def METHOD_NAME(fname, chp, append=False):
    '''
    Export binary ls1 checkpoint (representation: list of dict)
    :param string fname: Path and name of target
    :param chp: Checkpoint to be exported
    :param bool append: Specify if data should be appended to existing file; Default: False
    '''
    if append:
        writeMode = 'ab'
    else:
        writeMode = 'wb'
    #numParticles=len(chp)
    #print('numParticles=',numParticles)
    with open(fname, writeMode) as f:
        ba=bytearray()
        for pi in chp: