[DebianGIS-dev] Bug#545818: where's `ncdump-hdf', anyway?

[Ivan Shmakov]

Package: hdf4-tools
Version: 4.2r4-5

	The libhdf4g-run package, which hdf4-tools is, IIUC, intended to
	replace, contained the `ncdump-hdf' and `ncgen-hdf' programs,
	which allowed easy transformation of the data between HDF4 and a
	certain ASCII representation.  However, these programs were, for
	a reason unknown to me, excluded from hdf4-tools, and it seems
	that no comparable replacement was provided.

	For example, as of this hdf4-tools version, there's no easy way
	to list the ``contents'' of an HDF4 file (field names,
	dimensions, attributes) -- the information that has proven to be
	vital for everyday use.  Formely, it could be done with, say:

$ ncdump-hdf -h FILE.hdf | less 

	One of the 4.1st versions of the package that I have the sources
	to had the following in the Debian .diff.gz:

$ zcat pool/main/libh/libhdf4/libhdf4_4.1r4-22.diff.gz 
...
--- libhdf4-4.1r4.orig/debian/rules
+++ libhdf4-4.1r4/debian/rules
@@ -0,0 +1,211 @@
...
+binary-run:
...
+	# Rename ncgen and ncdump
+	mv debian/tmp-run/usr/bin/ncgen{,-hdf}
+	mv debian/tmp-run/usr/bin/ncdump{,-hdf}
...
$ 

	The 4.2r4-5 has instead:

$ zcat pool/main/libh/libhdf4/libhdf4_4.2r4-5.diff.gz 
--- libhdf4-4.2r4.orig/debian/rules
+++ libhdf4-4.2r4/debian/rules
@@ -0,0 +1,199 @@
...
+stamps/install-stamp: build-arch
...
+	# remove programs and manpages provided by netcdf-bin
+	rm -f $(DESTDIR)/usr/bin/ncdump $(DESTDIR)/usr/bin/ncgen
+	rm -f $(DESTDIR)/usr/share/man/man1/ncdump* $(DESTDIR)/usr/share/man/man1/ncgen*
+	
...
$ 

	The comment provided is, to the best of my knowledge, wrong: the
	versions of these programs provided by netcdf-bin are for NetCDF
	files only, and have no relation (except of the one of the
	``ancestry'' character) to HDF4.

	Please consider bringing ncdump-hdf and ncgen-hdf back to the
	Debian package.

	TIA.

-- 
FSF associate member #7257