[svn-r9307] Purpose: Post 1.6.3 release maintenance

Description: Updated the files after 1.6.3 release

Solution: ran bin/h5vers script on eirene

Platforms tested:

Misc. update:

2 files changed, 676 insertions, 227 deletions

diff --git a/release_docs/HISTORY.txt b/release_docs/HISTORY.txt
index 69026b5..fb36d2b 100644
--- a/release_docs/HISTORY.txt
+++ b/release_docs/HISTORY.txt
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ HDF5 HISTORY
 This file contains history of the HDF5 libraries releases
 
 CONTENTS
+
+17.     Release Information for hdf5-1.6.3
 16.     Release Information for hdf5-1.6.2
 15.     Release Information for hdf5-1.6.1
 14.     Release Information for hdf5-1.6.0
@@ -23,6 +25,672 @@ CONTENTS
 
 [Search on the string '%%%%' for per-release section breaks.]
 
+%%%%1.6.3%%%%   Release Information for hdf5-1.6.3 (22/September/04)
+
+HDF5 version 1.6.3 released on Wed Sep 22 11:30:11 CDT 2004
+================================================================================
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+This document describes the differences between HDF5-1.6.2 and
+HDF5-1.6.3, and contains information on the platforms tested and
+known problems in HDF5-1.6.3. For more details check the HISTORY.txt
+file in the HDF5 source.
+
+The HDF5 documentation can be found on the NCSA ftp server
+(ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu) in the directory:
+
+     /HDF/HDF5/docs/
+
+For more information look at the HDF5 home page at:
+   
+    http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HDF5/
+
+If you have any questions or comments, please send them to:
+
+    hdfhelp@ncsa.uiuc.edu
+
+CONTENTS
+
+- New Features
+- Support for new platforms and languages
+- Bug Fixes since HDF5-1.6.2
+- Documentation
+- Platforms Tested
+- Supported Configuration Features Summary
+- Known Problems
+
+
+New Features
+============
+
+    Configuration:
+    --------------
+        - Added some initial support for making purify (or similar memory
+            checking products) happier by initializing buffers to zero and
+            disabling the internal free list code.  To take advantage of this,
+            define 'H5_USING_PURIFY' in your CFLAGS when building the library.
+            QAK - 2004/07/23
+
+        - WINDOWS building,testing and installing improvements
+
+          - On Windows, FORTRAN,C++ and C projects are merged into one zip file, 
+            users can choose an option to build either FORTRAN or C++ or both 
+            with basic C library.For detailed information,
+            please read INSTALL_Windows.txt.
+
+          - On Windows, szip compression library with or without encoder can be easily
+            turned off or on when building HDF5.  For detailed information,
+            please read INSTALL_Windows.txt, especially section V. 
+  
+          - On Windows, an optional procedure for building,testing and installing
+            HDF5 from command line is provided. This procedure is supposed to be
+            convenient for experienced users, please read 
+            INSTALL_windows_From_Command_Line.txt for details.
+
+          - On Windows, an alternative short instruction document for building,
+            testing and installing HDF5 is provided. This instruction is supposed to
+            be convenient for general users, please read 
+            INSTALL_Windows_Short.txt for details.
+
+          - On Windows, h5repack,h5diff,h5ls and h5import tool tests have been added.
+          KY - 2004/9/16
+  
+
+    Library:
+    --------
+        - Modified the way how HDF5 calculates 'pixels_per_scanline' parameter for
+          SZIP compression. Now there is no restriction on the size and shape of the 
+          chunk except that the total number of elements in the chunk cannot be 
+          bigger than 'pixels_per_block' parameter provided by the user.
+                                                                    EIP - 2004/07/21 
+        - HDF5 can now link to SZIP with or without szip's encoder.
+          The new API function H5Zget_filter_info can be used to check
+          szip's status.  Attempting to assign szip to a dataset property
+          list or attempting to write with szip will generate an error if
+          szip's encoder is disabled.  JL/NF - 2004/6/30
+        - SZIP always uses K13 compression.  This flag no longer needs to
+          be set when calling H5Pset_szip.  If the flag for CHIP
+          compression is set, it will be ignored (since the two are mutually
+          exclusive).  JL/NF - 2004/6/30
+        - A new API function H5Fget_name was added.  It returns the name
+          of the file by object(file, group, data set, named data type,
+          attribute) ID.  SLU - 2004/06/29
+        - A new API function H5Fget_filesize was added.  It returns the
+          actual file size of the opened file.  SLU - 2004/06/24
+	- Added option that if $HDF5_DISABLE_VERSION_CHECK is set to 2,
+	  will suppress all library version mismatch warning messages.
+	  AKC - 2004/4/14
+
+    Parallel Library:
+    -----------------
+
+    Tools:
+    ------
+        - h5repack was added to the tools suite. h5repack regenerates an HDF5 file 
+	  from another HDF5 file, optionally applying HDF5 filters (compression) 
+	  and/or chunking to the copied file. The filters options are read from 
+	  the command line. See /doc/html/Tools.html for more details.
+	  PVN - 2004/9/13
+
+        - h5dump includes new features:
+           1) Printing of dataset filters, storage layout and fill value information.
+           2) Print a list of the file contents.
+	   3) Escape non printing characters.
+	   4) Print the content of the boot block.
+	   5) Print array indices with the data (the default).
+	  These options are all switch controlled. See /doc/html/Tools.html for more details.
+	  PVN - 2004/9/13
+	      
+
+    F90 API:
+    --------
+        - added new subroutines:
+                h5fget_filesize_f
+                h5iget_file_id_f
+                h5premove_filter_f
+                h5zget_filter_info_f
+                                         EIP 2004/9/21
+ 
+        - added new h5fget_name_f and h5fget_filesize_f subroutines
+                                         EIP 2004/07/08
+
+    C++ API:
+    --------
+	- Added wrappers for array and variable length datatypes APIs
+	- Added wrappers for newly added APIs from H5T, H5F, and H5I
+	- Added many wrappers that were missing from the H5P API
+	- Added the ability to reference HDF5 objects to these classes:
+	  DataSet, DataType, Group, and H5File (wrappers for H5R APIs)
+	BMR 2004/08/04
+
+
+Support for new platforms, languages and compilers.
+=======================================
