TableDesc.h

Classes

TableDesc -- Define the structure of an AIPS++ table (full description)

class TableDesc

Types

enum TDOption

Old = 1
New
NewNoReplace
Scratch
Update
Delete

Interface

Public Members
TableDesc()
TableDesc (const String& type, TDOption = Old)
TableDesc (const String& type, const String& version, TDOption = Old)
TableDesc (const String& type, const String& version, const TabPath&, TDOption = Old)
TableDesc (const TableDesc&, const String& type, const String& version, TDOption, Bool copyColumns=True)
TableDesc (const TableDesc&, const String& type, const String& version, const TabPath&, TDOption, Bool copyColumns=True)
TableDesc (const TableDesc&, TDOption = Scratch)
~TableDesc()
static Bool isReadable (const String& tableDescName)
const ColumnDescSet& columnDescSet() const
void add (const TableDesc& other, Bool addKeywordSet = True)
TableRecord& rwKeywordSet()
const TableRecord& keywordSet() const
const TableRecord& privateKeywordSet() const
ColumnDesc& addColumn (const ColumnDesc&)
ColumnDesc& addColumn (const ColumnDesc&, const String& newname)
void removeColumn (const String& name)
void renameColumn (const String& newname, const String& oldname)
uInt ncolumn() const
Bool isColumn (const String& name) const
Vector<String> columnNames() const
const ColumnDesc& columnDesc (const String& name) const
const ColumnDesc& operator[] (const String& name) const
const ColumnDesc& columnDesc (uInt index) const
const ColumnDesc& operator[] (uInt index) const
ColumnDesc& rwColumnDesc (const String& name)
ColumnDesc& rwColumnDesc (uInt index)
const String& comment() const
String& comment()
void show() const
void show (ostream& os) const
const String& getType() const
const String& version() const
void defineHypercolumn (const String& hypercolumnName, uInt ndim, const Vector<String>& dataColumnNames)
void defineHypercolumn (const String& hypercolumnName, uInt ndim, const Vector<String>& dataColumnNames, const Vector<String>& coordColumnNames)
void defineHypercolumn (const String& hypercolumnName, uInt ndim, const Vector<String>& dataColumnNames, const Vector<String>& coordColumnNames, const Vector<String>& idColumnNames)
Bool isHypercolumn (const String& hypercolumnName) const
Vector<String> hypercolumnNames() const
uInt hypercolumnDesc (const String& hypercolumnName, Vector<String>& dataColumnNames, Vector<String>& coordColumnNames, Vector<String>& idColumnNames) const
void adjustHypercolumns (const SimpleOrderedMap<String, String>& old2new, Bool keepUnknown = False)
void removeIDhypercolumns (const Vector<String>& hcNames)
void checkSubTableDesc() const
Private Members
TableDesc& operator= (const TableDesc&)
void init (const TabPath&)
void copy (const TableDesc&, const TabPath&, Bool copyColumns)
void throwHypercolumn (const String& hyperColumnName, const String& message)
Public Members
void putFile (AipsIO&, const TableAttr&) const
void getFile (AipsIO&, const TableAttr&)

Description

Review Status

Reviewed By:
Paul Shannon
Date Reviewed:
1994/08/11
Programs:
Tests:

Prerequisite

Synopsis

A TableDesc object contains the description, or structure, of a table. This description is required for the creation of a new table. Descriptions are subsequently associated with every table and embedded in them.

A table description consists of the following items:

A TableDesc object can be constructed with one of the following options:

More information is provided in the Tables module documentation.

Example

        // First build the new description of a subtable.
        // Define columns ra and dec (double).
        TableDesc subTableDesc("tTableDesc_sub", "1", TableDesc::New);
        subTableDesc.addColumn (ScalarColumnDesc<double>("ra"));
        subTableDesc.addColumn (ScalarColumnDesc<double>("dec"));
    
        // Now create a new table description
        // Define a comment for the table description.
        // Define a double keyword.
        ColumnDesc colDesc1, colDesc2;
        TableDesc td("tTableDesc", "1", TableDesc::New);
        td.comment() = "A test of class TableDesc";
        td.rwKeywordSet().define ("equinox", 1950.0);
    
        // Define an integer column ab using the TableDesc::addColumn
        // function which creates a scalar column description.
        td.addColumn (ScalarColumnDesc<Int>("ab", "Comment for column ab"));
    
        // Add a scalar integer column ac, define keywords for it
        // and define a default value 0.
        // Overwrite the value of keyword unit.
        ScalarColumnDesc<Int> acColumn("ac");
        acColumn.rwKeywordSet().define ("scale", Complex(0.0f));
        acColumn.rwKeywordSet().define ("unit", "");
        acColumn.setDefault (0);
        td.addColumn (acColumn);
        td["ac"].rwKeywordSet().define ("unit", "DEG");
    
        // Add a scalar string column ad and define its comment string.
        td.addColumn (ScalarColumnDesc<String>("ad","comment for ad"));
    
        // Now define array columns.
        // This one is indirect and has no dimensionality mentioned yet.
        td.addColumn (ArrayColumnDesc<Complex>("Arr1","comment for Arr1"));
        // This one is indirect and has 3-dim arrays.
        td.addColumn (ArrayColumnDesc<Int>("A2r1","comment for Arr1",3));
        // This one is direct and has 2-dim arrays with axes length 4 and 7.
        td.addColumn (ArrayColumnDesc<uInt>("Arr3","comment for Arr1",
           				   IPosition(2,4,7),
    					   ColumnDesc::Direct));
    
        // Add a columns containing tables.
        td.addColumn (SubTableDesc("sub1", "subtable by name",
                                   "tTableDesc_sub"));
    
        // Define hypercolumn "dataCube".
        td.addColumn (ArrayColumnDesc<Complex>("data",2));
        td.addColumn (ArrayColumnDesc<Int>("pol",1));
        td.addColumn (ArrayColumnDesc<float>("freq",1));
        td.addColumn (ScalarColumnDesc<float>("time"));
        td.addColumn (ScalarColumnDesc<float>("baseline"));
        td.defineHypercolumn ("dataCube", 4,
                              stringToVector ("data"),
                              stringToVector ("pol,freq,time,baseline"));
    }
    

Motivation

A table description specifies the structure, but not the contents, of an aips++ table. Since many tables will have identical structure and different content, it makes good sense to separate structure ("description") from content.

Member Description

enum TDOption

TableDesc()

The default constructor creates a table description with option = Scratch and a blank name.

TableDesc (const String& type, TDOption = Old)

Create a table description object with the given name. This name can be seen as the table type in the same way as a class name is the data type of an object. The name can only be blank when option=Scratch. The default table description path is used for the description file.

TableDesc (const String& type, const String& version, TDOption = Old)

Create a table description object with the given name (i.e. table type) and version. The name can only be blank when option=Scratch. The default table description path is used for the description file.

TableDesc (const String& type, const String& version, const TabPath&, TDOption = Old)

Create a table description object. The given table description path is used for the description file. The name can only be blank with option=Scratch.

TableDesc (const TableDesc&, const String& type, const String& version, TDOption, Bool copyColumns=True)

Create a table description object with the given name (i.e. table type) and version by copying the input table description. If the given name or version is blank, it will be copied from the input table description. The default table description path is used for the description file. The only options allowed are New, NewNoReplace and Scratch.

TableDesc (const TableDesc&, const String& type, const String& version, const TabPath&, TDOption, Bool copyColumns=True)

Create a table description object with the given name (i.e. table type) and version by copying the input table description. If the given name or version is blank, it will be copied from the input table description. The given table description path is used for the description file. The only options allowed are New, NewNoReplace and Scratch.

TableDesc (const TableDesc&, TDOption = Scratch)

This copy constructor makes a copy of the table description maintaining its name and version. By default a Scratch copy is made. It serves as a shorthand for the constructor:
TableDesc (const TableDesc&, "", "", TDOption);

~TableDesc()

The destructor writes the table description if changed.

static Bool isReadable (const String& tableDescName)

Test if a description file exists (i.e. isReadable).

const ColumnDescSet& columnDescSet() const

Get access to the set of column descriptions. In this way const ColumnDescSet (e.g. isDisjoint) can be used.

void add (const TableDesc& other, Bool addKeywordSet = True)

Add another table description to this table description. It merges the column descriptions, the special keywordSet (containing hypercolumn definitions) and the user keywordSet (this last one is not added if the flag is False). The two table descriptions have to be disjoint, i.e. no column nor keyword should already exist. Otherwise an TableInvOper exception is thrown and nothing gets added.

TableRecord& rwKeywordSet()
const TableRecord& keywordSet() const

Get access to the keyword set.

const TableRecord& privateKeywordSet() const

Get readonly access to the private set of keywords.

ColumnDesc& addColumn (const ColumnDesc&)

Add a column to the table description. An exception is thrown if a keyword or column with this name already exists. Although this function has a ColumnDesc as argument, it is usually needed to construct a more specialized object like ArrayColumnDesc<float>. A ColumnDesc constructor converts that automatically to a ColumnDesc object.

   tableDesc.addColumn (ArrayColumnDesc<float> ("NAME"));
On the other hand this function can also be used to add a column description from another table as in:
   tableDesc.addColumn (otherTableDesc.columnDesc("NAME"));

ColumnDesc& addColumn (const ColumnDesc&, const String& newname)

Add a column to the table description and give it another name. This may be useful to use a description of another column.

void removeColumn (const String& name)

Remove a column. An exception is thrown if the column does not exist.

void renameColumn (const String& newname, const String& oldname)

Rename a column. An exception is thrown if the old name does not exist or if the name already exists.

Caution Renaming a column should be done with care, because other columns may be referring this column. Also a hypercolumn definition might be using the old name.

uInt ncolumn() const

Get number of columns.

Bool isColumn (const String& name) const

Test if a column with this name exists.

Vector<String> columnNames() const

Get a vector containing all column names.

const ColumnDesc& columnDesc (const String& name) const
const ColumnDesc& operator[] (const String& name) const
const ColumnDesc& columnDesc (uInt index) const
const ColumnDesc& operator[] (uInt index) const
ColumnDesc& rwColumnDesc (const String& name)
ColumnDesc& rwColumnDesc (uInt index)

Get the column description by name or by index. An exception is thrown if the column does not exist. Function isColumn should be used to test if a column exists.

const String& comment() const

Get comment string.

String& comment()

Get comment string (allowing it to be changed).

void show() const

Show the table description on cout.

void show (ostream& os) const

Show the table description.

const String& getType() const

Get the table type (i.e. name of table description).

const String& version() const

Get the table description version.

void defineHypercolumn (const String& hypercolumnName, uInt ndim, const Vector<String>& dataColumnNames)
void defineHypercolumn (const String& hypercolumnName, uInt ndim, const Vector<String>& dataColumnNames, const Vector<String>& coordColumnNames)
void defineHypercolumn (const String& hypercolumnName, uInt ndim, const Vector<String>& dataColumnNames, const Vector<String>& coordColumnNames, const Vector<String>& idColumnNames)

Define a hypercolumn. A hypercolumn is a group of one or more data columns of which the data is treated as one or more (regular) hypercubes. The hypercolumn has coordinate axes (e.g. time, frequency) which are columns in the table. When the entire hypercolumn consists of multiple hypercubes, ID-columns can be defined, which uniquely determine the hypercube to be used. Note that only TiledDataStMan requires the use of ID-columns. A hypercolumn definition is needed to be able to use a Tiled Storage Manager.

The following has to be specified:

Hypercolumn name
which is the name used to refer to the hypercolumn.
ndim
defining the dimensionality of the hypercolumn (and of its hypercube(s)).
Data column names
which are the columns containing the hypercube data. When multiple columns are used, the shapes of the data in their cells must be the same in the same row. All data columns must contain numeric or Bool scalars or arrays.
array:
Its dimensionality has to be less than or equal to the dimensionality of the hypercolumn. If equal, the array itself already forms the hypercube. That would mean that each row is a hypercube. If less, the arrays from multiple rows form a hypercube, adding one or more dimensions to the array dimensionality.
scalar:
The data from multiple rows form a hypercube. Not all tiled storage managers support scalars.
Coordinate column names (optional)
which are the columns containing the coordinates of the hypercubes. They must be (u)Int, float, double or (D)Complex. When given, the number of coordinate columns must match the dimensionality of the hypercolumn.
When the data column cells contain arrays, the first N coordinate columns must contain vector values, where N is the dimensionality of the data arrays. The remaining coordinate columns must contain scalar values.
Id column names (optional)
have to be given when a hypercolumn can consist of multiple hypercubes. They define the column(s) determining which hypercube has to be used for a data array. The id columns must contain scalar values ((u)Int, float, double, (D)Complex, String and/or Bool).
It will be checked if the given columns exists and have an appropriate type.
The default data manager type of the columns involved will be set to TiledColumnStMan if all data columns have a fixed shape. Otherwise they are set to TiledShapeStMan. The storage manager group of all columns involved will be set to the hypercolumn name. In that way binding columns to storage managers during the table creation process is easier because a simple bindGroup can be used.

For example:
A table contains data matrices with axes pol and freq. Those axes are defined in columns pol and freq containing vectors with the same length as the corresponding axis. The table also contains scalar columns time and baseline, which superimpose dimensions upon the data. So the data will be stored in a 4-d hypercube with axes pol,freq,time,baseline. It would be defined as follows:

     tableDesc.defineHypercolumn ("dataCube", 4,
                            stringToVector ("data"),
                            stringToVector ("pol,freq,time,baseline"));
Note that the function stringToVector is very convenient for creating a vector of Strings.

Bool isHypercolumn (const String& hypercolumnName) const

Test if the given hypercolumn exists.

Vector<String> hypercolumnNames() const

Get the names of all hypercolumns.

uInt hypercolumnDesc (const String& hypercolumnName, Vector<String>& dataColumnNames, Vector<String>& coordColumnNames, Vector<String>& idColumnNames) const

Get the columns involved in a hypercolumn. It returns the dimensionality of the hypercolumn. An exception is thrown if the hypercolumn does not exist.

void adjustHypercolumns (const SimpleOrderedMap<String, String>& old2new, Bool keepUnknown = False)

Adjust the hypercolumn definitions (for a RefTable). It removes and/or renames columns as necessary. Column names which are not part of the map are removed if keepUnknown==False. If all data columns of a hypercolumn are removed, the entire hypercolumn is removed.

void removeIDhypercolumns (const Vector<String>& hcNames)

Remove ID-columns from the given hypercolumn definitions and set their default data manager type to IncrementalStMan and group to ISM_TSM.

void checkSubTableDesc() const

Check recursively if the descriptions of all subtables are known.

TableDesc& operator= (const TableDesc&)

Assignment is not supported, because it is impossible to define its semantics. Does the data need to be written into a file before being overwritten? Declaring it private, makes it unusable.

void init (const TabPath&)

Initialize the table description.

void copy (const TableDesc&, const TabPath&, Bool copyColumns)

Initialize and copy a table description.

void throwHypercolumn (const String& hyperColumnName, const String& message)

Throw an invalid hypercolumn exception.

void putFile (AipsIO&, const TableAttr&) const

Put the table description into the file. The name can be used to write the TableDesc from a Table and is used to set the names of subtables correctly.

void getFile (AipsIO&, const TableAttr&)

Get the table description from the file.