scitools.numpytools

Note: This module stems from the days when there were three (almost) competing Numerical Python implementations around and people wanted to be able to switch between these implementations in their Python programs. Nowadays, numpy is the dominating module, and the use of _numpyload and numpytools is no longer particularly fruitful. For backward compatibility of scitools, the two modules still exist.

Unified array computing interface

Numeric, numarray, and numpy can be viewed as three different implementations of Numerical Python functionality. The present module enables writing scripts that are independent of the particular choice of Numeric, numarray, or numpy. That is, the idea is that any of these modules can be replaced by one of the alternatives, and the script should still work. This requires the script to only use the set of instructions that are common to Numeric, numarray, and numpy.

One reason for wanting the flexibility is that the different implementations may exhibit different computational efficiency in different applications. It also makes it trivial to adopt new versions of Numerical Python in old scripts.

Basic Usage

To achieve a script that makes transparent use of Numeric, numarray, and numpy, one needs to do one of the following imports:

from scitools.numpytools import *
# or
import scitools.numpytools as N

Then one should never explicitly import Numeric, numarray, or numpy, and explicitly use functions in these modules as this may cause different array types to be mixed in the same application. Only call the functions that were imported by the star or prefix functions by the N symbol.

What Gets Imported?

All symbols from either Numeric, numarray, or numpy are imported into the global namespace of this numpytools module:

from Numeric import *
#or
from numarray import *
#or
from numpy import *

Also the modules for random arrays, linear algebra, Matlab functions, and FFT are imported. One problem with switching between Numeric, numarray, and numpy is the additional modules for random arrays, etc., have different names in the three packages. For example:

Numeric has LinearAlgebra
numarray has numarray.linear_algebra.LinearAlgebra2
numpy has numpy.linalg

The Numeric names are always available in addition to the native names. For example, an import numpy.linalg is associated with a:

LinearAlgebra = numpy.linalg

Note that the MA module is not imported since it redefines the repr function (array([1,2]) becomes [1,2] as for a list) if the Numeric is used. The user must always explicitly import this package if Numeric is used as basic array module.

Note that the numpytools module also makes some extensions of Numerical Python available, see the section “Functionality of this module that extends Numerical Python” (below).

What to use: Numeric, numarray, or numpy?

The present module defines a global variable basic_NumPy holding either “Numeric”, “numarray”, or “numpy”, depending on which module that was actually imported.

To determine whether Numeric, numarray, or numpy is to be imported, the following procedure is applied:

1. The command line arguments are checked for a –numarray, –Numeric, or –numpy option.

2. If the user has already imported Numeric, numarray, or numpy by an:

   import Numeric #or import numarray #or import numpy

   statement, the present module continues to import from the same module (module in sys.modules is used to check whether it should be Numeric, numarray, or numpy). If the user has imported more than one of the three module alternatives, numpy is used.

3. The environment variable NUMPYARRAY is checked. If this variable contains “numarray”, “Numeric”, or “numpy” the corresponding module is imported.

If neither 1., 2., nor 3. determines the import, i.e., the user has not explicitly indicated what to use, the new numpy is the default choice.

Some Functions for Unified Usage

Some operations, like finding the maximum and minimum values in an array, or controlling the output format when printing arrays, have different syntax in the different Numerical Python implementations. The functions below attempt to provide a uniform syntax to functionality with different names in Numeric, numarray, and numpy:

• NumPyArray:

  the type used in isinstance(a,NumPyArray) for checking if a is a NumPy array

• arrmin, arrmax:

  compute maximum and minimum of all array entries (same as amin(a,None) and amax(a,None) in scipy)

• array_output_precision(n):

  print arrays with n decimals

• NumPy_type:

  returns the type of an array, i.e., “Numeric”, “numarray”, or “numpy”

• NumPy_dtype:

  returns the type of the data in an array, i.e., ‘d’, ‘i’, etc.

• fortran_storage:

  transparent transform of an array to column major (Fortran) storage that preserves the nature (Numeric, numarray, numpy) of the array

Some frequently standard modules like sys, os, and operator are imported into the namespace of the present module.