+        - Added PGI Fortran support for Linux64 (x86_64) systems
+                            EIP - 2004/08/19
+        - Absoft compiler f95 v9.0 is supported on Linux 2.4 32bit
+                            EIP - 2004/07/29 
+        - HDF5 Fortran APIs are supported on Mac OSX with IBM XL Fortran
+          compiler version 8.1. This is a default compiler.
+        - HDF5 Fortran APIs are supported on MAC OSX with Absoft F95 compiler
+          version 8.2; set F9X environment variable to f95, for example
+          setenv F9X f95
+          Use --disable-shared --enable-static configure flags when Absoft
+          compiler is used.
+                             EIP - 2004/07/27
+
+Bug Fixes since HDF5-1.6.2 release
+==================================
+
+    Library
+    -------
+	- Fixed parallel bug in which some processes attempted collective
+	  I/O while others did independent I/O.  Bug appeared when some
+	  processes used point selections, and others didn't.  JRM - 2004/9/15
+        - Corrected error where dataset region references were written in an
+          incorrect way on Cray machines.  PVN & QAK - 2004/09/13
+        - The H5Tget_native_type now determines the native type for integers
+          based on the precision. This is to avoid cases of wrongly converting        
+          an int to a short in machines that have a short of 8 bytes but with
+	  32bit precision (e.g Cray SV1). PVN - 2004/09/07 
+        - Changed H5Dread() to not overwrite data in an application's buffer
+          with garbage when accessing a chunked dataset with an undefined fill
+          value and an unwritten chunk is uncountered.  QAK - 2004/08/25
+        - Fixed error which could cause a core dump when a type conversion
+          routine was registered after a compound datatype had been
+          converted and then an equivalent compound datatype was converted
+          again.  QAK - 2004/08/07
+        - Fixed memory overwrite when encoding "multi" file driver information
+          for file's superblock.  QAK - 2004/08/05
+        - Fixed obscure bug where a filter which failed during chunk allocation
+          could allow library to write uncompressed data to disk but think
+          the data was compressed.  QAK - 2004/07/29
+        - Fixed bug where I/O to an extendible chunked dataset with zero-sized
+          dimensions would cause library to fail an assertion.
+          QAK - 2004/07/27
+        - Fixed bug where chunked datasets which have filters defined,
+          allocation time set to "late" and whose chunks don't align with
+          the dataspace bounds could have incorrect data stored when
+          overwriting the entire dataset on the first write.  QAK - 2004/07/27
+        - Added check to ensure that dataspaces have extents set. JML-2004/07/26
+        - Fixed bug on some Solaris systems where HDF5 would try to use
+          gettimeofday() when that function didn't work properly.
+          JML - 2004/07/23
+        - Fixed bug in H5Sset_extent_simple where setting maximum size to
+          non-zero, then to zero would cause an error.  JML - 2004/07/20
+        - Allow NULL pointer for buffer parameter to H5Dread & H5Dwrite
+          when not writing data ("none" selection or hyperslab or point
+          selection with no elements defined).  QAK - 2004/07/20
+        - Calling H5Gcreate() on "/" or "." throws an error instead of
+          failing quietly. JML - 2004/07/19
+        - Fixed bug where setting file address size to be very small could
+          trigger an assert if the file grew to more than 64 KB.  Now throws
+          an error and data can be recovered. JL/NF - 2004/07/14
+        - Fixed bug where "resurrecting" a dataset was failing.
+          QAK - 2004/07/14
+        - Fixed bug where incorrect data could be read from a chunked dataset
+          after it was extended.  QAK - 2004/07/12
+        - After compound datatype with variable-length string in the fields
+          is committed to file, the size is messed up when it's read back.
+          Fixed.  SLU - 2004/06/11
+        - Fixed potential file corruption bug when a block of metadata could
+          overlap the end of the internal metadata accumulator buffer and
+          the buffer would be extended correctly, but would incorrectly 
+          change it's starting address.  QAK - 2004/06/09
+        - Opaque datatype with no tag failed for some operations.  Fixed.
+          SLU - 2004/6/3
+        - Fixed potential file corruption bug where dimensions that were
+          too large (a value greater than could be represented in 32-bits)
+          could cause the incorrect amount of space to be allocated in a
+          file for the raw data for the dataset.  QAK - 2004/06/01
+	- Fixed dtypes "sw long double -> double" failure in QSC class
+	  machines.  AKC - 2004/4/16
+
+    Configuration
+    -------------
+        - Fixed the long compile time of H5detect.c when v7.x Intel Compiler
+	  is used with optimization NOT off.  AKC - 2004/05/20
+
+    Performance
+    -------------
+
+    Tools
+    -----
+        - On SGI h5dump displayed only part of the data due to the bug
+          in the system printf; fixed.
+                                             EIP - 2004/09/21 
+    Documentation 
+    ------------- 
+        - Several descriptive errors have been fixed throughout the 
+          documentation, particularly in the reference manual (RM).
+          A selection particularly worthy of note would be these: 
+        - The H5Pset_szip description in the RM has been expanded and
+          corrected to facilitate use of SZIP compression.
+        - A note has been added to the H5Dcreate description that an
+          unexplained failure is likely to be due to a property list error 
+          that is detected only at the time of dataset creation.
+        -
+        FMB - 2004/09/21
+
+    F90 API
+    -------
+    
+    Fortran functions h5dwrite/read_f and h5awrite/read_f do not
+    accept dims parameter of INTEGER type anymore. Code was removed.
+                                                    2004/04/15
+    C++ API
+    -------
+	- H5::Exception's and its subclasses' constructors that were 
+	  overloaded to take char pointers are removed and constructors
+	  that passed in reference of 'string' are changed to pass 
+	  by value.  In addition, the default value of the data member
+	  H5::Exception::detailMessage is changed from 0/NULL to 
+	  DEFAULT_MSG ("No detailed information provided".)
+	- Prototype for DSetCreatPropList::setLayout is changed: 1st parameter
+          is removed because it was there only by mistake.
+	BMR 2004/08/04
+
+Documentation
+=============
