Tkinter: deprecate the split() method

[serhiy-storchaka]

BPO	38371
Nosy	@zware, @serhiy-storchaka, @erlend-aasland
PRs	bpo-38371: Tkinter: deprecate the split() method. #16584 bpo-38371: Remove deprecated tkinter split() method #28237 bpo-38371: Remove remaining use of tk.split from bigmem tcl test #29082

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = None
closed_at = <Date 2019-10-08.11:37:58.853>
created_at = <Date 2019-10-04.15:33:41.699>
labels = ['expert-tkinter', '3.9']
title = 'Tkinter: deprecate the split() method'
updated_at = <Date 2021-10-20.03:34:31.551>
user = 'https://github.com/serhiy-storchaka'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2021-10-20.03:34:31.551>
actor = 'zach.ware'
assignee = 'none'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2019-10-08.11:37:58.853>
closer = 'serhiy.storchaka'
components = ['Tkinter']
creation = <Date 2019-10-04.15:33:41.699>
creator = 'serhiy.storchaka'
dependencies = []
files = []
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 38371
keywords = ['patch']
message_count = 4.0
messages = ['353948', '354186', '401422', '404391']
nosy_count = 3.0
nosy_names = ['zach.ware', 'serhiy.storchaka', 'erlendaasland']
pr_nums = ['16584', '28237', '29082']
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'fixed'
stage = 'resolved'
status = 'closed'
superseder = None
type = None
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue38371'
versions = ['Python 3.9']

[serhiy-storchaka]

The tkapp.split() method has weird behavior. It splits a string recursively, so the type of items and the depth of nesting depends on spaces in string values. For example:

>>> import tkinter
>>> root = tkinter.Tcl()
>>> root.tk.split('Hi')
'Hi'
>>> root.tk.split('Hello "Good bye"')
('Hello', ('Good', 'bye'))

It may work as you meant in some cases (if items at the same level either all have spaces or all do not have spaces), but return unexpected result for untested cases. It is more robust to use the tkapp.splitlist() method, which split exactly one level and always returns a tuple of strings. It can be used recursively if you need nested lists.

>>> root.tk.splitlist('Hi')
('Hi',)
>>> root.tk.splitlist('Hello "Good bye"')
('Hello', 'Good bye')
>>> [root.tk.splitlist(x) for x in root.tk.splitlist('Hello "Good bye"')]
[('Hello',), ('Good', 'bye')]

[serhiy-storchaka]

New changeset d05b000 by Serhiy Storchaka in branch 'master':
bpo-38371: Tkinter: deprecate the split() method. (GH-16584)
d05b000

[serhiy-storchaka]

New changeset f235dd0 by Erlend Egeberg Aasland in branch 'main':
bpo-38371: Remove deprecated tkinter split() method (GH-28237)
f235dd0

[zware]

New changeset 085ccb0 by Zachary Ware in branch 'main':
bpo-38371: Remove remaining use of tk.split from bigmem tcl test (GH-29082)
085ccb0