Routines (alphabetical) > Routines: H > HDF5 Routines > H5A_READ

# H5A_READ

The H5A_READ function reads the data within an attribute, converting from the HDF5 file datatype into the HDF5 memory datatype, and finally into the corresponding IDL datatype.

## Syntax

Result = H5A_READ(Attribute_id [, Datatype_id])

## Return Value

Returns an IDL variable containing all of the attribute’s data. For details on different return types and storage mechanisms, see the H5D_READ function.

## Arguments

### Attribute_id

A long integer containing the identifier of the attribute to read.

### Datatype_id

A long integer containing the identifier of the memory datatype to read. This argument is used only when reading part of a compound attribute. If Datatype_id is not supplied, the entire attribute is read.

## Keywords

None

## Version History

5.6 | Introduced
6.3 | Added the Datatype_id argument.

## See Also

H5A_OPEN_NAME, H5A_OPEN_IDX, H5A_CLOSE, H5D_READ