+    HDF5 Library documentation
+    --------------------------
+        - HDF5 C++ API Reference Manual
+          This document has been added to the HDF5 document set.  
+          The predecessor document, "HDF5 C++ Interfaces," has been removed.
+        - HDF5 C++ API Design Specification
+          A first draft of this document has been added to the HDF5 document 
+          set.  The draft has been posted on the HDF5 website and a link 
+          has been added to the HDF5 documents index (index.html at the top 
+          level of the document set).
+        - Parallel HDF5
+          In prior releases, the HDF5 document set included two parallel
+          HDF5 documents.  Those documents have been deleted and the 
+          HDF5 documents index (index.html) now links to a "Parallel HDF5" 
+          page on the HDF5 website (http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HDF5/PHDF5/).
+        - HDF5 High Level APIs
+          Links to the HDF5 High Level APIs and to the HDF5 High Level 
+          Reference Manual have been added to the HDF5 documents index
+          (index.html).
+        - HDF5 Reference Manual
+          Tools: h5repack -- A description of the new h5repack tool has been 
+              added to the Tools page.
+          Tools: h5dump -- Several new options have been added to h5dump.
+          New functions -- All new functions have been added to the RM.
+          API changes -- Relevant function descriptions have been updated in
+              instances where programming interfaces have changed. 
+        FMB - 2004/09/21
+
+    Windows installation documentation
+    ----------------------------------
+        -  INSTALL_Windows.txt has been enhanced to include instructions building 
+           HDF5 with FORTRAN and C++. 
+        -  Two optional installation documents have been added. They are
+           INSTALL_Windows_Short.txt and INSTALL_Windows_From_Command_Line.txt.
+           INSTALL_Windows_Short.txt is supposed to help general users who
+           only want to build,test and install HDF5 in a quick way.
+           INSTALL_Windows_From_Command_Line.txt is supposed to help users who
+           would like to compile,test and install HDF5 in command line environment.
+        -  INSTALL_Windows_withcpp.txt and INSTALL_Windows_withF90.txt became
+           obsolete. Files are deleted from the release_docs directory.
+        KY 2004/09/16, EIP 2004/9/21
+        
+
+
+Platforms Tested
+================
+
+    AIX 5.1  (32 and 64-bit)      xlc 6.0.0.6
+                                  xlf 8.1.1.3
+    				  xlC 6.0.0.6
+				  mpcc_r 6.0.0.6
+                                  mpxlf_r 8.1.1.3
+				  xlc 5.0.2.5
+				  xlf 7.1.1.2
+				  xlC 5.0.2.5
+				  mpcc_r 5.0.2.5
+				  mpxlf_r 7.1.1.2
+    AIX 5.2                       xlc 6.0.0.8
+                                  xlC 6.0.0.8
+                                  xlf 8.1.1.6
+                                  mpcc_r 6.0.0.8
+                                  mpxlf_r 8.1.1.6
+    Cray T90 sn7001 10.0.0md      Cray Standard C Version 6.4.0.3
+                                  Cray Fortran Version 3.4.0.0
+    Cray T3E sn6606 2.0.6.08      Cray Standard C Version 6.6.0.3
+                                  Cray Fortran Version 3.6.0.3
+    Cray SV1 sn9617 10.0.1.2      Cray Standard C Version 6.6.0.3.6
+                                  Cray Fortran Version 3.6.0.3.1
+    FreeBSD 4.9                   gcc 2.95.4
+                                  g++ 2.95.4
+    HP-UX B.11.00                 HP C  HP92453-01 A.11.01.20 
+                                  HP F90 v2.4
+                                  HP ANSI C++ B3910B A.03.13
+                                  MPIch 1.2.4
+    IRIX64 6.5 (64 & n32)         MIPSpro cc 7.3.1.3m
+                                  F90 MIPSpro 7.3.1.3m (64 only)
+                                  C++ MIPSpro cc 7.3.1.3m
+				  mpt 1.6
+    Linux 2.4.18                  gcc 2.96, 3.3.2
+                                  g++ 3.3.2
+                                  Intel(R) C++ Version 7.1
+                                  Intel(R) Fortran Compiler Version 7.1
+                                  PGI compilers (pgcc, pgf90, pgCC) version 5.0-2
+                                  MPIch 1.2.4
+                                  Absoft Fortran compiler v9.0
+    Linux 2.4.20-8                gcc 3.3.2
+                                  PGI compilers (pgcc, pgf90, pgCC) version 5.0-2
+                                  MPIch 1.2.4
+    Linux 2.4.21-2.9.5ws #3       gcc 3.2.3 (Red Hat Linux 3.2.3-16)
+          SMP x86_64              g++ 3.2.3
+    Linux 2.4.21-4.ELsmp	  Intel(R) C++ 32-bit Version 8.0
+    				  Intel(R) Fortran 32-bit Version 8.0
+				  gcc 3.4.0
+				  MPICH 1..5.2 Inmel 8.0
+    Linux 2.4.19-SMP  x86_64      gcc (GCC) 3.2.2 (SuSE Linux)
+                                  g++ 3.2.2
+    Linux 2.6.4-52smp x86_64      gcc 3.3.3 (SuSE Linux 9.1 AMD64))
+                                  PGI 5.2-1 C and F90 
+
+    Linux 2.4.21-sgi Altix 
+          SMP ia64                Intel(R) C++ Version 8.0
+                                  Intel(R) Fortran Itanium(R) Version 8.0
+                                  SGI MPI
+    OSF1 V5.1                     Compaq C V6.5-303 
+                                  HP Fortran V5.5A-3548
+				  Compaq C++ V6.5-040  
+				  MPI_64bit_R13
+    SunOS 5.7(32 and 64 bit)      WorkShop Compilers 5.0 98/12/15 C 5.0
+     (Solaris 2.7)                WorkShop Compilers 5.0 98/12/15 C++ 5.0 
+                                  WorkShop Compilers 5.0 98/10/25 
+                                  FORTRAN 90 2.0 Patch 107356-04 
+    SunOS 5.8(32 and 64 bit)      Sun WorkShop 6 update 2 C 5.3
+     (Solaris 2.8)                Sun WorkShop 6 update 2 Fortran 90
+                                  Sun WorkShop 6 update 2 C++ 5.3
+    TFLOPS r1.0.4 v4.4.3 i386     pgcc Rel 3.1-4i with mpich-1.2.4 with
+                                          local modifications
+    IA-32 Linux 2.4.18            gcc 2.96
+                                  Intel(R) C++ Version 7.0
+                                  Intel(R) Fortran Compiler Version 7.0
+
+    Xeon Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp_perfctr_lustre
+	                          Intel(R) C++ Version 8.0
+                                  Intel(R) Fortran Compiler Version 8.0
+                                  
+    IA-64 Linux 2.4.16 ia64       gcc version 3.0.4
+                                  Intel(R) C++ Version 7.1
+                                  Intel(R) Fortran Compiler Version 7.1
+
+    IA-64 Linux 2.4.21.SuSE_128.bef1 ia64
+                                  Intel(R) C++ Version 8.0
