numpy.chararray.view#
method
- chararray.view([dtype][, type])#
New view of array with the same data.
Note
Passing None for
dtype
is different from omitting the parameter, since the former invokesdtype(None)
which is an alias fordtype('float_')
.- Parameters
- dtypedata-type or ndarray sub-class, optional
Data-type descriptor of the returned view, e.g., float32 or int16. Omitting it results in the view having the same data-type as a. This argument can also be specified as an ndarray sub-class, which then specifies the type of the returned object (this is equivalent to setting the
type
parameter).- typePython type, optional
Type of the returned view, e.g., ndarray or matrix. Again, omission of the parameter results in type preservation.
Notes
a.view()
is used two different ways:a.view(some_dtype)
ora.view(dtype=some_dtype)
constructs a view of the array’s memory with a different data-type. This can cause a reinterpretation of the bytes of memory.a.view(ndarray_subclass)
ora.view(type=ndarray_subclass)
just returns an instance of ndarray_subclass that looks at the same array (same shape, dtype, etc.) This does not cause a reinterpretation of the memory.For
a.view(some_dtype)
, ifsome_dtype
has a different number of bytes per entry than the previous dtype (for example, converting a regular array to a structured array), then the last axis ofa
must be contiguous. This axis will be resized in the result.Changed in version 1.23.0: Only the last axis needs to be contiguous. Previously, the entire array had to be C-contiguous.
Examples
>>> x = np.array([(1, 2)], dtype=[('a', np.int8), ('b', np.int8)])
Viewing array data using a different type and dtype:
>>> y = x.view(dtype=np.int16, type=np.matrix) >>> y matrix([[513]], dtype=int16) >>> print(type(y)) <class 'numpy.matrix'>
Creating a view on a structured array so it can be used in calculations
>>> x = np.array([(1, 2),(3,4)], dtype=[('a', np.int8), ('b', np.int8)]) >>> xv = x.view(dtype=np.int8).reshape(-1,2) >>> xv array([[1, 2], [3, 4]], dtype=int8) >>> xv.mean(0) array([2., 3.])
Making changes to the view changes the underlying array
>>> xv[0,1] = 20 >>> x array([(1, 20), (3, 4)], dtype=[('a', 'i1'), ('b', 'i1')])
Using a view to convert an array to a recarray:
>>> z = x.view(np.recarray) >>> z.a array([1, 3], dtype=int8)
Views share data:
>>> x[0] = (9, 10) >>> z[0] (9, 10)
Views that change the dtype size (bytes per entry) should normally be avoided on arrays defined by slices, transposes, fortran-ordering, etc.:
>>> x = np.array([[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]], dtype=np.int16) >>> y = x[:, ::2] >>> y array([[1, 3], [4, 6]], dtype=int16) >>> y.view(dtype=[('width', np.int16), ('length', np.int16)]) Traceback (most recent call last): ... ValueError: To change to a dtype of a different size, the last axis must be contiguous >>> z = y.copy() >>> z.view(dtype=[('width', np.int16), ('length', np.int16)]) array([[(1, 3)], [(4, 6)]], dtype=[('width', '<i2'), ('length', '<i2')])
However, views that change dtype are totally fine for arrays with a contiguous last axis, even if the rest of the axes are not C-contiguous:
>>> x = np.arange(2 * 3 * 4, dtype=np.int8).reshape(2, 3, 4) >>> x.transpose(1, 0, 2).view(np.int16) array([[[ 256, 770], [3340, 3854]], [[1284, 1798], [4368, 4882]], [[2312, 2826], [5396, 5910]]], dtype=int16)