Implement dimension_separator for Python storage classes (See #715)

docs/release.rst

@@ -1,6 +1,20 @@
 Release notes
 =============
 
+.. _release_2.8.0:
+
+2.8.0
+-----
+
+V2 Specification Update
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+* Introduce optional dimension_separator .zarray key for nested chunks.
+  By :user:`Josh Moore <joshmoore>`; :issue:`715`, :issue:`716`.
+
+.. _release_2.7.0:
+
+
 .. _release_2.7.1:
 
 2.7.1

zarr/core.py

@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ class Array:
     dtype
     compression
     compression_opts
+    dimension_separator
     fill_value
     order
     synchronizer
@@ -194,6 +195,7 @@ def _load_metadata_nosync(self):
             self._dtype = meta['dtype']
             self._fill_value = meta['fill_value']
             self._order = meta['order']
+            self._dimension_separator = meta.get('dimension_separator', '.')
 
             # setup compressor
             config = meta['compressor']

zarr/creation.py

@@ -13,13 +13,14 @@
 from zarr.storage import (DirectoryStore, ZipStore, contains_array,
                           contains_group, default_compressor, init_array,
                           normalize_storage_path, FSStore)
+from zarr.util import normalize_dimension_separator
 
 
 def create(shape, chunks=True, dtype=None, compressor='default',
            fill_value=0, order='C', store=None, synchronizer=None,
            overwrite=False, path=None, chunk_store=None, filters=None,
            cache_metadata=True, cache_attrs=True, read_only=False,
-           object_codec=None, **kwargs):
+           object_codec=None, dimension_separator=None, **kwargs):
     """Create an array.
 
     Parameters
@@ -66,6 +67,9 @@ def create(shape, chunks=True, dtype=None, compressor='default',
         True if array should be protected against modification.
     object_codec : Codec, optional
         A codec to encode object arrays, only needed if dtype=object.
+    dimension_separator : {'.', '/'}, optional
+        Separator placed between the dimensions of a chunk.
+        .. versionadded:: 2.8
 
     Returns
     -------
@@ -117,10 +121,16 @@ def create(shape, chunks=True, dtype=None, compressor='default',
     # API compatibility with h5py
     compressor, fill_value = _kwargs_compat(compressor, fill_value, kwargs)
 
+    # optional array metadata
+    if dimension_separator is None:
+        dimension_separator = getattr(store, "_dimension_separator", None)
+    dimension_separator = normalize_dimension_separator(dimension_separator)
+
     # initialize array metadata
     init_array(store, shape=shape, chunks=chunks, dtype=dtype, compressor=compressor,
                fill_value=fill_value, order=order, overwrite=overwrite, path=path,
-               chunk_store=chunk_store, filters=filters, object_codec=object_codec)
+               chunk_store=chunk_store, filters=filters, object_codec=object_codec,
+               dimension_separator=dimension_separator)
 
     # instantiate array
     z = Array(store, path=path, chunk_store=chunk_store, synchronizer=synchronizer,

zarr/hierarchy.py

@@ -783,6 +783,8 @@ def create_dataset(self, name, **kwargs):
             lifetime of the object. If False, array metadata will be reloaded
             prior to all data access and modification operations (may incur
             overhead depending on storage and data access pattern).
+        dimension_separator : {'.', '/'}, optional
+            Separator placed between the dimensions of a chunk.
 
         Returns
         -------

zarr/meta.py

@@ -50,7 +50,9 @@ def decode_array_metadata(s: Union[MappingType, str]) -> MappingType[str, Any]:
             fill_value=fill_value,
             order=meta['order'],
             filters=meta['filters'],
+            dimension_separator=meta.get('dimension_separator', '.'),
         )
+
     except Exception as e:
         raise MetadataError('error decoding metadata: %s' % e)
     else:
@@ -62,6 +64,9 @@ def encode_array_metadata(meta: MappingType[str, Any]) -> bytes:
     sdshape = ()
     if dtype.subdtype is not None:
         dtype, sdshape = dtype.subdtype
+
+    dimension_separator = meta.get('dimension_separator')
+
     meta = dict(
         zarr_format=ZARR_FORMAT,
         shape=meta['shape'] + sdshape,
@@ -72,6 +77,10 @@ def encode_array_metadata(meta: MappingType[str, Any]) -> bytes:
         order=meta['order'],
         filters=meta['filters'],
     )
+
+    if dimension_separator:
+        meta['dimension_separator'] = dimension_separator
+
     return json_dumps(meta)
 
 

zarr/n5.py

@@ -355,6 +355,9 @@ def array_metadata_to_n5(array_metadata):
     compressor_config = compressor_config_to_n5(compressor_config)
     array_metadata['compression'] = compressor_config
 
+    if 'dimension_separator' in array_metadata:
+        del array_metadata['dimension_separator']
+
     return array_metadata