Example on what gets imported

(basic_NumPy holds the name of the Numeric Python module after import of numpytools (or _numpyload):

# default: unix/DOS> python -c “from numpytools import *; print basic_NumPy” numpy

# set the NUMPYARRAY environment variable: unix/DOS> python -c “import os; os.environ[‘NUMPYARRAY’]=’Numeric’; from numpytools import *; print basic_NumPy” Numeric

# import a Numerical Python module (precedence over NUMPYARRAY variable): unix/DOS> python -c “import numpy; import os; os.environ[‘NUMPYARRAY’]=’Numeric’; from numpytools import *; print basic_NumPy” numpy

# add flag on the command line (precedence over import): unix/DOS> python -c “import numpy; import os; os.environ[‘NUMPYARRAY’]=’Numeric’; from numpytools import *; print basic_NumPy” –numarray numarray

Functionality of this module that extends Numerical Python

• solve_tridiag_linear_system:

  returns the solution of a tridiagonal linear system

• wrap2callable:

  tool for turning constants, discrete data, string formulas, function objects, or plain functions into an object that behaves as a function

• NumPy_array_iterator:

  allows iterating over all array elements using a single, standard for loop (for value, index in iterator), has some additional features compared with numpy.ndenumerate

• asarray_cpwarn:

  as numpy.asarray(a), but a warning or exception is issued if the array a is copied

• meshgrid:

  extended version of numpy.meshgrid to 1D, 2D and 3D grids, with sparse or dense coordinate arrays and matrix or grid indexing

• ndgrid:

  same as calling meshgrid with indexing=’ij’ (matrix indexing)

• float_eq:

  operator == for float operands with tolerance, float_eq(a,b,tol) means abs(a-b) < tol works for both scalar and array arguments (similar functions for other operations exists: float_le, float_lt, float_ge, float_gt, float_ne)

• cut_noise:

  set all small (noise) elements of an array to zero

• matrix_rank:

  compute the rank of a matrix

• orth:

  compute an orthonormal basis from a matrix (taken from scipy.linalg to avoid scipy dependence)

• null:

  compute the null space of a matrix

• norm_L2, norm_l2, norm_L1, norm_l1, norm_inf:

  discrete and continuous norms for multi-dimensional arrays viewed as vectors

• compute_historgram:

  return x and y arrays of a histogram, given a vector of samples

• seq:

  seq(a,b,s, [type]) computes numbers from a up to and including b in steps of s and (default) type float_;

• iseq:

  as seq, but integer counters are computed (iseq is an alternative to range where the upper limit is included in the sequence - this can be important for direct mapping of indices between mathematics and Python code);

class scitools.numpytools.DiracDelta(eps, vectorized=False)

Smoothed Dirac delta function: $

rac{1}{2epsilon}(1 + cos(pi x/epsilon)$ when

$xin [-epsilon, epsilon]$ and 0 elsewhere.

Methods

__call__(x)
plot([center, xmin, xmax])	Return arrays x, y for plotting the DiracDelta function

__call__(x)

__init__(eps, vectorized=False)

__module__ = 'scitools.numpytools'

plot(center=0, xmin=-1, xmax=1)

Return arrays x, y for plotting the DiracDelta function centered in center on the interval [xmin, xmax].

scitools.numpytools.Gram_Schmidt(vecs, row_wise_storage=True, tol=1e-10, normalize=False, remove_null_vectors=False, remove_noise=False)

Apply the Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization algorithm to a set of vectors. vecs is a two-dimensional array where the vectors are stored row-wise, or vecs may be a list of vectors, where each vector can be a list or a one-dimensional array.

The argument tol is a tolerance for null vectors (the absolute value of all elements must be less than tol to have a null vector).

If normalize is True, the orthogonal vectors are normalized to form an orthonormal basis.

If remove_null_vectors is True, all null vectors are removed from the resulting basis.

If remove_noise is True, all elements whose absolute values are less than tol are set to zero.

An array basis is returned, where basis[i,:] (row_wise_storage is True) or basis[:,i] (row_wise_storage is False) is the i-th orthogonal vector in the basis.

This function handles null vectors, see Gram_Schmidt1 for a (faster) function that does not.

scitools.numpytools.Gram_Schmidt1(vecs, row_wise_storage=True)

Apply the Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization algorithm to a set of vectors. vecs is a two-dimensional array where the vectors are stored row-wise, or vecs may be a list of vectors, where each vector can be a list or a one-dimensional array. An array basis is returned, where basis[i,:] (row_wise_storage is True) or basis[:,i] (row_wise_storage is False) is the i-th orthonormal vector in the basis.

