Workaround for the removed HDFTOOL function in MATLAB

MathWorks has removed the hdftool function which was a graphical user interface (GUI) based import tool for importing certain parts of hierarchical data format (HDF). Here is a workaround for the removed feature.

filename = 'naivasha.hdf'

hdftool(filename)

Error using hdftool
HDFTOOL has been removed. Use HDFREAD instead to
programmatically import data from HDF4 or HDF-EOS
files.

MathWorks Support helped me develop a workaround for the function, unfortunately without explaining why the function was actually removed. Instead of hdftool it is recommended to use hdfinfo to find about the structure of the HDF file.

info = hdfinfo(filename)

which yields

info =
   
   struct with fields:

     Filename: 'naivasha.hdf'
   Attributes: [1×10 struct]
       Vgroup: [1×4 struct]
          SDS: [1×1 struct]

We can then use the series of commands

info.Vgroup
info.Vgroup.Name 
info.Vgroup(2).Vgroup.Name
info.Vgroup(2).Vgroup(1).Vgroup.Name
info.Vgroup(2).Vgroup(1).Vgroup(2).SDS.Name

to dive into the hierarchical structure of the file to find out the names of the data fields that we want to import. We then use the command hdfread to access the image data. The vnir_Band3n, vnir_Band2, and vnir_Band1 typically contain much information about lithology (including soils), vegetation, and surface water on the Earth’s surface. These bands are therefore usually combined into 24-bit RGB images. We first read the data

I1 = hdfread(filename,'VNIR_Band3N',...
   'Fields','ImageData');
I2 = hdfread(filename,'VNIR_Band2',...
   'Fields','ImageData');
I3 = hdfread(filename,'VNIR_Band1',...
   'Fields','ImageData');

naivasha_rgb = cat(3,I1,I2,I3);

imshow(naivasha_rgb)