cf.Field.dump

Field.dump(*args, **kwargs)[source]

A full description of the field construct.

Returns a description of all properties, including those of metadata constructs and their components, and provides selected values of all data arrays.

Added in version (cfdm): 1.7.0

Parameters:
data: bool or None, optional

If True then show the first and last data elements (and possibly others, depending on the data shape) when displaying data. This can take a long time if getting these data elements needs an expensive computation, possibly including a slow read from local or remote disk.

If False then do not show such data elements, unless data elements have been previously cached, thereby avoiding a potentially high computational cost.

If None (the default) then the value of data will be taken from the cfdm.display_data function.

Note that whenever data elements are displayed, they are cached for fast future retrieval.

Added in version (cfdm): 1.12.3.0

display: bool, optional

If False then return the description as a string. By default the description is printed.

Returns:
str or None

The description. If display is True then the description is printed and None is returned. Otherwise the description is returned as a string.