Load Algorithm Hook

The Load Algorithm

This page describes how to register a new file loading algorithm so that it can be used through the general-purpose Load algorithm. The Load algorithm is a special algorithm as does very little work itself. It instead tries to search for the most suitable algorithm for a given file and then uses this algorithm as a child to load the file. An algorithm wishing to be included as part of the search must register itself slightly differently and not use DECLARE_ALGORITHM macro.

The process of searching for the correct loader needs to be fairly quick as it will be especially noticeable in the GUI if the process takes a long time. To speed up the process the loaders are currently split into 2 categories:

• HDF - Currently only HDF4/5

• NonHDF - The rest

A quick check is performed, using HDFDescriptor::isHDF(), to test whether the file looks like a HDF file. If the check succeeds then only the HDF group of loaders are checked, otherwise only the NonHDF group are checked.

Descriptors

To avoid the file being opened/closed by each confidence method, a Descriptor object is provided. The actual Descriptor class depends on whether the file is a HDF file or not.

HDF

To register an algorithm as a HDF loader use the IHDFLoader interface as a base class for your algorithm. In your cpp file include the MantidAPI/RegisterFileLoader.h header and use the DECLARE_HDF_FILELOADER macro instead of the standard DECLARE_ALGORITHM macro.

The interface requires that the method virtual int confidence(Kernel::HDFDescriptor & descriptor) const = 0; be overloaded in the inheriting class. It should use the provided descriptor to check whether the loader is able to load the wrapped file and return a confidence level as an integer.

HDFDescriptor

This provides methods to query characteristics of the current file to avoid repeated accessing of the tree.

Non-HDF

To register an algorithm as a Non-HDF loader use the IFileLoader interface as a base class for your algorithm. In your cpp file include the MantidAPI/RegisterFileLoader.h header and use the DECLARE_FILELOADER macro instead of the standard DECLARE_ALGORITHM macro.

The interface requires that the method virtual int confidence(Kernel::FileDescriptor & descriptor) const = 0; be overloaded in the inheriting class. It should use the provided descriptor to check whether the loader is able to load the wrapped file and return a confidence level as an integer.

FileDescriptor

This provides methods to query some characteristics of the current file and also access the open stream to avoid repeated opening/closing of the file. Avoid closing the stream. The code calling the confidence method ensures that the stream is back at the start of the file before checking the next loader so simply use the stream as necessary and leave it as it is.