+                                  Intel(R) Fortran Compiler Version 8.0
+				  mpich-gm-1.2.5..intel
+
+    Windows 2000 (NT5.0)          MSVC++ 6.0
+                                  MSVC++ .NET
+                                  DEC Visual Fortran 6.0
+                                  Intel C and F90 compilers version 7.1
+				  Code Warrior 8.0
+    Windows XP                    MSVC++.NET
+                                  MSVC++ 6.0
+                                  DEC Visual Fortran 6.0
+
+    MAC OS X                      Darwin 7.5
+                                  gcc and g++ Apple Computer, Inc. GCC 
+                                  version 1175, based on gcc version 3.3.2
+                                  IBM XL Fortran version 8.1 
+                                  Absoft Fortran compiler v8.2
+                                  
+
+
+Supported Configuration Features Summary
+========================================
+
+Key:   y = tested and supported
+       n = not supported or not tested in this release
+       x = not working in this release
+       dna = does not apply
+       ( ) = footnote appears below second table
+
+Platform                             C        F90    F90      C++  zlib  SZIP
+                                     parallel        parallel      
+Solaris2.7 64-bit                    y (1)    y      y (1)    y    y     y
+Solaris2.7 32-bit                    y (1)    y      y (1)    y    y     y
+Solaris2.8 64-bit                    y (1)    y      y (1)    y    y     y
+Solaris2.8 32-bit                    y        y      y (1)    y    y     y
+IRIX64_6.5 64-bit                    y (2)    y      y        y    y     y
+IRIX64_6.5 32-bit                    y (2)    n      n        n    y     y
+HPUX11.00                            y (1)    y      y        y    y     y
+OSF1 v5.1                            y        y      y        y    y     y
+T90 IEEE                             n        y      n        n    y     n
+T3E                                  y (5)    y      y (5)    n    y     n
+SV1                                  y (5)    y      y (5)    n    y     n
+TFLOPS                               y (1)    n      n        n    y     n
+AIX-5.1 & 5.2 32-bit                 y        y      y        y    y     y
+AIX-5.1 & 5.2 64-bit                 y        y      y        y    y     y
+WinXP Visual Studio 6.0              n        y (9)  n        y    y     y
+WinXP .Net                           n        n      n        y    y     y
+WinXP Code Warrior                   n        n      n        n    y     y
+Win2000 Visual Studio 6.0            n        y (10) n        y    y     y
+Win2000 Visual Studio Intel (6)      n        y      n        y    y     y
+Win2000 .Net                         n        n      n        y    y     y
+Mac OS X 10.3                        n        y (11) n        y    y     y
+FreeBSD 4.9                          y (1)    n      n        y    y     y
+RedHat 7   W        (3)              y (1)    y (12) n        y    y     y
+RedHat 7.3  W Intel (3)              n        y      n        y    y     y
+RedHat 7.3  W PGI   (3)              n        y      n        y    y     y
+RedHat 8 & SuSe x86_64 gcc     (3)   n        y (13) n        y    y     y
+Linux 2.4 Xeon C Lustre Intel (3,7)  n        y      n        y    y     y
+Linux 2.4 SuSE ia64 C   Intel (3,8)  y        y      y        y    y     y
+Linux 2.4 SGI Altix ia64 Intel (3)   y        y      y        y    y     y
+
+
+Platform                             Shared         static-  Thread-  STREAM- 
+                                     libraries (4)  exec     safe     VFD    
+Solaris2.7 64-bit                    y              x        y        y
+Solaris2.7 32-bit                    y              x        y        y
+Solaris2.8 64-bit                    y              x        y        y
+Solaris2.8 32-bit                    y              x        y        y
+IRIX64_6.5 64-bit                    y              y        y        y
+IRIX64_6.5 32-bit                    y              y        y        y
+HPUX11.00                            y              x        n        y
+OSF1 v5.1                            y              y        n        y
+T90 IEEE                             n              y        n        y
+T3E                                  n              y        n        y
+SV1                                  n              y        n        y
+TFLOPS                               n              y        n        n
+AIX-5.1 & 5.2 32-bit                 n              y        n        y
+AIX-5.1 & 5.2 64-bit                 n              y        n        y
+WinXP Visual Studio 6.0              y              y        n        n
+WinXP .Net                           y              y        n        n
+WinXP Code Warrior                   n              y        n        n
+Win2000 Visual Studio 6.0            y              y        n        n
+Win2000 Visual Studio Intel (6)      y              y        n        n
+Win2000 .Net                         y              y        n        n
+Mac OS X 10.3                        y              y        n        y
+FreeBSD 4.9                          y              y        y        y
+RedHat 7    W       (3)              y              y        y        y
+RedHat 7.3  W Intel (3)              n              y        n        y
+RedHat 7.3  W PGI   (3)              n              y        n        y
+RedHat 8 & SuSe x86_64 gcc     (3)   n              y        n        y
+Linux 2.4 Xeon C Lustre Intel (3,7)  y              y        n        y
+Linux 2.4 SuSE ia64 C Intel   (3,8)  y              y        n        n
+Linux 2.4 SGI Altix ia64 Intel (3)   y              y        n        y
+
+
+
+Compiler versions for each platform are listed in the "Platforms Tested" 
+table found elsewhere in this file (RELEASE.txt).  Unless otherwise noted, 
+compilers used are the system compilers.
+
+Footnotes:  (1) Using mpich 1.2.4
+            (2) Using mpt and mpich 1.2.4
+            (3) Linux 2.4 with GNU, Intel, and PGI compilers, as indicated  
+                W or C indicates workstation or cluster, respectively
+            (4) Shared libraries are provided only for the C library, 
+                except on Windows where they are provided for C and C++
+            (5) Using mpt
+            (6) Intel 7.1 compilers in Visual Studio 6.0 environment
+            (7) Linux 2.4.20-31.9.  Xeon cluster with smp_perfctr_lustre 
+                and Intel compilers
+            (8) Linux 2.4.21, SuSE_128.befl.  Ia64 cluster with Intel compilers
+            (9) DEC Visual Fortran 6.0 and Intel 7.1
+            (10) DEC Visual Fortran 6.0
+            (11) IBM XLF and Absoft
