# how to open HDF5 file in ParaView
**URL:** https://discourse.paraview.org/t/how-to-open-hdf5-file-in-paraview/13626
**Category:** ParaView Support
**Created:** [January 3, 2024, 7:45am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/how-to-open-hdf5-file-in-paraview/13626 "2024-01-03T07:45:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Noverdo\_Saputra](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Noverdo_Saputra)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2024, 7:45am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/how-to-open-hdf5-file-in-paraview/13626/1 "2024-01-03T07:45:12Z")
hi mathiew,
i have file with .hdf5 file format , could you help how to visualize at paraview , since i amtried to open it, there is comment:
```auto
ERROR: In Utilities\VisItBridge\databases\vtkVisItChomboReader.cxx, line 135
vtkVisItChomboReader (0000023E635C6820): The selected database type was not correct for the given file. The message from the database was Cannot be a Chombo file, does not have Chombo_global
ERROR: In C:\bbd\8fbebceb\build\superbuild\paraview\src\VTK\Common\ExecutionModel\vtkExecutive.cxx, line 753
vtkPVCompositeDataPipeline (0000023E689FBA40): Algorithm vtkFileSeriesReader(0000023E701C9F80) returned failure for request: vtkInformation (0000023E6FDDDC70)
Debug: Off
Modified Time: 304290
Reference Count: 1
Registered Events: (none)
Request: REQUEST_DATA_OBJECT
FORWARD_DIRECTION: 0
ALGORITHM_AFTER_FORWARD: 1
ERROR: In C:\bbd\8fbebceb\build\superbuild\paraview\src\Utilities\VisItBridge\databases\AvtAlgorithms\vtkAvtSTMDFileFormatAlgorithm.cxx, line 132
vtkVisItChomboReader (0000023E635C6820): Unable to find any meshes
ERROR: In C:\bbd\8fbebceb\build\superbuild\paraview\src\VTK\Common\ExecutionModel\vtkExecutive.cxx, line 753
vtkPVCompositeDataPipeline (0000023E689FBA40): Algorithm vtkFileSeriesReader(0000023E701C9F80) returned failure for request: vtkInformation (0000023E6FDDDC70)
Debug: Off
Modified Time: 304290
Reference Count: 1
Registered Events: (none)
Request: REQUEST_DATA_OBJECT
FORWARD_DIRECTION: 0
ALGORITHM_AFTER_FORWARD: 1
ERROR: In C:\bbd\8fbebceb\build\superbuild\paraview\src\Utilities\VisItBridge\databases\AvtAlgorithms\vtkAvtSTMDFileFormatAlgorithm.cxx, line 132
vtkVisItChomboReader (0000023E635C6820): Unable to find any meshes
ERROR: In C:\bbd\8fbebceb\build\superbuild\paraview\src\VTK\Common\ExecutionModel\vtkExecutive.cxx, line 753
vtkPVCompositeDataPipeline (0000023E689FBA40): Algorithm vtkFileSeriesReader(0000023E701C9F80) returned failure for request: vtkInformation (0000023E6FDDDC70)
Debug: Off
Modified Time: 304290
Reference Count: 1
Registered Events: (none)
Request: REQUEST_DATA_OBJECT
FORWARD_DIRECTION: 0
ALGORITHM_AFTER_FORWARD: 1
```
I am tried to open it using Paraview 5.8 (because I am using phyton 3.7) , but even i am using latest version also can not open it
---
### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2024, 8:19am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/how-to-open-hdf5-file-in-paraview/13626/2 "2024-01-03T08:19:12Z")
> [@Noverdo\_Saputra](#):
>
> .hdf5 file format ,
Hi @Noverdo_Saputra
HDF5 is not a file format, it is a container, which format are you using ?
---
### Author:  [@Noverdo\_Saputra](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Noverdo_Saputra)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2024, 12:56pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/how-to-open-hdf5-file-in-paraview/13626/3 "2024-01-07T12:56:36Z")
Thanks Mathieu, when i check properties type file is .hdf5 , not specified like h5 or other type of hdf5
please your advice
Regards
---
### Author:  [@cory.quammen](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/cory.quammen)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/how-to-open-hdf5-file-in-paraview/13626/4 "2024-01-07T18:05:09Z")
What software produced the .hdf5 files? HDF5 is a very flexible format and requires knowledge of how the data is arranged internally to use it effectively. ParaView supports a number of different .hdf5 files produced by different software, but you have to tell ParaView how to interpret it, and to do that you need to tell it which “type” of .hdf5 file it is.
---
### Author:  [@dutta-alankar](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/dutta-alankar)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2024, 12:54pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/how-to-open-hdf5-file-in-paraview/13626/5 "2024-01-08T12:54:28Z")
`HDF5` is a general purpose file format, and many codes produce this to dump their data. The internal contents of the hdf5 file vary from code to code. Generally, companion `xmf` files are dumped either by the code (maybe controlled by some flag) or separately in post-processing. These xmf files (`xdmf` format) describes the content of the hdf5 files to ParaView. There is also a less straightforward possibility to load the hdf5 files using `Programmable source` where it is your responsibility to describe the data to ParaView. I am happy to spend some time on this to help you out if you don’t mind sharing a sample data file, and also let me know which code generates this data (if it is some general purpose simulation code).
---
### Author:  [@Noverdo\_Saputra](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Noverdo_Saputra)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2024, 4:15am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/how-to-open-hdf5-file-in-paraview/13626/6 "2024-01-09T04:15:39Z")
Hi Cory & Dutta, I am working with python for mechanical simulation. I send output data and python code to produce output.
[taylor\_bar\_25000.hdf5](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/short-url/rCJHSnSUl7wt6TFBP4s6eaEMyyj.hdf5) (210.9 KB)
[output.py](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/short-url/558Gi5MBewLyZyODi3utXp59Zfg.py) (11.7 KB)
[vtk\_output.py](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/short-url/89KAKgPbTUHHzVdUNoHTPeboSeh.py) (6.2 KB)
---
### Author:  [@dutta-alankar](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/dutta-alankar)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/how-to-open-hdf5-file-in-paraview/13626/7 "2024-01-09T14:52:45Z")
Can you please share the vtk file that eas generated by the code if any? Then I can compare this to make a programmable source for this.
---
### Author:  [@Noverdo\_Saputra](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Noverdo_Saputra)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2024, 10:24am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/how-to-open-hdf5-file-in-paraview/13626/8 "2024-04-07T10:24:36Z")
Problem has solved using this code
[pysph\_to\_vtk.py](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/short-url/6iNxEM4Gljnnu9qFZQ3t3T3LErY.py) (10.7 KB)
---
### Author:  [@dutta-alankar](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/dutta-alankar)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2024, 4:42am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/how-to-open-hdf5-file-in-paraview/13626/9 "2024-04-12T04:42:10Z")
This is good but requires you to convert the data, which can be a problem for very large data sizes. Perhaps a better option would be to create a companion ascii `.xmf` file accompanying your hdf5 files. This would enable you to read in the hdf5 files directly.