diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index 324e09f..8feea10 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -396,6 +396,7 @@ src/h5core/h5_hdf5_private.h -text
 src/h5core/h5_hsearch.c -text
 src/h5core/h5_hsearch_private.h -text
 src/h5core/h5_maps.c -text
+src/h5core/h5_model.c -text
 src/h5core/h5_mpi.c -text
 src/h5core/h5_mpi_private.h -text
 src/h5core/h5_openclose.c -text
diff --git a/src/h5core/h5_model.c b/src/h5core/h5_model.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e721f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/h5core/h5_model.c
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+
+h5_size_t
+h5_get_num_steps(
+
+	return h5_get_num_hdf5_groups_matching_prefix (
+		f,
+		f->step_gid,
+		f->prefix_step_name);