def axis(name=None, cols=None, values=None, units=None):
    """Convenience function for generating axis descriptions when defining MetaArrays"""
    ax = {}
    cNameOrder = ['name', 'units', 'title']
    if name is not None:
        ax['name'] = name
    if values is not None:
        ax['values'] = values
    if units is not None:
        ax['units'] = units
    if cols is not None:
        ax['cols'] = []
        for c in cols:
            if type(c) != list and type(c) != tuple:
                c = [c]
            col = {}
            for i in range(0, len(c)):
                col[cNameOrder[i]] = c[i]
            ax['cols'].append(col)
    return ax
