MATLAB Programming

7 Working with Scientific Data Formats
• “Step 4: Importing Data and Metadata” on page 7-39
• “Step 5: Closing HDF Files and the HDF Import Tool” on page 7-40
The following sections provide more detail about each of these steps.
Step 1: Opening an HDF4 File in the HDF Import Tool
Open an HDF4 or HDF-EOS file in MATLAB using one of the following
methods:
• Choose the Import Data option from the MATLAB File menu. If you select
an HDF4 or HDF-EOS file, the MATLAB Import Wizard automatically
starts the HDF Import Tool.
• Start the HDF Import Tool by entering the hdftool command at the
MATLAB command line:
hdftool
This opens an empty HDF Import Tool. To open a file, click the Open
option on the HDFTool File menu and select the file you want to open. You
can open multiple files in the HDF Import Tool.
• Open an HDF or HDF-EOS file by specifying the file name with the
hdftool command on the MATLAB command line:
hdftool('example.hdf')
Viewing a File in the HDF Import Tool. WhenyouopenanHDF4or
HDF-EOS file in the HDF Import Tool, the tool displays the contents of the
file in the Contents pane. You can use this pane to navigate within the file
to see what data sets it contains. You can view the contents of HDF-EOS
files as HDF data sets or as HDF-EOS files. The icon in the contents pane
indicates the view, as illustrated in the following figure. Note that these are
just two views of the same data.
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