get_sile

sisl.io.get_sile(file, *args, **kwargs)

Retrieve an object from the global lookup table via filename and the extension

Internally this is roughly equivalent to get_sile_class(...)().

When the file suffix is not recognized and you know which file-type it is it is recommended to get the file class from the known suffixes and use that class to construct the file object, see examples.

Parameters:

  • file (str or Path) – the file to be quried for a correct Sile object. This file name may contain {<class-name>} which sets cls in case cls is not set. For instance get_sile("water.dat{xyzSile}") will read the file water.dat using the xyzSile class.

  • cls (class) – In case there are several files with similar file-suffixes you may query the exact base-less that should be chosen. If there are several files with similar file-endings this function returns a random one.

Examples

A file named water.dat contains the xyz-coordinates as the xyzSile. One can forcefully get the sile by:

>>> obj = get_sile("water.dat{xyzSile}")

Alternatively one can query the xyz file and use that class reference in future instantiations. This ensures a future proof method without explicitly typing the Sile object.

>>> cls = get_sile_class("anyfile.xyz")
>>> obj = cls("water.dat")
>>> another_xyz = cls("water2.dat")

To narrow the search one can clarify whether it should start or end with a string:

>>> cls = get_sile_class("water.dat{startswith=xyz}")