;
    hssize_t            nblocks;
    herr_t		ret;		/* Generic return value		*/

    /* Output message about test being performed */
    MESSAGE(5, ("Testing Dataspace Encoding and Decoding\n"));

    /*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     * Test encoding and decoding of simple dataspace and hyperslab selection.
     *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     */
    sid1 = H5Screate_simple(SPACE1_RANK, dims1, NULL);
    CHECK(sid1, FAIL, "H5Screate_simple");

    ret = H5Sselect_hyperslab(sid1, H5S_SELECT_SET, start, stride, count, block);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Sselect_hyperslab");

    /* Encode simple data space in a buffer */
    ret = H5Sencode(sid1, NULL, &sbuf_size);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Sencode");

    if(sbuf_size>0)
        sbuf = (unsigned char*)HDcalloc((size_t)1, sbuf_size);

    /* Try decoding bogus buffer */
    H5E_BEGIN_TRY {
	ret = H5Sdecode(sbuf);
    } H5E_END_TRY;
    VERIFY(ret, FAIL, "H5Sdecode");

    ret = H5Sencode(sid1, sbuf, &sbuf_size);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Sencode");

    /* Decode from the dataspace buffer and return an object handle */
    decoded_sid1=H5Sdecode(sbuf);
    CHECK(decoded_sid1, FAIL, "H5Sdecode");

    /* Verify the decoded dataspace */
    n = H5Sget_simple_extent_npoints(decoded_sid1);
    CHECK(n, FAIL, "H5Sget_simple_extent_npoints");
    VERIFY(n, SPACE1_DIM1 * SPACE1_DIM2 * SPACE1_DIM3,
	   "H5Sget_simple_extent_npoints");

    rank = H5Sget_simple_extent_ndims(decoded_sid1);
    CHECK(rank, FAIL, "H5Sget_simple_extent_ndims");
    VERIFY(rank, SPACE1_RANK, "H5Sget_simple_extent_ndims");

    rank = H5Sget_simple_extent_dims(decoded_sid1, tdims, NULL);
    CHECK(rank, FAIL, "H5Sget_simple_extent_dims");
    VERIFY(HDmemcmp(tdims, dims1, SPACE1_RANK * sizeof(hsize_t)), 0,
	   "H5Sget_simple_extent_dims");

    /* Verify hyperslabe selection */
    sel_type = H5Sget_select_type(decoded_sid1);
    VERIFY(sel_type, H5S_SEL_HYPERSLABS, "H5Sget_select_type");

    nblocks = H5Sget_select_hyper_nblocks(decoded_sid1);
    VERIFY(nblocks, 2*2*2, "H5Sget_select_hyper_nblocks");

    ret = H5Sclose(sid1);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Sclose");

    ret = H5Sclose(decoded_sid1);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Sclose");

    /*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     * Test encoding and decoding of null dataspace.
     *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     */
    sid2 = H5Screate(H5S_NULL);
    CHECK(sid2, FAIL, "H5Screate");

    /* Encode null data space in a buffer */
    ret = H5Sencode(sid2, NULL, &null_size);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Sencode");

    if(null_size>0)
        null_sbuf = (unsigned char*)HDcalloc((size_t)1, null_size);

    ret = H5Sencode(sid2, null_sbuf, &null_size);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Sencode");

    /* Decode from the dataspace buffer and return an object handle */
    decoded_sid2=H5Sdecode(null_sbuf);
    CHECK(decoded_sid2, FAIL, "H5Sdecode");

    /* Verify decoded dataspace */
    space_type = H5Sget_simple_extent_type(decoded_sid2);
    VERIFY(space_type, H5S_NULL, "H5Sget_simple_extent_type");

    ret = H5Sclose(sid2);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Sclose");

    ret = H5Sclose(decoded_sid2);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Sclose");

    /*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     * Test encoding and decoding of scalar dataspace.
     *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     */
    /* Create scalar dataspace */
    sid3 = H5Screate(H5S_SCALAR);
    CHECK(sid3, FAIL, "H5Screate_simple");

    /* Encode scalar data space in a buffer */
    ret = H5Sencode(sid3, NULL, &scalar_size);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Sencode");

    if(scalar_size>0)
        scalar_buf = (unsigned char*)HDcalloc((size_t)1, scalar_size);

    ret = H5Sencode(sid3, scalar_buf, &scalar_size);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Sencode");

    /* Decode from the dataspace buffer and return an object handle */
    decoded_sid3=H5Sdecode(scalar_buf);
    CHECK(decoded_sid3, FAIL, "H5Sdecode");

    /* Verify extent type */
    space_type = H5Sget_simple_extent_type(decoded_sid3);
    VERIFY(space_type, H5S_SCALAR, "H5Sget_simple_extent_type");

    /* Verify decoded dataspace */
    n = H5Sget_simple_extent_npoints(decoded_sid3);
    CHECK(n, FAIL, "H5Sget_simple_extent_npoints");
    VERIFY(n, 1, "H5Sget_simple_extent_npoints");

    rank = H5Sget_simple_extent_ndims(decoded_sid3);
    CHECK(rank, FAIL, "H5Sget_simple_extent_ndims");
    VERIFY(rank, 0, "H5Sget_simple_extent_ndims");

    ret = H5Sclose(sid3);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Sclose");

    ret = H5Sclose(decoded_sid3);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Sclose");

