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HDF5 User Guide 
And in this document, the HDF5 Reference Manual  
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H5I: Identifier Interface

Identifier API Functions

These functions provides tools for working with object identifiers and object names.

The C Interface:
             
     

The FORTRAN90 Interface:
In general, each FORTRAN90 subroutine performs exactly the same task as the corresponding C function. The links below go to the C function descriptions, which serve as general descriptions for both. A button, under Non-C API(s) at the end of the C function description, opens an external browser window displaying the FORTRAN90-specific information. You will probably want to adjust the size and location of this external window so that both browser windows are visible and to facilitate moving easily between them.
             
     


Name: H5Iget_type
Signature:
H5I_type_t H5Iget_type(hid_t obj_id)
Purpose:
Retrieves the type of an object.
Description:
H5Iget_type retrieves the type of the object identified by obj_id.

Valid types returned by the function are
    H5I_FILE File
    H5I_GROUP Group
    H5I_DATATYPE Datatype
    H5I_DATASPACE Dataspace
    H5I_DATASET Dataset
    H5I_ATTR Attribute
If no valid type can be determined or the identifier submitted is invalid, the function returns
    H5I_BADID Invalid identifier

This function is of particular value in determining the type of object closing function (H5Dclose, H5Gclose, etc.) to call after a call to H5Rdereference.

Parameters:
hid_t obj_id
IN: Object identifier whose type is to be determined.
Returns:
Returns the object type if successful; otherwise H5I_BADID.
Non-C API(s):

Name: H5Iget_name
Signature:
ssize_t H5Iget_name(hid_t obj_id, char *name, size_t size )
Purpose:
Retrieves a name of an object based on the object identifier.
Description:
H5Iget_name retrieves a name for the object identified by obj_id.

Up to size characters of the name are returned in name; additional characters, if any, are not returned to the user application.

If the length of the name, which determines the required value of size, is unknown, a preliminary H5Iget_name call can be made. The return value of this call will be the size of the object name. That value can then be assigned to size for a second H5Iget_name call, which will retrieve the actual name.

If there is no name associated with the object identifier or if the name is NULL, H5Iget_name returns 0 (zero).

Note that an object in an HDF5 file may have multiple names, varying according to the path through the HDF5 group hierarchy used to reach that object.

Parameters:
hid_t obj_id
IN: Identifier of the object. This identifier can refer to a group, dataset, or named datatype.
char *name
OUT: A name associated with the identifier.
size_t size
IN: The size of the name buffer.
Returns:
Returns the length of the name if successful, returning 0 (zero) if no name is associated with the identifier. Otherwise returns a negative value.
Non-C API(s):

HDF5 documents and links 
Introduction to HDF5 
HDF5 User Guide 
And in this document, the HDF5 Reference Manual  
H5   H5A   H5D   H5E   H5F   H5G   H5I   H5P  
H5R   H5S   H5T   H5Z   Tools   Datatypes  

HDF Help Desk
Describes HDF5 Release 1.5, Unreleased Development Branch
Last modified: 10 June 2003