MODULE NAME : read_hdf_image

INPUTS	    : image  2D 4-vector byte

PARAMETERS  : filename

MODULE DESCRIPTION :
     This module reads an image in the hdf format into an AVS Network.

FILE TYPE DESCRIPTION :
     hdf is a  generic,  tagged  Hierarchical  Data  File  format
     developed by the National Center for Supercomputing Applica-
     tions (NCSA).  hdf files may contain images, scientific data
     sets,  and  miscellaneous  data  items.   Such  files may be
     created by several NCSA tools.  See the  NCSA  documentation
     for details on how to use these tools.

     hdf format handling within the SDSC image library is limited
     to images of certain depths and storage methods.

FILE RECOGNITION
     hdf files are recognized by these filename  suffixes:  .hdf,
     .df, and .ncsa.

NOTE :
   This module requires that libim.a and libsdsc.a be installed in
   the /usr/lib directory for compilation with the given Makefiles.
   Both of these libraries can be obtained through anonymous ftp to
   sdsc.edu.  For more information, send email to info@sdsc.edu.

CREDITS
-------

MODULE AUTHOR:	Terry Myerson
		International AVS Center
		North Carolina Supercomputing Center
		avs@ncsc.org

This module is entirely based upon the San Diego Supercomputing Center's
Image Tool library.