Version 2.9: add load_array()

jplephem/__init__.py

@@ -195,6 +195,13 @@ provided above and read through the code to learn more.
    |  segment.end_i - index where segment ends
   ...
 
+* If you want to access the raw coefficients, use the segment
+  ``load_array()`` method.  It returns two floats and a NumPy array:
+
+  >>> initial_epoch, interval_length, coefficients = segment.load_array()
+  >>> print(coefficients.shape)
+  (3, 100448, 13)
+
 * The square-bracket lookup mechanism ``kernel[3,399]`` is a
   non-standard convenience that returns only the last matching segment
   in the file.  While the SPK standard does say that the last segment
@@ -212,7 +219,6 @@ provided above and read through the code to learn more.
   the position, and then only proceed to the velocity once you are sure
   that the light-time error is now small enough.
 
-
 High-Precision Dates
 --------------------
 
@@ -298,6 +304,10 @@ https://github.com/brandon-rhodes/python-jplephem/
 Changelog
 ---------
 
+**2019 January 3 — Version 2.9**
+
+* Added the ``load_array()`` method to the segment class.
+
 **2018 July 22 — Version 2.8**
 
 * Switched to a making a single memory map of the entire file, to avoid

jplephem/spk.py

@@ -149,6 +149,12 @@ class Segment(object):
         coefficients = rollaxis(coefficients, 1)
         return initial_epoch, interval_length, coefficients
 
+    def load_array(self):
+        data = self._data
+        if data is None:
+            self._data = data = self._load()
+        return data
+
     def generate(self, tdb, tdb2):
         """Generate components and differentials for time `tdb` plus `tdb2`.
 

jplephem/test.py

@@ -322,6 +322,11 @@ class SPKTests(_CommonTests, TestCase):
   '2414864.50..2471184.50  Solar System Barycenter (0) -> Mars Barycenter (4)'
   '\n  frame=1 data_type=2 source=DE-0421LE-0421')
 
+    def test_loading_array(self):
+        segment = self.spk[0,4]
+        initial_epoch, interval_length, coefficients = segment.load_array()
+        self.assertEqual(coefficients.shape, (3, 1760, 11))
+
 
 class LegacyTests(_CommonTests, TestCase):
 

setup.py

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import jplephem
 description, long_description = jplephem.__doc__.split('\n', 1)
 
 setup(name = 'jplephem',
-      version = '2.8',
+      version = '2.9',
       description = description,
       long_description = long_description,
       license = 'MIT',