From cdc091ab8a2240e576f5bdde2b4bcbf707b2b0ed Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Caden Myers <cjm2304@columbia.edu>
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2025 10:47:23 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] function for deprecation print message

---
 src/diffpy/utils/_deprecator.py | 25 +++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 25 insertions(+)

diff --git a/src/diffpy/utils/_deprecator.py b/src/diffpy/utils/_deprecator.py
index 91f3c0f..80b183e 100644
--- a/src/diffpy/utils/_deprecator.py
+++ b/src/diffpy/utils/_deprecator.py
@@ -81,3 +81,28 @@ def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
         )
 
     return decorator
+
+
+def deprecation_message(base, old_name, new_name, removal_version):
+    """Generate a deprecation message.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    base : str
+        The base module or class where the deprecated item resides.
+    old_name : str
+        The name of the deprecated item.
+    new_name : str
+        The name of the new item to use.
+    removal_version : str
+        The version when the deprecated item will be removed.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    str
+        A formatted deprecation message.
+    """
+    return (
+        f"'{base}.{old_name}' is deprecated and will be removed in "
+        f"version {removal_version}. Please use '{base}.{new_name}' instead."
+    )

From 8e65b06ea9e36b16e8e47e83139079b1dcac8d39 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Caden Myers <cjm2304@columbia.edu>
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2025 10:49:34 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] news

---
 news/dep-msg-helper.rst | 23 +++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 23 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 news/dep-msg-helper.rst

diff --git a/news/dep-msg-helper.rst b/news/dep-msg-helper.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..733801e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/dep-msg-helper.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+**Added:**
+
+* Add ``deprecation_message`` helper for printing consistent deprecation messages.
+
+**Changed:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Deprecated:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Removed:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Fixed:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Security:**
+
+* <news item>