Docstrings for data?
Is there a way to describe the module's data in a similar way that a docstring describes a module or a funcion?
class MyClass(object):
def my_function():
"""This docstring works!"""
return True
my_list = []
"""This docstring does not work!"""
Asked by: Kate211 | Posted: 28-01-2022
Answer 1
To my knowledge, it is not possible to assign docstrings to module data members.
PEP 224 suggests this feature, but the PEP was rejected.
I suggest you document the data members of a module in the module's docstring:
# module.py:
"""About the module.
module.data: contains the word "spam"
"""
data = "spam"
Answer 2
It is possible to make documentation of module's data, with use of epydoc syntax. Epydoc is one of the most frequently used documentation tools for Python.
The syntax for documenting is #: above the variable initialization line, like this:
# module.py:
#: Very important data.
#: Use with caution.
#: @type: C{str}
data = "important data"
Now when you generate your documentation, data will be described as module variable with given description and type str. You can omit the @type line.
Answer 3
As codeape explains, it's not possible to document general data members.
However, it is possible to document property data members:
class Foo:
def get_foo(self): ...
def set_foo(self, val): ...
def del_foo(self): ...
foo = property(get_foo, set_foo, del_foo, '''Doc string here''')
This will give a docstring to the foo attribute, obviously.
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