Skip to content

def_file

Read and write *.def file from the IPSL/modipsl project.

The *.def file contains model parameters in the key-value format. The format is extremely simple in comparison to similar formats, like *.ini or *.toml, as it doesn't provide sections, nor standarized datatypes. Usually, model configuration files contain dozens or hundred of parameters with scalars (int, float, str), arrays, or special _AUTO_/_AUTOBLOCK_ values.

Examples usage:

from ipsl_common.modipsl.def_file import load, dump
with open("run_dynamico.def", "r") as f:
    parameters = load(f)
    // Modify loaded parameters
    parameters["start_file_name"] = "start2024.nc"
    with open("new_run_dynamico.def", "w") as g:
        dump(parameters, g)

Loading an example *.def file:

INCLUDEDEF=run_lmdz.def
INCLUDEDEF=run_dynamico.def
use_forcing=y
g=_AUTO_: DEFAULT=9.8
start_file_name=start2023
physics="always"

Gives the following dictionary:

{
    'INCLUDEDEF': ['run_lmdz.def', 'run_dynamico.def'],
    'g': ('_AUTO_', 9.8),
    'physics': '"always"',
    'start_file_name': 'start2023',
    'use_forcing': True
}

Loaded configuration can be altered and subsequently dumped onto a file or into a string. The configuration is easy to view and modify, because it is directly decoded into a Python dictionary. The decoding and encoding process is managed internally by DefFileDecoder and DefFileEncoder classes with decode() and encode() methods.

Classes

DefFileDecoder

DefFileDecoder(include_positions: bool = False)

Bases: Transformer

Decoder performs translation from *.def file to a dictionary.

The translation rules are:

*.def Python Comment
key-value dict Including many key-value pairs and INCLUDEDEF
array list Of at least 2 elements
string str Unquoted and quoted (single or double) strings
integer number int ---
real number float Including scientific notation
true/y True Case insensitive
false/n False Case insensitive
_AUTO_ tuple With optional default value
_AUTOBLOCKER_ tuple With optional default value

The first step of the decoder parses *.def file. For this task lark Earley parser is used with a simple grammar expressed with EBNF notation. The *.def grammer doesn't parse well with LALR(1) parser. The parsing produces a parse tree.

The second step transforms the parse tree into Python dictionary using translation rules mentioned in the above table. This transformation is based on a automated visitor pattern called Transformer, which produces the dictionary in a bottom-up manner.

Examples:

from ipsl_common.modipsl.def_file import DefFileDecoder
dictionary = DefFileDecoder().decode(text)

If text contains this *.def file:

radius=6.371229E6
g=9.80665
omega=_AUTO_: DEFAULT=7.292E-5

Then, Python dictionary would look as follows:

{
    "radius": 6.371229e6,
    "g": 9.80665,
    "omega": ("_AUTO_", 7.292e-05),
}
Tip

By default, the result dictionary contains no information about textual layout of the file. However, by using the argument include_positions=True, it is possible to refine the dictionary with exact start/end positions of each value as follows:

{
    "radius": {"value": 6371229.0, "start_pos": 50, "end_pos": 60},
    "g": {"value": 9.80665, "start_pos": 99, "end_pos": 106},
    "omega": {"value": ("_AUTO_", 7.292e-05), "start_pos": 158, "end_pos": 182},
}

Initialize DefFileDecoder.

Parameters:

  • include_positions

    (bool, default: False ) –

    include textual positions of values

Source code in ipsl_common/modipsl/def_file.py
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
def __init__(self, include_positions: bool = False) -> None:
    """Initialize DefFileDecoder.

    Args:
        include_positions: include textual positions of values
    """
    self._include_positions = include_positions

Functions

decode
decode(content: str) -> dict

Decode *.def content into dictionary.

Parameters:

  • content
    (str) –

    content of the *.def file

Returns:

  • dict ( dict ) –

    Decoded *.def file

Source code in ipsl_common/modipsl/def_file.py
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
def decode(self, content: str) -> dict:
    """Decode `*.def` content into dictionary.

    Args:
        content (str): content of the `*.def` file

    Returns:
        dict: Decoded `*.def` file
    """
    parse_tree = self._parser.parse(content)
    return self.transform(parse_tree)

DefFileEncoder

DefFileEncoder(
    truthy_value: str = "true", falsey_value: str = "false"
)

Encoder performs translation from a dictionary to *.def file.

