allocation of pixel buffer

Folks, I'm working on some new bindings of GD for Python. One of the things I'd hoped to do is wrap the pixel buffer in a numpy array, so that users could manipulate it with numpy functions (and nifty tools like the nd-image package) and not have to copy the data back-and forthc between gd and numpy. However, I've noticed that the pixel buffer is allocated row-by-row, rather than as oen big block of data. This make it impossible to share the buffer with numpy, as numpy requires a single block of contiguous memory. It there a compelling reason for it to be allocated this way? or could I re-write the allocation routines to allocate a single block of memory? (still casting it to a **, so it would still be able to be used in the same way in the rest of the code. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd ever get around to it -- copying data isn't all THAT expensive, but I was wondering if it's done this way for a godo reason I'm not thinking of at the moment. -Chris -- Christopher Barker, Ph.D. Oceanographer Emergency Response Division NOAA/NOS/OR&R (206) 526-6959 voice 7600 Sand Point Way NE (206) 526-6329 fax Seattle, WA 98115 (206) 526-6317 main reception Chris.Barker@noaa.gov