modelutil: The InterfaceMeta Class

Description

InterfaceMeta objects are used by the method meta_ok_to_interface, which is found in Field, State, and StateSet objects. The InterfaceMeta object is passed in as an argument, and all comparisons by the method is to the definitions given in that InterfaceMeta instance. See the description of the meta_ok_to_interface method for details as to how InterfaceMeta objects are used.

The InterfaceMeta class (generally defined in module interface_meta) gives the metadata for Field variables that are consistently defined among all modules at that level and subpackages immediately below that level that pass information in and out. As an example, consider the seaice package of sea-ice models. Instances of InterfaceMeta as defined in module seaice.interface_meta apply to modules in seaice and any variables that get passed in or out of the seaice.semtner model (as defined in the file seaice/semtner/__init__.py). Instances of InterfaceMeta defined in module seaice.semtner.interface_meta apply to all modules in seaice.semtner only (seaice.semtner has no subpackages).

Regardless of where the InterfaceMeta class is defined, the attributes of objects of that class all have the following meanings:

Attribute Name & Example	Description
axis ["lon", "lat"]	A list of the possible values of the Field id attribute that are axes. All elements are strings.
axis_long_name {"lat":"Latitude"}	A dictionary where the keys are possible values of the Field extra_meta.axis attribute and the values are the corresponding extra_meta.axis_long_name values. Both parts of the key:value pair are strings.
axis_units {"lat":"degrees_north"}	A dictionary where the keys are possible values of the Field extra_meta.axis attribute and the values are the corresponding extra_meta.axis_units values. Both parts of the key:value pair are strings.
id ["F_sens", "Ts"]	A list of the possible values of the Field id attribute (that are not axes). All elements are strings.
long_name {"F_sens":"Sensible heat flux (positive upward)"}	A dictionary where the keys are possible values of the Field id attribute (that are not axes) and the values are the corresponding long name description (from the long_name attribute of Field). Both parts of the key:value pair are strings.
units {"F_sens":"W/m**2"}	A dictionary where the keys are possible values of the Field id attribute (that are not axes) and the values are the corresponding units (from the units attribute of Field). Both parts of the key:value pair are strings.

Examples

seaice: A package of sea-ice models:

• semtner model InterfaceMeta definition.
• semtner0 model InterfaceMeta definition.