def make_compound_ctype(self, varname):
        """
        Create a ctypes type that corresponds to a compound type in memory.
        """

        # look up the type name
        compoundname = self.get_var_type(varname)
        nfields = self.inq_compound(compoundname)
        # for all the fields look up the type, rank and shape
        fields = []
        for i in range(nfields):
            (fieldname, fieldtype,
             fieldrank, fieldshape) = self.inq_compound_field(compoundname, i)
            assert fieldrank <= 1
            fieldctype = CTYPESMAP[fieldtype]
            if fieldrank == 1:
                fieldctype = fieldctype * fieldshape[0]
            fields.append((fieldname, fieldctype))
        # create a new structure

        class COMPOUND(Structure):
            _fields_ = fields

        # if we have a rank 1 array, create an array
        rank = self.get_var_rank(varname)
        assert rank <= 1, "we can't handle >=2 dimensional compounds yet"
        if rank == 1:
            shape = self.get_var_shape(varname)
            valtype = POINTER(ARRAY(COMPOUND, shape[0]))
        else:
            valtype = POINTER(COMPOUND)
        # return the custom type
        return valtype
Create a ctypes type that corresponds to a compound type in memory.