Section author: Robert Nikutta <robert.nikutta@noirlab.edu>

Version: 20220215

1.5.4. Helpers

Data Lab provides several convenient helper modules for use e.g. in Jupyter Notebooks & JupyterLab. They can simplify some of the more tedious or repetitive tasks that one would perform with Data Lab.

This collection is ever-evolving, and we welcome user suggestions for other helper functionalities.

1.5.4.1. Available helpers

The table below lists the currently available helper modules and briefly describes their function. All functions therein, and their call signatures, are described in the API documentation.

Available helper modules

Helper module	Description
cluster.py	find clusters in 2d (e.g. RA/Dec positions), compute convex hulls around clusters
crossmatch.py	local (in-RAM) cross-matching of two datasets (RA/Dec positions)
plot.py	plot helpers, e.g. all-sky projected scatter plots
utils.py	utility functions, e.g. conversion of query results to various formats (pandas, ndarray, etc.)
legacy.py	deprecated helpers; may still be used by some older notebooks
all.py	alias that loads all of the above

1.5.4.2. Importing

There are various ways to import either a single helper module, a function from a helper, or all helpers at once:

Import a single helper module:

from dl.helpers import cluster
result = cluster.findClusters(...)  # use a function from the helper

Import one function from a helper module:

from dl.helpers.cluster import findClusters
result = findClusters(...)

Import all functions from all helper modules at once:

from dl.helpers import all  # `all` is a convenience module; loads all others
result = findClusters(...)  # use a function