Fix h5ls issue with quoting when displaying integer data as ASCII characters (#6553)

When using the '-s' (h5ls) or '-r' (h5dump) option to display 1-byte integer datasets and attributes as ASCII characters, a closing double-quote character for data values was dropped in some cases.

release_docs/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -87,6 +87,14 @@ We would like to thank the many HDF5 community members who contributed to this r
 
 ## Tools
 
+### Fixed an issue with quoting of data values in h5ls and h5dump when displaying as ASCII characters
+
+   When using the `-s` (h5ls) or `-r` (h5dump) option to display 1-byte integer datasets and
+   attributes as ASCII characters, a closing double-quote character for data values was dropped
+   in some cases. This double-quote character has been restored and similar formatting issues
+   have been fixed for cases where elements wrap to new lines according to the particular tool's
+   column limit setting.
+
 ## Performance
 
 ## Fortran API

tools/lib/h5tools_dump.c

@@ -4518,19 +4518,6 @@ h5tools_dump_data(FILE *stream, const h5tool_format_t *info, h5tools_context_t *
                 status = h5tools_dump_mem(stream, &string_dataformat, &datactx, obj_id);
             }
         }
-        if (datactx.display_char && H5Tget_size(f_type) == 1 && H5Tget_class(f_type) == H5T_INTEGER) {
-            H5TOOLS_DEBUG("Print 1-byte integer data as an ASCII character string eol=%s",
-                          string_dataformat.line_suf);
-            datactx.need_prefix              = false;
-            string_dataformat.arr_linebreak  = 0;
-            string_dataformat.idx_fmt        = "";
-            string_dataformat.line_multi_new = 0;
-            string_dataformat.line_suf       = "";
-            h5tools_str_reset(&buffer);
-            h5tools_str_append(&buffer, "\"");
-            h5tools_render_element(stream, &string_dataformat, &datactx, &buffer, &curr_pos, (size_t)ncols,
-                                   (hsize_t)0, (hsize_t)0);
-        }
         H5TOOLS_DEBUG("Print all the values Complete");
 
         if (status == FAIL) {
@@ -4540,10 +4527,18 @@ h5tools_dump_data(FILE *stream, const h5tool_format_t *info, h5tools_context_t *
     }
 done:
     H5Sclose(space);
-    H5Tclose(f_type);
 
     ctx->need_prefix = true;
-    h5tools_simple_prefix(stream, &outputformat, ctx, (hsize_t)0, 0);
+    if ((datactx.display_char && H5Tget_size(f_type) == 1) && (H5Tget_class(f_type) == H5T_INTEGER)) {
+        string_dataformat.arr_linebreak  = 0;
+        string_dataformat.idx_fmt        = "";
+        string_dataformat.line_multi_new = 0;
+        h5tools_simple_prefix(stream, &string_dataformat, ctx, (hsize_t)0, 0);
+    }
+    else
+        h5tools_simple_prefix(stream, &outputformat, ctx, (hsize_t)0, 0);
+
+    H5Tclose(f_type);
 
     h5tools_str_reset(&buffer);
     if (strlen(h5tools_dump_header_format->datablockend)) {

