How to run HDFView-3.1.1 on Windows10 (64bit) after installation

HDFView / Java HDF Object Package
1

My research collaborator in the distant country sent me some file to open via HDF viewer.
So, I downloaded HDFView-3.1.1-win10_64-vs16.zip from this page to my Windows10 (64bit).
https://www.hdfgroup.org/downloads/hdfview/

After installation of HDFView, my desktop has an icon of HDFView.
When I double click to start HDFView, it shows small black window for maybe 0.5 seconds, and it disappears,
and nothing happens after that.
When I choose “Run as administrator”, a question window pops up, and asks “Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?” “Windows command processor” . Then nothing happens after that.

Because the HDFView download page has this instruction;

“Windows ONLY: HDFView was built with VS, and it requires that the Visual C++ Redistributable Packages be installed on your machine. If you cannot access HDF5 files then you do not have these packages. You can obtain the latest supported Microsoft Visual C++ downloads HERE.”,

so I downloaded Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019, x64: vc_redist.x64.exe, from this page.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads

After installation of Visual Studio, I don’t know what to do the next, to run HDFView. For example, I ran VisualStudio, then next I tried to run “HDFView”, but still nothing happens.
Do anybody know how to run HDFView from here?

2

Were you able to get HDFView working? I’m puzzled by your comment about running Visual Studio. HDFView uses HDF5 libraries that are linked to runtime libraries from Visual Studio. These libraries are installed by vc_redist.x64.exe but Visual Studio is a separate installation. If you already have
a current Visual Studio you shouldn’t need vc_redist.x64.exe.

3

I have the same problem. I installed both Visual Studio Enterprise 2019 and build tool
2019. However, still not working. Try to install vc_redist.x64.exe, and got newer version already installed.
Therefor I still could not start the HDFView, Do you need anything other than unpack the HDFViewApp-3.1.2-win10_64-vs16.zip and install the visual studio?

Thanks
Jen

4

They key point is that the directory with the libraries needs to be in the PATH variable. It turns out the files are installed, but the PATH isn’t adjusted. See HDFView Known Problems.

5

Then what is the solution, assuming I have the redistributables and still can’t launch ?

6

And the batch file from the download site does not help?
One other workaround is to copy all the dlls to the same folder as the HDFView.exe.

Running it from the command prompt might also show more information.

7

I am facing same problem on Win 10 64 bit. Installed “HDFView-3.1.2-win10_64-vs16.zip”, then downloaded “Visual C++ Redistributable Packages” from “https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48145” website and installed Visual Studio. I have also downloaded hdfview.bat and placed it in HDF installed directory. But still when I launch HDFView, a black screen appears for a couple of seconds and then nothing happens. If anybody knows solution, kindly let me know.

8

Launch the batch file from a command prompt, there should be more info on why it failed to execute.

9

Download hdfview.bat (Windows) from https://portal.hdfgroup.org/display/support/HDFView+3.1.2#HDFView3.1.2-knownprobs
and place it in the same folder that HDFView.exe is installed.
Run the .bat file and that should sort out the problem.
I also installed vc_redist.x64.exe from
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads-2647da03-1eea-4433-9aff-95f26a218cc0
before running the batch file.

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10

Note that the batch file must be adjacent to the HDFView.exe file. The batch file will look for the exe in the same folder. Of course, if you want to just click the icon, then the path to the dlls must be added to the PATH environment variable.

11

Thanks a lot. It worked for me, I was struggling to launch this on windows 10 for last 2 days.

12

Thank you, zahra_vaziri

13

Hello, I am having the same problem however for some reason the solution did not work (or I am doing it wrong). When I try I get an error that says it cannot find the exe file, even though it is in the same folder, and it asks if I types it in wrong. Could anyone possibly help with this?

14

Instead of using the batch file, you could copy all the dlls in the app/bin subfolder next to the HDFView.exe. This would allow you to just execute HDFView directly.

15

Yes that worked thank you very much!

16

Step 1: Extract HDFView-3.1.2-win10_64-vs16.zip
Step 2: Run HDFView-3.1.2.exe. (Right click > Run as administrator)
Step 3: Change the installation path to C:\Program Files\HDFView (Create folder HDFView under Program Files; default installation path is C:\Users\xxxx\AppData)
Step 4: Complete the installation
Step 5: Download hdfview.bat and place it in the installation directory (C:\Program Files\HDFView)
Step 6: Run hdfview.bat as administrator

Program is successfuly installed.

Note:
Installation might be unsuccessful due to the below possible issues:

  • Missing Java RE (to be installed prior to this)
  • Installation Directory Issue (Step 3)
  • PATH issue (Step 6)
17

Comments about the notes in reply, while correct, have some background;
The HDFView program should use the java supplied in the binary, using a different version might (unlikely) cause problems.

The default installation to the User’s AppData dir is used to avoid the need for admin privileges. The “Program Files” location is for system wide use, which may be restricted from some users.

The PATH issue is because the Oracle jpackager does not consider the need for other dlls (runtime component). The batch file (will be included in new versions) prepends the dll location. Copying the dlls next to the HDFView.exe uses the default search path, which searches the executable dir first.

Allen

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