This function does not handle null vectors, see Gram_Schmidt for a (slower) function that does.

class scitools.numpytools.Heaviside(eps=0)

Standard and smoothed Heaviside function.

Methods

__call__(x)
plot([center, xmin, xmax])	Return arrays x, y for plotting the Heaviside function

__call__(x)

__init__(eps=0)

__module__ = 'scitools.numpytools'

plot(center=0, xmin=-1, xmax=1)

Return arrays x, y for plotting the Heaviside function H(x-center) on [xmin, xmax]. For the exact Heaviside function, x = [xmin, center, center, xmax]; y = [0, 0, 1, 1], while for the smoothed version, the x array is computed on basis of the eps parameter.

class scitools.numpytools.IndicatorFunction(interval, eps_L=0, eps_R=0)

Indicator function $I(x; L, R)$, which is 1 in $[L, R]$, and 0 outside. Two parameters eps_L and eps_R can be set to provide smoothing of the left and/or right discontinuity in the indicator function. The indicator function is defined in terms of the Heaviside function (using class Heaviside): $I(x; R, L) = H(x-L)H(R-x)$.

Methods

__call__(x)
plot([xmin, xmax])	Return arrays x, y for plotting IndicatorFunction

__call__(x)

__init__(interval, eps_L=0, eps_R=0)

interval is a 2-tuple/list defining the interval [L, R] where the indicator function is 1. eps is a smoothing parameter: eps=0 gives the standard discontinuous indicator function, while a value different from 0 gives rapid change from 0 to 1 over an interval of length 2*`eps`.

__module__ = 'scitools.numpytools'

__repr__()

__str__()

plot(xmin=-1, xmax=1)

Return arrays x, y for plotting IndicatorFunction on [xmin, xmax]. For the exact discontinuous indicator function, we typically have x = [xmin, L, L, R, R, xmax]; y = [0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0], while for the smoothed version, the densities of coordinates in the x array is computed on basis of the eps parameter.

class scitools.numpytools.NumPy2BltVector(array)

Bases: _Pmw.Pmw_1_3.lib.PmwBlt.Vector

Copy a numpy array to a BLT vector: # a: some numpy array b = NumPy2BltVector(a) # b is BLT vector g = Pmw.Blt.Graph(someframe) # send b to g for plotting

Methods

append(*args)
blt_sort(*args)
blt_sort_reverse(*args)
clear()
count(obj)
delete(*args)
expr(expression)
get()
index(value)
insert(index, value)
length([newSize])
max()
min()
range(first[, last])
remove(value)
reverse()
search(start[, end])
set(list)
sort(*args)

__add__(list)

__cmp__(list)

__del__()

__delitem__(key)

__delslice__(start, end)

__getitem__(key)

__getslice__(start, end)

__init__(array)

__len__()

__module__ = 'scitools.numpytools'

__mul__(n)

__radd__(list)

__repr__()

__rmul__(n)

__setitem__(key, value)

__setslice__(start, end, list)

__str__()

append(*args)

blt_sort(*args)

blt_sort_reverse(*args)

clear()

count(obj)

delete(*args)

expr(expression)

get()

index(value)

insert(index, value)

length(newSize=None)

max()

min()

range(first, last=None)

remove(value)

reverse()

search(start, end=None)

set(list)

sort(*args)

scitools.numpytools.NumPy_array_iterator(a, **kwargs)

Iterate over all elements in a numpy array a. Two return values: a generator function and the code of this function. The numpy.ndenumerate iterator performs the same iteration over an array, but NumPy_array_iterator has some additional features (especially handy for coding finite difference stencils, see next paragraph).

The keyword arguments specify offsets in the start and stop value of the index in each dimension. Legal argument names are offset0_start, offset0_stop, offset1_start, offset1_stop, etc. Also offset_start and offset_stop are legal keyword arguments, these imply the same offset value for all dimensions.

Another keyword argument is no_value, which can be True or False. If the value is True, the iterator returns the indices as a tuple, otherwise (default) the iterator returns a two-tuple consisting of the value of the array and the corresponding indices (as a tuple).

