SignalBoxes.collect_prefix_codes

SignalBoxes.collect_prefix_codes(initial, update=False, verbose=False)

Collect signal box prefix codes beginning with a given initial letter from source web page.

Parameters:

  • initial (str) – initial letter of signal box name (for specifying a target URL)

  • update (bool) – whether to do an update check (for the package data), defaults to False

  • verbose (bool or int) – whether to print relevant information in console, defaults to False

Returns:

data of signal box prefix codes beginning with the given initial letter and date of when the data was last updated

Return type:

dict

Examples:

>>> from pyrcs.other_assets import SignalBoxes  # from pyrcs import SignalBoxes

>>> sb = SignalBoxes()

>>> sb_a_codes = sb.collect_prefix_codes(initial='a')
>>> type(sb_a_codes)
dict
>>> list(sb_a_codes.keys())
['A', 'Last updated date']

>>> sb_a_codes_dat = sb_a_codes['A']
>>> type(sb_a_codes_dat)
pandas.core.frame.DataFrame
>>> sb_a_codes_dat.head()
  Code               Signal Box  ...            Closed        Control to
0   AF  Abbey Foregate Junction  ...
1   AJ           Abbey Junction  ...  16 February 1992     Nuneaton (NN)
2    R           Abbey Junction  ...  16 February 1992     Nuneaton (NN)
3   AW               Abbey Wood  ...      13 July 1975      Dartford (D)
4   AE         Abbey Works East  ...   1 November 1987  Port Talbot (PT)
[5 rows x 8 columns]