Put qualname in the objects.inv

[flying-sheep]

Due to type annotations, more and more tools retrieve qualified object names from live objects and expect them to serve as object ID.

However, code like the following fails when the object is reexported, when its canonical location doesn’t fit its qualified name:

from scipy.sparse import spmatrix

qualname = f'{spmatrix.__module__}.{spmatrix.__qualname__}'  # 'scipy.sparse.base.spmatrix'


from sphinx.ext.intersphinx import inspect_main

sys.stdout = StringIO()
inspect_main(['https://docs.scipy.org/doc/scipy/reference/objects.inv'])

assert qualname in sys.stdout.getvalue()  # nope, only 'scipy.sparse.spmatrix'

a fix could either go into the inventory dumping or the python domain (if adding objects goes through a domain API and isn’t just doing env.domains['py'].objects.append(…))

[tk0miya]

Please let me know your goal. The inventory file of intersphinx is generated for cross reference.
Did you mean that you want to reference spmatrix by qualname (ex. :mod:scipy.sparse.base.spmatrix)?

[flying-sheep]

Yes, since there is no automatic way of knowing what the “canonical” place for an object is.

[flying-sheep]

@tk0miya do you need more information? I’d do a PR, but I don’t know enough about the inner workings here and how to start best.

[tk0miya]

Sorry for late response.

I feel a bit strange for your proposal. I think the qualified names are not undocumented. That means it is private members. I don't think it is good way to expose qualified names automatically.

[flying-sheep]

You’re right, but I didn’t propose to just add the qualname to the objects.inv. I do want a solution for the case where I know the qualname but not the canonical documentation location.

Each documented object has 1–∞ aliases, one of which is the the canonical documented location (in objects.inv) and one of which is the canonical qualified name (thing.__module__ + '.' + thing.__(qual)name__). Those to names might be (but aren’t always) the same.

I don’t think it’s necessary to support all alias names, just the qualified name as well as the documented one. I can imagine two solutions, but maybe there are more:

1. provide a function that returns the canonical documentation location given the qualified name. Without additional information in objects.inv, that means importing the module, getting all objects by their documented location, and searching the one with a matching qualname.
2. extend objects.inv and the machinery so that :class:`actual.qualified.Name` renders as <a class="py-class" href="...">canonical.Name</a>

The latter would be much more practical, because people won’t have to change autodoc templates and so on, also it would be faster and work without having access to and implementing other modules. The former would work without rebuilding every other project’s documentation.

[tk0miya]

Most important thing is whether the author of the document want to expose the qualname to readers. I can agree with adding an option for it if they want.
But, as a developer, I feel qualname is a kind of private interface. So I don't want that if I was author.

[flying-sheep]

i think you didn’t understand me. the point is that sometimes someone just has the qualname and needs to get a link out of the objects.inv using it.

nobody will ever see the qualname, it’s just for finding a class or function in the docs: using the qualname, you shoud be able to get a link to the documented location. the link should look like if you used the documented location.

this is about an implementation detail and enhanced functionality, not design, so an option would be counter productive, annoying, and have no benefit.

[flying-sheep]

so what do you think is the best approach (from my second-to-last comment)? 1 or 2?

[tk0miya]

nobody will ever see the qualname, it’s just for finding a class or function in the docs: using the qualname, you shoud be able to get a link to the documented location.

If we'll expose qualname into objects.inv, users can refer objects using qualified name like :py:class:`scipy.sparse.base.spmatrix` as you said. It means the qualname has appeared in the document. But I think qualname is not promised interface. So it might be fragile. But documents usually alive longer than source code.

I'm afraid of that the exposure causes the document network fragile. I can understand it is useful for IDE or tooling, but...

[flying-sheep]

Actually this is not a problem. The qualname will only appear

1. in objects.inv (in new special alias lines)
2. in generated rst code that doesn’t get committed to version control

the links that appear in the HTML will point to the documented name. e.g.

1. the user writes .. autodoc:: some_function, where def some_function(df: pd.DataFrame): ...
2. sphinx-autodoc-typehints generates temporary rst code for the function docs containing :class:`pandas.core.frame.DataFrame` .
3. The pandas objects.inv contains an alias line pandas.core.frame.DataFrame → pandas.DataFrame
4. a new version of intersphinx that understands the new alias lines gives back the correct, documented location
5. that location ends up in the HTML.

[goerz]

A big +1 from me. Without this, the Sphinx documentation for projects that uses type annotations are broken, with no workaround. In fact, this is one reason why I think people should stay away from type annotations for the time being.