    HDfree(sbuf);
    HDfree(null_sbuf);
    HDfree(scalar_buf);
}				/* test_h5s_encode() */

/****************************************************************
**
**  test_h5s_scalar_write(): Test scalar H5S (dataspace) writing code.
**
****************************************************************/
static void
test_h5s_scalar_write(void)
{
    hid_t		fid1;		/* HDF5 File IDs		*/
    hid_t		dataset;	/* Dataset ID			*/
    hid_t		sid1;	        /* Dataspace ID			*/
    int		        rank;		/* Logical rank of dataspace	*/
    hsize_t		tdims[4];	/* Dimension array to test with */
    hssize_t		n;	 	/* Number of dataspace elements */
    H5S_class_t         ext_type;       /* Extent type */
    herr_t		ret;		/* Generic return value		*/

    /* Output message about test being performed */
    MESSAGE(5, ("Testing Scalar Dataspace Manipulation during Writing\n"));

    /* Create file */
    fid1 = H5Fcreate(DATAFILE, H5F_ACC_TRUNC, H5P_DEFAULT, H5P_DEFAULT);
    CHECK(fid1, FAIL, "H5Fcreate");

    /* Verify a non-zero rank fails with a NULL dimension. */
    H5E_BEGIN_TRY {
        sid1 = H5Screate_simple(SPACE1_RANK, NULL, NULL);
    } H5E_END_TRY
    VERIFY(sid1, FAIL, "H5Screate_simple");

    /* Create scalar dataspace */
    sid1 = H5Screate_simple(SPACE3_RANK, NULL, NULL);
    CHECK(sid1, FAIL, "H5Screate_simple");

    n = H5Sget_simple_extent_npoints(sid1);
    CHECK(n, FAIL, "H5Sget_simple_extent_npoints");
    VERIFY(n, 1, "H5Sget_simple_extent_npoints");

    rank = H5Sget_simple_extent_ndims(sid1);
    CHECK(rank, FAIL, "H5Sget_simple_extent_ndims");
    VERIFY(rank, SPACE3_RANK, "H5Sget_simple_extent_ndims");

    rank = H5Sget_simple_extent_dims(sid1, tdims, NULL);
    VERIFY(rank, 0, "H5Sget_simple_extent_dims");

    /* Verify extent type */
    ext_type = H5Sget_simple_extent_type(sid1);
    VERIFY(ext_type, H5S_SCALAR, "H5Sget_simple_extent_type");

    /* Create a dataset */
    dataset = H5Dcreate2(fid1, "Dataset1", H5T_NATIVE_UINT, sid1, H5P_DEFAULT, H5P_DEFAULT, H5P_DEFAULT);
    CHECK(dataset, FAIL, "H5Dcreate2");

    ret = H5Dwrite(dataset, H5T_NATIVE_UINT, H5S_ALL, H5S_ALL, H5P_DEFAULT, &space3_data);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Dwrite");

    /* Close Dataset */
    ret = H5Dclose(dataset);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Dclose");

    /* Close scalar dataspace */
    ret = H5Sclose(sid1);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Sclose");

    /* Close file */
    ret = H5Fclose(fid1);
    CHECK(ret, FAIL, "H5Fclose");
}				/* test_h5s_scalar_write() */

/****************************************************************
**
**  test_h5s_scalar_read(): Test scalar H5S (dataspace) reading code.
**
****************************************************************/
static void
test_h5s_scalar_read(void)
{
    hid_t		fid1;		/* HDF5 File IDs		*/
    hid_t		dataset;	/* Dataset ID			*/
    hid_t		sid1;	    	/* Dataspace ID			*/
    int		        rank;		/* Logical rank of dataspace	*/
    hsize_t		tdims[4];	/* Dimension array to test with */
    hssize_t		n;	 	/* Number of dataspace elements */
    unsigned      	rdata;      	/* Scalar data read in 		*/
    herr_t		ret;		/* Generic return value		*/
    H5S_class_t ext_type;               /* Extent type */

    /* Output message about test being performed */
    MESSAGE(5, ("Testing Scalar Dataspace Manipulation during Reading\n"));

    /* Create file */
    fid1 = H5Fopen(DATAFILE, H5F_ACC_RDWR, H5P_DEFAULT);
    CHECK(fid1, FAIL, "H5Fopen");

    /* Create a dataset */
    dataset = H5Dopen2(fid1, "Dataset1", H5P_DEFAULT);
    CHECK(dataset, FAIL, "H5Dopen2");

    sid1 = H5Dget_space(dataset);
    CHECK(sid1, FAIL, "H5Dget_space");

    n = H5Sget_simple_extent_npoints(sid1);
    CHECK(n, FAIL, "H5Sget_simple_extent_npoints");
    VERIFY(n, 1, "H5Sget_simple_extent_npoints");

    rank = H5Sget_simple_extent_ndims(sid1);
    CHECK(rank, FAIL, "H5Sget_simple_extent_ndims");
    VERIFY(rank, SPACE3_RANK, "H5Sget_simple_exte