Workspace¶

What are they?¶

Workspaces are the nouns of Mantid (while algorithms are the verbs). Workspaces hold the data in Mantid.

They come in several forms, but the most common by far is the MatrixWorkspace which contains measured or derived data with associated errors. Matrix Workspaces are typically created initially by executing one of Mantid’s ‘Load’ algorithms, for example LoadRaw or LoadNexus, or they are the output of algorithms which took a matrix workspace as input. In MantidPlot the data from the workspace can viewed as a table, and graphed in many ways.

Another form of workspace is the TableWorkspace. This stores data of (somewhat) arbitrary type in rows and columns, much like a spreadsheet. These typically are created as the output of certain specialized algorithms (e.g. curve fitting).

In addition to data, workspaces hold a workspace history, which details the algorithms which have been run on this workspace.

In software engineering terms, the ‘abstract’ concept of a workspace is an ‘interface’, in that it defines common properties that are implemented by various ‘concrete’ workspaces. Interaction with workspaces is typically through an interface. The concrete workspaces themselves are loaded in via Mantid’s plugin mechanism and are created using the Workspace Factory.

Example Workspaces¶

• MatrixWorkspace - A base class that contains among others:
  • Workspace2D - A workspace for holding two dimensional data in memory, this is the most commonly used workspace.
  • EventWorkspace - A workspace that retains the individual neutron event data.
• TableWorkspace - A workspace holding data in rows of columns having a particular type (e.g. text, integer, ...).
• WorkspaceGroup - A container for a collection of workspaces. Algorithms given a group as input run sequentially on each member of the group.

Writing you own workspace¶

This is perfectly possible, but not as easy as creating your own algorithm. Please talk to a member of the development team if you wish to implement you own workspace.

Workspace Types¶

The workspace type id identifies the type (underlying class) of a Workspace object. These IDs are listed here for ease of reference, so you needn’t navigate Doxygen for a list of workspace types. These values are needed in such functions as the AnalysisDataService’s createWorkspace if you are writing C++ or Python algorithms.

Category: Concepts