Examples:

>>> q = linspace(1, 2*3*4, 2*3*4);  q.shape = (2,3,4)
>>> it, code = NumPy_array_iterator(q)

>>> print code  # generator function with 3 nested loops:
def nested_loops(a):
    for i0 in xrange(0, a.shape[0]-0):
        for i1 in xrange(0, a.shape[1]-0):
            for i2 in xrange(0, a.shape[2]-0):
                yield a[i0, i1, i2], (i0, i1, i2)

>>> type(it)
<type 'function'>
>>> for value, index in it(q):
...     print 'a%s = %g' % (index, value)
...
a(0, 0, 0) = 1
a(0, 0, 1) = 2
a(0, 0, 2) = 3
a(0, 0, 3) = 4
a(0, 1, 0) = 5
a(0, 1, 1) = 6
a(0, 1, 2) = 7
a(0, 1, 3) = 8
a(0, 2, 0) = 9
a(0, 2, 1) = 10
a(0, 2, 2) = 11
a(0, 2, 3) = 12
a(1, 0, 0) = 13
a(1, 0, 1) = 14
a(1, 0, 2) = 15
a(1, 0, 3) = 16
a(1, 1, 0) = 17
a(1, 1, 1) = 18
a(1, 1, 2) = 19
a(1, 1, 3) = 20
a(1, 2, 0) = 21
a(1, 2, 1) = 22
a(1, 2, 2) = 23
a(1, 2, 3) = 24

Here is the version where only the indices and no the values are returned by the iterator:

>>> q = linspace(1, 1*3, 3);  q.shape = (1,3)
>>> it, code = NumPy_array_iterator(q, no_value=True)

>>> print code
def nested_loops(a):
    for i0 in xrange(0, a.shape[0]-0):
        for i1 in xrange(0, a.shape[1]-0):
            yield i0, i1

>>> for i,j in it(q):
...   print i,j
0 0
0 1
0 2

Now let us try some offsets:

>>> it, code = NumPy_array_iterator(q, offset1_stop=1, offset_start=1)

>>> print code
def nested_loops(a):
    for i0 in xrange(1, a.shape[0]-0):
        for i1 in xrange(1, a.shape[1]-1):
            for i2 in xrange(1, a.shape[2]-0):
                yield a[i0, i1, i2], (i0, i1, i2)

>>> # note: the offsets appear in the xrange arguments
>>> for value, index in it(q):
...     print 'a%s = %g' % (index, value)
...
a(1, 1, 1) = 18
a(1, 1, 2) = 19
a(1, 1, 3) = 20

scitools.numpytools.NumPy_dtype(a)

@param a: NumPy array @return: array data type, as a character, depending on which module that was used to generate the a array (a.typecode() for Numeric and numarray, a.dtype for numpy).

scitools.numpytools.NumPy_type(a)

@param a: NumPy array @return: “Numeric”, “numarray”, or “numpy”, depending on which module that was used to generate the a array

If type is list or tuple then the corresponding typename will be returned

class scitools.numpytools.PiecewiseConstant(domain, data, eps=0)

Representation of a piecewise constant function. The discontinuities can be smoothed out. In this latter case the piecewise constant function is represented as a sum of indicator functions (IndicatorFunction) times corresponding values.

Methods

__call__(x)
plot()
value(x)	Alternative implementation to __call__.

__call__(x)

__init__(domain, data, eps=0)

__module__ = 'scitools.numpytools'

plot()

value(x)

Alternative implementation to __call__.

class scitools.numpytools.WrapDiscreteData2Callable(data)

Turn discrete data on a uniform grid into a callable function, i.e., equip the data with an interpolation function.

>>> x = linspace(0, 1, 11)
>>> y = 1+2*x
>>> f = WrapDiscreteData2Callable((x,y))
>>> # or just use the wrap2callable generic function:
>>> f = wrap2callable((x,y))
>>> f(0.5)   # evaluate f(x) by interpolation
1.5
>>> f(0.5, 0.1)  # discrete data with extra time prm: f(x,t)
1.5

Methods

__call__(*args)

__call__(*args)

__init__(data)

__module__ = 'scitools.numpytools'

class scitools.numpytools.WrapNo2Callable(constant)

Turn a number (constant) into a callable function.

