[Numpy-discussion] proper use of __new__

[Pierre GM]

On Jul 21, 2009, at 10:58 AM, Darren Dale wrote:

> http://docs.scipy.org/doc/numpy/user/basics.subclassing.html#simple-example-adding-an-extra-attribute-to-ndarray
> includes an example where an instance attribute is set in __new__ .
> However, there is a warning at http://www.scipy.org/Subclasses:

(Note to self: I should add the information in Subclasses to the  
documentation and make it consistent. </sigh>).

The words of caution were intended to remind that setting the value  
of  new array attributes in __new__ only could lead to problems, as  
it's possible to transform a ndarray into a subclass with a view (that  
is, calling __array_finalize__ without calling __new__). In the Simple  
Example of the doc, if .info cannot be None but must have a default  
DEFAULT, you should have a
 >>> self.info = getattr(obj, 'info', DEFAULT)
in your __array_finalize__

Without access to your code, I'm likely to speak beyond myself here  
(could you send me a link to the latest version ?), but if you need to  
rescale the units, make sure it's done in __array_finalize__ as well,  
with something like

units = getattr(obj, 'units', None)
if units is not None:
     self.rescale(units)
else:
      self.units = units

Once again, browsing your code would let me give you some more  
adequate answers...