diff --git a/src/lib/ranges/yrange.cc b/src/lib/ranges/yrange.cc
index 94b981f..9b4be48 100644
--- a/src/lib/ranges/yrange.cc
+++ b/src/lib/ranges/yrange.cc
@@ -700,6 +700,16 @@ namespace CNORXZ
 
     Sptr<YRange> RangeCast<YRange>::func(const RangePtr& r)
     {
+	if(r->stype() == "Y"){
+	    return std::dynamic_pointer_cast<YRange>(r);
+	}
+	if(r->stype() == "M" or r->dim() > 1){
+	    Vector<RangePtr> rv(r->dim());
+	    for(SizeT i = 0; i != rv.size(); ++i){
+		rv[i] = r->sub(i);
+	    }
+	    return std::dynamic_pointer_cast<YRange>( YRangeFactory(rv).create() );
+	}
 	return std::dynamic_pointer_cast<YRange>( YRangeFactory({r}).create() );
     }
 
diff --git a/src/opt/hdf5/include/h5_dataset.h b/src/opt/hdf5/include/h5_dataset.h
index bfd483b..aeeb24b 100644
--- a/src/opt/hdf5/include/h5_dataset.h
+++ b/src/opt/hdf5/include/h5_dataset.h
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ namespace CNORXZ
 
 	    /** Read the dataset using range of given index.
 		The index position is ignored.
-		@param idx Index specifying the range type.
+		@param idx Index specifying the range.
 		@return Array containing the dataset values.
 	     */
 	    template <class I, typename M>
diff --git a/src/opt/hdf5_mpi/include/h5_rdataset.cc.h b/src/opt/hdf5_mpi/include/h5_rdataset.cc.h
index 3365e6c..08bd7ce 100644
--- a/src/opt/hdf5_mpi/include/h5_rdataset.cc.h
+++ b/src/opt/hdf5_mpi/include/h5_rdataset.cc.h
@@ -45,6 +45,20 @@ namespace CNORXZ
 	    return out;
 	}
 	
+	template <typename T>
+	template <class I, class K>
+	mpi::RArray<T> SRDataset<T>::read(const mpi::RIndex<I,K>& idx) const
+	{
+	    CXZ_ASSERT(idx.dim() == mFileRange->dim(), "got index of inconsistent dimension, got"
+		       << idx.dim() << ", expected " << mFileRange->dim());
+	    auto outrange = rangeCast<mpi::RRange<YRange,YRange>>( idx.range() );
+	    CXZ_ASSERT(outrange->size() == mFileRange->size(),
+		       "got index of range of inconsistent size, expected "
+		       << mFileRange->size() << ", got " << outrange->size());
+	    mpi::RArray<T> out(outrange);
+	    readbase(out.data(), outrange, nullptr);
+	    return out;
+	}
     }
 }
     
diff --git a/src/opt/hdf5_mpi/include/h5_rdataset.h b/src/opt/hdf5_mpi/include/h5_rdataset.h
index 3113e8e..bced81e 100644
--- a/src/opt/hdf5_mpi/include/h5_rdataset.h
+++ b/src/opt/hdf5_mpi/include/h5_rdataset.h
@@ -75,6 +75,13 @@ namespace CNORXZ
 		@return Array containing the dataset values.
 	     */
 	    mpi::RArray<T> read(const RangePtr& geom) const;
+
+	    /** Read the dataset.
+		@param idx Index specifying the range.
+		@return RArray containing the dataset values.
+	     */
+	    template <class I, class K>
+	    mpi::RArray<T> read(const mpi::RIndex<I,K>& idx) const;
 	};	
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/opt/hdf5_mpi/tests/h5_mpi_basic_unit_test.cc b/src/opt/hdf5_mpi/tests/h5_mpi_basic_unit_test.cc
index 3ce83dd..ee2ba44 100644
--- a/src/opt/hdf5_mpi/tests/h5_mpi_basic_unit_test.cc
+++ b/src/opt/hdf5_mpi/tests/h5_mpi_basic_unit_test.cc
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ namespace
     using namespace CNORXZ::mpi;
     using Test::Numbers;
 
-    typedef MIndex<CIndex,CIndex,CIndex,CIndex> C4;
+    typedef UIndex<SizeT> UI;
+    typedef MIndex<UI,UI,UI,UI> U4;
     
     class RDataset_test : public ::testing::Test
     {
@@ -111,6 +112,22 @@ namespace
 	auto i = std::make_shared<CIndex>(mLR2);
 	i->ifor( operation( [](Double a, Double b) { EXPECT_EQ(a,b); }, mA2(i), a(i) ), NoF{} )();
     }
+
+    TEST_F(RDataset_test, ReadExplicit)
+    {
+	RFile h5f(mFilename, false);
+	//auto dat = h5f.open().getGroup("dir")->open().get("dat", [](const String& name, const ContentBase* par, auto& i)
+	//{ (*i)->close(); auto dset = std::make_shared<SRDataset<Double>>(name, par); *i = dset;
+	//    return dset; } );
+	auto dat = getRDataset<Double>(h5f.open().getGroup("dir")->open(),"dat");
+	RIndex<U4,U4> idx(mA2.range());
+	
+	auto a = dat->read(idx);
+	h5f.close();
+
+	auto i = std::make_shared<CIndex>(mLR2);
+	i->ifor( operation( [](Double a, Double b) { EXPECT_EQ(a,b); }, mA2(i), a(i) ), NoF{} )();
+    }
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv)