CSV like file format featured recently in Daily Python URL?

[EP]

> From: Alex Willmer <alex at moreati.org.uk> inquired

> I'm trying to track down the name of a file format and python module,
> that was featured in the Daily Python URL some time in the last month 
> or
> two.
> 
> The format was ASCII with a multiline header defining types for the
> comma seperated column data below. It may have had the capability to
> store multiple tables in one file. There was news on the homepage that
> an alternate 'no data here' syntax was also supported.
> 
> An example file had vaguely this structure:
> 
> columnname as datatype
> columnname as datatype
> columnname as datatype
> columnname as datatype
> 
> data,data,data,data
> data,"other data",data,data
> data,data,"",data


Was it something like ARFF?  http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~ml/weka/arff.html

Google "ARFF Python":  http://www.google.com/search?q=arff+python

-----------------------------------------------------

   % 1. Title: Iris Plants Database
   % 
   % 2. Sources:
   %      (a) Creator: R.A. Fisher
   %      (b) Donor: Michael Marshall (MARSHALL%PLU at io.arc.nasa.gov)
   %      (c) Date: July, 1988
   % 
   @RELATION iris

   @ATTRIBUTE sepallength  NUMERIC
   @ATTRIBUTE sepalwidth   NUMERIC
   @ATTRIBUTE petallength  NUMERIC
   @ATTRIBUTE petalwidth   NUMERIC
   @ATTRIBUTE class        {Iris-setosa,Iris-versicolor,Iris-virginica}
  

The Data of the ARFF file looks like the following:

   @DATA
   5.1,3.5,1.4,0.2,Iris-setosa
   4.9,3.0,1.4,0.2,Iris-setosa
   4.7,3.2,1.3,0.2,Iris-setosa
   4.6,3.1,1.5,0.2,Iris-setosa
   5.0,3.6,1.4,0.2,Iris-setosa
   5.4,3.9,1.7,0.4,Iris-setosa
   4.6,3.4,1.4,0.3,Iris-setosa
   5.0,3.4,1.5,0.2,Iris-setosa
   4.4,2.9,1.4,0.2,Iris-setosa
   4.9,3.1,1.5,0.1,Iris-setosa
  

Lines that begin with a % are comments. The @RELATION, @ATTRIBUTE and @DATA declarations are case insensitive. 

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