Methods

__call__(*args)

>>> w = WrapNo2Callable(4.4)

__call__(*args)

>>> w = WrapNo2Callable(4.4)
>>> w(99)
4.4000000000000004
>>> # try vectorized computations:
>>> x = linspace(1, 4, 4)
>>> y = linspace(1, 2, 2)
>>> xv = x[:,NewAxis]; yv = y[NewAxis,:]
>>> xv + yv
array([[ 2.,  3.],
       [ 3.,  4.],
       [ 4.,  5.],
       [ 5.,  6.]])
>>> w(xv, yv)
array([[ 4.4,  4.4],
       [ 4.4,  4.4],
       [ 4.4,  4.4],
       [ 4.4,  4.4]])

If you want to call such a function object with space-time arguments and vectorized expressions, make sure the time argument is not the first argument. That is, w(xv, yv, t) is fine, but w(t, xv, yv) will return 4.4, not the desired array!

__init__(constant)

__module__ = 'scitools.numpytools'

scitools.numpytools.arr(shape=None, element_type=<type 'float'>, interval=None, data=None, copy=True, file_=None, order='C')

Compact and flexible interface for creating numpy arrays, including several consistency and error checks.

• shape: length of each dimension, tuple or int
• data: list, tuple, or numpy array with data elements
• copy: copy data if true, share data if false, boolean
• element_type: float, int, int16, float64, bool, etc.
• interval: make elements from a to b (shape gives no of elms), tuple or list
• file_: filename or file object containing array data, string
• order: ‘Fortran’ or ‘C’ storage, string
• return value: created Numerical Python array

The array can be created in four ways:

1. as zeros (just shape specified),
2. as uniformly spaced coordinates in an interval [a,b]
3. as a copy of or reference to (depending on copy=True,False resp.) a list, tuple, or numpy array (provided as the data argument),
4. from data in a file (for one- or two-dimensional real-valued arrays).

The function calls the underlying numpy functions zeros, array and linspace (see the numpy manual for the functionality of these functions). In case of data in a file, the first line determines the number of columns in the array. The file format is just rows and columns with numbers, no decorations (square brackets, commas, etc.) are allowed.

>>> arr((3,4))
array([[ 0.,  0.,  0.,  0.],
       [ 0.,  0.,  0.,  0.],
       [ 0.,  0.,  0.,  0.]])

>>> arr(4, element_type=int) + 4  # integer array
array([4, 4, 4, 4])

>>> arr(3, interval=[0,2])
array([ 0.,  1.,  2.])

>>> somelist=[[0,1],[5,5]]
>>> a = arr(data=somelist)
>>> a  # a has always float elements by default
array([[ 0.,  1.],
       [ 5.,  5.]])
>>> a = arr(data=somelist, element_type=int)
>>> a
array([[0, 1],
       [5, 5]])
>>> b = a + 1

>>> c = arr(data=b, copy=False)  # let c share data with b
>>> b is c
True
>>> id(b) == id(c)
True

>>> # make a file with array data:
>>> f = open('tmp.dat', 'w')
>>> f.write('''    ... 1 3
... 2 6
... 3 12
... 3.5 20
... ''')
>>> f.close()
>>> # read array data from file:
>>> a = arr(file_='tmp.dat')
>>> a
array([[  1. ,   3. ],
       [  2. ,   6. ],
       [  3. ,  12. ],
       [  3.5,  20. ]])

scitools.numpytools.array_output_precision(no_of_decimals)

Set no of decimals in printout of arrays.

scitools.numpytools.arrmax(a)

Compute the maximum of all the entries in a.

scitools.numpytools.arrmin(a)

Compute the minimum of all the entries in a.

scitools.numpytools.asarray_cpwarn(a, dtype=None, message='warning', comment='')

As asarray, but a warning or exception is issued if the a array is copied.

scitools.numpytools.compute_histogram(samples, nbins=50, piecewise_constant=True)

Given a numpy array samples with random samples, this function returns the (x,y) arrays in a plot-ready version of the histogram. If piecewise_constant is True, the (x,y) arrays gives a piecewise constant curve when plotted, otherwise the (x,y) arrays gives a piecewise linear curve where the x coordinates coincide with the center points in each bin. The function makes use of numpy.lib.function_base.histogram with some additional code (for a piecewise curve or displaced x values to the centes of the bins).

scitools.numpytools.cut_noise(a, tol=1e-10)

Set elements in array a to zero if the absolute value is less than tol.

scitools.numpytools.factorial(n, method='reduce')

Compute the factorial n! using long integers (and pure Python code). Different implementations are available (see source code for implementation details).

Note: The math module in Python 2.6 features a factorial function, making the present function redundant (except that the various pure Python implementations can be of interest for comparison).

