hid_t plist     IN: Identifier of property list to query

H5P_GET_CLASS returns the property list class identifier for the property list identified by the plist parameter.

Note that H5P_GET_CLASS returns a value of hid_t type, an internal HDF5 identifier, rather than directly returning a property list class. That identifier can then be used with either H5P_EQUAL or H5P_GET_CLASS_NAME to determine which predefined HDF5 property list class H5P_GET_CLASS has returned.

A full list of valid predefined property list classes appears in the description of H5P_CREATE.

Determining the HDF5 property list class name with H5P_EQUAL requires a series of H5P_EQUAL calls in an if-else sequence. An iterative sequence of H5P_EQUAL calls can compare the identifier returned by H5P_GET_CLASS to members of the list of valid property list class names. A pseudo-code snippet might read as follows:

    plist_class_id = H5Pget_class (dsetA_plist);

    if H5Pequal (plist_class_id, H5P_OBJECT_CREATE) = TRUE;        
            [ H5P_OBJECT_CREATE is the property list class    ]
            [ returned by H5Pget_class.                        ]

        else if H5Pequal (plist_class_id, H5P_DATASET_CREATE) = TRUE;
            [ H5P_DATASET_CREATE is the property list class.  ]

        else if H5Pequal (plist_class_id, H5P_DATASET_XFER) = TRUE;
            [ H5P_DATASET_XFER is the property list class.    ]

        .
        .   [ Continuing the iteration until a match is found. ]
        .  

H5P_GET_CLASS_NAME returns the property list class name directly as a string:

    plist_class_id = H5Pget_class (dsetA_plist);
    plist_class_name = H5Pget_class_name (plist_class_id) 
        

Note that frequent use of H5P_GET_CLASS_NAME can become a performance problem in a high-performance environment. The H5P_EQUAL approach is generally much faster.

Returns a property list class identifier if successful. Otherwise returns a negative value.

Coming Soon!