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dft_tools/doc/reference/arrays/Interop_Python.rst
tayral edd1ff4529 Restructuring documentation.
A first general restructuration of the doc according to the pattern [tour|tutorial|reference].
In the reference part, objects are documented per topic.
In each topic, [definition|c++|python|hdf5] (not yet implemented)
2014-10-18 12:21:08 +01:00

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.. highlight:: c
Interface with Python numpy arrays
===================================================================
The array, matrix, vector and their views are fully interoperable with the numpy array objects in python.
.. warning::
TO BE FULLY REWRITTEN
From Python to C++
--------------------------
Value and view classes can be constructed from a PyObject * (the opaque type of python object).
They follow their respective semantic :
* `value classes` (array, matrix, vector) **always** make copies.
Hence they can be constructed from a python object X which is not an array, but
out of which numpy can make an array of the correct type.
* `view classes` **never** make copies, they present views of the numpy array.
If this is not possible (e.g. the python object is not a numpy, but a list, the type are not exactly the same)
they throw an exception (`triqs::runtime_error`), with an explanation of the problem.
From C++ to Python
----------------------
Value and view classes have a to_python method with the following synopsis ::
PyObject * to_python() const
which return a **new** reference to the numpy array.
To be more precise, two cases must be distinguished.
* array_view constructed from a PyObject * .
In this case, the array_view's storage is the numpy array, and it keeps a
(owned) reference to the python array all along its existence.
This means that Python cannot destroy the array as long as the view exists.
The to_python method simply returns a new reference to this numpy array.
* array or an array_view which was *not* constructed from a PyObject* .
In this case, the storage has been allocated by C++, for example because the array
was created in a C++ routine. There is no natural numpy array to return.
The library returns a new numpy array which *owns* the C++ data,
so the usage of the class is completely transparent.
Python will *automatically* release the memory allocated by the C++ routine
when the array in no longer needed.
Examples
-----------------
Split in several files. --> also the theory above.
Memory management
-----------------
TO BE WRITTEN
The reference counting system is *compatible* with the Python reference counting (but distinct),
if you compile with python support of course.
As long as you write pure C++ code, you are basically using a shared_ptr to your data block.
No python is involved.
But, if you return your view into a numpy array in python, ownership of your data
is automatically transfered to the python interpreter::
The interpreter then take the responsability of destroying the data when needed (meaning here, long after f has returned,
when the python object returned will be cleaned).