diff -crB gdal-1.8.0.dist/frmts/hfa/hfadataset.cpp gdal-1.8.0.new/frmts/hfa/hfadataset.cpp
*** gdal-1.8.0.dist/frmts/hfa/hfadataset.cpp	2010-11-08 04:28:48.000000000 +1000
--- gdal-1.8.0/frmts/hfa/hfadataset.cpp	2010-12-01 11:06:54.572457000 +1000
***************
*** 355,360 ****
--- 355,362 ----
      void        ReadAuxMetadata();
      void        ReadHistogramMetadata();
      void        EstablishOverviews();
+     CPLErr WriteNamedRAT( const char *pszName, const GDALRasterAttributeTable *poRAT );
+ 
  
      GDALRasterAttributeTable* ReadNamedRAT( const char *pszName );
  
***************
*** 1463,1469 ****
  CPLErr HFARasterBand::SetDefaultRAT( const GDALRasterAttributeTable * poRAT )
  
  {
!     return GDALPamRasterBand::SetDefaultRAT( poRAT );
  }
  
  /************************************************************************/
--- 1465,1471 ----
  CPLErr HFARasterBand::SetDefaultRAT( const GDALRasterAttributeTable * poRAT )
  
  {
!     return WriteNamedRAT( "Descriptor_Table", poRAT );
  }
  
  /************************************************************************/
***************
*** 1660,1665 ****
--- 1662,1835 ----
  }
  
