Merged PR posit-dev/positron-python#86: Add some additional documentation to positron python

Merge pull request #86 from posit-dev/positron-docs

Add some additional documentation to positron python
--------------------
Commit message for posit-dev/positron-python@4b19d94:

Add some additional documentation to positron python


Authored-by: Pete Farland <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Pete Farland <[email protected]>

Author: petetronic

extensions/positron-python/pythonFiles/positron/environment.py

@@ -182,7 +182,15 @@ def on_comm_open(self, comm, open_msg) -> None:
 
     def receive_message(self, msg) -> None:
         """
-        Handle messages sent by the client to the positron.environment comm.
+        Handle messages received from the client via the positron.environment comm.
+
+        Message Types:
+            "inspect"          - Inspect the user variable at the requested path
+            "refresh"          - Refresh the list of user variables in the environment
+            "view"             - Format the variable at the requested path for the data viewer
+            "clipboard_format" - Format the variable at the requested path for the client clipboard
+            "clear"            - Clear all user variables in the environment
+            "delete"           - Delete user variables in the environment by name
         """
         data = msg["content"]["data"]
 
@@ -214,6 +222,10 @@ def receive_message(self, msg) -> None:
             self._send_error(f"Unknown message type '{msgType}'")
 
     def send_update(self, assigned: dict, removed: set) -> None:
+        """
+        Sends the list of variables that have changed in the current user session through the
+        environment comm to the client.
+        """
         # Ensure the number of changes does not exceed our maximum items
         if len(assigned) < MAX_ITEMS and len(removed) < MAX_ITEMS:
             self._send_update(assigned, removed)
@@ -264,7 +276,7 @@ def _send_message(self, msg: EnvironmentMessage) -> None:
 
         self.env_comm.send(msg)
 
-    def _send_error(self, message: str) -> None:
+    def _send_error(self, error_message: str) -> None:
         """
         Send an error message through the envirvonment comm to the client.
 
@@ -277,7 +289,7 @@ def _send_error(self, message: str) -> None:
             ...
         }
         """
-        msg = EnvironmentMessageError(message)
+        msg = EnvironmentMessageError(error_message)
         self._send_message(msg)
 
     def _send_update(self, assigned: Mapping, removed: Iterable) -> None:
@@ -312,12 +324,24 @@ def _send_update(self, assigned: Mapping, removed: Iterable) -> None:
     def _delete_all_vars(self, parent) -> None:
         """
         Deletes all of the variables in the current user session.
+
+        Args:
+            parent:
+                A dict providing the parent context for the response,
+                e.g. the client message requesting the clear operation
         """
         self.kernel.delete_all_vars(parent)
 
     def _delete_vars(self, names: Iterable, parent) -> None:
         """
         Deletes the requested variables by name from the current user session.
+
+        Args:
+            names:
+                A list of variable names to delete
+            parent:
+                A dict providing the parent context for the response,
+                e.g. the client message requesting the delete operation
         """
         if names is None:
             return
@@ -328,12 +352,15 @@ def _delete_vars(self, names: Iterable, parent) -> None:
     def _inspect_var(self, path: Sequence) -> None:
         """
         Describes the variable at the requested path in the current user session.
+
+        Args:
+            path:
+                A list of names describing the path to the variable.
         """
         if path is None:
             return
 
         is_known, value = self.kernel.find_var(path)
-
         if is_known:
             self._send_details(path, value)
         else:
@@ -357,8 +384,14 @@ def _send_formatted_var(
         Formats the variable at the requested path in the current user session
         using the requested clipboard format and sends the result through the
         environment comm to the client.
-        """
 
+        Args:
+            path:
+                A list of names describing the path to the variable.
+            clipboard_format:
+                The format to use for the clipboard copy, described as a mime type.
+                Defaults to "text/plain".
+        """
         if path is None:
             return
 
@@ -372,7 +405,7 @@ def _send_formatted_var(
             message = f"Cannot find variable at '{path}' to format"
             self._send_error(message)
 
-    def _send_details(self, path: Sequence, context: Any = None):
+    def _send_details(self, path: Sequence, value: Any = None):
         """
         Sends a detailed list of children of the value (or just the value
         itself, if is a leaf node on the path) as a message through the
@@ -397,15 +430,21 @@ def _send_details(self, path: Sequence, context: Any = None):
             }
             ...
         }
+
+        Args:
+            path:
+                A list of names describing the path to the variable.
+            value:
+                The variable's value to summarize.
         """
 
         children = []
-        inspector = get_inspector(context)
-        if inspector is not None and inspector.has_children(context):
-            children = inspector.summarize_children(context, self._summarize_variable)
+        inspector = get_inspector(value)
+        if inspector.has_children(value):
+            children = inspector.summarize_children(value, self._summarize_variable)
         else:
             # Otherwise, treat as a simple value at given path
-            summary = self._summarize_variable("", context)
+            summary = self._summarize_variable("", value)
             if summary is not None:
                 children.append(summary)
             # TODO: Handle scalar objects with a specific message type
@@ -414,11 +453,19 @@ def _send_details(self, path: Sequence, context: Any = None):
         self._send_message(msg)
 
     def _summarize_variables(self, variables: Mapping, max_items: int = MAX_ITEMS) -> list:
+        """
+        Summarizes the given variables into a list of EnvironmentVariable objects.
+
+        Args:
+            variables:
+                A mapping of variable names to values.
+            max_items:
+                The maximum number of items to summarize.
+        """
         summaries = []
 
         for key, value in variables.items():
-            # Ensure the number of items summarized is within our
-            # max limit
+            # Ensure the number of items summarized is within our max limit
             if len(summaries) >= max_items:
                 break
 
