Glossary of Documentation Terms¶
- (
n,)¶ A parenthesized number followed by a comma denotes a tuple with one element. The trailing comma distinguishes a one-element tuple from a parenthesized
n. This is from NumPy; see https://numpy.org/doc/stable/glossary.html.- number¶
Any numeric type. eg float or int or any of the
numpy.number.- -like¶
Used to indicate on object of that type or that can instantiate the type. E.g.
Quantity-like includes"2 * u.km"becauseastropy.units.Quantity("2 * u.km")works.- unit-like¶
Must be an
UnitBase(subclass) instance or a string or other instance parseable byUnit.- quantity-like¶
Must be an
Quantity(or subclass) instance or a string parseable byQuantity. Note that the interpretation of units in strings depends on the class –Quantity("180d")is 180 days, whileAngle("180d")is 180 degrees – so check the string parses as intended forQuantity.- angle-like¶
quantity-like, but interpreted by an angular
SpecificTypeQuantity, likeAngleorLongitudeorLatitude. Note that the interpretation of units in strings depends on the class –Quantity("180d")is 180 days, whileAngle("180d")is 180 degrees – so make sure the string parses as intended forAngle.- length-like¶
quantity-like, but interpretable by
Distance.- frame-like¶
A
BaseCoordinateFramesubclass instance or a string that can be converted to a Frame by_get_frame_class.- coordinate-like¶
A Coordinate-type object such as a
BaseCoordinateFramesubclass instance or aSkyCoord(or subclass) instance.- table-like¶
An astropy
Tableor any object that can initialize one. Anything marked as table-like will be processed through aTable.- time-like¶
Timeor any valid initializer.- buffer-like¶
Anything that implements Python’s buffer protocol. See https://docs.python.org/3/c-api/buffer.html#bufferobjects
- writable file-like object¶
In the context of a file-like object object, anything that supports writing with a method
write.- readable file-like object¶
In the context of a file-like object object, anything that supports writing with a method
read.