  /************************************************************************/
+ /*                            WriteNamedRAT()                            */
+ /************************************************************************/
+  
+ CPLErr HFARasterBand::WriteNamedRAT( const char *pszName, const GDALRasterAttributeTable *poRAT )
+ {
+ /* -------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+ /*      Find the requested table.                                       */
+ /* -------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+ 
+   HFAEntry * poDT = hHFA->papoBand[nBand-1]->poNode->GetNamedChild( "Descriptor_Table" );
+   if( poDT == NULL || !EQUAL(poDT->GetType(),"Edsc_Table") )
+     poDT = new HFAEntry( hHFA->papoBand[nBand-1]->psInfo, 
+ 			 "Descriptor_Table", "Edsc_Table",
+ 			 hHFA->papoBand[nBand-1]->poNode );
+   
+ 
+    
+   
+     int nRowCount = poRAT->GetRowCount();
+ 
+     poDT->SetIntField( "numrows", nRowCount );
+     /* Check if binning is set on this RAT */    
+     double dfBinSize, dfRow0Min;
+     if(poRAT->GetLinearBinning( &dfRow0Min, &dfBinSize)) 
+     {
+         /* then it should have an Edsc_BinFunction */
+         HFAEntry *poBinFunction = poDT->GetNamedChild( "#Bin_Function#" );
+         if( poBinFunction == NULL || !EQUAL(poBinFunction->GetType(),"Edsc_BinFunction") )
+             poBinFunction = new HFAEntry( hHFA->papoBand[nBand-1]->psInfo,
+                                           "#Bin_Function#", "Edsc_BinFunction",
+                                           poDT );
+        
+         poBinFunction->SetStringField("binFunction", "direct");
+         poBinFunction->SetDoubleField("minLimit",dfRow0Min);
+         poBinFunction->SetDoubleField("maxLimit",(nRowCount -1)*dfBinSize+dfRow0Min);
+         poBinFunction->SetIntField("numBins",nRowCount);
+     }
+  
+ /* -------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+ /*      Loop through each column in the RAT                             */
+ /* -------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+     for(int col = 0; col < poRAT->GetColumnCount(); col++)
+     {
+         const char *pszName = NULL;
+  
+             if( poRAT->GetUsageOfCol(col) == GFU_Red )
+             {
+                 pszName = "Red";
+             }
+             else if( poRAT->GetUsageOfCol(col) == GFU_Green )
+             {
+                 pszName = "Green";
+             }
+         else if( poRAT->GetUsageOfCol(col) == GFU_Blue )
+         {
+             pszName = "Blue";
+         }
+             else if( poRAT->GetUsageOfCol(col) == GFU_Alpha )
+             {
+                 pszName = "Alpha";
+             }
+             else if( poRAT->GetUsageOfCol(col) == GFU_PixelCount )
+             {
+                 pszName = "Histogram";
+             }
+             else if( poRAT->GetUsageOfCol(col) == GFU_Name )
+             {
+                 pszName = "Class_Names";
+             }
+             else
+             {
+                 pszName = poRAT->GetNameOfCol(col);
+             }
+             
+ /* -------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+ /*      Check to see if a column with pszName exists and create if      */
+ /*      if necessary.                                                   */
+ /* -------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+ 
+ 	    HFAEntry        *poColumn;
+ 	    poColumn = poDT->GetNamedChild(pszName);
+ 	    
+ 	    if(poColumn == NULL || !EQUAL(poColumn->GetType(),"Edsc_Column"))
+ 	    poColumn = new HFAEntry( hHFA->papoBand[nBand-1]->psInfo,
+                                                pszName, "Edsc_Column",
+                                                poDT );
+ 
+ 
+         poColumn->SetIntField( "numRows", nRowCount );
+    
+         if( poRAT->GetTypeOfCol(col) == GFT_Real )
+         {
+             int nOffset = HFAAllocateSpace( hHFA->papoBand[nBand-1]->psInfo,
+                                             nRowCount * sizeof(double) );
+             poColumn->SetIntField( "columnDataPtr", nOffset );
+             poColumn->SetStringField( "dataType", "real" );
+             
+             double *padfColData = (double*)CPLCalloc( nRowCount, sizeof(double) );
+             for( int i = 0; i < nRowCount; i++)
+             {
+                 padfColData[i] = poRAT->GetValueAsDouble(i,col);
+             }
+ #ifdef CPL_MSB
+             GDALSwapWords( padfColData, 8, nRowCount, 8 );
+ #endif
+             VSIFSeekL( hHFA->fp, nOffset, SEEK_SET );
+             VSIFWriteL( padfColData, nRowCount, sizeof(double), hHFA->fp );
+             CPLFree( padfColData );
+         }
+         else if( poRAT->GetTypeOfCol(col) == GFT_String )
+         {
+             unsigned int nMaxNumChars = 0;
+             /* find the length of the longest string */
+             for( int i = 0; i < nRowCount; i++)
+             {
+                 if(nMaxNumChars < strlen(poRAT->GetValueAsString(i,col)))
+                 {
+                     nMaxNumChars = strlen(poRAT->GetValueAsString(i,col));
+                 }
+             }
+        
+             int nOffset = HFAAllocateSpace( hHFA->papoBand[nBand-1]->psInfo,
+                                             (nRowCount+1) * nMaxNumChars );
+             poColumn->SetIntField( "columnDataPtr", nOffset );
+             poColumn->SetStringField( "dataType", "string" );
+             poColumn->SetIntField( "maxNumChars", nMaxNumChars );
+        
+             char *pachColData = (char*)CPLCalloc(nRowCount+1,nMaxNumChars);
+             for( int i = 0; i < nRowCount; i++)
+             {
+                 strcpy(&pachColData[nMaxNumChars*i],poRAT->GetValueAsString(i,col));
+             }
+             VSIFSeekL( hHFA->fp, nOffset, SEEK_SET );
+             VSIFWriteL( pachColData, nRowCount, nMaxNumChars, hHFA->fp );
+             CPLFree( pachColData );
+         }
+         else if (poRAT->GetTypeOfCol(col) == GFT_Integer)
+         {
+             int nOffset = HFAAllocateSpace( hHFA->papoBand[nBand-1]->psInfo,
+                                             nRowCount * sizeof(GInt32) );
+             poColumn->SetIntField( "columnDataPtr", nOffset );
+             poColumn->SetStringField( "dataType", "integer" );
+             
+             GInt32 *panColData = (GInt32*)CPLCalloc(nRowCount, sizeof(GInt32));
+             for( int i = 0; i < nRowCount; i++)
+             {
+                 panColData[i] = poRAT->GetValueAsInt(i,col);
+             }
+ #ifdef CPL_MSB
+            GDALSwapWords( panColData, 4, nRowCount, 4 );
+ #endif
+            VSIFSeekL( hHFA->fp, nOffset, SEEK_SET );
+            VSIFWriteL( panColData, nRowCount, sizeof(GInt32), hHFA->fp );
+         }
+         else
+         {
+             /* can't deal with any of the others yet */
+             CPLError( CE_Failure, CPLE_NotSupported,
+                     "Writing this data type in a column is not supported for this Raster Attribute Table.");
+         }
+     }
+    
+     return CE_None;  
+ }
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ /************************************************************************/
  /* ==================================================================== */
  /*                            HFADataset                               */
  /* ==================================================================== */