| .. include:: references.txt | |
| .. _base_class_elements: | |
| Base class elements | |
| **************************** | |
| The key elements in :mod:`astropy.io.ascii` are: | |
| * :class:`~astropy.io.ascii.Column`: Internal storage of column properties and data () | |
| * :class:`Reader <astropy.io.ascii.BaseReader>`: Base class to handle reading and writing tables. | |
| * :class:`Inputter <astropy.io.ascii.BaseInputter>`: Get the lines from the table input. | |
| * :class:`Splitter <astropy.io.ascii.BaseSplitter>`: Split the lines into string column values. | |
| * :class:`Header <astropy.io.ascii.BaseHeader>`: Initialize output columns based on the table header or user input. | |
| * :class:`Data <astropy.io.ascii.BaseData>`: Populate column data from the table. | |
| * :class:`Outputter <astropy.io.ascii.BaseOutputter>`: Convert column data to the specified output format, e.g. `numpy` structured array. | |
| Each of these elements is an inheritable class with attributes that control the | |
| corresponding functionality. In this way the large number of tweakable | |
| parameters is modularized into manageable groups. Where it makes sense these | |
| attributes are actually functions that make it easy to handle special cases. | |