tools/src/h5ls/h5ls.c

@@ -1547,6 +1547,21 @@ dump_dataset_values(hid_t dset)
             h5tools_render_element(rawoutstream, info, &ctx, &buffer, &curr_pos, (size_t)info->line_ncols,
                                    (hsize_t)0, (hsize_t)0);
         }
+
+        /* Output closing line suffix character when printing 1-byte integer data as ASCII */
+        if (info->ascii) {
+            h5tools_str_reset(&buffer);
+            h5tools_str_append(&buffer, "%s", outputformat.line_suf);
+            ctx.need_prefix      = false;
+            info->arr_linebreak  = 0;
+            info->line_multi_new = 0;
+            info->line_per_line  = 0;
+            info->line_suf       = "";
+
+            /* Temporarily override ncols so h5tools_render_element() doesn't try to break the line */
+            h5tools_render_element(rawoutstream, info, &ctx, &buffer, &curr_pos, (size_t)ctx.cur_column + 1,
+                                   (hsize_t)0, (hsize_t)0);
+        }
     }
 done:
     H5Sclose(space);
@@ -1734,6 +1749,21 @@ dump_attribute_values(hid_t attr)
             h5tools_render_element(rawoutstream, info, &ctx, &buffer, &curr_pos, (size_t)info->line_ncols,
                                    (hsize_t)0, (hsize_t)0);
         }
+
+        /* Output closing line suffix character when printing 1-byte integer data as ASCII */
+        if (info->ascii) {
+            h5tools_str_reset(&buffer);
+            h5tools_str_append(&buffer, "%s", outputformat.line_suf);
+            ctx.need_prefix      = false;
+            info->arr_linebreak  = 0;
+            info->line_multi_new = 0;
+            info->line_per_line  = 0;
+            info->line_suf       = "";
+
+            /* Temporarily override ncols so h5tools_render_element() doesn't try to break the line */
+            h5tools_render_element(rawoutstream, info, &ctx, &buffer, &curr_pos, (size_t)ctx.cur_column + 1,
+                                   (hsize_t)0, (hsize_t)0);
+        }
         ctx.indent_level--;
         H5TOOLS_DEBUG("Attribute data read complete");
     }

tools/test/h5dump/CMakeTests.cmake

@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ set (HDF5_REFERENCE_FILES
     tindicessub3.ddl
     tindicessub4.ddl
     tindicesyes.ddl
+    tintascii.ddl
     tints4dims.ddl
     tints4dimsBlock2.ddl
     tints4dimsBlockEq.ddl
@@ -329,6 +330,7 @@ set (HDF5_REFERENCE_TEST_FILES
     tgrpnullspace.h5
     thlink.h5
     thyperslab.h5
+    tintascii.h5
     tints4dims.h5
     tintsattrs.h5
     tintsnodata.h5
@@ -1159,6 +1161,7 @@ ADD_H5_TEST (tints4dimsBlockEq RESULT_CODE 0 --enable-error-stack -d FourDimInts
 
 # test printing characters in ASCII instead of decimal
 ADD_H5_TEST (tchar1 RESULT_CODE 0 --enable-error-stack -r TARGET_FILE tchar.h5)
+ADD_H5_TEST (tintascii RESULT_CODE 0 --enable-error-stack -r TARGET_FILE tintascii.h5)
 
 # test datatypes in ASCII and UTF8
 ADD_H5_TEST (charsets RESULT_CODE 0 --enable-error-stack TARGET_FILE charsets.h5)

tools/test/h5dump/expected/tintascii.ddl

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+HDF5 "tintascii.h5" {
+GROUP "/" {
+   DATASET "dset" {
+      DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I8LE
+      DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 81 ) / ( 81 ) }
+      DATA {
+         "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123"
+         "45678901234567\000"
+      }
+      ATTRIBUTE "attr" {
+         DATATYPE  H5T_STD_I8LE
+         DATASPACE  SIMPLE { ( 81 ) / ( 81 ) }
+         DATA {
+            "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0"
+            "12345678901234567\000"
+         }
+      }
+   }
+}
+}

tools/test/h5dump/h5dumpgentest.c

@@ -136,6 +136,8 @@
 #define FILE111 "tfloat6.h5"
 #define FILE112 "tfloat4.h5"
 
