WIP: Documentation

examples/10_streaming_read.cpp

@@ -18,6 +18,15 @@ int main()
         return 0;
     }
 
+    // Access the Series linearly. This means that upon opening the Series, no
+    // data is accessed yet. Instead, the single Iterations are processed
+    // collectively, one after the other, and data access only happens upon
+    // explicitly accessing an Iteration from `Series::snapshots()`. Note that
+    // the Container API of `Series::snapshots()` will work in a restricted mode
+    // compared to the `READ_RANDOM_ACCESS` access type, refer also to the
+    // documentation of the `Snapshots` class in `snapshots/Snapshots.hpp`. This
+    // restricted workflow enables performance optimizations in the backends,
+    // and more importantly is compatible with streaming I/O.
     Series series = Series("electrons.sst", Access::READ_LINEAR, R"(
 {
   "adios2": {
@@ -29,11 +38,6 @@ int main()
   }
 })");
 
-    // `Series::writeIterations()` and `Series::readIterations()` are
-    // intentionally restricted APIs that ensure a workflow which also works
-    // in streaming setups, e.g. an iteration cannot be opened again once
-    // it has been closed.
-    // `Series::iterations` can be directly accessed in random-access workflows.
     for (auto &[index, iteration] : series.snapshots())
     {
         std::cout << "Current iteration: " << index << std::endl;

examples/10_streaming_write.cpp

@@ -40,11 +40,11 @@ int main()
     std::shared_ptr<position_t> local_data(
         new position_t[length], [](position_t const *ptr) { delete[] ptr; });
 
-    // `Series::writeIterations()` and `Series::readIterations()` are
-    // intentionally restricted APIs that ensure a workflow which also works
-    // in streaming setups, e.g. an iteration cannot be opened again once
-    // it has been closed.
-    // `Series::iterations` can be directly accessed in random-access workflows.
+    // Create the Series with synchronous snapshots, i.e. one Iteration after
+    // the other. The alternative would be random-access where multiple
+    // Iterations can be accessed independently from one another. This more
+    // restricted mode enables performance optimizations in the backends, and
+    // more importantly is compatible with streaming I/O.
     auto iterations = series.snapshots(SnapshotWorkflow::Synchronous);
     for (size_t i = 0; i < 100; ++i)
     {

include/openPMD/ReadIterations.hpp

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class LegacyIteratorAdaptor
  * This is a feature-restricted subset for the functionality of
  * `Series::snapshots()`, prefer using that. The compatibility layer is needed
  * due to the different value_type for `Series::readIterations()`-based
- * iteration (`IterationIndex` instead of `std::pair<uint64_t, Iteration>`).
+ * iteration (`IndexedIteration` instead of `std::pair<uint64_t, Iteration>`).
  *
  * Create instance via Series::readIterations().
  * For use in a C++11-style foreach loop over iterations.

include/openPMD/Series.hpp

@@ -708,7 +708,8 @@ class Series : public Attributable
      *
      * Conversely, the Access::CREATE and Access::APPEND access modes both
      * resolve to random-access by default, but can be specified to use
-     * Synchronous workflow if needed.
+     * Synchronous workflow if needed. A shorthand for Synchronous workflows can
+     * be found with Series::writeIterations().
      *
      * @param snapshot_workflow Specify the intended workflow
      *            in Access::CREATE and Access::APPEND. Leave unspecified in
@@ -736,17 +737,9 @@ class Series : public Attributable
     /**
      * @brief Entry point to the writing end of the streaming API.
      *
-     * Creates and returns an instance of the WriteIterations class which is an
-     * intentionally restricted container of iterations that takes care of
-     * streaming semantics, e.g. ensuring that an iteration cannot be reopened
-     * once closed.
-     * For a less restrictive API in non-streaming situations,
-     * `Series::iterations` can be accessed directly.
-     * The created object is stored as member of the Series object, hence this
-     * method may be called as many times as a user wishes.
-     * There is only one shared iterator state per Series, even when calling
-     * this method twice.
-     * Look for the WriteIterations class for further documentation.
+     * Shorthand for `Series::snapshots()` for access types CREATE and APPEND
+     * called with parameter SnapshotWorkflow::Synchronous, i.e. for
+     * streaming-aware data producers.
      *
      * @return WriteIterations
      */

src/Series.cpp

@@ -3188,14 +3188,15 @@ void Series::parseBase()
 
