diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a8203d6..dbaf30b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -123,8 +123,10 @@
   - `h5rs dump [--json] [-A] [-p] [-d PATH] FILE` prints DDL text that is
     byte-identical to h5dump 1.14.6's on the test files (all layouts and
     chunk indexes, v1/v2 groups, compound, enum, strings, links, named
-    types, attributes), or JSON in the HDF Group's hdf5-json layout (schema
-    in the crate README).
+    types, attributes; null-padded strings show their NULs at any depth),
+    or JSON in the HDF Group's hdf5-json layout (schema in the crate
+    README). Nested compounds print inline and `long double` values as
+    errors (exit 1); both are listed in the README.
   - `h5rs stat FILE` reports h5stat's object, link, rank, layout, filter,
     attribute, raw-data and file-size figures (equal to h5stat's on the test
     files); metadata space is one figure, not broken down.
diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5-tools/README.md b/crates/clawhdf5-tools/README.md
index 8b94845..e045498 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5-tools/README.md
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5-tools/README.md
@@ -72,10 +72,22 @@ groups; integers of both byte orders, floats, compound with an array member,
 enum, fixed and variable-length strings; soft, external and hard links; a
 named datatype; compact and dense attributes) `h5rs dump` and `h5rs dump -A`
 print the same bytes as h5dump 1.14.6 — `dump_matches_h5dump` in
-`tests/h5rs_interop.rs` checks this. Not covered by that test: references,
-opaque, bitfield, variable-length sequences and virtual datasets. Floats print at their own precision (a `float32` 0.1 prints as
-`0.1`), which for some values is more digits than h5dump's `%g`. The `-p`
-block is h5rs's own (it names the chunk index), not h5dump's.
+`tests/h5rs_interop.rs` checks this, and `dump_shows_nul_padding_in_nested_strings`
+that null-padded strings show their NULs (`"a\000b"`) at any depth, as
+h5dump's do. Not covered by those tests: references, opaque, bitfield,
+variable-length sequences and virtual datasets. Known differences from
+h5dump:
+
+- Floats print at their own precision (a `float32` 0.1 prints as `0.1`),
+  which for some values is more digits than h5dump's `%g`.
+- A compound nested in a compound prints inline (`{ 1, 2.5 }`) where
+  h5dump prints it as an indented block, one member per line; only the
+  outer compound is a block.
+- `long double` (x87 80-bit) and other floats wider than 64 bits: the
+  datatype is printed as an `H5T_FLOAT { ... }` block instead of h5dump's
+  one-line description, and each value as `<error: ...>`; `dump` then
+  exits 1. The library cannot convert them (see `docs/known-issues.md`).
+- The `-p` block is h5rs's own (it names the chunk index), not h5dump's.
 
 ### JSON schema
 
diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5-tools/src/dump.rs b/crates/clawhdf5-tools/src/dump.rs
index e743d36..7b1d8e7 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5-tools/src/dump.rs
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5-tools/src/dump.rs
@@ -518,7 +518,9 @@ impl Dump<'_> {
                 errors += 1;
             }
             let comma = if i + 1 < n { "," } else { "" };
-            if let Value::Compound(members) = &v {
+            let esize = dt.type_size() as usize;
+            let eb = raw.get(i * esize..(i + 1) * esize).unwrap_or_default();
+            if let (Value::Compound(_), Datatype::Compound { members, .. }) = (&v, dt) {
                 // h5dump prints each compound element as a block, one
                 // member per line.
                 if !line.is_empty() {
@@ -526,25 +528,22 @@ impl Dump<'_> {
                     line.clear();
                 }
                 writeln!(out.o, "{pad}({}): {{", index_text(i as u64, &dims))?;
-                for (k, (_, m)) in members.iter().enumerate() {
+                for (k, m) in members.iter().enumerate() {
                     let sep = if k + 1 < members.len() { "," } else { "" };
-                    writeln!(out.o, "{pad}      {}{sep}", value::text(m, &paths))?;
+                    let mb = usize::try_from(m.byte_offset)
+                        .ok()
+                        .and_then(|o| eb.get(o..))
+                        .unwrap_or_default();
+                    let t = ddl_text(&dec, &m.datatype, mb, &paths, 1);
+                    writeln!(out.o, "{pad}      {t}{sep}")?;
                 }
                 writeln!(out.o, "{pad}   }}{comma}")?;
                 continue;
             }
-            let t = match dt {
-                // h5dump shows a null-padded string's padding.
-                Datatype::String {
-                    padding: StringPadding::NullPad,
-                    size,
-                    ..
-                } if !matches!(v, Value::Error(_)) => {
-                    let sz = *size as usize;
-                    let b = raw.get(i * sz..(i + 1) * sz).unwrap_or_default();
-                    format!("{}{comma}", value::quote_bytes(b))
-                }
-                _ => format!("{}{comma}", value::text(&v, &paths)),
+            let t = if matches!(v, Value::Error(_)) {
+                format!("{}{comma}", value::text(&v, &paths))
+            } else {
+                format!("{}{comma}", ddl_text(&dec, dt, eb, &paths, 0))
             };
             let row_start = i % last == 0;
             if row_start || line.len() + 1 + t.len() > 77 {
@@ -863,6 +862,65 @@ const MAX_DDL_DEPTH: usize = 256;
 const JSON_BYTES_PER_ELEMENT: u64 = 64;
 