+#define FILE113 "tintascii.h5"
+
 #define ONION_TEST_FIXNAME_SIZE 1024
 #define ONION_TEST_PAGE_SIZE    (uint32_t)32
 #define ONE_DIM_SIZE            16
@@ -15179,3 +15181,37 @@ error:
     }
     H5E_END_TRY;
 }
+
+void
+gent_tintascii(void)
+{
+    hsize_t dims[] = {81}; /* Assume default 80-column width for tools */
+    hid_t   file_id;
+    hid_t   dset_id;
+    hid_t   type_id;
+    hid_t   space_id;
+    hid_t   attr_id;
+
+    /* 81-byte string, including NUL terminator */
+    const char *data = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678901234567";
+
+    file_id = H5Fcreate(FILE113, H5F_ACC_TRUNC, H5P_DEFAULT, H5P_DEFAULT);
+
+    type_id = H5Tcopy(H5T_NATIVE_CHAR);
+
+    space_id = H5Screate_simple(1, dims, NULL);
+
+    dset_id = H5Dcreate2(file_id, "dset", type_id, space_id, H5P_DEFAULT, H5P_DEFAULT, H5P_DEFAULT);
+
+    H5Dwrite(dset_id, type_id, H5S_ALL, H5S_ALL, H5P_DEFAULT, data);
+
+    attr_id = H5Acreate2(dset_id, "attr", type_id, space_id, H5P_DEFAULT, H5P_DEFAULT);
+
+    H5Awrite(attr_id, type_id, data);
+
+    H5Sclose(space_id);
+    H5Tclose(type_id);
+    H5Aclose(attr_id);
+    H5Dclose(dset_id);
+    H5Fclose(file_id);
+}

tools/test/h5dump/h5dumpgentest.h

@@ -132,6 +132,8 @@ void gent_float8(void);
 void gent_float6(void);
 void gent_float4(void);
 
+void gent_tintascii(void);
+
 void gent_trefer_attr(void);
 void gent_tattr4_be(void);
 void gent_tno_subset(void);

tools/test/h5gentest.c

@@ -271,6 +271,8 @@ gen_h5dump_files(void)
     gent_float6();
     gent_float4();
 
+    gent_tintascii();
+
     gent_trefer_attr();
     gent_tattr4_be();
     gent_tno_subset();
@@ -463,6 +465,8 @@ gen_h5ls_files(void)
     gent_complex_be();
 #endif
 
+    gent_tintascii();
+
     nerrors += (gent_tdset() < 0 ? 1 : 0);
     gent_dataset_idx();
 

tools/test/h5ls/CMakeTests.cmake

@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ set (LIST_HDF5_TEST_FILES
     tgrp_comments.h5
     tgrpnullspace.h5
     thlink.h5
+    tintascii.h5
     tloop.h5
     tnestedcomp.h5
     tsaf.h5
@@ -118,6 +119,7 @@ set (LIST_OTHER_TEST_FILES
     tgrp_comments.ls
     thlinks-nodangle-1.ls
     thlink-1.ls
+    tintascii.ls
     tloop-1.ls
     tmultifile.ls
     tnestcomp-1.ls
@@ -559,6 +561,9 @@ ADD_H5_TEST (tmultifile RESULT_CODE 0 -w80 thlink.h5 tslink.h5)
 # tests for hard links
 ADD_H5_TEST (thlink-1 RESULT_CODE 0 -w80 thlink.h5)
 
+# test printing characters in ASCII instead of decimal
+ADD_H5_TEST (tintascii RESULT_CODE 0 -w80 -vldrs tintascii.h5)
+
 # tests for compound data types
 ADD_H5_TEST (tcomp-1 RESULT_CODE 0 -w80 -r -d tcompound.h5)
 

tools/test/h5ls/expected/tintascii.ls

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+Opened "tintascii.h5" with sec2 driver.
+/                        Group
+    Location:  1:48
+    Links:     1
+    Modified:  2026-08-03 13:21:52 CDT
+/dset                    Dataset {81/81}
+    Attribute: attr {81}
+        Type:      native signed char
+        Data:
+               "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwx"
+               "yz012345678901234567\000"
+    Location:  1:195
+    Links:     1
+    Modified:  2026-08-03 13:21:52 CDT
+    Storage:   81 logical bytes, 81 allocated bytes, 100.00% utilization
+    Type:      native signed char
+    Data:
+         "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456"
+         "78901234567\000"