+            (12) PGI, Absoft
+            (13) PGI
+       FMB/EIP - 2004/09/21
+
+
+
+Known Problems
+==============
+* h5fc and h5c++ compilation scripts have a bug: object files (*.o) cannot be
+  created when source code is compiled using h5fc or h5c++. We will provide
+  a fix. Please check ftp://ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HDF/HDF5/current/src/patches/ 
+  for the patches.
+
+* Fortran subroutine h5pget_driver_f doesn't return a correct driver information.
+
+* There are two h5dump xml tests(h5dump --xml thlink.h5 and h5dump --xml tmany.h5)
+  failed on windows xp with .NET for debug and debug dll. Release and Release
+  dll work fine. 
+
+* The h5dump tests may fail to match the expected output on some platforms
+  (e.g. parallel jobs, Windows) where the error messages directed to
+  "stderr" do not appear in the "right order" with output from stdout.
+  This is not an error.
+
+* The stream-vfd test uses ip port 10007 for testing. If another
+  application is already using that port address, the test will hang
+  indefinitely and has to be terminated by the kill command. To try the
+  test again, change the port address in test/stream_test.c to one not
+  being used in the host.
+
+* The --enable-static-exec configure flag fails to compile for Solaris
+  platforms. This is due to the fact that not all of the system
+  libraries on Solaris are available in a static format.
+
+  The --enable-static-exec configure flag also fails to correctly compile
+  on IBM SP2 platform for the serial mode. The parallel mode works fine
+  with this option.
+  
+  It is suggested that you don't use this option on these platforms
+  during configuration.
+
+* The Stream VFD was not tested yet under Windows. It is not supported
+  in the TFLOPS machine.
+
+* The ./dsets tests failed in the TFLOPS machine if the test program,
+  dsets.c, is compiled with the -O option.  The hdf5 library still works
+  correctly with the -O option.  The test program works fine if it is
+  compiled with -O1 or -O0.  Only -O (same as -O2) causes the test
+  program to fail.
+
+* Certain platforms give false negatives when testing h5ls:
+    - Cray J90 and Cray T90IEEE give errors during testing when displaying
+      some floating-point values. These are benign differences due to
+      the different precision in the values displayed and h5ls appears to
+      be dumping floating-point numbers correctly.
+
+* Before building HDF5 F90 Library from source on Crays 
+  replace H5Aff.f90, H5Dff.f90 and H5Pff.f90 files in the fortran/src
+  subdirectory in the top level directory with the Cray-specific files
+  from the site:
+  ftp://ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HDF/HDF5/current/src/patches/
+
+* On some platforms that use Intel and Absoft compilers to build HDF5 fortran library,
+  compilation may fail for fortranlib_test.f90, fflush1.f90 and fflush2.f90
+  complaining about exit subroutine. Comment out the line 
+  IF (total_error .ne. 0) CALL exit (total_error)
+
+* On IA32 and IA64 systems, if you use a compiler other than GCC (such as
+  Intel's ecc or icc compilers), you will need to modify the generated
+  "libtool" program after configuration is finished. On or around line 104 of
+  the libtool file, there are lines which look like:
+
+      # How to pass a linker flag through the compiler.
+      wl=""
+
+  change these lines to this:
+
+      # How to pass a linker flag through the compiler.
+      wl="-Wl,"
+
+  UPDATE: This is now done automatically by the configure script. However, if
+  you still experience a problem, you may want to check this line in the
+  libtool file and make sure that it has the correct value.
+
+* Information about building with PGI and Intel compilers is available in
+  INSTALL file sections 5.7 and 5.8
+
+* In LANL QSC, the new cc compiler has problems converting small values of
+  long long (absolute values less than 1**-308) to double.  This triggers
+  the test/dtypes to report failure in the
+      Testing random sw long double -> double conversions
+  If -ieee is used, the converted doubles spread over the range 0.0 to 1**-308.
+  If -ieee is not used, the converted double values are mostly 0.0 but
+  occasionally as 1**-308.  This has been reported to the system staff.
+  All other tests have passed.
+
+* On at least one system, (SDSC DataStar), the scheduler (in this case
+  LoadLeveler) sends job status updates to standard error when you run
+  any executable that was compiled with the parallel compilers.
+
+  This causes problems when running "make check" on parallel builds, as
+  many of the tool tests function by saving the output from test runs,
+  and comparing it to an exemplar.
+
+  The best solution is to reconfigure the target system so it no longer
+  inserts the extra text.  However, this may not be practical.
+
+  In such cases, one solution is to "setenv HDF5_Make_Ignore yes" prior to
+  the configure and build.  This will cause "make check" to continue after
+  detecting errors in the tool tests.  However, in the case of SDSC DataStar,
+  it also leaves you with some 150 "failed" tests to examine by hand.
+
+  A second solution is to write a script to run serial tests and filter
+  out the text added by the scheduler.  A sample script used on SDSC
+  DataStar is given below, but you will probably have to customize it
+  for your installation.
+
+  Observe that the basic idea is to insert the script as the first item
+  on the command line which executes the test.  The script then
+  executes the test and filters out the offending text before passing
+  it on.
+
+        #!/bin/csh
+
+        set STDOUT_FILE=~/bin/serial_filter.stdout
+        set STDERR_FILE=~/bin/serial_filter.stderr
+
+        rm -f $STDOUT_FILE $STDERR_FILE
+
+        ($* > $STDOUT_FILE) >& $STDERR_FILE
+
+        set RETURN_VALUE=$status
+
+        cat $STDOUT_FILE
+
+        tail +3 $STDERR_FILE
+
+        exit $RETURN_VALUE
+
+  You get the HDF make files and test scripts to execute your filter script
+  by setting the environment variable "RUNSERIAL" to the full path of the
+  script prior to running configure for parallel builds.  Remember to
+  "unsetenv RUNSERIAL" before running configure for a serial build.
+
+  Note that the RUNSERIAL environment variable exists so that we can
+  can prefix serial runs as necessary on the target system.  On DataStar,
+  no prefix is necessary.  However on an MPICH system, the prefix might
+  have to be set to something like "/usr/local/mpi/bin/mpirun -np 1" to
+  get the serial tests to run at all.
+
+  In such cases, you will have to include the regular prefix in your
+  filter script.
+
 %%%%1.6.2%%%%   Release Information for hdf5-1.6.2 (12/February/04)
 
