LOFAR Python ParameterSet

Overview

This package contains a pure-python drop-in replacement for the python wrapper around the original LOFAR ParameterSet that is written in C++. It supports only the basic features of the original.

The following, more fancy, features are not supported:

• Vector expansion, e.g., foo=['bar'*4] and foo=[1..5]
• Value interpretations beyond bool, int, float, and string
• Multi-line values
• String escaping beyond either " or ' in the string
• Modeling of ParameterValue as a separate class
• Case-insensitivity of keys
• Tracking of unused keys

Installation

Installation can be done in a number of ways. In order of preference (read: ease of use):

1. Install the latest release from PyPI:

   pip install lofar-parameterset
   

2. Install directly from the Git repository. This option is useful if you want to use one or more features that have not yet been released:

   pip install --upgrade pip
   pip install git+https://git.astron.nl/lofar2.0/lofar_pyparameterset.git[@<branch|tag|hash>]
   

   If the optional @<branch|tag|hash> is omitted, HEAD of the master branch will used.

3. Clone the git repository, and install from your working copy. This option is mostly used by developers who want to make local changes:

   pip install --upgrade pip
   git clone https://git.astron.nl/lofar2.0/lofar_pyparameterset.git
   cd lofar_pyparameterset
   git checkout [<branch|tag|hash>]  #optionally
   pip install .
   

Usage

Here is a example of how one could read attenuation settings from a parset file:

from lofar_parameterset.parameterset import parameterset
parset = parameterset.fromFile("settings.parset")
attenuations = parset.getDoubleVector("attenuations")

Development

Development environment

To setup and activte the develop environment run source ./setup.sh from within the source directory.

If PyCharm is used, this only needs to be done once. Afterward the Python virtual env can be setup within PyCharm.

Contributing

To contribute, please create a feature branch and a "Draft" merge request. Upon completion, the merge request should be marked as ready and a reviewer should be assigned.

Verify your changes locally and be sure to add tests. Verifying local changes is done through tox.

pip install tox

With tox the same jobs as run on the CI/CD pipeline can be ran. These include unit tests and linting.

tox

To automatically apply most suggested linting changes execute:

tox -e format

The configuration for linting and tox can be found in pyproject.toml

License and copyright

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later.

Copyright © 2024 - 2025, ASTRON (Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy)