Deprecating sunpy.database

SunPy
1

The sunpy.database module was initially developed in 2013 to provide a local database of files downloaded using sunpy . Since then the functionality offered by sunpy.net has changed to no longer download files that have already been previously downloaded, removing a large part of the unique use case for sunpy.database .

In addition, sunpy.database is no longer actively maintained by anyone, the tests are all currently skipped, and there are a large number of outstanding issues that have not been fixed.

This means that the SunPy developers would like to formally deprecate sunpy.database in version 5.0, and remove it entirely in 6.0. Before doing this we would like input from the community. If you:

  • Currently use sunpy.database and find it useful for your research
  • Would be interested in moving sunpy.database into a new sponsored package with the help of the SunPy developers
  • Would be interested in developing a replacement package yourself

please let us know in this thread!

This is a place for community discussion to make sure we are doing the right thing in deprecating and removing sunpy.database from the sunpy core package.

2 Likes
2

Iā€™d certainly be interesting in the moving the current version to new package or the development of a replacement package