nxvalidate 0.1.0b1

A Python package for validating NeXus files

Introduction

This package provides a Python API to inspect and validate NeXus files written in the HDF5 format.

The latest development version is always available from NeXpy's GitHub repository.

Installation

Released versions of nxvalidate can be installed using either

    $ pip install nxvalidate

The source code can be downloaded from the NeXpy Git repository:

    $ git clone http://github.com/nexpy/nxvalidate.git

Usage

At the moment, the nxvalidate package provides a single command-line script.

% nxinspect -h
usage: nxinspect [-h] [-f FILENAME] [-p PATH] [-a [APPLICATION]]
                 [-b BASECLASS] [-i] [-w] [-e] [-v]

Inspects and validates NeXus files.

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -f FILENAME, --filename FILENAME
                        name of the NeXus file to be validated
  -p PATH, --path PATH  path to group to be validated in the NeXus file
  -b BASECLASS, --baseclass BASECLASS
                        name of the base class to be listed
  -a [APPLICATION], --application [APPLICATION]
                        validate the NeXus file against its application definition
  -i, --info            output info messages in addition to warnings and errors
  -w, --warning         output info messages in addition to warnings and errors
  -e, --error           output info messages in addition to warnings and errors
  -v, --version         show program's version number and exit

N.B., the command is nxinspect, rather than nxvalidate to avoid confusion with the C-library.

Examples

1. To compare the contents of a NeXus file with the base classes defined by the NeXus standard and print conflicting fields or groups, type:

   % nxinspect -f <filename.nxs> -e
   

   The --info, --warning and --error switches control how much information is output. The default is --warning.
2. To check whether the contents of the NeXus file conform to the required contents of the application definition specifed in the file, type:

   % nxinspect -f <filename.nxs> -a
   

3. To check whether the contents of the NeXus file conform to the required contents of an application definition file, type:

   % nxinspect -f <filename.nxs> -a <application.nxdl.xml>
   

4. To print the contents of a base class, type:

   % nxinspect -b <base-class-name>
   

Prerequisites

The only prerequisite required to install the nxvalidate package is the nexusformat package. There are more details of further dependencies in the NeXpy documentation.

• nexusformat https://nexpy.github.io/nexpy

User Support

Consult the NeXpy documentation for details of both the Python command-line API and how to use the NeXpy GUI. If you have any general questions concerning the use of NeXpy, please address them to the NeXus Mailing List. If you discover any bugs, please submit a Github issue, preferably with relevant tracebacks.