The translation rules are:

Python *.def Comment
dict key-value Each INCLUDEDEF value translates to a single key-value
list array Of at least 2 elements
str string Quoted strings will contain explicit quote characters
int integer number ---
float real number Including scientific notation
bool true/false Can be specified with encode arguments
tuple _AUTO_/_AUTOBLOCKER_ With optional default value at second position in tuple

The translation is straightforward, based on Python type a specific conversion is performed. No grammar, nor parse tree is used during this step.

Example:

from ipsl_common.modipsl.def_file import DefFileEncoder
text = DefFileEncoder().encode(dictionary)

If dictionary contains:

{
    "radius": 6.371229e6,
    "g": 9.80665,
    "omega": ("_AUTO_", 7.292e-05),
}

Then, the encoded *.def file would look as follows:

radius = 6371229.0
g = 9.80665
omega = _AUTO_: DEFAULT=7.292e-05
Tip

Python representation of the *.def file doesn't contain any textual position of particular elements (keys, values, comments, whitespaces, etc.), thus, re-encoding of the exact input *.def file is impossible. In order to recreate the original file, or modify a file while keeping the original comments, whitespaces, and order of elements, use the designated modify functions.

Initialize DefFileEncoder.

Parameters:

  • truthy_value

    (str, default: 'true' ) –

    label used to encode True

  • falsey_value

    (str, default: 'false' ) –

    label used to encode False

Source code in ipsl_common/modipsl/def_file.py
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
def __init__(
    self,
    truthy_value: str = "true",
    falsey_value: str = "false",
):
    """Initialize DefFileEncoder.

    Args:
        truthy_value: label used to encode True
        falsey_value: label used to encode False
    """
    self._truthy_value = truthy_value
    self._falsey_value = falsey_value

Functions

encode
encode(obj: object) -> str

Encode dictionary or other Python object into *.def file.

This function works not only on full decoded *.def files, but it also work on particular Python object such as a list, or a tuple. In such case, it will take the given object and apply one of the encoding rules mentioned before.

Parameters:

  • obj
    (object) –

    dictionary or Python object

Returns:

  • str

    Encoded text of a *.def file

Source code in ipsl_common/modipsl/def_file.py
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
def encode(self, obj: object) -> str:
    """Encode dictionary or other Python object into `*.def` file.

    This function works not only on full decoded `*.def` files,
    but it also work on particular Python object such as a list,
    or a tuple. In such case, it will take the given object and apply
    one of the encoding rules mentioned before.

    Args:
        obj: dictionary or Python object

    Returns:
        Encoded text of a `*.def` file
    """
    # bool must be tested before int, because it is a subclass of int class.
    if isinstance(obj, bool):
        return self._truthy_value if obj else self._falsey_value
    elif isinstance(obj, int | float):
        return str(obj)
    elif isinstance(obj, tuple):
        if len(obj) != 2:
            raise ValueError(
                f"Only tuples with len=2 are encoded. Invalid tuple: {obj}"
            )
        auto, default = obj
        if auto not in _AUTO_VALUES:
            raise ValueError(
                f"First element of a tuple must be one of {_AUTO_VALUES}. Invalid tuple: {obj}"
            )
        if not self._is_scalar(default):
            raise TypeError(
                f"Second element of the tuple must be a scalar: bool, int, float, str, or None. Invalid tuple: {obj}"
            )
        if default is not None:
            return f"{auto}: DEFAULT={self.encode(default)}"
        else:
            return str(auto)
    elif isinstance(obj, dict) and len(obj) == 1:
        # Using tuple assignment
        ((k, v),) = obj.items()
        if k == _INCLUDEDEF:
            return self._encode_include(v)
        else:
            return self._encode_entry(k, v)
    elif isinstance(obj, dict):
        return "\n".join([self.encode({k: v}) for k, v in obj.items()])
    elif isinstance(obj, list):
        if len(obj) < 2:
            raise ValueError("List must have at least two elements")
        if not all(map(self._is_scalar, obj)):
            raise TypeError(
                f"All array values must be simple scalars: bool, int, float, str, or None. Instead got: {obj}"
            )
        return ", ".join(map(self.encode, obj))
    else:
        return str(obj)

Functions

dump

dump(obj: dict, buffer: TextIOBase) -> None

Dump dictionary into *.def text/file buffer.

Parameters:

  • obj

    (dict) –

    dictionary to dump to a file

  • buffer

    (TextIOBase) –

    text or file buffer for storing *.def file

Source code in ipsl_common/modipsl/def_file.py
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
def dump(obj: dict, buffer: TextIOBase) -> None:
    """Dump dictionary into *.def text/file buffer.

