Dudley Data Description Language

A Dudley description of a binary file is called a layout. A layout is a text file which may either be separate from the binary file(s) it describes or be appended to the end of the binary data to make a single self-describing binary file (like an HDF5 file).

Features:

• Simple data model

  • based on numpy ndarray and python dict and list

  • multi-dimensional array data in containers

  • dict-like containers map names to arrays or containers

  • list-like containers hold sequence of anonymous arrays or containers

  • array data type may be numeric, string, unicode, or compounds

• Human readable

  • layout with documentation comments serves as quick-reference guide for binary file contents

  • simplifies collaborations involving exchange of binary data

• Single layout can describe multiple binary files or streams

  • array dimensions can be parameters stored in the binary file

  • enables catalog files describing large collections of files sharing one layout (or a few layouts)

• Lightweight (compared to HDF5)

  • Python and C language implementations