def METHOD_NAME(self, ifile, data_format = numpy.float32, offset=0):
    # open input file in a binary format and read the input string
    fid = open(ifile,'rb')
    if offset != 0:
        fid.seek(offset)
    input_string = fid.read()
    fid.close()
    # convert input string to required format (Note default format is numpy.float32)
    grid_as_float = numpy.fromstring(input_string,data_format)
    return grid_as_float