Here is an efficiency comparison of the methods (computing 80!):

Method	Normalized CPU time
reduce	1.00
lambda list comprehension	1.70
lambda functional	3.08
plain recursive	5.83
lambda recursive	21.73
scipy	131.18

scitools.numpytools.factorize_tridiag_matrix(A)

Perform the factorization step only in solving a tridiagonal linear system. See the function solve_tridiag_linear_system for how the matrix A is stored. Two arrays, c and d, are returned, and these represent, together with superdiagonal A[:-1,2], the factorized form of A. To solve a system with solve_tridiag_factored_system, A, c, and d must be passed as arguments.

scitools.numpytools.fortran_storage(a)

Transparent transform of a NumPy array to Fortran (column major) storage.

@param a: NumPy array (generated in Python or C with C storage) @return: a new NumPy array with column major storage.

Method: If a is of numpy type, numpy.asarray(a, fortran=True) is used to produce the new array. If a is of Numeric or numarray type, we want to preserve the array type and use a simple (and slower) transpose(transpose(a).copy()) instead.

scitools.numpytools.iseq(start=0, stop=None, inc=1)

Generate integers from start to (and including) stop, with increment of inc. Alternative to range/xrange.

scitools.numpytools.isequence(start=0, stop=None, inc=1)

Generate integers from start to (and including) stop, with increment of inc. Alternative to range/xrange.

scitools.numpytools.length(a)

Return the length of the largest dimension of array a.

scitools.numpytools.matrix_rank(A)

Returns the rank of a matrix A (rank means an estimate of the number of linearly independent rows or columns).

scitools.numpytools.meshgrid(x=None, y=None, z=None, sparse=False, indexing='xy', memoryorder=None)

Extension of numpy.meshgrid to 1D, 2D and 3D problems, and also support of both “matrix” and “grid” numbering.

This extended version makes 1D/2D/3D coordinate arrays for vectorized evaluations of 1D/2D/3D scalar/vector fields over 1D/2D/3D grids, given one-dimensional coordinate arrays x, y, and/or, z.

>>> x=linspace(0,1,3)        # coordinates along x axis
>>> y=linspace(0,1,2)        # coordinates along y axis
>>> xv, yv = meshgrid(x,y)   # extend x and y for a 2D xy grid
>>> xv
array([[ 0. ,  0.5,  1. ],
       [ 0. ,  0.5,  1. ]])
>>> yv
array([[ 0.,  0.,  0.],
       [ 1.,  1.,  1.]])
>>> xv, yv = meshgrid(x,y, sparse=True)  # make sparse output arrays
>>> xv
array([[ 0. ,  0.5,  1. ]])
>>> yv
array([[ 0.],
       [ 1.]])

>>> # 2D slice of a 3D grid, with z=const:
>>> z=5
>>> xv, yv, zc = meshgrid(x,y,z)
>>> xv
array([[ 0. ,  0.5,  1. ],
       [ 0. ,  0.5,  1. ]])
>>> yv
array([[ 0.,  0.,  0.],
       [ 1.,  1.,  1.]])
>>> zc
5

>>> # 2D slice of a 3D grid, with x=const:
>>> meshgrid(2,y,x)
(2, array([[ 0.,  1.],
       [ 0.,  1.],
       [ 0.,  1.]]), array([[ 0. ,  0. ],
       [ 0.5,  0.5],
       [ 1. ,  1. ]]))
>>> meshgrid(0,1,5, sparse=True)  # just a 3D point
(0, 1, 5)
>>> meshgrid(y)      # 1D grid; y is just returned
array([ 0.,  1.])
>>> meshgrid(x,y, indexing='ij')  # change to matrix indexing
(array([[ 0. ,  0. ],
       [ 0.5,  0.5],
       [ 1. ,  1. ]]), array([[ 0.,  1.],
       [ 0.,  1.],
       [ 0.,  1.]]))

Why does SciTools has its own meshgrid function when numpy has three similar functions, mgrid, ogrid, and meshgrid? The meshgrid function in numpy is limited to two dimensions only, while the SciTools version can also work with 3D and 1D grids. In addition, the numpy version of meshgrid has no option for generating sparse grids to conserve memory, like we have in SciTools by specifying the sparse argument.

