openPMD/openPMD-api

Converter CLI

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#459 opened on Feb 5, 2019

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Description

We should write a small command line interface (CLI) tool that provide converters from one backend to another.

E.g. if all backends are enabled, convert openPMD series of files:

openPMD-convert -o h5 path/to/simOutput_%T.bp

A cool extra option would be to add a flag that mocks the heavy data entries, e.g. for constant records with zero-value. This might be very useful for validation and meta-data scraping.

We should also add an optional parameter -i|--iteration <N> to only convert a single iteration instead of the full series.

We should also add an optional parameter to change to group/file based iteration format during the convert.

We should also add an optional parameter with a different path for the output.

Contributor guide

Research direction
Examine how existing backends (e.g., BP, HDF5) implement series reading and writing, and identify the core interfaces. Then look at the project's command line parsing utilities and any existing executables to understand how to structure the converter. Consider how iteration based and file based iteration formats are handled internally.
Tech stack
cpppython
Domain
backendcli
Issue type
Feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Mostly clear
Prerequisites
GitC++CMake
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
60