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# numpy.chararray.view

`chararray.``view`(dtype=None, type=None)

  New view of array with the same data.

  Parameters : | dtype : data-type or ndarray sub-class, optional Data-type descriptor of the returned view, e.g., float32 or int16. The default, None, results in the view having the same data-type as a. This argument can also be specified as an ndarray sub-class, which then specifies the type of the returned object (this is equivalent to setting the `type` parameter). type : Python type, optional Type of the returned view, e.g., ndarray or matrix. Again, the default None results in type preservation.

  Notes

  `a.view()` is used two different ways:

  `a.view(some_dtype)` or `a.view(dtype=some_dtype)` constructs a view of the array’s memory with a different data-type. This can cause a reinterpretation of the bytes of memory.

  `a.view(ndarray_subclass)` or `a.view(type=ndarray_subclass)` just returns an instance of ndarray_subclass that looks at the same array (same shape, dtype, etc.) This does not cause a reinterpretation of the memory.

  For `a.view(some_dtype)`, if `some_dtype` has a different number of bytes per entry than the previous dtype (for example, converting a regular array to a structured array), then the behavior of the view cannot be predicted just from the superficial appearance of `a` (shown by `print(a)`). It also depends on exactly how `a` is stored in memory. Therefore if `a` is C-ordered versus fortran-ordered, versus defined as a slice or transpose, etc., the view may give different results.

  Examples

      >>> x = np.array([(1, 2)], dtype=[('a', np.int8), ('b', np.int8)])

  Viewing array data using a different type and dtype:

      >>> y = x.view(dtype=np.int16, type=np.matrix)
      >>> y
      matrix([[513]], dtype=int16)
      >>> print type(y)
      <class 'numpy.matrixlib.defmatrix.matrix'>

  Creating a view on a structured array so it can be used in calculations

      >>> x = np.array([(1, 2),(3,4)], dtype=[('a', np.int8), ('b', np.int8)])
      >>> xv = x.view(dtype=np.int8).reshape(-1,2)
      >>> xv
      array([[1, 2],
             [3, 4]], dtype=int8)
      >>> xv.mean(0)
      array([ 2.,  3.])

  Making changes to the view changes the underlying array

      >>> xv[0,1] = 20
      >>> print x
      [(1, 20) (3, 4)]

  Using a view to convert an array to a record array:

      >>> z = x.view(np.recarray)
      >>> z.a
      array([1], dtype=int8)

  Views share data:

      >>> x[0] = (9, 10)
      >>> z[0]
      (9, 10)

  Views that change the dtype size (bytes per entry) should normally be avoided on arrays defined by slices, transposes, fortran-ordering, etc.:

      >>> x = np.array([[1,2,3],[4,5,6]], dtype=np.int16)
      >>> y = x[:, 0:2]
      >>> y
      array([[1, 2],
             [4, 5]], dtype=int16)
      >>> y.view(dtype=[('width', np.int16), ('length', np.int16)])
      Traceback (most recent call last):
        File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
      ValueError: new type not compatible with array.
      >>> z = y.copy()
      >>> z.view(dtype=[('width', np.int16), ('length', np.int16)])
      array([[(1, 2)],
             [(4, 5)]], dtype=[('width', '<i2'), ('length', '<i2')])