Moreover, the numpy functions mgrid and ogrid does provide support for, respectively, full and sparse n-dimensional meshgrids, however, these functions uses slices to generate the meshgrids rather than one-dimensional coordinate arrays such as in Matlab. With slices, the user does not have the option to generate meshgrid with, e.g., irregular spacings, like:

>>> x = array([-1,-0.5,1,4,5], float)
>>> y = array([0,-2,-5], float)
>>> xv, yv = meshgrid(x, y, sparse=False)

>>> xv
array([[-1. , -0.5,  1. ,  4. ,  5. ],
       [-1. , -0.5,  1. ,  4. ,  5. ],
       [-1. , -0.5,  1. ,  4. ,  5. ]])

>>> yv
array([[ 0.,  0.,  0.,  0.,  0.],
       [-2., -2., -2., -2., -2.],
       [-5., -5., -5., -5., -5.]])

In addition to the reasons mentioned above, the meshgrid function in numpy supports only Cartesian indexing, i.e., x and y, not matrix indexing, i.e., rows and columns (on the other hand, mgrid and ogrid supports only matrix indexing). The meshgrid function in SciTools supports both indexing conventions through the indexing keyword argument. Giving the string 'ij' returns a meshgrid with matrix indexing, while 'xy' returns a meshgrid with Cartesian indexing. The difference is illustrated by the following code snippet:

nx = 10
ny = 15

x = linspace(-2,2,nx)
y = linspace(-2,2,ny)

xv, yv = meshgrid(x, y, sparse=False, indexing='ij')
for i in range(nx):
    for j in range(ny):
        # treat xv[i,j], yv[i,j]

xv, yv = meshgrid(x, y, sparse=False, indexing='xy')
for i in range(nx):
    for j in range(ny):
        # treat xv[j,i], yv[j,i]

It is not entirely true that matrix indexing is not supported by the meshgrid function in numpy because we can just switch the order of the first two input and output arguments:

>>> yv, xv = numpy.meshgrid(y, x)
>>> # same as:
>>> xv, yv = meshgrid(x, y, indexing='ij')

However, we think it is clearer to have the logical “x, y” sequence on the left-hand side and instead adjust a keyword argument.

scitools.numpytools.ndgrid(*args, **kwargs)

Same as calling meshgrid with indexing = 'ij' (see meshgrid for documentation).

scitools.numpytools.norm_L1(u)

L1 norm of a multi-dimensional array u viewed as a vector: norm_l1(u)/float(u.size).

If u holds function values and the norm of u is supposed to approximate an integral (L1 norm) of the function, this (and not norm_l1) is the right norm function to use.

scitools.numpytools.norm_L2(u)

L2 norm of a multi-dimensional array u viewed as a vector (norm is norm_l2/n, where n is length of u (no of elements)).

If u holds function values and the norm of u is supposed to approximate an integral (L2 norm) of the function, this (and not norm_l2) is the right norm function to use.

scitools.numpytools.norm_inf(u)

Infinity/max norm of a multi-dimensional array u viewed as a vector.

scitools.numpytools.norm_l1(u)

l1 norm of a multi-dimensional array u viewed as a vector: linalg.norm(u.ravel(),1).

scitools.numpytools.norm_l2(u)

Standard l2 norm of a multi-dimensional array u viewed as a vector.

scitools.numpytools.null(A, tol=1e-10, row_wise_storage=True)

Return the null space of a matrix A. If row_wise_storage is True, a two-dimensional array where the vectors that span the null space are stored as rows, otherwise they are stored as columns.

Code by Bastian Weber based on code by Robert Kern and Ryan Krauss.

scitools.numpytools.orth(A)

(Plain copy from scipy.linalg.orth - this one here applies numpy.svd and avoids the need for having scipy installed.)

Construct an orthonormal basis for the range of A using SVD.

@param A: array, shape (M, N) @return:

Q : array, shape (M, K) Orthonormal basis for the range of A. K = effective rank of A, as determined by automatic cutoff

see also svd (singular value decomposition of a matrix in scipy.linalg)

scitools.numpytools.seq(min=0.0, max=None, inc=1.0, type=<type 'float'>, return_type='NumPyArray')

Generate numbers from min to (and including!) max, with increment of inc. Safe alternative to arange. The return_type string governs the type of the returned sequence of numbers (‘NumPyArray’, ‘list’, or ‘tuple’).

scitools.numpytools.sequence(min=0.0, max=None, inc=1.0, type=<type 'float'>, return_type='NumPyArray')