    Args:
        obj: dictionary to dump to a file
        buffer: text or file buffer for storing *.def file
    """
    if not buffer.writable():
        raise ValueError("Text buffer (TextIOBase) must be writable")
    buffer.write(dumps(obj))

dumps

dumps(obj: dict) -> str

Dump dictionary into *.def string.

Parameters:

  • obj

    (dict) –

    dictionary to dump to a file

Source code in ipsl_common/modipsl/def_file.py
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
def dumps(obj: dict) -> str:
    """Dump dictionary into *.def string.

    Args:
        obj: dictionary to dump to a file
    """
    return DefFileEncoder().encode(obj)

load

load(
    buffer: TextIOBase, include_positions: bool = False
) -> dict

Load *.def text/file buffer into dictionary.

Parameters:

  • buffer

    (TextIOBase) –

    text or file buffer with the *.def file

  • include_positions

    (bool, default: False ) –

    include textual positions of values

Returns:

  • dict ( dict ) –

    Loaded *.def file

Source code in ipsl_common/modipsl/def_file.py
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
def load(buffer: TextIOBase, include_positions: bool = False) -> dict:
    """Load `*.def` text/file buffer into dictionary.

    Args:
        buffer: text or file buffer with the `*.def` file
        include_positions: include textual positions of values

    Returns:
        dict: Loaded `*.def` file
    """
    if not buffer.readable():
        raise ValueError("Text buffer (TextIOBase) must be readable")
    return loads(buffer.read(), include_positions)

loads

loads(text: str, include_positions: bool = False) -> dict

Load *.def file string into dictionary.

Parameters:

  • text

    (str) –

    content of the *.def file

  • include_positions

    (bool, default: False ) –

    include textual positions of values

Returns:

  • dict ( dict ) –

    Loaded *.def file

Source code in ipsl_common/modipsl/def_file.py
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
def loads(text: str, include_positions: bool = False) -> dict:
    """Load `*.def` file string into dictionary.

    Args:
        text: content of the `*.def` file
        include_positions: include textual positions of values

    Returns:
        dict: Loaded `*.def` file
    """
    return DefFileDecoder(include_positions).decode(text)

modify

modify(
    obj: dict,
    fp: TextIOBase,
    fp_reference: TextIOBase | None = None,
) -> None

Modify *.def file with minimal changes.

If only fp is defined, the file will be changed in place. Otherwise, the content fp_in file is

Source code in ipsl_common/modipsl/def_file.py
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
def modify(obj: dict, fp: TextIOBase, fp_reference: TextIOBase | None = None) -> None:
    """Modify *.def file with minimal changes.

    If only fp is defined, the file will be changed in place.
    Otherwise, the content fp_in file is
    """
    # Modify file in place or create new
    dictionary = (
        load(fp, include_positions=True)
        if fp_reference is None
        else load(fp_reference, include_positions=True)
    )

modify_file

modify_file(
    file: Path,
    modifications: dict[str, str | int | float | bool],
) -> None

Modify *.def file in place.

TODO: modification of AUTO fields is not supported.

Source code in ipsl_common/modipsl/def_file.py
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
def modify_file(file: Path, modifications: dict[str, str | int | float | bool]) -> None:
    """
    Modify *.def file in place.

    TODO: modification of _AUTO_ fields is not supported.
    """
    with open(file, "r") as f:
        new_content = modify_text(f.read(), modifications)
        with open(file, "w") as f:
            f.write(new_content)

modify_text

modify_text(text: str, modifications: dict) -> str

Appends new keys at the end in alphabetical order.

Source code in ipsl_common/modipsl/def_file.py
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
def modify_text(text: str, modifications: dict) -> str:
    """
    Appends new keys at the end in alphabetical order.
    """
    tree = DEF_FILE_PARSER.parse(text)
    position_map = ValuePositionMap().transform(tree)
    existing_keys = list(position_map.keys())
    # 1. Replace values of existing keys
    new_content = __replace_in_str(modifications, position_map, text)
    # 2. Append new keys
    epilogue = []
    # Sort by keys to obtain an alphabetical order of inserted keys
    for key, value in sorted(modifications.items()):
        # Position map contains only keys existing in the text
        if key not in existing_keys:
            epilogue.append(f"{key}={value}")
    if epilogue:
        new_content += "\n"
        epilogue.insert(0, "# ~~~ Values added by TéléphériqueIPSL ~~~")
        new_content += "\n".join(epilogue)
        new_content += "\n"
    return new_content