 WriteIterations Series::writeIterations()
 {
-    auto &series = get();
-    if (series.m_deferred_initialization.has_value())
+    auto const access = IOHandler()->m_frontendAccess;
+    if (access != Access::CREATE && access != Access::APPEND)
     {
-        runDeferredInitialization();
+        throw error::WrongAPIUsage(
+            "[Series::writeIterations()] May only be applied for access modes "
+            "CREATE or APPEND. Use Series::snapshots() for random-access-type "
+            "or for read-type workflows.");
     }
-    auto begin = make_writing_stateful_iterator(*this, series);
-    return Snapshots(std::shared_ptr<StatefulSnapshotsContainer>(
-        new StatefulSnapshotsContainer(std::move(begin))));
+    return snapshots(SnapshotWorkflow::Synchronous);
 }
 
 void Series::close()

test/Files_SerialIO/filebased_write_test.cpp

@@ -5,6 +5,19 @@ namespace filebased_write_test
 {
 using namespace openPMD;
 
+#define OPENPMD_TEST_VERBOSE 0
+
+namespace
+{
+    template <typename... Args>
+    auto write_to_stdout([[maybe_unused]] Args &&...args) -> void
+    {
+#if OPENPMD_TEST_VERBOSE
+        (std::cout << ... << args);
+#endif
+    }
+} // namespace
+
 auto close_and_reopen_iterations(
     const std::string &filename,
     openPMD::Access access,
@@ -18,32 +31,32 @@ auto close_and_reopen_iterations(
         auto chunk = component.loadChunkVariant();
         iteration.seriesFlush();
         auto num_particles = component.getExtent()[0];
-        std::cout << "Particles: ";
+        write_to_stdout("Particles: ");
         if (num_particles > 0)
         {
             std::visit(
                 [&](auto const &shared_ptr) {
                     auto it = shared_ptr.get();
                     auto end = it + num_particles;
-                    std::cout << '[' << *it++;
+                    write_to_stdout('[', *it++);
                     for (; it != end; ++it)
                     {
-                        std::cout << ", " << *it;
+                        write_to_stdout(", ", *it);
                     }
                 },
                 chunk);
-            std::cout << "]";
+            write_to_stdout("]");
         }
         else
         {
-            std::cout << "[]";
+            write_to_stdout("[]");
         }
-        std::cout << std::endl;
+        write_to_stdout('\n');
     };
 
     for (auto &[idx, iteration] : list.snapshots())
     {
-        std::cout << "Seeing iteration " << idx << std::endl;
+        write_to_stdout("Seeing iteration ", idx, '\n');
         if (need_to_explitly_open_iterations)
         {
             iteration.open();
@@ -52,20 +65,20 @@ auto close_and_reopen_iterations(
         {
             test_read(iteration);
         }
-        std::cout << "Closing iteration " << idx << std::endl;
+        write_to_stdout("Closing iteration ", idx, '\n');
         iteration.close();
     }
-    std::cout << "Trying to read iteration 3 out of line" << std::endl;
+    write_to_stdout("Trying to read iteration 3 out of line", '\n');
     if (need_to_explitly_open_iterations || access == Access::READ_ONLY)
     {
         list.snapshots()[3].open();
     }
     test_read(list.snapshots()[3]);
 
-    std::cout << "----------\nGoing again\n----------" << std::endl;
+    write_to_stdout("----------\nGoing again\n----------", '\n');
     for (auto &[idx, iteration] : list.snapshots())
     {
-        std::cout << "Seeing iteration " << idx << std::endl;
+        write_to_stdout("Seeing iteration ", idx, '\n');
         if (need_to_explitly_open_iterations || access == Access::READ_ONLY)
         {
             iteration.open();