 /// `(i,j,k)` index of flat element `i` of an array with `dims`.
+/// One element as h5dump prints it in a DATA block: [`value::text`], except
+/// that a null-padded fixed string shows its padding (every byte, NULs as
+/// `\000`) at any depth, in compound members and array elements too.
+fn ddl_text(
+    dec: &Decoder,
+    dt: &Datatype,
+    b: &[u8],
+    paths: &dyn Fn(u64) -> Option<String>,
+    depth: u32,
+) -> String {
+    let err = || value::text(&Value::Error("short element".into()), paths);
+    if depth > 32 {
+        return value::text(&dec.decode(dt, b, depth), paths);
+    }
+    match dt {
+        Datatype::String {
+            padding: StringPadding::NullPad,
+            size,
+            ..
+        } => match b.get(..*size as usize) {
+            Some(s) => value::quote_bytes(s),
+            None => err(),
+        },
+        Datatype::Compound { members, .. } => format!(
+            "{{ {} }}",
+            members
+                .iter()
+                .map(
+                    |m| match usize::try_from(m.byte_offset).ok().and_then(|o| b.get(o..)) {
+                        Some(mb) => ddl_text(dec, &m.datatype, mb, paths, depth + 1),
+                        None => err(),
+                    }
+                )
+                .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+                .join(", ")
+        ),
+        Datatype::Array {
+            base_type,
+            dimensions,
+        } => {
+            let bs = base_type.type_size() as usize;
+            let n = dimensions
+                .iter()
+                .try_fold(1usize, |a, &d| a.checked_mul(d as usize));
+            match n.filter(|n| n.checked_mul(bs).is_some_and(|t| t <= b.len())) {
+                Some(n) => format!(
+                    "[ {} ]",
+                    (0..n)
+                        .map(|k| ddl_text(dec, base_type, &b[k * bs..], paths, depth + 1))
+                        .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+                        .join(", ")
+                ),
+                None => value::text(&dec.decode(dt, b, depth), paths),
+            }
+        }
+        _ => value::text(&dec.decode(dt, b, depth), paths),
+    }
+}
+
 fn index_text(mut i: u64, dims: &[u64]) -> String {
     let mut idx = vec![0u64; dims.len()];
     for (k, &d) in dims.iter().enumerate().rev() {
diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5-tools/tests/gen_files.py b/crates/clawhdf5-tools/tests/gen_files.py
index bc18574..8bc4e1e 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5-tools/tests/gen_files.py
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5-tools/tests/gen_files.py
@@ -149,6 +149,15 @@ for name, t in (("target1.h5", "/a"), ("target2.h5", "/b")):
         f["s"] = h5py.SoftLink(t)
         f["rel"] = h5py.SoftLink("a")
 
+# Null-padded fixed strings with NULs, at the top level and nested in a
+# compound and in an array member.
+with h5py.File(os.path.join(out, "nulstrings.h5"), "w") as f:
+    f["top"] = np.array([b"", b"ab", b"a\x00b"], dtype="S3")
+    f["cmp"] = np.array(
+        [(b"", 1), (b"ab", 2), (b"a\x00b", 3)], dtype=[("s", "S3"), ("i", "i4")]
+    )
+    f["arr"] = np.array([([b"", b"x"],)], dtype=[("v", "(2,)S2")])
+
 with h5py.File(os.path.join(out, "userblock.h5"), "w", userblock_size=1024) as f:
     f["d"] = np.arange(10)
 
diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5-tools/tests/h5rs_interop.rs b/crates/clawhdf5-tools/tests/h5rs_interop.rs
index c325533..1669beb 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5-tools/tests/h5rs_interop.rs
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5-tools/tests/h5rs_interop.rs
@@ -280,6 +280,28 @@ fn dump_matches_h5dump() {
     );
 }
 
+/// A null-padded fixed string prints every byte (NULs as `\000`), as
+/// h5dump prints it, also inside a compound and an array member.
+#[test]
+fn dump_shows_nul_padding_in_nested_strings() {
+    let Some(f) = generate() else { return };
+    let p = f.p("nulstrings.h5");
+    let ours = stdout(&h5rs(&["dump", &p]));
+    for want in [
+        r#"(0): "\000\000\000", "ab\000", "a\000b""#,
+        r#""\000\000\000","#,
+        r#""a\000b","#,
+        r#"[ "\000\000", "x\000" ]"#,
+    ] {
+        assert!(ours.contains(want), "no {want} in\n{ours}");
+    }
+    if missing(tool_available("h5dump"), "h5dump") {
+        return;
+    }
+    let reference = run("h5dump", &[&p]);
+    assert_eq!(ours, stdout(&reference).replacen(&p, "nulstrings.h5", 1));
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn dump_json_values_match_h5py() {
     let Some(f) = generate() else { return };