[Numpy-discussion] Pattern for reading non-simple binary files

[Eric Firing]

Ryan May wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm trying to read in a data from a binary-formatted file. I have the data
> format, (available at:
> http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/documentlibrary/tddoc/td7000.pdf if you're
> really curious), but it's not what I would consider simple, with a lot of
> different blocks and messages, some that are optional and some that have
> different formats depending on the data type.  My question is, has anyone dealt
> with data like this using numpy?  Have you found a good pattern for how to
> construct a numpy dtype dynamically to decode the different parts of the file
> appropriately as you go along?
> 
> Any insight would be appreciated.
> 
> Ryan
> 

Ryan,

http://currents.soest.hawaii.edu/hg/hgwebdir.cgi/pycurrents/file/d7c5c9aac32d/adcp/rdiraw.py#l1

This gives an example of reading several related and rather complex 
binary file types generated by (oceanographic) acoustic Doppler current 
profilers.  I have not looked at the format you are dealing with, so I 
don't know if the methods I used are applicable to your case.

Eric