[Numpy-discussion] MaskedArray.__array__ bug? (was 'A reimplementation of MaskedArray')
Pierre GM
pgmdevlist at gmail.com
Mon Nov 20 00:31:47 EST 2006
> Is there consensus that in __array__ it is incorrect to return the
> _data component of a MaskedArray when there are masked values? It
> certainly worries me that what is underneath the mask is returned.
When is __array__ really used in practice ? Most of the time, isn't the
conversion to ndarray done with numpy.core.numeric.asarray ? Which doesn't
seem to call the __array__ method...
> Alternatively, there could
> be subclass of masked array for uses in which the masked data
> represents missing data (hence data under the mask is spurious and
> should not be exposed). In this subclass the __array__ method could be
> redefined to impose stricter control of the masked data.
Sounds like a good idea, but we're back on question #1.
I think that one issue is that N.asarray, N.array, etc. access the _data part
directly, when in fact, they should ideally access the filled version. A
workaround is to ensure that your _data has some 'well-defined' missing data,
by filling them beforehand with something like nan (which won't work if you
work with ints, though...). But that gets heavy.
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