Python feature requests

Created by: suchyta1

William, Norbert, and I have been starting to consider Python ease of use, and are opening the conversation about Python enhancements. A couple things I see that could make things simpler:

1. Introspection: The ability to return a "file object" that has a list of the variables, their sizes, etc.
2. Default selections: When reading, if the user doesn't give bounds it just tries to return the whole array.

Python users, feel free to add to the discussion...