def compare_rec_with_var(self, rec1, rec2, name, rows=None):
if rows is None:<EOL><INDENT>rows = arange(rec2.size)<EOL>self.assertEqual(rec1.size,rec2.size,<EOL>"<STR_LIT>" % name)<EOL><DEDENT>for f in rec2.dtype.names:<EOL><INDENT>if fitsio.util.is_object(rec1[f]):<EOL><INDENT>self.compare_object_array(rec1[f], rec2[f],<EOL>"<STR_LIT>" % (name,f),<EOL>rows=rows)<EOL><DEDENT>else:<EOL><INDENT>self.compare_array(rec1[f][rows], rec2[f],<EOL>"<STR_LIT>" % (name,f))<EOL><DEDENT><DEDENT>
First one *must* be the one with object arrays

Second can have fixed length

both should be same number of rows