rmtables

rmtables(tablenames=[''])[source]

Remove tables cleanly, use this instead of rm -rf

[Description] [Examples] [Development] [Details]

Parameters
  • tablenames (stringArray=[‘’]) - Name of the tables

Description

This task removes tables (MS, caltables, images) cleanly.

rmtables is preferred over rm -rf for removing tables because it also gets rid of data that may linger in the cache. If you are within CASA, the system is keeping a cache of tables that you have been using, and using the rm -rf command may confuse things. For example, running a script that contains multiple rm commands will often not run (and instead crash) the second time as the cache gets confused. Also clean sometimes claims that files still exist after they have been removed from disk using rm -rf. Use rmtables instead. See the Chapter pages on CASA Data for more details.

Note

NOTE: If you have multiple sessions running, bad things could happen if you remove a table being accessed by another process.

Examples

To cleanly remove the table ‘tablename’:

rmtables('tablename')

To cleanly remove two tables:

rmtables(tablenames=['tablename1','tablename2'])

Arguments may contain * or ?. Ranges [ ] are supported but not ~ expansion.

Development

No additional development details

Parameter Details

Detailed descriptions of each function parameter

tablenames (stringArray=['']) - Name of the tables