'A view of a `Column`\'s data as an array.'

def field(self, key):

    column = self.columns[key]
    name = column.name
    format = column.format
    if (format.dtype.itemsize == 0):
        warnings.warn('Field    {!r}    has    a    repeat    count    of    0    in    its    format    code,    indicating    an    empty    field.'.format(key))
        return np.array([], dtype=format.dtype)
    base = self
    while (isinstance(base, FITS_rec) and isinstance(base.base, np.recarray)):
        base = base.base
    field = _get_recarray_field(base, name)
    if (name not in self._converted):
        recformat = format.recformat
        if isinstance(recformat, _FormatP):
            converted = self._convert_p(column, field, recformat)
        else:
            converted = self._convert_other(column, field, recformat)
        self._cache_field(name, converted)
        return converted
    return self._converted[name]
