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# parse

astropy.io.votable.parse(source, columns=None, invalid='exception', verify=None, chunk_size=256, table_number=None, table_id=None, filename=None, unit_format=None, datatype_mapping=None, _debug_python_based_parser=False)

  Parses a VOTABLE xml file (or file-like object), and returns a `VOTableFile` object.

  Parameters:
    source python:path-like object or python:file-like object

      Path or file-like object containing a VOTABLE xml file. If file, must be readable.

    columns python:sequence of `python:str`, optional

      List of field names to include in the output. The default is to include all fields.

    invalid `python:str`, optional

      One of the following values:

      > - ‘exception’: throw an exception when an invalid value is encountered (default)

      > - ‘mask’: mask out invalid values

    verify{‘ignore’, ‘warn’, ‘exception’}, optional

      When `'exception'`, raise an error when the file violates the spec, otherwise either issue a warning (`'warn'`) or silently continue (`'ignore'`). Warnings may be controlled using the standard Python mechanisms. See the `warnings` module in the Python standard library for more information. When not provided, uses the configuration setting `astropy.io.votable.verify`, which defaults to ‘ignore’.

      Changed in version 4.0: `verify` replaces the `pedantic` argument, which will be deprecated in future.

      Changed in version 5.0: The `pedantic` argument is deprecated.

      Changed in version 6.0: The `pedantic` argument is removed.

    chunk_size `python:int`, optional

      The number of rows to read before converting to an array. Higher numbers are likely to be faster, but will consume more memory.

    table_number `python:int`, optional

      The number of table in the file to read in. If `None`, all tables will be read. If a number, 0 refers to the first table in the file, and only that numbered table will be parsed and read in. Should not be used with `table_id`.

    table_id `python:str`, optional

      The ID of the table in the file to read in. Should not be used with `table_number`.

    filename `python:str`, optional

      A filename, URL or other identifier to use in error messages. If filename is None and source is a string (i.e. a path), then source will be used as a filename for error messages. Therefore, filename is only required when source is a file-like object.

    unit_format `python:str`, `astropy.units.format.Base` subclass or `python:None`, optional

      The unit format to use when parsing unit attributes. If a string, must be the name of a unit formatter. The built-in formats include `generic`, `fits`, `cds`, and `vounit`. A custom formatter may be provided by passing a `Base` subclass. If `None` (default), the unit format to use will be the one specified by the VOTable specification (which is `cds` up to version 1.3 of VOTable, and `vounit` in more recent versions of the spec).

    datatype_mapping `python:dict`, optional

      A mapping of datatype names (`str`) to valid VOTable datatype names (str). For example, if the file being read contains the datatype “unsignedInt” (an invalid datatype in VOTable), include the mapping `{"unsignedInt": "long"}`.

  Returns:
    votable `VOTableFile` `object`

  See also

  `astropy.io.votable.exceptions`

    The exceptions this function may raise.