@@ -428,22 +475,28 @@ def _summarize_variables(self, variables: Mapping, max_items: int = MAX_ITEMS) -
 
         return summaries
 
-    def _summarize_variable(self, key, value) -> Optional[EnvironmentVariable]:
+    def _summarize_variable(self, key: Any, value: Any) -> Optional[EnvironmentVariable]:
+        """
+        Summarizes the given variable into an EnvironmentVariable object.
+
+        Returns:
+            An EnvironmentVariable summary, or None if the variable should be skipped.
+        """
         # Hide module types for now
         if isinstance(value, types.ModuleType):
             return None
 
-        display_name = str(key)
-
         try:
             # Use an inspector to summarize the value
             ins = get_inspector(value)
 
+            display_name = ins.get_display_name(key)
             kind_str = ins.get_kind(value)
             kind = getattr(EnvironmentVariableKind, kind_str.upper())
             display_value, is_truncated = ins.get_display_value(value)
             display_type = ins.get_display_type(value)
             type_info = ins.get_type_info(value)
+            access_key = ins.get_access_key(key)
             length = ins.get_length(value)
             size = ins.get_size(value)
             has_children = ins.has_children(value)
@@ -455,7 +508,7 @@ def _summarize_variable(self, key, value) -> Optional[EnvironmentVariable]:
                 display_type=display_type,
                 kind=kind,
                 type_info=type_info,
-                access_key=display_name,
+                access_key=access_key,
                 length=length,
                 size=size,
                 has_children=has_children,
@@ -466,17 +519,18 @@ def _summarize_variable(self, key, value) -> Optional[EnvironmentVariable]:
         except Exception as err:
             logging.warning(err, exc_info=True)
             return EnvironmentVariable(
-                display_name=display_name,
+                display_name=str(key),
                 display_value=get_qualname(value),
                 kind=EnvironmentVariableKind.OTHER,
             )
 
-    def _format_value(self, value, clipboard_format: ClipboardFormat) -> str:
+    def _format_value(self, value: Any, clipboard_format: ClipboardFormat) -> str:
+        """
+        Formats the given value using the requested clipboard format.
+        """
         inspector = get_inspector(value)
 
         if clipboard_format == ClipboardFormat.HTML:
             return inspector.to_html(value)
-        elif clipboard_format == ClipboardFormat.PLAIN:
-            return inspector.to_tsv(value)
         else:
-            return str(value)
+            return inspector.to_plaintext(value)

extensions/positron-python/pythonFiles/positron/inspectors.py

@@ -23,14 +23,19 @@
 # conditional property lookup
 __POSITRON_DEFAULT__ = object()
 
-# Base inspector for any type
+#
+# Base inspector
+#
 
 
 class PositronInspector:
     """
     Base inspector for any type
     """
 
+    def get_display_name(self, key: Any) -> str:
+        return str(key)
+
     def get_display_value(
         self,
         value: Any,
@@ -75,6 +80,9 @@ def get_kind(self, value: Any) -> str:
     def get_type_info(self, value: Any) -> str:
         return get_qualname(value)
 
+    def get_access_key(self, name: Any) -> str:
+        return self.get_display_name(name)
+
     def get_length(self, value: Any) -> int:
         return get_value_length(value)
 
@@ -113,11 +121,13 @@ def to_dataset(self, value: Any, title: str) -> Optional[DataSet]:
     def to_html(self, value: Any) -> str:
         return repr(value)
 
-    def to_tsv(self, value: Any) -> str:
+    def to_plaintext(self, value: Any) -> str:
         return repr(value)
 
 
+#
 # Inspectors by kind
+#
 
 
 class BooleanInspector(PositronInspector):
@@ -318,7 +328,9 @@ def is_snapshottable(self, value: Any) -> bool:
         return True
 
 
+#
 # Custom inspectors for specific types
+#
 
 
 class PandasDataFrameInspector(TableInspector):
@@ -406,7 +418,7 @@ def to_dataset(self, value: Any, title: str) -> Optional[DataSet]:
     def to_html(self, value: Any) -> str:
         return value.to_html()
 
-    def to_tsv(self, value: Any) -> str:
+    def to_plaintext(self, value: Any) -> str:
         return value.to_csv(path_or_buf=None, sep="\t")
 
 
@@ -481,9 +493,9 @@ def copy(self, value: Any) -> Any:
 
     def to_html(self, value: Any) -> str:
         # TODO: Support HTML
-        return self.to_tsv(value)
+        return self.to_plaintext(value)
 
-    def to_tsv(self, value: Any) -> str:
+    def to_plaintext(self, value: Any) -> str:
         return value.to_csv(path_or_buf=None, sep="\t")
 
 
@@ -570,7 +582,7 @@ def to_dataset(self, value: Any, title: str) -> Optional[DataSet]:
     def to_html(self, value: Any) -> str:
         return value._repr_html_()
 
-    def to_tsv(self, value: Any) -> str:
+    def to_plaintext(self, value: Any) -> str:
         return value.write_csv(file=None, separator="\t")
 
 
@@ -695,8 +707,12 @@ def copy(self, value: Any) -> Any:
     "table": TableInspector(),
 }
 
+#
+# Helper functions
+#
+
 
-def get_inspector(value) -> PositronInspector:
+def get_inspector(value: Any) -> PositronInspector:
     # Look for a specific inspector by qualified classname
     qualname = get_qualname(value)
     inspector = INSPECTORS.get(qualname, None)
@@ -713,7 +729,7 @@ def get_inspector(value) -> PositronInspector:
     return inspector
 
 
-def _get_kind(value) -> str:
+def _get_kind(value: Any) -> str:
     if isinstance(value, str):
         return "string"
     elif isinstance(value, bool):