fields.buffers.core.HDF5Buffer.open

classmethod HDF5Buffer.open(file: str | Path | File, path: str, *, mode: str = 'r+', close_on_exit: bool = False) → HDF5Buffer

Open an existing HDF5 dataset and return it as a buffer.

This method provides safe access to datasets within an HDF5 file, whether the file is passed as a string path or an already opened h5py.File object.

When used in a with statement (context manager), the file will be automatically flushed and closed at exit if close_on_exit=True.

Parameters:

• file (str, Path, or h5py.File) – File path or an open HDF5 file containing the dataset.

• path (str) – Path to the dataset inside the HDF5 file (e.g., "/my/data").

• mode (str, default "r+") –

  File mode to use when file is a path. Ignored if file is a h5py.File. Common values:

  • "r": read-only

  • "r+": read/write

  • "a": read/write or create

• close_on_exit (bool, default False) – If True, the file will be closed when the buffer is used in a context manager.

Returns:

A buffer object wrapping the specified dataset.

Return type:

HDF5Buffer

Raises:

• FileNotFoundError – If the file or dataset path does not exist.

• TypeError – If file is neither a path nor an h5py.File.

Examples

>>> with HDF5Buffer.open("data.h5", "temperature", close_on_exit=True) as buf:
...     print(buf.shape)