PyTables User's Guide

1	Introduction
	1.1	Main Features
	1.2	The Object Tree

2	Installation
	2.1	Installation from source
		2.1.1	Prerequisites
		2.1.2	`PyTables` package installation
	2.2	Binary installation (Windows)
		2.2.1	Windows prerequisites
		2.2.2	`PyTables` package installation

3	Tutorials
	3.1	Getting started
		3.1.1	Importing `tables` objects
		3.1.2	Declaring a Column Descriptor
		3.1.3	Creating a `PyTables` file from scratch
		3.1.4	Creating a new group
		3.1.5	Creating a new table
		3.1.6	Reading (and selecting) data in a table
		3.1.7	Creating new array objects
		3.1.8	Closing the file and looking at its content
	3.2	Browsing the object tree and appending to tables
		3.2.1	Traversing the object tree
		3.2.2	Setting and getting user attributes
		3.2.3	Getting object metadata
		3.2.4	Reading data from `Array` objects
		3.2.5	Appending data to an existing table
		3.2.6	And finally... how to delete rows from a table
	3.3	Multidimensional table cells and automatic sanity checks
		3.3.1	Shape checking
		3.3.2	Field name checking
		3.3.3	Data type checking

4	Library Reference
	4.1	`tables` variables and functions
		4.1.1	Global variables
		4.1.2	Global functions
	4.2	The `File` class
		4.2.1	`File` instance variables
		4.2.2	`File` methods
		4.2.3	`File` special methods
	4.3	The `Group` class
		4.3.1	`Group` instance variables
		4.3.2	`Group` methods
		4.3.3	`Group` special methods
	4.4	The `Leaf` class
		4.4.1	`Leaf` instance variables
		4.4.2	`Leaf` methods
	4.5	The `Table` class
		4.5.1	`Table` instance variables
		4.5.2	`Table` methods
		4.5.3	`Table` special methods
		4.5.4	The `Row` class
		4.5.5	The `Cols` class
	4.6	The `Column` class
		4.6.1	`Column` instance variables
		4.6.2	`Column` methods
		4.6.3	`Column` special methods
	4.7	The `Array` class
		4.7.1	`Array` instance variables
		4.7.2	`Array` methods
		4.7.3	`Array` special methods
	4.8	The `EArray` class
		4.8.1	`EArray` instance variables
		4.8.2	`EArray` methods
	4.9	The `VLArray` class
		4.9.1	`VLArray` instance variables
		4.9.2	`VLArray` methods
		4.9.3	`VLArray` special methods
	4.10	The `UnImplemented` class
	4.11	The `AttributeSet` class
		4.11.1	`AttributeSet` instance variables
		4.11.2	`AttributeSet` methods
	4.12	Declarative classes
		4.12.1	The `IsDescription` class
		4.12.2	The `Col` class and its descendants
		4.12.3	The `Atom` class and its descendants.
	4.13	Helper classes
		4.13.1	The `Filters` class
		4.13.2	The `IndexProps` class
		4.13.3	The `Index` class
		4.13.4	The `IndexArray` class

5	FileNode
	5.1	What is `FileNode`?
	5.2	Current limitations
	5.3	Finding a `FileNode` node
	5.4	Using `FileNode`
		5.4.1	Creating a new file node
		5.4.2	Using a file node
		5.4.3	Opening an existing file node
		5.4.4	Adding metadata to a file node
	5.5	Complementary notes
	5.6	`FileNode` module reference
		5.6.1	Global constants
		5.6.2	Global functions
		5.6.3	The `FileNode` abstract class
		5.6.4	The `ROFileNode` class
		5.6.5	The `RWFileNode` class

6	Optimization tips
	6.1	Informing `PyTables` about expected number of rows in tables
	6.2	Accelerating your searches
		6.2.1	In-kernel searches
		6.2.2	Indexed searches
	6.3	Compression issues
	6.4	Shuffling (or how to make the compression process more effective)
	6.5	Taking advantage of Psyco
	6.6	Selecting an User Entry Point (UEP) in your tree
	6.7	Compacting your `PyTables` files

A	Supported data types in `PyTables`

B	Utilities
	B.1	ptdump
		B.1.1	Usage
		B.1.2	A small tutorial on `ptdump`
	B.2	ptrepack
		B.2.1	Usage
		B.2.2	A small tutorial on `ptrepack`
	B.3	nctoh5
		B.3.1	Usage

C	`PyTables` File Format
	C.1	Mandatory attributes for a `File`
	C.2	Mandatory attributes for a `Group`
	C.3	Mandatory attributes, storage layout and supported datatypes for `Leaves`
		C.3.1	`Table` format
		C.3.2	`Array` format
		C.3.3	`EArray` format
		C.3.4	`VLArray` format

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