[Matrix-SIG] TableIO - it's I/O for tables

[Mike Miller]

A month or so ago, I sent a message to matrix-sig with a thing I
wrote called arrayio.  I've improved it (I think) by removing the
limits on row and column number and made it somewhat more
flexible in that the base routines deal with lists rather than
arrays.  Plus I renamed it TableIO this time around - since I use
it most often to read and write rectangular data tables I thought
that was more descriptive.  If you're interested, you can find it
at <URL:http://www.npl.uiuc.edu/~miller/python>.

I am interested in hearing what people think about expanding on
this to make a more general table module.  At some level this
would be a duplication of the work that has already gone into
various data-base and data-format modules.  On the other hand,
this simple module has been very useful.  With fast list/array
reading I've moved from fiddling with Python now and then to
using it frequently for serious data analysis.  In fact, I've
also put together a collection of histograming and graphing
modules that, while not exactly polished, are sufficiently useful
that I'm thinking of taking on the challenge made on the
linux-hep list a while ago - building a complete analysis tool
with Python.  If any of you are interested in seeing such a
thing, please let me know.

Regards, Mike

-- 
Michael A. Miller                                miller5@uiuc.edu
  Department of Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
  PGP public key available on request