 HDF5 version 1.6.2 released on Thu Feb 12 14:18:13 CST 2004
diff --git a/release_docs/RELEASE.txt b/release_docs/RELEASE.txt
index aff42a5..4531306 100644
--- a/release_docs/RELEASE.txt
+++ b/release_docs/RELEASE.txt
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
-HDF5 version 1.6.3 released on Wed Sep 22 11:30:11 CDT 2004
+HDF5 version 1.6.3-post0 currently under development
 ================================================================================
 
 
 INTRODUCTION
 
-This document describes the differences between HDF5-1.6.2 and
-HDF5-1.6.3, and contains information on the platforms tested and
-known problems in HDF5-1.6.3. For more details check the HISTORY.txt
+This document describes the differences between HDF5-1.6.3 and
+HDF5-1.6.3-*, and contains information on the platforms tested and
+known problems in HDF5-1.6.3-*. For more details check the HISTORY.txt
 file in the HDF5 source.
 
 The HDF5 documentation can be found on the NCSA ftp server
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ CONTENTS
 
 - New Features
 - Support for new platforms and languages
-- Bug Fixes since HDF5-1.6.2
+- Bug Fixes since HDF5-1.6.3
 - Documentation
 - Platforms Tested
 - Supported Configuration Features Summary
@@ -36,276 +36,57 @@ CONTENTS
 New Features
 ============
 
-    Configuration:
-    --------------
-        - Added some initial support for making purify (or similar memory
-            checking products) happier by initializing buffers to zero and
-            disabling the internal free list code.  To take advantage of this,
-            define 'H5_USING_PURIFY' in your CFLAGS when building the library.
-            QAK - 2004/07/23
-
-        - WINDOWS building,testing and installing improvements
-
-          - On Windows, FORTRAN,C++ and C projects are merged into one zip file, 
-            users can choose an option to build either FORTRAN or C++ or both 
-            with basic C library.For detailed information,
-            please read INSTALL_Windows.txt.
-
-          - On Windows, szip compression library with or without encoder can be easily
-            turned off or on when building HDF5.  For detailed information,
-            please read INSTALL_Windows.txt, especially section V. 
-  
-          - On Windows, an optional procedure for building,testing and installing
-            HDF5 from command line is provided. This procedure is supposed to be
-            convenient for experienced users, please read 
-            INSTALL_windows_From_Command_Line.txt for details.
-
-          - On Windows, an alternative short instruction document for building,
-            testing and installing HDF5 is provided. This instruction is supposed to
-            be convenient for general users, please read 
-            INSTALL_Windows_Short.txt for details.
-
-          - On Windows, h5repack,h5diff,h5ls and h5import tool tests have been added.
-          KY - 2004/9/16
-  
 