Generate numbers from min to (and including!) max, with increment of inc. Safe alternative to arange. The return_type string governs the type of the returned sequence of numbers (‘NumPyArray’, ‘list’, or ‘tuple’).

scitools.numpytools.solve_tridiag_factored_system(b, A, c, d)

The backsubsitution part of solving a tridiagonal linear system. The right-hand side is b, while A, c, and d represent the factored matrix (see the factorize_tridiag_matrix function). The solution x to A*x=b is returned.

scitools.numpytools.solve_tridiag_linear_system(A, b)

Solve an n times n tridiagonal linear system of the form:

A[0,1]*x[0] + A[0,2]*x[1]                                        = 0
A[1,0]*x[0] + A[1,1]*x[1] + A[1,2]*x[2]                          = 0
...
...
         A[k,0]*x[k-1] + A[k,1]*x[k] + A[k,2]*x[k+1]             = 0
...
             A[n-2,0]*x[n-3] + A[n-2,1]*x[n-2] + A[n-2,2]*x[n-1] = 0
...
                               A[n-1,0]*x[n-2] + A[n-1,1]*x[n-1] = 0

The diagonal of the coefficent matrix is stored in A[:,1], the subdiagonal is stored in A[1:,0], and the superdiagonal is stored in A[:-1,2].

scitools.numpytools.wrap2callable(f, **kwargs)

Allow constants, string formulas, discrete data points, user-defined functions and (callable) classes to be wrapped in a new callable function. That is, all the mentioned data structures can be used as a function, usually of space and/or time. (kwargs is used for string formulas)

>>> f1 = wrap2callable(2.0)
>>> f1(0.5)
2.0
>>> f2 = wrap2callable('1+2*x')
>>> f2(0.5)
2.0
>>> f3 = wrap2callable('1+2*t', independent_variable='t')
>>> f3(0.5)
2.0
>>> f4 = wrap2callable('a+b*t')
>>> f4(0.5)
Traceback (most recent call last):
...
NameError: name 'a' is not defined
>>> f4 = wrap2callable('a+b*t', independent_variable='t', a=1, b=2)
>>> f4(0.5)
2.0

>>> x = linspace(0, 1, 3); y=1+2*x
>>> f5 = wrap2callable((x,y))
>>> f5(0.5)
2.0
>>> def myfunc(x):  return 1+2*x
>>> f6 = wrap2callable(myfunc)
>>> f6(0.5)
2.0
>>> f7 = wrap2callable(lambda x: 1+2*x)
>>> f7(0.5)
2.0
>>> class MyClass:
        'Representation of a function f(x; a, b) =a + b*x'
        def __init__(self, a=1, b=1):
            self.a = a;  self.b = b
        def __call__(self, x):
            return self.a + self.b*x
>>> myclass = MyClass(a=1, b=2)
>>> f8 = wrap2callable(myclass)
>>> f8(0.5)
2.0
>>> # 3D functions:
>>> f9 = wrap2callable('1+2*x+3*y+4*z', independent_variables=('x','y','z'))
>>> f9(0.5,1/3.,0.25)
4.0
>>> # discrete 3D data:
>>> y = linspace(0, 1, 3); z = linspace(-1, 0.5, 16)
>>> xv = reshape(x, (len(x),1,1))
>>> yv = reshape(y, (1,len(y),1))
>>> zv = reshape(z, (1,1,len(z)))
>>> def myfunc3(x,y,z):  return 1+2*x+3*y+4*z

>>> values = myfunc3(xv, yv, zv)
>>> f10 = wrap2callable((x, y, z, values))
>>> f10(0.5, 1/3., 0.25)
4.0

One can also check what the object is wrapped as and do more specific operations, e.g.,

>>> f9.__class__.__name__
'StringFunction'
>>> str(f9)     # look at function formula
'1+2*x+3*y+4*z'
>>> f8.__class__.__name__
'MyClass'
>>> f8.a, f8.b  # access MyClass-specific data
(1, 2)

Troubleshooting regarding string functions: If you use a string formula with a numpy array, you typically get error messages like:

TypeError: only rank-0 arrays can be converted to Python scalars.

You must then make the right import (numpy is recommended):

from Numeric/numarray/numpy/scitools.numpytools import *

in the calling code and supply the keyword argument:

globals=globals()

to wrap2callable. See also the documentation of class StringFunction for more information.