title: Open .h5 file in Python
body: <p>I am trying to read a h5 file in Python.</p>
  
  <p>The file can be found in <a href="https://github.com/yhilpisch/py4fi/tree/master/ipython/source" rel="noreferrer">this link</a> and it is called 'vstoxx_data_31032014.h5'. The code I am trying to run is from the book Python for Finance, by Yves Hilpisch and goes like this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>import pandas as pd     
  h5 = pd.HDFStore('path.../vstoxx_data_31032014.h5', 'r')
  futures_data = h5['futures_data']  # VSTOXX futures data
  options_data = h5['options_data']  # VSTOXX call option data
  h5.close()
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I am getting the following error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>h5 = pd.HDFStore('path.../vstoxx_data_31032014.h5', 'r')
  Traceback (most recent call last):
  
    File "&lt;ipython-input-692-dc4e79ec8f8b&gt;", line 1, in &lt;module&gt;
      h5 = pd.HDFStore('path.../vstoxx_data_31032014.h5', 'r')
  
    File "C:\Users\Laura\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\pandas\io\pytables.py", line 466, in __init__
      self.open(mode=mode, **kwargs)
  
    File "C:\Users\Laura\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\pandas\io\pytables.py", line 637, in open
      raise IOError(str(e))
  
  OSError: HDF5 error back trace
  
    File "C:\aroot\work\hdf5-1.8.15-patch1\src\H5F.c", line 604, in H5Fopen
      unable to open file
    File "C:\aroot\work\hdf5-1.8.15-patch1\src\H5Fint.c", line 1085, in H5F_open
      unable to read superblock
    File "C:\aroot\work\hdf5-1.8.15-patch1\src\H5Fsuper.c", line 277, in H5F_super_read
      file signature not found
  
  End of HDF5 error back trace
  
  Unable to open/create file 'path.../vstoxx_data_31032014.h5'
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>where I have substituted my working directory for 'path.../' for the purpose of this question.</p>
  
  <p>Does anyone know where this error might be coming from?</p>