Question: We have a workflow where occasionally a dataset must be removed from an HDF5 file. When this happens, the file does not decrease in size. Is there a call to reclaim the unused space or remove it from within an application?
HDF5-1.10
There are file space management strategies to manage the unused space in a file. These strategies are described here:
https://portal.hdfgroup.org/display/HDF5/File+Space+Management
While a file is open, HDF5 tracks and re-uses the unused space in the file according to the strategy used. If using a strategy that uses the free space manager, you can select to track the free space across file opens with the "persist" flag. Otherwise, when the file is closed, the space is lost.
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