     Library:
     --------
-        - Modified the way how HDF5 calculates 'pixels_per_scanline' parameter for
-          SZIP compression. Now there is no restriction on the size and shape of the 
-          chunk except that the total number of elements in the chunk cannot be 
-          bigger than 'pixels_per_block' parameter provided by the user.
-                                                                    EIP - 2004/07/21 
-        - HDF5 can now link to SZIP with or without szip's encoder.
-          The new API function H5Zget_filter_info can be used to check
-          szip's status.  Attempting to assign szip to a dataset property
-          list or attempting to write with szip will generate an error if
-          szip's encoder is disabled.  JL/NF - 2004/6/30
-        - SZIP always uses K13 compression.  This flag no longer needs to
-          be set when calling H5Pset_szip.  If the flag for CHIP
-          compression is set, it will be ignored (since the two are mutually
-          exclusive).  JL/NF - 2004/6/30
-        - A new API function H5Fget_name was added.  It returns the name
-          of the file by object(file, group, data set, named data type,
-          attribute) ID.  SLU - 2004/06/29
-        - A new API function H5Fget_filesize was added.  It returns the
-          actual file size of the opened file.  SLU - 2004/06/24
-	- Added option that if $HDF5_DISABLE_VERSION_CHECK is set to 2,
-	  will suppress all library version mismatch warning messages.
-	  AKC - 2004/4/14
 
     Parallel Library:
     -----------------
 
     Tools:
     ------
-        - h5repack was added to the tools suite. h5repack regenerates an HDF5 file 
-	  from another HDF5 file, optionally applying HDF5 filters (compression) 
-	  and/or chunking to the copied file. The filters options are read from 
-	  the command line. See /doc/html/Tools.html for more details.
-	  PVN - 2004/9/13
-
-        - h5dump includes new features:
-           1) Printing of dataset filters, storage layout and fill value information.
-           2) Print a list of the file contents.
-	   3) Escape non printing characters.
-	   4) Print the content of the boot block.
-	   5) Print array indices with the data (the default).
-	  These options are all switch controlled. See /doc/html/Tools.html for more details.
-	  PVN - 2004/9/13
 	      
 
     F90 API:
     --------
-        - added new subroutines:
-                h5fget_filesize_f
-                h5iget_file_id_f
-                h5premove_filter_f
-                h5zget_filter_info_f
-                                         EIP 2004/9/21
- 
-        - added new h5fget_name_f and h5fget_filesize_f subroutines
-                                         EIP 2004/07/08
 
     C++ API:
     --------
-	- Added wrappers for array and variable length datatypes APIs
-	- Added wrappers for newly added APIs from H5T, H5F, and H5I
-	- Added many wrappers that were missing from the H5P API
-	- Added the ability to reference HDF5 objects to these classes:
-	  DataSet, DataType, Group, and H5File (wrappers for H5R APIs)
-	BMR 2004/08/04
 
 
 Support for new platforms, languages and compilers.
 =======================================
-        - Added PGI Fortran support for Linux64 (x86_64) systems
-                            EIP - 2004/08/19
-        - Absoft compiler f95 v9.0 is supported on Linux 2.4 32bit
-                            EIP - 2004/07/29 
-        - HDF5 Fortran APIs are supported on Mac OSX with IBM XL Fortran
-          compiler version 8.1. This is a default compiler.
-        - HDF5 Fortran APIs are supported on MAC OSX with Absoft F95 compiler
-          version 8.2; set F9X environment variable to f95, for example
-          setenv F9X f95
-          Use --disable-shared --enable-static configure flags when Absoft
-          compiler is used.
-                             EIP - 2004/07/27
-
-Bug Fixes since HDF5-1.6.2 release
+
+Bug Fixes since HDF5-1.6.3 release
 ==================================
 
