PyTables User's Guide: Hierarchical datasets in Python - Release 1.3.3
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# 6.5. Current limitations

`FileNode` is still a young piece of software, so it lacks some functionality. This is a list of known current limitations:

1. Node files can only be opened for read-only or read and append mode. This will be enhanced in the future.

2. There is no universal newline support yet. This is likely to be implemented in a near future.

3. Sparse files (files with lots of zeros) are not treated specially; if you want them to take less space, you should be better off using compression.

4. Node file and attribute names are constrained to valid `PyTables` node names, which happen to be more or less those accepted by Unix filesystems (see 4.4).

These limitations still make `FileNode` entirely adequate to work with most binary and text files. Of course, suggestions and patches are welcome.

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