Incompatibility between @doc and import

[josevalim]

Today, even if we @doc false some function, it will still be imported if someone imports the module. I am listing this as a potential bug, although I am not sure if it qualifies as one or if there are any solutions.

[whatyouhide]

This is one tricky case :). In Elixir it looks like @doc false is the "standard" way to use a function from another module within the same library, without exporting it outside the library. Maybe the solution could be something like a @hidden attribute:

@hidden
def my_fun do
  # ...
end

The @hidden (or whatever name) attribute would

• hide the function from the documentation
• prevent the function from being imported with import
• [insert whatever other thing is useful when dealing with this pattern]

[tony612]

@whatyouhide It seems like defp

[whatyouhide]

@tony612 with the major difference that you can actually call that function from outside the module (provided you know the name and arity of the function).

[liveforeverx]

"The @hidden (or whatever name) attribute would"

It make sense, only if there will exists contrapart something like import_all, that really import all 'def'-defined functions, without exceptions.

[whatyouhide]

@liveforeverx instead of introducing import_all, you could easily solve this like in the following example:

defmodule MyMod do
  @hidden true
  def my_fun() do
    # ...
  end
end

import MyMod, hidden: true

[josevalim]

This discussion pointed out that the current approach is fine. There are multiple ways of avoiding this (moving to another module, using underscore, etc). It seems better than somehow coupling to unrelated things. Thanks everyone!