is of type H5G_LINK and </group1/soft_dset1> is of type H5G_DATASET
+Not comparable: </group1/soft_dset2> is of type H5G_LINK and </group1/soft_dset2> is of type H5G_DATASET
+Not comparable: </group1/soft_dtype> is of type H5G_LINK and </group1/soft_dtype> is of type H5G_TYPE
+Not comparable: </group1/soft_empty_grp> is of type H5G_LINK and </group1/soft_empty_grp> is of type H5G_GROUP
+group  : </group_empty> and </group_empty>
+0 differences found
+link   : </soft_dangle> and </soft_dangle>
+0 differences found
+Not comparable: </soft_dset1> is of type H5G_LINK and </soft_dset1> is of type H5G_DATASET
+Not comparable: </soft_dtype> is of type H5G_LINK and </soft_dtype> is of type H5G_TYPE
+Not comparable: </soft_empty_grp> is of type H5G_LINK and </soft_empty_grp> is of type H5G_GROUP
+Not comparable: </soft_group1> is of type H5G_LINK and </soft_group1> is of type H5G_GROUP
+--------------------------------
+Some objects are not comparable
+--------------------------------
+Use -c for a list of objects without details of differences.
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/tsoftlinks-mergeprune.tsoftlinks.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/tsoftlinks-mergeprune.tsoftlinks.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fa4e12d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/tsoftlinks-mergeprune.tsoftlinks.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+HDF5 "out-tsoftlinks-mergeprune.tsoftlinks.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+   DATASET "dset1" {
+      DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+      DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+      STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+         CONTIGUOUS
+         SIZE 32
+         OFFSET 2048
+      }
+      FILTERS {
+         NONE
+      }
+      FILLVALUE {
+         FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+         VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+      }
+      ALLOCATION_TIME {
+         H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+      }
+   }
+   DATASET "dset2" {
+      DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+      DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+      STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+         CONTIGUOUS
+         SIZE 32
+         OFFSET 2080
+      }
+      FILTERS {
+         NONE
+      }
+      FILLVALUE {
+         FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+         VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+      }
+      ALLOCATION_TIME {
+         H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+      }
+   }
+   DATATYPE "dtype" H5T_STD_I32BE;
+   GROUP "group1" {
+      DATASET "soft_dset1" {
+         DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+         DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+         STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+            CONTIGUOUS
+            SIZE 32
+            OFFSET 2112
+         }
+         FILTERS {
+            NONE
+         }
+         FILLVALUE {
+            FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+            VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+         }
+         ALLOCATION_TIME {
+            H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+         }
+      }
+      DATASET "soft_dset2" {
+         DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+         DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+         STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+            CONTIGUOUS
+            SIZE 32
+            OFFSET 2144
+         }
+         FILTERS {
+            NONE
+         }
+         FILLVALUE {
+            FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+            VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+         }
+         ALLOCATION_TIME {
+            H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+         }
+      }
+      DATATYPE "soft_dtype" H5T_STD_I32BE;
+      GROUP "soft_empty_grp" {
+      }
+   }
+   GROUP "group_empty" {
+   }
+   DATASET "soft_dset1" {
+      DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+      DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+      STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+         CONTIGUOUS
+         SIZE 32
+         OFFSET 2176
+      }
+      FILTERS {
+         NONE
+      }
+      FILLVALUE {
+         FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+         VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+      }
+      ALLOCATION_TIME {
+         H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+      }
+   }
+   DATATYPE "soft_dtype" H5T_STD_I32BE;
+   GROUP "soft_empty_grp" {
+   }
+   GROUP "soft_group1" {
+      SOFTLINK "soft_dangle" {
+         LINKTARGET "not_yet"
+      }
+      SOFTLINK "soft_dset1" {
+         LINKTARGET "/dset1"
+      }
+      SOFTLINK "soft_dset2" {
+         LINKTARGET "/dset2"
+      }
+      SOFTLINK "soft_dtype" {
+         LINKTARGET "/dtype"
+      }
+      SOFTLINK "soft_empty_grp" {
+         LINKTARGET "/group_empty"
+      }
+   }
+}
+}
diff --git a/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/tsoftlinks-prune.tsoftlinks.h5.ddl b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/tsoftlinks-prune.tsoftlinks.h5.ddl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..de58ef2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test/h5repack/testfiles/tsoftlinks-prune.tsoftlinks.h5.ddl
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+HDF5 "out-tsoftlinks-prune.tsoftlinks.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+   DATASET "dset1" {
+      DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+      DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+      STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+         CONTIGUOUS
+         SIZE 32
+         OFFSET 2048
+      }
+      FILTERS {
+         NONE
+      }
+      FILLVALUE {
+         FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+         VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+      }
+      ALLOCATION_TIME {
+         H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+      }
+   }
+   DATASET "dset2" {
+      DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I32BE
+      DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 4, 2 ) / ( 4, 2 ) }
+      STORAGE_LAYOUT {
+         CONTIGUOUS
+         SIZE 32
+         OFFSET 2080
+      }
+      FILTERS {
+         NONE
+      }
+      FILLVALUE {
+         FILL_TIME H5D_FILL_TIME_IFSET
+         VALUE  H5D_FILL_VALUE_DEFAULT
+      }
+      ALLOCATION_TIME {
+         H5D_ALLOC_TIME_LATE
+      }
+   }
+   DATATYPE "dtype" H5T_STD_I32BE;
+   GROUP "group1" {
+   }
+   GROUP "group_empty" {
+   }
+}
+}