     Library
     -------
-	- Fixed parallel bug in which some processes attempted collective
-	  I/O while others did independent I/O.  Bug appeared when some
-	  processes used point selections, and others didn't.  JRM - 2004/9/15
-        - Corrected error where dataset region references were written in an
-          incorrect way on Cray machines.  PVN & QAK - 2004/09/13
-        - The H5Tget_native_type now determines the native type for integers
-          based on the precision. This is to avoid cases of wrongly converting        
-          an int to a short in machines that have a short of 8 bytes but with
-	  32bit precision (e.g Cray SV1). PVN - 2004/09/07 
-        - Changed H5Dread() to not overwrite data in an application's buffer
-          with garbage when accessing a chunked dataset with an undefined fill
-          value and an unwritten chunk is uncountered.  QAK - 2004/08/25
-        - Fixed error which could cause a core dump when a type conversion
-          routine was registered after a compound datatype had been
-          converted and then an equivalent compound datatype was converted
-          again.  QAK - 2004/08/07
-        - Fixed memory overwrite when encoding "multi" file driver information
-          for file's superblock.  QAK - 2004/08/05
-        - Fixed obscure bug where a filter which failed during chunk allocation
-          could allow library to write uncompressed data to disk but think
-          the data was compressed.  QAK - 2004/07/29
-        - Fixed bug where I/O to an extendible chunked dataset with zero-sized
-          dimensions would cause library to fail an assertion.
-          QAK - 2004/07/27
-        - Fixed bug where chunked datasets which have filters defined,
-          allocation time set to "late" and whose chunks don't align with
-          the dataspace bounds could have incorrect data stored when
-          overwriting the entire dataset on the first write.  QAK - 2004/07/27
-        - Added check to ensure that dataspaces have extents set. JML-2004/07/26
-        - Fixed bug on some Solaris systems where HDF5 would try to use
-          gettimeofday() when that function didn't work properly.
-          JML - 2004/07/23
-        - Fixed bug in H5Sset_extent_simple where setting maximum size to
-          non-zero, then to zero would cause an error.  JML - 2004/07/20
-        - Allow NULL pointer for buffer parameter to H5Dread & H5Dwrite
-          when not writing data ("none" selection or hyperslab or point
-          selection with no elements defined).  QAK - 2004/07/20
-        - Calling H5Gcreate() on "/" or "." throws an error instead of
-          failing quietly. JML - 2004/07/19
-        - Fixed bug where setting file address size to be very small could
-          trigger an assert if the file grew to more than 64 KB.  Now throws
-          an error and data can be recovered. JL/NF - 2004/07/14
-        - Fixed bug where "resurrecting" a dataset was failing.
-          QAK - 2004/07/14
-        - Fixed bug where incorrect data could be read from a chunked dataset
-          after it was extended.  QAK - 2004/07/12
-        - After compound datatype with variable-length string in the fields
-          is committed to file, the size is messed up when it's read back.
-          Fixed.  SLU - 2004/06/11
-        - Fixed potential file corruption bug when a block of metadata could
-          overlap the end of the internal metadata accumulator buffer and
-          the buffer would be extended correctly, but would incorrectly 
-          change it's starting address.  QAK - 2004/06/09
-        - Opaque datatype with no tag failed for some operations.  Fixed.
-          SLU - 2004/6/3
-        - Fixed potential file corruption bug where dimensions that were
-          too large (a value greater than could be represented in 32-bits)
-          could cause the incorrect amount of space to be allocated in a
-          file for the raw data for the dataset.  QAK - 2004/06/01
-	- Fixed dtypes "sw long double -> double" failure in QSC class
-	  machines.  AKC - 2004/4/16
 
     Configuration
     -------------
-        - Fixed the long compile time of H5detect.c when v7.x Intel Compiler
-	  is used with optimization NOT off.  AKC - 2004/05/20
 
     Performance
     -------------
 
     Tools
     -----
-        - On SGI h5dump displayed only part of the data due to the bug
-          in the system printf; fixed.
-                                             EIP - 2004/09/21 
     Documentation 
     ------------- 
-        - Several descriptive errors have been fixed throughout the 
-          documentation, particularly in the reference manual (RM).
-          A selection particularly worthy of note would be these: 
-        - The H5Pset_szip description in the RM has been expanded and
-          corrected to facilitate use of SZIP compression.
-        - A note has been added to the H5Dcreate description that an
-          unexplained failure is likely to be due to a property list error 
-          that is detected only at the time of dataset creation.
-        -
-        FMB - 2004/09/21
 
     F90 API
     -------
     
-    Fortran functions h5dwrite/read_f and h5awrite/read_f do not
-    accept dims parameter of INTEGER type anymore. Code was removed.
-                                                    2004/04/15
     C++ API
     -------
-	- H5::Exception's and its subclasses' constructors that were 
-	  overloaded to take char pointers are removed and constructors
-	  that passed in reference of 'string' are changed to pass 
-	  by value.  In addition, the default value of the data member
-	  H5::Exception::detailMessage is changed from 0/NULL to 
-	  DEFAULT_MSG ("No detailed information provided".)
-	- Prototype for DSetCreatPropList::setLayout is changed: 1st parameter
-          is removed because it was there only by mistake.
-	BMR 2004/08/04
-
 Documentation
 =============
+
     HDF5 Library documentation
     --------------------------
-        - HDF5 C++ API Reference Manual
-          This document has been added to the HDF5 document set.  
-          The predecessor document, "HDF5 C++ Interfaces," has been removed.
-        - HDF5 C++ API Design Specification
-          A first draft of this document has been added to the HDF5 document 
-          set.  The draft has been posted on the HDF5 website and a link 
-          has been added to the HDF5 documents index (index.html at the top 
-          level of the document set).
-        - Parallel HDF5
-          In prior releases, the HDF5 document set included two parallel
-          HDF5 documents.  Those documents have been deleted and the 
-          HDF5 documents index (index.html) now links to a "Parallel HDF5" 
-          page on the HDF5 website (http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HDF5/PHDF5/).
-        - HDF5 High Level APIs
-          Links to the HDF5 High Level APIs and to the HDF5 High Level 
-          Reference Manual have been added to the HDF5 documents index
-          (index.html).
-        - HDF5 Reference Manual
-          Tools: h5repack -- A description of the new h5repack tool has been 
-              added to the Tools page.
-          Tools: h5dump -- Several new options have been added to h5dump.
-          New functions -- All new functions have been added to the RM.
-          API changes -- Relevant function descriptions have been updated in
-              instances where programming interfaces have changed. 
-        FMB - 2004/09/21
 
     Windows installation documentation
     ----------------------------------
-        -  INSTALL_Windows.txt has been enhanced to include instructions building 
-           HDF5 with FORTRAN and C++. 
-        -  Two optional installation documents have been added. They are
-           INSTALL_Windows_Short.txt and INSTALL_Windows_From_Command_Line.txt.
-           INSTALL_Windows_Short.txt is supposed to help general users who
-           only want to build,test and install HDF5 in a quick way.
-           INSTALL_Windows_From_Command_Line.txt is supposed to help users who
-           would like to compile,test and install HDF5 in command line environment.
-        -  INSTALL_Windows_withcpp.txt and INSTALL_Windows_withF90.txt became
-           obsolete. Files are deleted from the release_docs directory.
-        KY 2004/09/16, EIP 2004/9/21