Creation of empty DataArrays in a Dataset
Nobody has claimed this yet.
- Dominant language
- Python
- Stars
- 4.2k
- Forks
- 1.4k
- Avg merge
- 2d 15h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 14
Description
Is your feature request related to a problem?
Initializing a DataArray from a scalar along with non-scalar coords and dims, which was implemented in #3159, does not extend to Datasets. Initializing multiple DataArrays with shared dimensions, as a Dataset, is not similarly possible.
Describe the solution you'd like
Dataset creation and assignment could handle scalar values in the same way as DataArray creation.
For example
Dataset({"y": ("x", None)}, coords={"x": [0, 1, 2]})
could yield the same thing as
Dataset({"y": xr.DataArray(None, coords={"x": [0, 1, 2]}, dims="x")})
Only the first case easily extends to multiple variables sharing x.
Describe alternatives you've considered
Defining Coordinates in advance is the currently working alternative, but it's not as elegant and is a rare case of needing to explicitly define a Coordinates instance.
Additional context
If this enhancement is supported, I would attempt a PR.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by tracing Dataset construction and assignment for the example in the issue, then compare it with the existing DataArray scalar initialization behavior from #3159. Done means Dataset({"y": ("x", None)}, coords={"x": [0, 1, 2]}) produces the equivalent result and supports multiple variables sharing x.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- data
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 48/100