[Cython] Buffer must know exact C types

[Stefan Behnel]

Hi,

Dag Sverre Seljebotn wrote:
> Currently, wherever a C type is used in Cython, it is enough to specify 
> sort-of what kind of class of type it is... the following will work all 
> right:
> 
> cdef extern ...:
>      ctypedef int int8
>      ctypedef int int16
>      ctypedef int int32
>      ctypedef int int64
> 
> 
> However, when types are used in buffers:
> 
> cdef object[int16, 3] x
> 
> one must translate the type (dtype) into a character representation (as 
> listed in http://docs.python.org/lib/module-struct.html).

What about going the opposite way and either a) replacing the type definition
in buffers by the type character entirely (not sure, but this might not work
if you require a specific type name to appear in the C code), or b) by
requiring users to provide both the type and the character in a suitable
buffer declaration syntax?

Stefan